Objective and Subjective Copywriting

This isn’t really a thing or a recognized term in the industry, but I’ve come to notice that while every person requires something different from their copywriter, there are basically two approaches to copywriting: subjective and objective.

Subjective copywriting is when the copy revolves around the person behind the business (the creator). Objective copywriting is when the person is irrelevant to the business. It’s a spectrum, but this distinction helps determine the distance between the two.

This is important because a copywriter’s job is to uncover the voice and reflect it authentically and honestly, but sometimes the owner’s voice is not the voice to uncover. Sometimes, who they are as a person and what they sound like do not align with what is best for the business.

This issue often arises with product-oriented business owners who stand too close to their business. They treat it like an extension of themselves, something that represents them, and so, they become overprotective. They forget that their product has a specific audience that doesn’t make room for their entire personality and ambitions. You don’t always get to choose your audience. Objectively speaking, it’s not about you; it’s about what is best for the business, which is the product. And objective copywriting works to create distance by moving the creator away from the business.

On the other hand, creators who offer themselves as a service often suffer a diametrically opposing issue; they don’t stand close enough. This kind of business is a personal one. There is often a one-on-one relationship between the creator and the client; the more the creator knows about the client, the better job they can perform. When that is the case, the copy becomes deeply subjective.

And that doesn’t sit well with some creators, especially newcomers. In their attempts to impress their audience and assuage their fears, they distance themselves from their service. They seek to portray something instead of showing what is already there. To fulfil expectations and to be everything they think they need to be, they inadvertently choose a voice that doesn’t really match theirs. They choose an audience that’s not really theirs. From the outside, there is no distance, but the copywriter can see it.

And it’s not like copywriting can transform the creator into someone who fits the narrative they’ve created for themselves, but it can pull the business closer to where the creator is standing. That’s what subjective copywriting does: it moves the business rather than the creator.

I say this again, it’s a spectrum. Some creators acknowledge the distance and are satisfied with it because it’s been calculated and factored in. Some businesses offer freedom of choice between subjectivity and objectivity, and some simply adhere to one. So, ask your business how close you can get, and then ask yourself how close you want to be. And when in doubt, you can always ask your copywriter. He’s standing closer than you think.

Copywriter

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