Becoming a Digital Copywriter – Lucy’s Story

Tell us about your career so far and how you got started?

I chose to study English and Linguistics at Nottingham Trent University as I enjoyed A-Level English Literature and Language and have always loved reading and learning more about words. After considering careers in book publishing and magazine journalism, I went down the path of copywriting and editing as it involved writing in a variety of different forms and meant I could open lots more doors, as most companies that advertise products or services will need a copywriter. With Boots being round the corner from my university campus, and a company I’d always loved, I thought that a copywriting job at Boots would be ideal for me. After applying to lots of jobs, I saw a Digital Copywriter role at the Boots Nottingham Support Office – it sounded perfect and so I immediately applied. After a virtual interview at home the summer after finishing university, I got the job!

How did your educational background prepare you for your career?

I graduated with a First in BA English and Linguistics and got to learn so much about analysing texts, as well as the huge amount of detail that goes into the rules of the English language. During our second year, we had to complete a week of work experience, so I decided to have a go at copywriting. I got a placement at a small start-up company and from then, I knew I wanted to have a job where I could work with language everyday. Over the week, I got to research, write, and edit my own blog posts for the company’s website, and learn more about what information they wanted displayed on their site and how they wanted it to be written. Copywriting is all about tone of voice so getting into the company’s mindset was vital.

What attracted you to working at Boots?

I’ve always enjoyed shopping at Boots and loved how fun and empowering their TV adverts feel. With it being one of the UK’s biggest companies, and being so close to where I live, I knew it’d be the kind of place I’d love to work one day. When looking more closely at the Support Office job listings and learning more about the office in general, it seemed like a great fit! Knowing I could do a job I’m interested in while working in the huge office where all the Boots magic happens just sounded like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

Can you describe your current role and what a typical day looks like for you?

I’m a Digital Copywriter for the Digital Experience (DX) team, meaning I’m one of six copywriters working on the copy for boots.com and boots.ie. Since starting the role in 2021, I’ve written copy for Photo, Toiletries, Baby, Hair and Opticians and I’ve also worked on some big projects, including Black Friday, Valentine’s Day, Love Island, Boots Health Hub, and much more!
Currently, I look after the copy for the Homepage, Offers and the Boots App, as well as the Electrical Beauty category, weekly events and various SEO (search engine optimisation) projects. A typical day begins with ensuring the copy for Homepage, Offers and App for the next day is all filled out accurately, looking good (especially in mobile view) and sounding like Boots. The layout is generally the same each day but the content changes frequently so we have to work quickly and reactively with the Planning and eCommerce teams to make sure the pages are displaying the best brands, products and deals we have to offer. We follow plans and take information from briefs supplied to us, while also adding in some Boots flair through the copy and design.
After a meeting to check over the Homepage, the eCommerce team browse through the pages and give us any amends, which we then check through again later as attention to detail is super important. After tomorrow’s Homepage, Offers and App are ready to go, I get on with building ahead. Creating copy in advance saves time on the day and allows us more time to share the design and copy with the eCommerce team or brands for sign off. This is also when I’d get to work on any other tasks for day, including updating the Electrical pages with any reactive changes, working on the next Electrical salesplan (when the category pages get completely updated every four weeks), adding copy to any events that we have weekly, creating SEO copy or even adding T&Cs to the site when we have competitions going on. We’re always busy!

What are the most rewarding aspects of your job?

It’s great being able to see your work live on the website every day, especially when it’s your own creative copy. You also get to work alongside lots of great people and teams with the same goal in mind – making the website the best it can be.
While the daily work is rewarding in its own way, working on the bigger seasonal projects like Christmas and Summer allows us to do something a bit different to the everyday. This means writing more creative copy that aligns with the language used across other channels, such as stores and social media, which allows us to connect with the wider Boots teams.

What career advice would you give to someone starting out?

If you’re able to get any work experience in a field you’re interested in, whether it’s through your school, university or independently with great companies, take it! Even if it’s not with a company you know much about, it’ll be worthwhile. It gets you talking to people in the world of work you want to enter and lets you try on different roles, so you can find out what you enjoy doing and what you’d rather not do in the future.
When it comes to applying to jobs, I’d recommend applying to roles that sound interesting to you even if you don’t feel like you fit into all of their criteria. I wasn’t confident that I met all the requirements when applying to my current role, but I took a gamble, and it paid off. As long as you have some key experiences from school, university, or past jobs to talk about in your interview, you always have a good chance.

What’s next for you?

The super busy period we call ‘Peak’ is fast approaching here in the Digital team, which includes Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas and all the fun that comes with them, so we’ll soon be working together to get boots.com ready for the end of the year. Writing the copy for the Homepage means I get to be involved in lots of the upcoming campaigns so it’s about to get even busier than usual! It’s also been great to write something a little bit different for projects like this with Boots Jobs, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on any other writing opportunities that come my way.