Should you pay for copywriting services?

Anyone can write. Anyone can learn marketing. And anyone can do research.

So why spend money on a professional copywriter?

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know it all boils down to what kind of ROI you can expect. 

For some, DIY or AI-powered copywriting might be more worthwhile than outsourcing. But for others, that’ll cost a lot more time, money, and resources than it’ll produce. This article will help you decide which camp you fall into.

You’ll learn:

• 5 options for how to create marketing content

• What other business owners say about hiring a copywriter vs. doing it themselves

• How AI copywriting compares to paying for a human writer

• What you need to establish before outsourcing your writing and content creation

• And how to tell which copywriters are worth the investment 

Five options for crossing copywriting off your list

Getting your copy written is the easy part. The tricky part is deciding how you want to get it done. Here are the five options you can choose from:

DIY-style

• Pros: There's no out-of-pocket cost, and you have total control over what you say and how you say it.

• Cons: Your time is valuable, and copywriting can take hours — if not days — out of your week. Plus, writing to sell is a skill that can take years to master.

AI copywriting tools

• Pros: It costs little to nothing, it gives you control, and it can write faster than any human you’ll find.

• Cons: AI can't mimic human experience, creativity, nuance, and personality. Plus, writing effective AI prompts is a skill in and of itself.

Cheap copywriters on Fiverr or Upwork

• Pros: These copywriters tend to be the most affordable, and they’re easy to find with a quick search.

• Cons: You get what you pay for. When you hire a cheap writer, you're more likely to end up with generic, AI-generated copy. In these cases, you're better off doing it yourself.

Large agency copywriters

• Pros: They come with experience and knowledge, so you know they won't be a waste of time.

• Cons: Most agencies cost 10x what you’d prefer to pay — and demand long-term contracts that lock you in.

Legitimate, independent copywriters

• Pros: You get personal attention that agencies can’t provide. You'll be able to expect high-quality research and writing. And you can be confident that your copy will resonate and get results — without doing it all yourself.

• Cons: You’ll spend more than you would on lower-end copywriters. It will also take more time than generating content using AI.

What other business owners say

As a professional copywriter, I’m a little biased. So I did some research to see what other entrepreneurs had to say.

I found a post on reddit’s r/Marketing asking: “Is hiring a copywriter a total waste of my cash or a smart move as I scale?” 

Here are a few snippets of the honest feedback in the comments:

• “Makes hell of a difference. A good copywriter will do research … That research will make the actual difference, something that AI won't be able to replicate, something that people copy/pasting sh*t off ads libraries won't be able to replicate nor sustain.”

  —u/Martis941

• “A skilled copywriter will make a significant difference, whether it's for social media, email marketing or your blog/web pages. We as entrepreneurs don't need to know everything about every aspect of our job … A skilled copywriter is the same as a skilled marketer, pretty much anybody can do it, but to do it well is only up to a few individuals.”

  — u/TruuCZ

• “AI will at best do 30-40 percent of the job, and only if you are really good at prompting. If you want 100 percent, you need a skilled copywriter with at least 5-10 years experience.”

  — r/tokensRus

And just for fun, here are two more replies from a post in r/SmallBusiness: “Should I hire a copywriter?”

• “Yes, a thousand times yes. We used to do corporate website development. When we could get clients to pay for a legit copywriter, the sites were 100% better. “  — user not listed

• “Yes … It is one kind of investment and would be long-term profitable for your business.” — u/dhrubomodhu

The short version:

If you want real results, a skilled copywriter is worth it (especially if you don’t consider yourself an expert).

Advice from a reddit user in a post from r/Marketing

How AI copywriting compares to a human professional

This is a HUGE question these days. We have advanced tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Copy.ai. Why would you need to spend money on web, social media, or email copywriting services?

I’ll give you two answers — one from a fellow human, and one from AI itself.

First: This study has hard data about AI vs. human copywriting performance.

Anant Goel, founder of ShadoInk, shared a comparative study on 2,000+ marketing campaigns. AI wrote half of them, and professional copywriters wrote the other half. The study pulled performance data for each campaign. The averages give us an idea of what results we can expect from each method of copywriting.

Here’s the short version of the study’s findings:

Click-through rate (CTR)

• AI: 3.8% vs. Humans: 4.5%

Engagement rate

• AI: 12.7% vs. Humans: 15.3%

Conversion rate

• AI: 2.5% vs. Humans: 3.1%

Readability score

• AI: 63.2% vs. Humans: 67.8%

As you can see, AI did alright — but it didn’t outperform human-written copy on any metrics.

Comparative performance study results from ShadoInk

Second: AI itself says a human touch is essential.

I wrote this prompt for ChatGPT:

“It seems like ChatGPT and other AI tools can write marketing copy faster than humans, without the cost of outsourcing. Is it worth it to hire a professional human copywriter? Why?”

Here’s its response:

“Yes, hiring a professional human copywriter is still worth it, even with AI tools like ChatGPT. Here’s why:

1. Strategy and Creativity

AI can generate content quickly, but it lacks the strategic thinking and deep creativity that human copywriters bring. Great copy isn’t just about stringing words together—it’s about persuasion, emotional connection, and brand differentiation. A skilled copywriter understands audience psychology and crafts messages that resonate on a deeper level.

2. Brand Voice and Consistency

AI can mimic styles, but it struggles with maintaining a consistent, nuanced brand voice over time. A human writer ensures all messaging aligns with your brand’s identity and values, creating a cohesive customer experience across different platforms.

3. Understanding Context and Subtext

AI often misinterprets context or produces generic content. Professional copywriters can adapt messaging based on industry trends, cultural nuances, and audience sentiment—ensuring the message is relevant, timely, and impactful.

4. Higher-Quality Editing and Refinement

AI generates first drafts quickly, but raw AI-generated copy often lacks polish. Human writers refine messaging, eliminate fluff, and ensure clarity, tone, and flow are optimized for impact.

5. Originality and Legal Considerations

AI tends to pull from existing data and patterns, increasing the risk of generic or even plagiarized content. A professional writer creates original, legally sound content tailored to your business.

6. AI Needs Human Oversight

Even the best AI tools require human guidance. A skilled copywriter can leverage AI for efficiency while ensuring the final output is strategic, persuasive, and aligned with business goals.

When AI Might Be Enough

If you need quick, low-cost content for simple tasks (e.g., social media captions, product descriptions, or basic blogs), AI can be a useful tool. But for high-stakes marketing campaigns, conversion-driven copy, or brand storytelling, human expertise is invaluable.

In short: AI can assist, but human copywriters elevate. The best approach is often a blend—using AI for efficiency and humans for strategy, creativity, and quality control.”

Proof: ChatGPT itself agrees that we shouldn’t be using it to replace human copywriters.

One more note: If you wanted, you could copy and paste this answer into your own for-profit blog. And I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Since AI-generated content isn’t subject to copyright, you lose a lot of security by relying on it alone.

What you need before paying for copywriting services

You can see that professional copywriting services can make a real impact. But how do you know if you’re ready for it?

Here are three things you should have before you get a copywriter:

• An awesome product/service

  If your offering isn’t getting attention and solving problems, great copywriting won’t change that. But if you’ve perfected your product or service, it can get more people to notice it, buy it, and recommend it to others.

• An established customer base

  Great copywriting is like pouring fuel on a fire. But you need to actually have a fire before you can do that. If you’re a new business still finding your audience, it’s worth taking the time to build a foundation of customers first. Then you can hire a copywriter to help you scale it.  

• A solid USP (unique selling proposition)

  This one-sentence statement explains what makes your business different — and better — than competitors. A legit copywriter will be able to take your USP, understand the problems you solve, and spin it all into gold.

If you have these things nailed down, you’re ready to outsource.

How to find the right copywriter

This is the trickiest part of outsourcing your copywriting.

There are so many copywriters out there. And they’ll all say they have what it takes to get the results you’re looking for. 

If you hire the right one, you’ve hit a gold mine that will help you scale faster and grow your profits for the long haul.

But if you hire the wrong one, you may end up with generic copy that doesn’t resonate, engage, or improve your results. It won’t be any different from using AI or writing everything yourself.

This choice can determine whether you waste your money or grow your long-term profits. So you’ll want to make sure you get it right — the first time around. 

Here’s how to know you’ve found the right copywriter for website content, social media, email, or other channels:

• They’ll have their own business, brand, website, and domain.

• They’ll be able to tell you how they use — and don’t use — AI in their writing process, with total transparency.

• They’ll have references who can vouch for more than just their writing skills. That includes research, reliability, attention to detail, communication, and applying feedback.

• They’ll be able to show you examples of their work and performance metrics to prove it was effective.

• They’ll want to interview you and your customers. This shows they know how to get a full understanding of how your audience thinks and what you do to support them.

• They’ll have a bunch of questions to ask you before they ever put pen to paper.

• They’ll have slightly higher prices — because they’re confident they can turn it into a positive ROI for you.

TL;DR: If you’re an established business, a skilled copywriter is worth the investment.

AI, DIY writing, and cheap freelancers can still work for simple writing tasks. But a professional copywriter will have a bigger impact on your revenue and growth.

Here’s why:

• You’ll get a stronger ROI than writing everything yourself. And you won't need to pay an arm and a leg for agency prices designed for enterprise budgets.

• Other entrepreneurs have gotten real value from professional copywriters and highly recommend it.

• AI can help with simple content. But a human copywriter is better at persuading, storytelling, and connecting with your audience.

• If you have a solid offering, a loyal customer base, and a clear USP, you’re likely to get results with a great copywriter.

• With the right vetting criteria, it’s not too hard to find a reliable, legit copywriter. And once you do, they'll become an integral part of your team.

Your copy is the crux of your story, marketing, and sales — and I hope these insights help you make it great.

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