[Book Review] An A to Z Guide to the Craft of "Marketing with Words"

Source:  Kogan Page

Writing has been an integral part of my work throughout my professional career. I can't begin to calculate how many words or pages I've written over the past four-plus decades.

But even now, I regularly have questions about grammar, or style, or some other aspect of writing that I'm not sure how to answer. Over the years, I've assembled a small library of reference books to help me answer these questions.

I still have the Harbrace College Handbook I used in my undergraduate English course, and I frequently turn to Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. And, a couple of years ago, I added Ann Handley's great book Everybody Writes to my collection of go-to reference books.

I now plan to add Alan Barker's new book, The Complete Copywriter:  The Definitive Guide to Marketing with Words (Kogan Page, 2025), to my library of writing resources. The Complete Copywriter is an in-depth guide to writing marketing content, and it should be required reading for anyone new to the craft.

Alan Barker is Managing Director of Kairos Training Limited, a UK-based consulting firm focused on developing creativity and communication skills. He also runs the copywriting masterclass offered by The Chartered Institute of Marketing, one of the UK's premier marketing professional associations.

What's In the Book

The Complete Copywriter covers a wide range of subjects relating to writing marketing content. The book is structured in six parts.

• In Part 1 (Chapters 1-2), Barker discusses the attributes, skills, and habits needed to be a good writer, and he explains how copy (written content) works.

• Part 2 (Chapters 3-6) describes the three steps essential to planning any form of copy - understanding and profiling the reader, articulating the argument or proposition the copy will express, and determining what voice the copy will use.

• In Part 3 (Chapters 7-9), Barker explains how to structure copy for browsing readers and searching readers, and he devotes a chapter to the use of narratives (stories) in written content.

• Part 4 (Chapters 10-1) introduces the reader to the fundamental principles and rules of syntax and grammar.

• In Part 5 (Chapters 12-17), Barker describes how to develop a content strategy, and he explains how to create effective copy for several content formats, including websites, email, newsletters, press releases, and longer-form content such as white papers, blog posts, and thought leadership pieces. 

• In Part 6 (Chapters 18-19), Barker identifies the skills you need to be a successful copywriter, and he concludes the book with a detailed list of additional resources about copywriting and writing in general.

My Take

The Complete Copywriter will be a valuable resource for both beginning and experienced marketing writers.

For beginners, the book provides a thorough introduction to the craft of "marketing with words." Alan Barker writes clearly, and he makes the material in the book accessible to readers who don't have prior copywriting training or experience. He also includes numerous exercises throughout the book that should be particularly valuable for beginning copywriters.

The Complete Copywriter is also well-suited for beginning copywriters because it takes a broad approach to the subject. In the book's Introduction, Barker observed that most books about copywriting focus almost exclusively on advertising or sales copy, while marketing writers are now expected to produce several other types of content. This book focuses first on how to be a good writer and then discusses several specific content formats.

For experienced marketing writers, The Complete Copywriter will be an excellent reference book. Barker's treatment of content strategy and specific content formats is fairly basic, but I've found the chapters on syntax, grammar, and content structure to be useful.

So, whether you're a beginning or experienced marketing writer, The Complete Copywriter will be a useful resource.