Are you looking for a review of Grammarly for copywriters?
Even the best copywriters don’t get their grammar and spelling 100% on point every time. And you NEVER want to submit work to clients that’s less than perfect.
Fortunately, there are now several spelling and grammar checkers to help you proofread your work before you pass it over for clients to review.
One of the most popular is Grammarly.
Even the free version of this powerful tool is packed with valuable features. More intuitive and better able to understand context than the native editor in Microsoft Word, Grammarly can catch errors that other spell checkers don’t.
It also lets you set goals for your writing, as well as the level of formality you want to achieve. These features are essential for copywriters who write for a range of audiences.
If the free version is so good, you might be wondering, “is the premium version of Grammarly worth it?”
We wondered the same. So, we’ve gone deep into Grammarly’s premium features to discover how useful they are for the day-to-day tasks of the average copywriter.
Before we get stuck into our review of Grammarly’s premium features, a quick explanation of what this tool actually does.
Grammarly is an AI-driven writing app that aims to make your writing clearer, more consistent, and easier to read. There are three versions.
The free version of Grammarly is essentially a more sophisticated grammar and spell checker. It helps you catch and correct errors in your work quickly and easily. It also flags phrases that can be reworded for clarity.
The premium version includes all the functions of the free plan. But it goes many, many steps further. From a simple proofreading tool, Grammarly Premium turns the app into a fully powered writing tutor. It flags inconsistencies, suggests alternative words, and makes your writing clear, engaging, and impactful.
Then there’s Grammarly for Business. This is designed for teams. As well as all the features of Grammarly Premium, the Business version has tools to keep your style and tone of voice consistent. Style guides and tone profiles help all the members of your team write content that is on-brand.
All three versions are available as a desktop app and an online tool. You can also install an extension for Chrome and Microsoft Office. For those who regularly write on their phones, there’s even a Grammarly keyboard. Essentially, wherever you write, Grammarly is there to help.
So, now we’re all clear on what Grammarly is, let’s look at whether Grammarly Premium is worth the money for copywriters.
For many copywriters, blog posts are our bread and butter. An essential part of any content marketing strategy, they are a regular commitment that most clients are thrilled to outsource to a professional.
When you’re writing for multiple clients, blog posts need to be more than just well-researched and well-written. They also need to be tailored to each brand’s specific voice. Some clients want a formally written thought piece that will engage industry experts, others prefer conversational copy and a friendly tone of voice.
Keeping your writing appropriate to the needs of each client is one of the challenges of being a successful copywriter. Fortunately, Grammarly Premium can help. Here are some of the features that will appeal to copywriters who specialize in blog writing:
a) Formality Level
One handy feature Grammarly offers is the ability to set the level of formality for every piece of writing. This is ideal for copywriters who need to switch their approach depending on who their client is.
Once you’ve set the formality you want for your blog post, Grammarly will change what it flags up accordingly. For example, in a conversational review like this, it’s completely acceptable (even expected) to use contractions and colloquialisms. But these would be out of place in a formal blog post for an industry leader.
Grammarly is smart enough to change its recommendations to suit the level of formality you need. This helps keep your writing on track.
b) Plagiarism Checker
Only available on Grammarly Premium, the in-built plagiarism checker is a gift to any copywriter who regularly writes blog posts.
All clients want unique content. But the internet is a vast place, and you can pretty much guarantee that someone will have already written on the topic you’re trying to cover.
This is great for carrying out research (and checking out the competition). However, it also means you may inadvertently end up using similar phrases to another blog post. Some clients will even request plagiarism checks before they’ll accept your copy – there are just too many bots and unscrupulous people out there trying to repackage existing content.
Being able to check your copy for plagiarism directly from Grammarly makes it easy to catch any duplication before you send it over to your client. It also means you have proof to demonstrate your blog content is unique.
c) Sentence Variety
You might have seen the famous example from Gary Provost that illustrates the need to vary your sentence length to make your copy engaging and enjoyable to read.
It’s called ‘this sentence has five words’. Give it a Google if you’ve not heard of it before. We’ll wait.
As Provost showed, even written language needs to vary its rhythm to remain interesting. When you’re competing with an entire internet’s worth of content, you need to pay attention to how engaging your writing is so that you hold onto your reader’s attention.
Grammarly Premium has a feature not available in the free version that catches monotonous sentences. It will flag when you have too many sentences of a similar length together, so you can reword your content and make it more compelling to read.
Of course, the features we’ve listed above will help copywriters who regularly write email copy too. But there are some other advantages to using Grammarly Premium to check your email copy over before you submit it to a client (or send it out into the wider world).
a) Tone Detection
Perhaps one of the most valuable and unique features of Grammarly is that it offers tone detection tools. The app scans your email copy and tells you how your tone comes across – do you sound direct? Friendly? Confident?
This is a fantastic tool for copywriters no matter what type of job you’re working on. However, it’s especially useful when you are writing email copy. It helps you keep your tone on brand and on message.
The tone detector shows up as a little emoji, so you can see at a glance what the main tone of your copy is. When you click on it, you’ll get a drill down into the different tones that Grammarly detects in your text, complete with an intensity score.
b) Inclusive Language
Whenever you release your email copy into the world, there’s that niggling little concern that you’ll use a phrase or word that might exclude someone.
The world, quite rightly, demands that brands are open and inclusive to all. Increasingly, people will challenge any language that they feel doesn’t meet this aim.
Even if no one raises any flags, we want to make sure our copy is respectful and uses inclusive language. It is easy to inadvertently use an insensitive phrase and not spot the mistake. Fortunately, Grammarly Premium has your back.
The inclusive language checker flags any words or phrases that aren’t respectful or current and suggests alternatives. This means you can send your email copy out without worrying that you’ll have excluded anyone.
c) Clarity
With so many emails winging their way into our inboxes every day, it is no surprise that most of us only scan read the contents. If we open them at all.
The best email copywriters know the power of keeping their copy clear, concise, and on point. Unfortunately, that can be easier said than done.
It isn’t always easy to catch when you are being unnecessarily wordy or using complex phrasing. After all, you know what you mean. Much as you might try to step outside yourself, it is hard to read your own copy as it might appear to someone else.
Luckily, Grammarly Premium’s proofreading skills lie beyond a simple grammar and spelling check. It scans your text for clarity, flagging any sentences or phrases that have simpler alternatives. It will also suggest ways to rewrite complex sentences so that they are clearer and easier to read.
Overall, this leads to email copy that is more engaging and more likely to convince the reader to find out more.
Writing copy for social media can be a deceptively complex challenge. Sure, you don’t need to come up with many words, but that means there is nowhere to hide. With a short space to grab and hold your reader’s attention, every word needs to earn its place.
Standard grammar and spell checkers like the native one in Microsoft Word simply aren’t designed for social media copy. But Grammarly is.
The ability to set the formality level is a definite bonus, as social media copy is generally short, snappy, and informal. Inclusive language and tone detection are just as important here as they are for email copy.
Some of the other features that will help copywriters who focus on social include:
a) Formatting
There’s nothing worse than scrolling social media and being faced with a caption that is a solid wall of text. It’s hard to read wherever you are on the internet, but especially on social media sites where you are already being bombarded with a boatload of information all in one go.
Grammarly Premium is here to save you (and your readers) from unnecessary blocks of text. One of the features you can only access via the Premium version is the formatting tool, which suggests times when a list or bullet points would make your copy more engaging and easier to read.
b) Conciseness
Writing effectively for social media means being sparing with your words. Never use a phrase where a single word will do. It wastes valuable space and risks losing your audience’s fleeting attention.
If you struggle to be concise, Grammarly’s clarity and conciseness tools will be a lifesaver. They suggest shorter and clearer options for wordy or unwieldy sentences and flag any phrases that have a simpler alternative.
Not only does this mean you’ll make the most of your limited word count, but it also encourages you to write tighter and more impactful social media copy. Exactly what this type of copywriting requires.
Your copy always needs to work hard for you. But this is especially true when you are writing for paid ads. With additional budget at stake, your copy needs to be effective to bring your clients the results they want.
Grammarly Premium can help you create copy for paid ads that is confident, impactful, and engaging. Here’s how.
a) Vocabulary Suggestions
Coming up with unique, attention-grabbing phrases can be a challenge. No matter how varied your own vocabulary is, there are times where you simply can’t get the copy to sing the way it should.
One of Grammarly’s best premium features is its vocabulary checker, which aims to make your copy more compelling by flagging weak or overused words and suggesting alternatives. Instead of frantically Googling synonyms, you’ll have suggestions right at your fingertips, saving you time and making your ad copy more effective.
b) Confidence
When you’re trying to catch someone’s attention and convince them you are the best brand for them, the last thing you want is to sound hesitant or unsure. Clear, confident, and authoritative copy reassures potential customers that you know what you are talking about.
Grammarly Premium includes a confidence checking feature. This tracks down any hesitant or hedging language and flags it to you, so you can reword your copy. It will also suggest alternatives to make your writing more confident.
This keeps your ad copy sounding strong and certain, giving potential customers the sense that you are confident in your brand.
After looking through the features offered on the paid-for plan, we can answer with certainty that Grammarly Premium is a good investment for copywriters, no matter their specialty.
Whatever sort of copy you’re writing, Grammarly Premium is packed full of features and tools to make your writing clearer and more compelling. Your clients will be impressed, and proofreading your content will become much less time-consuming with Grammarly at your side.
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