Professional copywriting

The Master's program addresses interdisciplinary issues, which implies the participation of researchers with different theoretical paradigms and diverse methodologies and tools. Therefore, two departments of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication - Press Journalism and Book Publishing and Communication, Public Relations and Advertising - are involved in the development of the program. By negotiating the competencies of specialists in the fields of public relations, advertising, brand journalism, online media, style, and language, the program unites the efforts of the scientific and teaching staff of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication to respond to the contemporary challenges in the communication environment and the labor market by preparing versatile and at the same time solidly educated and specialized professionals in the field of a dynamically developing profession - copywriting. The program is two semesters long, part-time, and open to students with qualifications in several related professional fields.

Education form
Part time
Semesters
2

Admission

Платено обучение - диплома за висше образование (степен "бакалавър" или "магистър"); Писмен изпит (за държавна поръчка)

Conditions

The programme is designed for students with qualifications in:

    Social, Economic and Legal Sciences
    Humanities
    Educational Sciences
    Security and Defence

Additional Requirements:

    Graduation diploma grade not lower than Good. The average grade is calculated on the basis of the average grade in the semester examinations and the grade in the state examinations (thesis defence) and written examination (only for state subsidy candidates)

 

Educational goals

Educational goals

The Professional Copywriting Master's program is aimed at creating professionals in a fast-growing profession such as copywriting. Copywriting is the base level on which professionalism in public relations, advertising, brand journalism, website content management, digital marketing, and digital communication is built. Innovations in technology have enabled the entire economy to go digital, and this also applies to the marketing of products and services. All types of organizations now need to think about new ways of doing business and engaging with customers and service users online. While some businesses exist entirely in the digital world, traditional businesses are developing digital marketing strategies because of the need to reach new and old customers. As organizations focus more and more on their online presence, opportunities are created for professionals with undeniable and excellent writing and communication skills who can produce and manage digital marketing content. They are responsible for the information that appears on a company's website and must ensure that the right type of information reaches the right audience and fits the brand and style of the site. This involves copywriters working closely with designers, developers and content managers to ensure that words, images, videos and feeds are easily picked up by search engines and displayed on the site in the best possible way.
The Master in Professional Copywriting is aimed at students motivated to acquire knowledge and practical skills in content and technology management, in the linguistic and stylistic "programming" of text in order to amplify brand impact and preferential discovery of information on the Internet. The program combines traditional and the latest communication research and practices - the theory and history of copywriting, business communication, creative communication, copywriting for digital marketing, user interface, public relations, advertising, SEO copywriting, intercultural communication, copywriting text stylistics. The educational potential of the program lies in analyzing and mastering communication strategies in view of the current challenges of the communication and technological environment. The program is centered around copywriting as a unique tool in the work of mass communication specialists, covering those areas of theoretical knowledge that can build the trainees' skills to create effective texts for interaction with the audience, to assess the features of the communicative and social environment, to work with different databases, to analyze the impact of and through social media, to manage content in traditional and online media environments.
 
The Master's program offers theoretical and practical training in various disciplines to provide an interdisciplinary view of copywriting that assumes a thorough and broad knowledge of the communication field. The curriculum of the Master's program includes courses such as "Fundamentals of Copywriting", "Corporate Copywriting in Social Networks", "Copywriting in Intercultural Environments", "SEO Copywriting", which draw a broad framework of the communicative and technological implementations of the professional activity of "copywriting". The second group of courses such as "Visual Identity", "Virtual Communities and Online Authorities",
"Linguistic Formations in Copywriting" develop and deepen specific analytical and applied abilities of the trainees as well as their knowledge in interdisciplinary fields of study. The elective courses aim to increase students' strategic competence in different fields of communication, taking into account the conditions of the communicative situation.

Professional competences

The master's program offers specialized knowledge and experience in the coordinate system of public relations, advertising, brand journalism, online media, social media, creative industry and communication, content management. Copywriters interact extensively using multiple communication channels, and the terrain of their professional activity is social media, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns and advertising (the creation and management of online pay-per-click ads), SEO (the process of increasing a website's visibility and ranking for keywords in search results). The program includes courses that present research and practices in digital culture, visual communication, language, style and text, advertising, and cross-cultural environments. Students will acquire professional competencies and abilities to analyze and navigate the structure and organization of communications and media, to work across digital media and platforms, and to evaluate the operability of technological systems and tools to improve the effectiveness of content for commercial, political, or non-governmental organizations. In addition, graduate students will develop effective communication techniques and skills, and strategies for constructing texts appropriate in style and language to amplify the communication impact of a brand. The Master's program will provide students with the confidence that they have adequately navigated the communication environment in all its diversity and complexity and that they have mastered all the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the increasing demands on this type of professionals in our own and multinational companies, institutions, media and others.

Professional realization

The program aims to train highly qualified professionals to respond to the urgent need in the market for copywriters who can create original written texts for web pages in line with the style and concept of the brand and support the visibility of the website by applying writing strategies according to the requirements of search engines (SEO-friendly materials). According to Bubble Jobs, a digital recruitment agency, the fastest growing areas in the digital economy now are digital marketing, content management and social media, where professionally trained copywriters are needed. This is essential in a tech-driven economy, meaning roles in digital marketing are constantly expanding and can be very lucrative.
The Master's program provides a set of knowledge and skills that ensure the development of highly professional copywriters in PR and advertising departments of corporations and institutions, skilled employees in marketing departments, in online agencies and online media, brand journalists, content managers, digital coordinators. Graduates of the program can also pursue careers as heads of PR and marketing departments, media, corporations, etc. Students will be prepared for careers in copywriting, SEO, analytics and social media, and will be able to conduct applied research or consultancy in these areas, which will include knowledge of web content management systems, as well as working with, for example, Adobe Creative Suite for web imaging and Google Analytics and Facebook Insights for web analytics reporting. Based on a broad range of contemporary knowledge and skills, Masters's students will cultivate a constant curiosity for change, flexibility, sustainable professional values, and an active interest in evolving communication systems that will ensure their successful realization in professional and public life.


Graduates of the Professional Copywriting program can pursue careers as:

    Copywriters
    Digital copywriters
    SEO Account Manager
    PR and marketing department managers
    Managers of media, corporations, institutions
    Content Marketing Executive
    Web content managers
    Coordinators in information and communications departments
    Brand journalists
    Information management and marketing specialists
    Social media management specialists
    Consultants and researchers in public communications and information science

 

 

Educational plan