A swipe file is a collection of tested and proven advertising and sales letters. Keeping a swipe file is a common practice used by advertising copywriters and creative directors as a reference of ideas for projects.[1]
Authors and publishers can benefit from creating a swipe file of best-selling titles to give them ideas for their own titles. Publicists can create a swipe file of great press release headlines. Copywriters also need to keep a swipe file ad copies for future inspiration.[2]
Swipe files are also commonly used by Internet marketers who need to gather a lot of resources not only about products but also about marketing methods and strategies.