This week I was asked to speak about copywriting in a Clubhouse room.
One of the questions that came up was what is the difference between copywriting and content writing. Now, most of you probably think they’re the same. Especially if you’re just starting out in creating content of any description for your business.
However, they aren’t! In fact, both content and copywriting have very specific and different purposes for growing your business, adding value, creating credibility, and any marketing in relation to what you do.
So the difference between content writing and copywriting isn’t really like apples and oranges. It’s more like bananas and plantains. So if you’re looking to understand what the distinction is, it’s all about the purpose.
What Is The Purpose Of Content Writing vs. Copywriting?
Copywriting is about selling the personas and benefits of your brand, as well as evoking emotion. While content writing is telling people about the value of your product or service and delivering valuable content.
So what does that actually mean when I talk about valuable content?
When you’re talking about valuable content, you’re talking about your blog posts, for example. Or any material that you’re using that’s written demonstrating your credibility and the value of what you offer.
Whereas copywriting is the art of selling people on an idea, brand, or ideology.
Essentially is all about you selling them on what it is you do, whether that’s a service or a product.
It’s about demonstrating to them the benefits of whatever you have as a product or service and then talking to them in the language they understand. Then they ‘get’ what it is you’re offering them, and they want to purchase it from you.
Copywriting isn’t advertorial in its nature. Its intent is to pitch your customers to use your products or your services.
So if you happened to have watched the entire series of Mad Men as I did in Lockdown, then you will know this is exactly what Don Draper and Peggy Olson did when they were working for Sterling Cooper. They weren’t selling the products; they were selling the ideas and emotions conjured up in the purchaser’s mind. And how it will improve their life.
Meanwhile, content writing is all about the art of creating content, and this is essentially informing, educating, or entertaining.
Your content has to have a clear purpose, and it has to have a reason behind it.
It has to represent your brand voice, and it also needs to be a good read.
So when you’re looking at what really good content writing is, you’re going to be focusing on the editorial quality, no matter where it comes from.
And for brands and data-driven publishers, you have to make sure your content writing aligns with whatever business strategy and marketing goals you are using.
Then you can expand your audience, turn them into raving fans, and then make them customers.
What Are The Similarities Between Copywriting And Content Writing?
It goes without saying that both content writing and content writing have a lot of similarities.
One of these is goals. Both your copywriting and your content writing are essentially trying to seek to convert your reader either into a sale or lead.
They also need to be really well-written, and they need to have quality writing for whatever the reason, so the reader keeps on wanting to read.
So really, the ultimate objective of your copywriting is to sell into the emotions that are generated. Your content writing creates something of value, which helps your audience understand what you actually do.
What’s The Difference Between A Copywriter And A Content Writer Or Content Creator?
A copywriter produces copy. This can include a variety of different formats. In ye olden days, it used to be just about advertising. But then that thing called the Internet came along.
So copy now includes an awful lot more than just a witty slogan or a long advertorial piece appearing in a newspaper or magazine.
Copywriting can now include:
Webpage content
Slogans and taglines
SEO
Email campaigns
TV, video, or radio scripts
White Papers
Brochures
Postcards
Direct mail letters
Ads (online or offline)
Social media
When I work with clients on their copywriting, they can ask me to work on all sorts of things, from emails, newsletters to their web content and social media ads.
I also do get asked to content writing. And with a background in journalism, it’s something I can deliver.
So what does this entail? Your content writing material includes the following:
Blog posts
Magazine features
Newsletters
E-books
Social media posts
Podcast scripts and research
The bottom line is that if you have a business, you need both copywriting and content writing. Your writing needs to be fresh, you need to be up to the minute, and you need your copywriting and content writing to generate audience love for you. Plus, it needs to establish value, increase your credibility, and speak to your reader’s emotions.
And if you get a really good copywriter, they can create content that has the ability to not only show your value as a business but it can actually appeal to the emotions of your reader. Then it moves your reader into a state where they actually want to purchase from you as well.
Why Should You Care About The Difference Between Copywriting And Content Writing?
Your content is furnishing truth, and it’s using data. Your content is all about using research and anecdotes.
When I create a blog post series for a client, I do a ton of research, and I’m talking about way more than a couple of hours. I research the topic, examine the keywords, analyze the SEO, research the material, and study the background.
You’re establishing trust and credibility for your brand, and that’s what my aim is when in the case of blog content. I’m making sure your content gets your readers to experience new information around anything associated with your product or service and get some to think about their worldview. The content I provide for my clients provokes thought, and it builds upon what they already know. And I also sneak in some emotional touchpoints to stoke the fires of their desire to purchase!
So, here’s the difference in copywriting – it’s selling the readers on viewpoint.
When I’m creating copy for my clients, I’m taking their audience on an emotional journey. I’m persuading that audience not only to fall in love but also to buy.
When I onboard a new client, I actually spend between 90 minutes to 3 hours talking to them about every facet of their business:
What motivates them about their clients
What their clients love and what they don’t love.
I dive into what their clients love and hate about the business.
I look at what thrills them what leaves them cold.
Then I also ask to speak to past clients to get some great data and case study information to help craft the right copy and brand voice.
This may sound like a lot. But when my clients get that kind of in-depth research, they know that when their copy is put together, whether it’s a long-form sales page or a website, that copy will be speaking their audience’s love language.
Their audience knows what they’re saying, and that copy resonates with them. And it’s taking the client’s audience on a journey, not to inform but to persuade.
When I’m doing copywriting, the key here is that it’s demonstrating the benefits to the reader, so they are left with no doubt that they can achieve the emotional state of delight that my client’s service or product can offer them.
Your copywriting, if done well, is leveraging your readers’ values without having to give them any context or reason, relevance, or conjecture.
To answer the original question of this post, which is the difference between copy and copywriting. Copywriting can be considered content, but the content isn’t really copy.
So if you have a really good copywriter who creates personality-driven conversion copy for you, then they are going to be in a position where they can overlap the very best aspects of content and copywriting. They can manipulate language to tell stories and persuade your reader, whether it be dramatic or subtle.
If you liked this post, check out my post now on emotional bias.
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