Content Writing vs. Copywriting: What are the Differences?

If you’re an entrepreneur trying to grow your business, you’ve no doubt heard lots of talk about content writing and copywriting. But do you know the difference between the two? And do you know how to strategically employ both in your business?

If you’re confused about the whole copywriting vs. content writing dynamic, you’re in the right place!

Understanding the distinction between these two forms of writing is crucial for any online entrepreneur, coach, or consultant looking to enhance their marketing strategy.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into what copywriting and content writing are, how they differ, and how you can use each effectively within your business.

Let’s get started!

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the art of crafting persuasive text aimed at prompting the reader to take a specific action, usually immediately. In other words, copywriting is all about conversions. 

Copywriters are masters of persuasive writing. They get readers to take the desired action by hitting various “psychological triggers” and by appealing to the audience’s emotions and needs in order to persuade them.

The desired action could be clicking a link in an email, signing up for a newsletter, or hitting the buy button to purchase a product. You’ll also see a copywriter’s work on websites, in social media posts, advertisements, sales pages, billboards, and product descriptions.

What is Content Writing?

Content writing, on the other hand, focuses on providing valuable and informative content to engage, entertain, and/or educate the reader without necessarily promoting a specific product or service. In short, content writing is all about providing value. 

This type of writing includes blog posts, articles, white papers, ebooks, and many other long-form genres. 

Content writing aims to build trust, establish thought leadership, enhance SEO, and foster long-term relationships with the audience. It’s less about immediate sales and more about creating a loyal following for a brand by offering useful information and insights.

Copywriting vs. Copywriting: What’s the Difference?

While both content writing and copywriting require a certain amount of facility with the written word, there are key differences between the two. Here are the main distinctions:

Intent

The main goal of a copywriter is to persuade the reader to take an immediate action. This may be to actually purchase a product or service, or it might be to take some other action, like signing up for your email list or newsletter.

Content writers, on the other hand, are primarily interested in informing the reader by providing valuable information. As a secondary goal, they may also focus on engaging and entertaining the reader as part of a long-term strategy to build a relationship between the reader and the brand.

Length of the Copy

Copywriters generally write in shorter genres (in the case of ad copy, sometimes just a few words). Some of the types of copy they write include:

• Online and print ads
• Emails
• Billboards
• Product descriptions in catalogs and on e-commerce websites
• Online sales letters
• Direct mail sales letters
• Social media posts
• Video sales scripts (VSLs)
• Slogans and taglines

Content writers generally write long-form content. Some of the types of copy they write include:

• Articles
• Blog posts
• Press releases
• White papers
• Case Studies
• E-newsletters
• Ebooks
• Online course curriculum
• Podcast scripts

Time Arc

Copywriters focus on short-term results (remember, they’re all about conversions). 

Since this is their main goal, they focus strongly on techniques that are geared to generate an emotional response. For example, they don’t just describe a product’s features (which is a more logical approach), but they also highlight the product’s benefits (how it will change the reader’s life), which is a more emotional appeal.

In addition, since time is of the essence, copywriters use scarcity and urgency whenever they (ethically) can in order to get the reader to make a decision NOW.

Content writers, on the other hand, focus more on the company’s long-term strategy. They’re not trying to make a sale right now; rather, they’re looking to lay the groundwork for future sales. This means that they focus on providing value and building the relationship without asking for anything in return.

SEO

Copywriters do need to be aware of search engine optimization (SEO), but it’s not their primary focus. The most important type of writing they do that involves SEO is paid advertising. Here, they need to know what keywords to use that will resonate with the target audience, and they need to know how to use those keywords strategically in their ads. For many other types of copy, though, copywriters don’t have to focus on SEO.

Content writers, on the other hand, are generally much more focused on SEO. Since their goal is the long-term growth of the brand, they focus heavily on driving organic inbound traffic. Top-notch content writers are thus well-versed in keyword research and SEO strategies. Once the traffic arrives at the site of the long-form content, that traffic can be redirected to marketing copy written by a copywriter to convert the traffic into an opt-in or sale.

Content Writing vs. Copywriting: The Essential Skills

To excel in copywriting or content writing, certain skills are essential. If you’re lucky, you may find a writer who is skilled in both types of writing, but usually a writer will be better in one than the other. Here are the key skills needed for each role:

Copywriters

• Must have a deep understanding of buyer psychology.
• Must be masters of persuasive writing techniques such as emotional appeals, scarcity, and urgency.
• Must be able to craft specific calls to action (CTAs) that drive clicks.
• Must have familiarity with keyword research for optimizing ad copy.
• Must understand how the different pieces of copy they write work together in a sales funnel or marketing campaign.

Content writers

• Must have strong research skills, as the long-form copy they write generally requires background research.
• Must have a clear, engaging, conversational writing style to keep readers hooked throughout the longer pieces they write.
• Must have the ability to break down complex topics and organize the material in a way that makes sense and flows easily.
• Must have a deep understanding of keyword research and how to optimize their content for search engines.

Why You Need Both Copywriting and Content Writing for Your Marketing

An effective marketing strategy almost always requires a combination of copywriting and content writing. 

Copywriting can drive immediate actions, such as opt-ins and sales, while content writing can build long-term relationships with your audience. By integrating both forms of writing, you can create a comprehensive marketing strategy that not only attracts, but also retains customers.

Here’s a very simple example (out of hundreds we could examine) of how the two types of writing can work together:

Imagine that you (or a content writer you hire) does research on your target audience, including their pain points and desires, then does keyword research to determine what keyword phrases related to one of those pain points or desires are driving traffic on the web. The content writer then writes an in-depth blog post that addresses this topic and is optimized for SEO. The result? An influx of traffic to your blog.

Now imagine that you have a product or service related to the topic of the blog that you can offer to your audience. You (or a copywriter you hire) writes a landing (sales) page for the product or service. The copywriter then takes key points from the blog post and repurposes each key point into several social media posts on different social platforms, with a CTA linked to the opt-in form. Now traffic is coming to your site and you’re converting visitors into customers.

Once a new customer buys, they’re on your mailing list. You can now send out an email every time your content writer adds a new blog post. These blog posts continue to provide value to your new opt-in and build an even stronger relationship with them. And because they’re on your email list, you can also reach out to them again and again whenever you have another promotion (written by your copywriter) to pitch to them.

Done well, the sum of the different writers’ work is much greater than the individual parts.

Should You Hire a Content Writer or Copywriter for Your Business?

Deciding whether or not to hire a content writer or copywriter depends on your own skill set, the time you have available, and your business goals.

If you’re a strong writer yourself (of either type) and have the time to devote to the writing, you could do one or both of these jobs yourself. This will save you some money.

But for many entrepreneurs and small business owners, time is more of an issue than money–and time is always in short supply. In addition, many business owners are not strong writers themselves, or even if they are, they have a million and one other things to do inside their businesses.

If you don’t have the time, the inclination, or the skills to produce the copy needed in your business, it might be advantageous for you to hire a writer. If you can afford the expense, having good writers create your content and marketing materials can greatly accelerate your business growth.

But which one to hire? Here’s a simple way to decide:

• If your main need at the moment is to boost your sales and drive conversions, a copywriter might be your best choice. 
• However, if building a strong online presence and brand while providing valuable information to your audience is your primary concern, a content writer might be more suitable.

And of course, as we highlighted in the previous section, businesses can multiply the effectiveness of their marketing by using both types of writers in tandem, as they serve complementary roles.

Copywriting vs. Content Writing: Understanding the Balance

Understanding the balance between copywriting and content writing is essential for any business looking to thrive online. Each type of writing serves a unique purpose and, when used together, they create a powerful marketing synergy.

By leveraging the strengths of both copywriting and content writing, you can build long-term relationships with your brand while driving immediate actions on your offers, ensuring sustained growth and success for your business.