Writing and content creation are necessary aspects of digital marketing. Without them, no one would ever discover your business while browsing the internet, and digital marketing campaigns would be obsolete. Content drives social media marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, and any other form of marketing that benefits your business.
There are many types of content creation, as well as various forms of writers. Although the term “copywriting” tends to be more trendy and widely used, both forms are beneficial and serve a unique purpose.
What is Copywriting?
The intent of copywriting is to persuade readers to take action. Whether it’s to buy something, follow your business page, or book a consultation, copywriting is written to influence the reader to make a move. If you’re selling a product, copywriting is used to convince the customer that your product is worth buying.
Examples of copywriting include:
- Landing pages
- Social media advertisements
- Sales emails
- Product pages
Copywriting uses fewer words to make an impact. Consider an advertisement you might see on Instagram – an ad needs to captivate the audience quickly, therefore you need to get your point across in shorter copy. You think of an ad as being short and catchy.
In copywriting, you’re writing to incite emotion because emotion drives sales. For example, the fear of missing out (FOMO) evokes emotion that makes people want something because they don’t want to miss out and be the only one without it. Flare pants, mom jeans, and Birkenstocks became popular and people wanted to buy them because everyone else at work or school was wearing them.
Emotional marketing targets specific emotions to engage with consumers. Copy stirs up many emotions, including:
- Sense of belonging
- Happiness
- Fear
- Pride
- Love
What is Content Writing?
First of all, what is content? Sometimes content is just copy, but it can also be photos, videos, infographics, articles, podcasts, and any other media.
The intention of content writing is to inform, educate, and even entertain the reader. Content writing may also drive sales, however, it isn’t its primary purpose. Content writing requires high quality content that intrigues the reader.
Content writing strives to increase customer engagement by generating website traffic, increasing social media engagement, and using relative content.
Examples of content writing include:
- Newsletters
- Blog posts
- Articles
- Social media posts
Content writing incorporates storytelling, emotions, branding, and SEO. Effective content writing focuses on being helpful, for example, solving a problem, driving business goals, etc. In content writing, the writer attempts to pique the interest of the reader and keep them coming back for more, keeping the business relevant and building customer relationships.
Key Differences Between Copywriting and Content Writing
Copywriting sells while content writing informs.
A copywriter sells your brand to the target audience. It’s used to persuade and make the sale. Content writing builds relationships through delivering relevant and interesting content to audience. It keeps your brand in their mind when they need your product or service.
Copywriting relies on emotional responses.
Copywriting influences the reader to take immediate action, such as subscribing to a blog, booking a consultation, or purchasing. To make the sale or consultation, you must convince the reader that your business will solve their problem and/or benefit their life.
Consider Axe Body Spray for example. Their ads created an emotional response by displaying in their advertisements that girls would like you and you would be considered “cool” if you used their body spray. When every guy at school was wearing it, you just had to have it.
Content writing focuses more on SEO.
Because content writing is long-form compared to copywriting, and is used to increase audience engagement, it focuses heavily on SEO to drive traffic. A content writer will help you choose topics that will help reach your business goals.
Content writing focuses on increasing organic traffic, copywriting turns that traffic into leads.
Content writing leads you to the website or social media account and hopefully intrigues you enough to keep you coming back. It gets you hooked enough to want to visit again, rely on that site for information/entertainment, or think of that company when you need a product or service.
Copywriting aims to convert this traffic into leads and eventually, a sale. Copywriting should be captivating and persuasive enough to convince the reader to take action.
Final Thoughts
There’s a time and place for both forms of writing. You don’t want to solely focuses on sales copy because it can be interpreted by the reader as annoying and pushy. If you only utilize content writing, you’ll have a ton of valuable information to offer but you’ll miss out on a lot of leads.
One is not better than the other, they merely have different purposes. Both should be valuable and high quality. Whether it’s social media, your website, or an advertisement, you’re being analyzed and judged. Make sure you make a good impression.
Need helping creating content? Send me a message!
Anita Welch 
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