Many people, including business owners and even marketing professionals, use the terms copywriting and content writing interchangeably. But, while there are certainly some similarities and overlap between the two types of writing, and both are important elements of marketing strategies, there are some key differences to understand when it comes to content writing vs copywriting.
Understanding the differences and similarities between copywriting and content writing, and by extension between content writers and copywriters, will help ensure you’re using the right type of writing to achieve your marketing goals. Employing the appropriate writing style (or writers) for specific purposes can significantly impact your marketing success, driving higher engagement, conversions, and overall return on investment (ROI).
What Is Content Writing?
The primary purpose of content writing is to engage and educate readers through the creation of various types of long-form content, ranging from blog posts, informational articles, and how-to guides to service pages, knowledge base entries, and other core website content.
The creation of different types of long-form content can serve various purposes, but content writing is almost always part of a larger content marketing strategy that aims to attract and engage a specific target audience.
A big part of attracting and engaging the right audience is creating content based around different keywords and search phrases that target audience members are interested in. This helps drive traffic to websites by improving their search engine optimization (SEO), so different pages of theirs appear more often and rank higher up in search results for relevant terms. As such, content writing goes hand-in-hand with SEO, another crucial component of most modern marketing strategies.
The key thing to remember here is that, first and foremost, content is intended to be helpful and informational. Many types of content can (and should) be written with SEO-friendliness at top of mind, and content can certainly also be written to encourage the audience to take some sort of desirable action, but effective content always aims to provide the reader with some sort of value above all else.
When you consistently create valuable content following SEO best practices, the rest of the content marketing pieces will gradually fall into place. Sure, you might be able to drive some traffic to your site in the short term by pumping out a bunch of low-quality articles with well-researched keywords included in them, but if readers aren’t getting value from your content, the long-term marketing benefits are going to be very limited.
What Is Copywriting?
Whereas content is all about informing readers and driving traffic, copy is all about persuasion. The primary goal of copywriting is to persuade the audience to take a specific, typically sales-related, action, whether that be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, downloading a digital resource, or contacting a business. Copy is usually short, to-the-point, and hyper-focused on driving conversions.
Examples of common types of marketing copy include ad copy, product descriptions, marketing emails, and landing pages that aim to get visitors to take a specific action, such as buying a product or service or downloading an eBook or case study.
Effective copy typically includes a compelling headline that grabs the reader’s attention, benefit-focused language that emphasizes how a product, service, or resource can solve a problem for the reader, and a strong call to action (CTA) that tells the reader exactly what to do next, like “Buy Now,” “Sign Up Today,” or “Get Your Free Trial.”
Strong copy also usually tries to appeal to the emotions of readers, creating a sense of urgency or desire that drives action. For instance, a CTA might say something like, “Don’t miss out on this limited-time offer — sign up for your free 30-day trial today and get 100 extra credits!”
Whether it’s intended to persuade the reader to make an immediate purchase or provide their email to sign up for a newsletter or download an eBook, thus turning them into a lead, copy is an essential part of business sales funnels, driving action at all stages of the customer journey.
Content Writing vs Copywriting: Key Differences
Understanding the key differences between content writing and copywriting will ensure you know when to hire a content writer and when you may be better served by hiring a copywriter.
Purpose and Goals of Content Writing vs Copywriting
The primary goal of content writing is to provide value through in-depth, informative, and engaging material. Content writers craft long-form pieces such as blog posts, articles, tutorials, and core web pages, all of which aim to answer questions, educate, or even entertain readers. The end result of content writing is building trust and authority with both the audience and search engines, which in turn drives organic traffic and engagement.
The main goal of copywriting, on the other hand, is to persuade the audience to take a specific action, often tied directly to sales or lead generation. Copy is typically short, concise, and designed to create a sense of urgency or otherwise appeal to readers’ emotions, prompting actions like making a purchase, signing up for a service, or downloading a resource.
Tone and Style of Content vs Copy
Content tends to be more informative, neutral, and educational in tone. Content writers focus on delivering value by addressing the needs and interests of the target audience, while also integrating relevant SEO strategies like keyword optimization to boost search engine visibility.
Copywriting adopts a more persuasive and action-oriented tone. It is typically more direct and focused on delivering clear, impactful messages that lead the reader toward a specific call to action (CTA). Copy aims to convert readers into customers or leads in a short span of time.
Length and Format of Copy vs Content
Content pieces are often longer and more detailed, offering comprehensive insights into a topic. They can range from blog posts of 1,000 words or less to much longer, more in-depth guides, case studies, or white papers.
Copy tends to be far shorter and much more concise than content, sometimes as short as just a couple of sentences. Marketing copy like PPC ad copy, product descriptions, and email subject lines is designed to grab attention quickly and provoke immediate responses.
SEO Focus of Content Writing vs Copywriting
SEO is a critical aspect of content writing, with content writers strategically incorporating keywords and phrases into content to drive traffic and improve web page and site rankings over time. The focus is on driving long-term audience growth and engagement through consistency.
While some types of copy may integrate SEO elements, like incorporating keywords into ad copy and headlines, the primary focus is on driving conversions rather than increasing traffic. Copywriting is all about compelling the reader to act quickly, whether through emotion, urgency, or highlighting a product’s unique benefits.
Longevity of Content vs Copy
Another area where content and copy differ is in their longevity. Content is typically written to be read for a long time to come, providing ongoing benefits for sites in terms of SEO and audience engagement. Content also often gets updated over time in order to provide readers with the most accurate, up-to-date information and align with current SEO best practices and trends.
Conversely, copy is often very short-lived. Ad campaigns run for a set period of time, marketing emails are not often read more than once, and promotional offers come to an end, thus resulting in a relatively short lifespan for many types of copy.
Content Writing vs Copywriting: How Content and Copy Work Together in Modern Marketing
It’s important to note that content writing and copywriting are not mutually exclusive and can share similar goals. Modern approaches to marketing often blend content and copy seamlessly to achieve the desired results.
Long-form content can certainly be written to try and persuade the reader of something — just in a less direct way than copy. For example, an informational blog post might cover the benefits of a particular type of solution, then include a CTA at the end of the content in order to compel readers to do something like sign up for a free trial of a related product or service.
Content writers may also write long-form, SEO-friendly content for web pages that includes sales-oriented copy focused on driving certain actions. For instance, the content might include headlines that create a sense of urgency or a fear of missing out, compelling visitors to the page to keep reading and leading them towards a call to action.
That being said, not all content writers are experts at copywriting, and many copywriters are not strong content writers. Because of the nature of copy, it’s less common for copywriters to also write long-form content than it is for content writers to write some form of copy.
In other words, someone who specializes in writing short, snappy ad copy for PPC ads probably isn’t going to also be writing in-depth blog content for local SEO, but someone who writes long-form content for a SaaS company is likely to include some sales-focused copy in some of their content.
Conclusion
When it comes to content writing vs copywriting, there’s a lot of common ground between the two areas of specialty, so it’s easy to see why many people make the mistake of using the terms interchangeably. However, it’s important for business owners and marketers to recognize that these two types of writing serve distinct purposes within marketing strategies.
When you know what makes content and copy unique, you’ll be better able to identify which one of them can help you effectively reach a specific business goal, whether that goal revolves around growing your audience through valuable content, driving conversions through compelling copy, or a mix of both!
To ensure you’re making the most of each type of writing, you should periodically evaluate your current content and copy strategies, assessing whether they’re aligned with your marketing objectives and adjusting your approach as needed to strike the right balance for maximum impact.