We’re here to establish the copywriter versus content writer debate once and for all – how do they actually differ? And perhaps more importantly, what roles do these kinds of workers play in constructing a successful brand? Read on to discover more!
Content writers inform, whilst copywriters sell
Content writers are known for informing, educating, entertaining, or instructing readers about particular topics. They bring a target audience in, engage them, demonstrate why the company can solve their specific problems, and sustains the journey towards an eventual sale.
In contrast, a copywriter sells the audience to your brand, making it a persuasive technique that companies and individuals use to generate a sale.
Content writers lay the foundation for eventual sales
Content writers may not try to sell a service or product directly to the target audience, but they are certainly still aware of selling. In this process, sales are an indirect effect of generating quality content, which builds trust through knowledge.
Copywriters generate urgency and stimulate emotional responses
Copywriters have a role in urging people to take immediate action. This can take several different forms, whether to buy a product or service, sign up for a newsletter, or download an app.
On the other hand, content writers take a different approach, taking the time to build up an engaged target audience and establish trust to position their company as a reliable information source.
Content writers compose long-form copy, whilst copywriters compose short-form copy
Content writers create long-form copy, such as articles, blogs, magazine features, newspaper pieces, email newsletters, eBooks, books, print magazines, press releases, podcasts, and television/film scripts.
In contrast, copywriters create short-form copy instead, focusing on advertisements, webpage content, email campaigns, video scripts, slogans and taglines, sales letters, catalogues, social media, and direct mail letters.
Content writers typically concentrate more on SEO
Content writers are generally hired to drive desired inbound traffic. Thus, fantastic content writers are also fantastic at SEO, meaning they can help you pick topics based on search terms that compliment your company goals. They concentrate on focus keywords – primary search terms for which a webpage is optimised.
Content writers usually drive organic traffic, whilst copywriters transform this traffic into leads
There can be an overlap with this one, but it’s common for content writers to drive traffic and copywriters to turn this traffic into sales. Business managers would obviously love to get the best of both of these features – content that is constructed to generate organic traffic whilst also getting a high conversion rate. However, in the real world, SEO content is best for driving traffic and sales copywriting is best for selling products and services.
Content writers participate in a long-term strategic process
Metrics such as click-through rates provide a good indication of if a copywriter has written a great advert or not. However, content isn’t always straightforward to measure in a short space of time, and robust strategies usually take a little more time to pay off.
Overall, the one constant of algorithm updates is an enhanced user experience. Indeed, think about the fact that the value gained from articles and blogs has a longer lifespan. Unlike a quick email or social media ad, articles and blogs have exceptional staying power that can continue to pay off in the long run.
Content versus copy: what have you learned?
Hopefully, you have now gained the knowledge you require on the differences between copywriters and content writers. Each of these roles holds critical importance in the delivery of a successful brand, but the ways in which they contrast allow them to celebrate different skills and attributes.
Now that you know what sets copywriters and content writers apart, perhaps you can better understand what each profession would add to your company. There’s a time and a place for convincing, persuading, and converting customers. But there’s also a time and a place for ultimately executing a sale.
Here at Active 8 Social, our team prides itself on delivering the copy and content writing you need to scale up the sales you’ve been searching for and inject impact into your latest marketing campaign. So, if you want the help and guidance of some B2C lead generation experts, we’d love to hear from you today!