Copy Writer vs. Content Writer: Differences in Goals, Skills and Methods

Published by Emmay J on Tuesday, July 30, 2024 in Bloggers, Blogging, Content Marketing, Content Writer, Content Writing, Copywriter, Copywriting, Publishing.

Every business needs words. And words need writers. But should you turn to a copywriter or a content writer?

Both copy and content should be essential elements in your digital marketing strategy and on your website, but there is a difference between the two. Several differences, actually!

Many businesses think that content writing and copywriting are one and the same. This confusion causes problems when looking for a content writer but you actually need a copywriter, and vice versa. Fortunately, it's easy to learn the differences between these two types of writing.

While both copywriting and content writing share the ultimate goal of boosting your sales and brand recognition, the two methods diverge in their short-term goals and methods used.

See also: The 3 Keys of Engaging Content

What Is Copywriting?

Copywriting is a term used in advertising to mean any text that is intended to sell a product or service. Effective copywriting techniques immediately grab the reader's attention, clearly promote the product or idea, and convince the reader to take action, such as clicking a link or making a purchase.

Examples of Copywriting

Copywriting is more common than you’d think. Here are a few places you can expect to see copywriting from businesses:

Conventional forms of advertising like newspaper ads, magazine ads, and billboards.
Landing pages that serve as website funnels, designed to draw a visitor in, inform a person about a product, and sell the product.
Sales emails sent to people already subscribed to a company's mailing list (see also: How to Send an Email That Doesn't Sound Like Spam). These emails are crafted to entice the recipient to click on a link that will take them to a product or information page.
Direct mail, such as sales fliers, postcards, and sales letters
Brochures with the intent of selling a product
A paid Facebook, Instagram, or X ad that appears in a user's feed
Taglines (like "Scripted makes it easy to make great content")
Text on a call-to-action button
Scripts for video advertising

A Copywriter's Goals and Skills

The goal of copywriting is to persuade. A copywriter uses emotion to compel the reader to action. Are you hoping to sell something on your website through advertisements, emails, or direct response materials? Then you want a copywriter.

The role of a copywriter is to use their expertise in sales psychology and human behavior to craft copy that creates a unique selling proposition addressing consumer needs. Copywriters use emotion-based, often short-form text that grabs attention and directs consumer behavior. They also understand how to use SEO for copywriting to ensure the copy ranks highly on search engines like Google.

Copywriters must master the skill of brevity. In this new normal where social media advertising leads marketing efforts, ads, and sales copy are getting shorter. Even at shorter lengths, they need to pack a punch. Marketing copy must be concise and memorable. Copywriters have a limited number of words to convince consumers to take a desired action, whether that means clicking a link or making a phone call.

What Is Content Writing?

While copywriting is pretty obvious in its sales tactics, content writing uses a bit more nuance. Its purpose is still to provoke an action, but the big difference is that the text provides a depth of information the reader finds useful, building trust between a brand and its audience. Effective content engages the reader, entices them to learn more, and educates readers to help them make informed purchasing decisions.

Examples of Content Writing

Content writing is subtle. For example, a white paper about current technology in the CPAP machine industry may intend to sell and promote a specific company's CPAP machines, but it does so by providing useful, actionable information a consumer might desire.

Sales are still the end goal, but content writing strategies create sales through the exposure and consumer trust that often come with good content writing.

By creating useful information for readers, a company can use content writing to draw in a targeted audience of potential buyers. In addition to white papers, there are many other types of content writing:

Advertorials are often placed in magazines or on websites. These articles inform readers on a certain subject while simultaneously, yet subtly, selling a product. You can often tell when an article is an advertorial because it will be marked as a “paid post.” Here’s a powerful example of an effective advertorial on The New York Times site.
Blogs created to draw visitors to a business site and convert sales walk the line between copywriting and content writing. If the blog specifically posts content to inform the reader, then it is content writing (see also: Essential Ingredients for Writing a High-Quality Blog Post). If each post is simply an ad for a new product, then it qualifies as copywriting.
Website articles lure traffic to a site, but their purpose is always to inform or entertain a reader.
E-books can inform the reader on longer subjects that can't be covered in an article or blog post.
Social media posts are some of the most widely used content writing today. As more and more people experience shopping through social media, good content writing is necessary to build trust and generate leads from a targeted audience.

Try our free: Blog Idea Generator

A Content Writer's Goals and Skills

The core content writing goals are to engage, inform, or entertain. The role of a content writer is to use education to connect with the reader and build trust. In turn, this trust can convert readers into leads, with businesses that offer valuable blog posts seeing approximately 67% more leads than their competitors who do not maintain a blog.

Are you seeking to raise brand awareness, create educational materials for your customers, or establish thought leadership or industry expertise? Then you want a content writer.

Content writers typically craft long-form, rich content that is search engine optimized, although shorter-form content, such as social media posts, is becoming common in the content writing domain. Content writers are skilled researchers as well as excellent writers. They are storytellers, weaving words into compelling and relatable content designed to connect on some level with the reader.

Writing Copy and Content

For writers, there can be overlap in the two skills. In many cases, a content writer could also craft effective copy, and a copywriter can create useful content. Having the ability to do both expands a writer's options for assignments, especially when the assignment combines elements of both marketing techniques or the client is unclear about the type of writing required.

Freelance writers can find both copywriting and content writing assignments on platforms such as Scripted. For example, many writers are skilled at creating informative articles for brands (content) that end in a powerful call to action that persuades the reader to take direct action (copy).

Choosing Content vs. Copy

While copy and content may be similar or overlap, website owners should know the differences and when to use one over the other.

Content is a growth tool for businesses. Well-written, relevant content expands an audience. It builds trust and keeps readers coming back to the website or blog, even when they do not have an immediate or known need for the product or service.

Copy pushes the reader to take action at that moment, and its relevance is more time-limited and specific. Content brings an audience to the website, and copy converts some of that audience into consumers.

Overall, the key to identifying each type of content is by asking, "What is the immediate purpose of this content?" Content writing enriches the reader. Copywriting is focused on a specific result or action.

Try our free: Smart Content Brief Generator

This article is an example of content writing. It is meant to be informative, educating the reader on the distinctions between copywriting goals and content writing. Hopefully, the content helps establish the Scripted platform as an expert in the marketing writing industry.

Though these two types of writing can and should be used together in a successful marketing plan, knowing which is the key to finding someone who can help create stellar content appropriate to your needs.

And for a little copywriting to round out this article…

You don’t need to struggle with high-converting writing alone. At Scripted, we can help you with your writing from idea generation to the final edit. Sign up for a free trial with Scripted and level up your marketing efforts today.