Copywriting vs. Content Writing: Understanding the Key Differences
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Copywriting and content writing are essential elements of any successful marketing strategy, but they are not interchangeable. While both involve writing, they serve different purposes and require different skills.
Depending on your business type, you may also need technical writing and UX writing incorporated into your marketing plan.
As a small business owner, it's important to understand the differences between copywriting, content writing, and technical writing. Each has a unique purpose and can help you achieve different goals for your business needs.
In this article, I'll break down each type of writing and share an example of how you can use each writing style to promote your business.
What is Copywriting?
Copywriters write copy that is persuasive, attention-grabbing content designed to sell a product or service.
A skilled copywriter can persuade the reader to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, subscribing to a service, or filling out a form. Copywriting is typically short-form and focused on driving conversions.
If this definition surprises you, you're not alone. Many people think of copywriting as any written content.
I even advertise myself as a copywriter because that's the most common term people associate with writing for businesses. But the reality is that my bread and butter is content writing.
I also provide copywriting, technical writing, UX writing, and content marketing plans. But we'll get to the rest of those definitions shortly.
An example of copywriting for a cleaning product
Suppose your business sells a line of sustainable cleaning products. In that case, your copywriting might focus on the product's benefits, such as its eco-friendliness, affordability, and effectiveness. For instance, you might write a short ad that reads, "Achieve a clean and eco-friendly home with our sustainable, all-natural cleaning solutions. Shop now and enjoy 20% off your first order!"
A copywriter might write ads, compelling copy for descriptions of YouTube videos, short-form copy for sales pages, or any other copy that encourages potential clients to take immediate action in some form.
Advertising agencies and digital marketing agencies often focus more on copywriting vs. content writing.
What is Content Writing?
Content writers, on the other hand, create informative and engaging content that educates, entertains, or inspires your audience.
This writing style builds a relationship with your viewers by providing valuable information relevant to their interests or needs. Typically long-form content, it is focused on building brand awareness and establishing trust with your audience.
Ideas on how to use content writing to promote a product
If you sell reusable, eco-friendly food wraps, your content writing can emphasize the advantages of minimizing plastic waste and the harmful effects of single-use plastic on the environment.
For instance, a content writer might create a blog post about the benefits of using eco-friendly food wraps that provides tips for reducing plastic waste in your kitchen. You could also include instructions on storing various types of food with your wraps.
Content writing and SEO (search engine optimization) together often helps businesses gain more organic website traffic from various search engines.
By including specific keywords and long tail keyword phrases, a good SEO content writer can boost your website traffic with writing skills that align content with top search queries related to your business.
Content writers may also write white papers, press releases, or direct mail emails.
Content writing and copywriting are often written at the same time by content strategists to help drive sales from your target market.
What is Technical Writing?
Technical writers write detailed, accurate documentation explaining complex technical concepts or procedures.
This writing style provides technical documents with clear, concise instructions that help the reader understand how to use a product or complete a task. Technical writing is typically focused on providing the reader with specific information and is often used in instruction manuals, user guides, and technical documentation.
How technical writing can help someone understand how to use a product
If your business sells solar-powered chargers for mobile devices, you might focus on providing detailed instructions on using the product. This should include how to charge it, connect it to a mobile device, and troubleshoot common problems.
For instance, you might create a user guide for technical products with step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and screenshots to help the reader understand how to use the product correctly.
Content Writing vs. Content Marketing
Ok, we covered content writing, but what about content marketing? If you type "content" into Google, the first two phrases you'll see are content writing and content marketing.
While often used interchangeably, they refer to two aspects of a broader marketing strategy. Here's a breakdown of the differences between the two:
Content writing provides value
As we discussed earlier, content writers provide valuable content to your viewers in the form of blog posts, articles, e-books, whitepapers, and social media posts.
Content writing aims to write content to educate, entertain, or inform your audience about a topic relevant to their interests or needs. Content writing is focused on creating high-quality, engaging content that attracts and retains readers, regardless of whether they buy your product or service.
Content marketing drives sales
Content marketing is a broader marketing strategy that involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, with the ultimate goal of driving profitable customer action.
Content marketing involves not only creating high-quality content but also promoting that content through various channels, such as social media, email, and advertising, to reach your target audience.
The main difference between content writing and content marketing is that content writing is focused solely on creating written content.
In contrast, content marketing involves a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that includes creating, publishing, and promoting that content across various channels to drive customer action.
An example of basic content writing vs. a content marketing plan for a small business
Let's say you're working with a small business that sells sustainable kitchenware products. In that case, your content writing might focus on creating informative and engaging blog posts, such as "5 Ways to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Kitchen" or "How to Choose the Right Sustainable Kitchenware for Your Home."
Your content marketing, on the other hand, might involve promoting those blog posts through social media channels, email newsletters, and paid advertising to reach a broader audience and drive traffic to your website.
This content marketing strategy might also include creating other types of content, such as videos, infographics, or podcasts, that appeal to your target audience and provide them with valuable information about sustainable living and kitchenware products.
Ultimately, your content marketing strategy should aim to build brand awareness, establish trust, and drive conversions for your sustainable kitchenware products.
Content marketing activities are a guaranteed ROI
If you've looked around on my website, you may have noticed that I have "bundles" as a writing service offering. This is because they are the best ROI a small business can invest in.
Why?
Because utilizing and repurposing content across multiple platforms saves time and money.
You can write one evergreen blog post, rewrite it into a LinkedIn article, use pieces of the blog for social media posts, and even create video scripts or a podcast, all by repurposing the original content.
That content can drive organic traffic to your website for years to come.
Technical Writers vs. UX Writers
We covered technical writing a little bit earlier in the article. Like content writing and content marketing, technical writing has a similar yet different sibling.
Technical writing and UX writing are critical components of a product's documentation and user interface, but they serve different purposes. Here's a breakdown of the differences between the two:
Technical writing educates
As mentioned already, a technical writer creates accurate, detailed, and user-friendly documentation that explains how a product works, including its features, functions, and capabilities.
It is often used in instruction manuals, user guides, and technical documentation. Its primary goal is to provide users with the information they need to use the product effectively and troubleshoot any problems.
A technical writer focuses on writing clear and concise language, using diagrams and other visual aids to help users understand complex technical concepts, and ensuring the documentation is easy to navigate and search. Technical writers are critical in the software development, manufacturing, and engineering industries.
UX (user experience) writing guides tasks
UX writing, on the other hand, focuses on creating a concise, practical, and user-friendly language that guides users through a product's interface and helps them accomplish specific tasks.
They work closely with designers and product managers to ensure that the language used in a product's user interface is consistent, clear, and easy to understand.
UX writing is critical in software development and mobile app design, where the language used in menus, buttons, and prompts can significantly impact the user experience.
UX writers focus on creating a language that is both informative and engaging, using humor, storytelling, and other techniques to make the user experience more enjoyable and effective.
How your business can benefit from technical writing and UX writing
Suppose your small business sells a line of sustainable home automation devices. In that case, your technical writing might focus on creating detailed user manuals and installation reference guides that explain how to set up and use the devices, troubleshoot common problems, and ensure that the devices work correctly.
Your UX writing, on the other hand, might focus on creating a clear and engaging language that guides users through the device's interface, such as prompts that explain how to turn on and off lights, adjust temperature settings, or activate other features.
A UX writer might also include informative tooltips, error messages, and other forms of microcopy that help users understand how to use the device effectively and efficiently.
Ultimately, your technical writer and UX writer should work together to create a seamless user experience that makes it easy and enjoyable for users to interact with your product.
Why it's Important to Understand Different Types of Writing
As a small business owner, understanding the differences between different types of writing can help you create more effective marketing materials that resonate with your target audience.
Simple definitions of the five writing styles:
Here's a quick overview of the five writing styles we just covered:
Copywriting: persuasive, attention-grabbing content designed to sell a product or service.
Content writing: informative and engaging content that educates, entertains, or inspires.
Content marketing: a broader marketing strategy across various platforms to drive profitable customer action.
Technical writing: detailed, accurate documentation explaining complex technical concepts or procedures.
UX writing: a concise, practical, and user-friendly language that guides users through a product's interface and helps them accomplish specific tasks.
By tailoring your writing to the specific needs of your audience, you can build brand awareness, establish trust with potential customers, and drive conversions for your business service or product.
If you need support with any of your small business writing needs, I’d love to help! I offer free initial consultations so I can learn more about your business goals, and you can learn more about me.
