Copywriting vs Content Marketing – Which one do you Need?

A copywriter and a content marketer are the same thing, aren’t they? After all, a writer is a writer. Well, not really, no. Finding somebody that is “good at writing” is relatively simple, you know where to look, but it’s only good as a short-term solution. When you are building a team you need to know they can handle the assigned tasks - ‘generic’ writers or handing tasks over to the wrong type of writer is not the way to go. The terms content marketing and copywriting are very often used interchangeably, and this just makes things more confusing. The two types require two very different skill sets. Read on to learn what the differences between the two are, and which is better for your business.

Copywriting vs Content Marketing

The two disciplines are closely related, and they do work together a fair bit, but there are important differences between them that should be kept in mind. To highlight this, let’s take a look at what each of them is.

What is copywriting?

Copywriting is a discipline that is aimed very much at achieving short-term goals, such as sales generation through specific actions (writing advertisement copy, for instance). Copywriting is straightforward, to the point, contains very strong CTA (calls to action) and communicates, clearly, important information like prices and offers. The best copywriting is attractive, entertaining, short, emotional and persuasive. It takes very specific talents to be able to do all of that in a short space. Some good examples of copywriting can include:

• Website copy
• CTAs
• Headlines
• Advertisements
• Email subject lines (yes, really)

When you think of copywriting, think ‘sales’. It persuades the person reading it to take a specific action - click that link, put that product in the shopping cart, etc. So, if your short-term goals like running an ad campaign, email marketing or streamlining site copy, then a skilled copywriter is what you need for your team.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is more aimed at gaining a prospect’s trust, rather than trying to make a sale. Content marketing is informative and authoritative and it supports long-term goals such as thought leadership and it also helps to generate brand awareness. Where copywriting is about making sales, content marketing is about building relationships, attracting potential new customers and generating new traffic over time. The content that is created needs to highly informative and authentic. Some good examples of content marketing can include:

• Case studies
• Video series’
• Blog posts
• eBooks
• Webinars

Content marketing is related to journalism, and good content marketers are very good at creating long-form content (2,000 words and more). This role includes research, interviews and they have in-depth knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization). If your long-term goals include building your brand and ranking in search engine results, then looking for a talented content marketer for your team should probably be on your list of things to take care of.

Two sides of the same coin

Copywriting vs. content marketing sounds like the two disciplines are not compatible, but that isn’t accurate. One complements the other quite nicely - content marketing informs people about what your business is and what you do, copywriting tells them why they should care about what your business is and what you do. A properly constructed marketing strategy makes full use of both content marketing and copywriting to keep a steady stream of potential customers coming, and successfully selling to them when they get there.