Content Writer Vs. Copywriting

The Five Key Content Role Differences Explained

Both copywriters and content writers fill vital roles in building a successful brand or business. This article outlines the five key differences between the two.

Simply put, copywriters write "copy" to sell to the reader. Whether it be a service, product, or concept, it does not matter. The goal is the same; to encourage people to take immediate action, like downloading something, signing up for a newsletter, or buying a product. While at the same time, a content writer may be making content intended to attract an audience and engage their sustained attention. The content should also demonstrate the ability to solve their problems and create a pathway for your target audience to eventually convert to a client or customer.

Copywriters create that urgency and the want in a headline to evoke fast action by the reader. The role of the content writer is to build an engaged audience. As mentioned above, they want to establish trust and position the brand as a reliable source of information and authority in their field.

Since trust is a huge driving factor in buying decisions in any industry, content writers lay the groundwork for future sales by building that trust early in the process. Although they're not selling a product or service directly, content writers are still concerned about selling and the end game, producing valuable content that builds relationships and eventually translates to building revenue.

Content writers are typically more focused on SEO than copywriters. Part of the job is to drive inbound traffic to the site. So good writers know how to infuse the right amount of SEO into their content. This content is based on topics that are search terms identified as aligning with your business voice, optic, and goals. A content writer will help you identify meta titles, descriptions, keywords, and phrases to improve your SEO.

Copywriters write slogans, landing pages, sales copy, product pages, direct mail, email, television, radio, and social media ads. A content writer creates long-form content like blog posts, articles for magazines and newspapers, books, ebooks, newsletters, white papers, case studies, and social media posts. This is only a brief overview of the type of writing each employs. Looking at the list, it might seem there is overlap, but each has its own approach and goals. Remember, it's sales versus relationship building and long-term engagement.

The results of the copywriter's efforts can be evaluated quickly by looking at the metrics. The open and click-through rates will show if there are results. The content writer focuses on the long-term content strategy; therefore, it is a long process to determine if their efforts result in a pay-off. When discussing long-term content strategies, the race to gain a customer or client will not yield a quick finish. Good SEO simply takes time.

Value is gained from content like blogs and articles, which offer substantially longer shelf life. An ad or email will have a much shorter run but is more capable of producing quicker, short-term results. While blogs and articles pay off over time. It is good to balance short-term goals with more extended goals. The result is stable efforts that will yield more sustainable revenue.

While content writers drive organic traffic, copywriters convert that activity into prospects. To assert a point again, SEO content is prime at driving traffic, and sales copy is prime at selling. Keep the two separate but create a strategy that encompasses the two sides to work synergistically.

If you need help creating a content strategy that works for you, message me, and we'll start the conversation.