Every time I tell someone, “I’m a copywriter!” They say something along the lines of, “Oh, cool, so you deal with, like, copyright infringement? Or “what’s a copywriter?”
And can I blame them? Not really. Most of my life, I had no idea what copywriting was, either.
Alas, here we are, many years into my professional career as a copywriter. And I’m here to put your worries to rest.
What is copywriting?
Copywriting is the act of creating written words with the intention of persuading a customer to take action. Simply put, we write words for businesses.
It’s actually crazy how many people don’t know what copywriting is, considering how much we engage with it on a day-to-day basis.
Those captions you read on social media? Copywriting.
The emails you get from your favorite brands? Copywriting.
The websites you visit 500x per day? Copywriting.
The advertisements you see on TV? Copywriting.
But I think that’s exactly what makes copywriting (and copywriters) so cool.
Our craft is seen by millions, presented to the world as “marketing,” and meanwhile, nobody even knows we exist.
They just think, ”Man, this brand really gets me!”
Literally an omnivert’s dream job.
What’s the difference between copywriting and content writing?
Copywriting and content writing are sisters, but definitely not twins. It’s not uncommon for the terms to be used interchangeably, especially by business owners or on social media. Hell, even I do it sometimes. But I assure you, they have their differences.
The key difference between copywriting and content writing is their respective intentions.
- Copywriting typically involves writing things like direct response emails, websites and ads, with the intention of persuading someone to make a purchase.
- Content writing typically involves longer-form content, such as blogs, written to educate and build trust.
Do copywriters write content, too? Yes. Some of us do. And I think that’s why the definition has been blurred over the years.
For example, I’m primarily a website copywriter, but it’s not uncommon for me to write blogs or longer-form storytelling emails for them, too. At the end of the day, I usually know their brand voice better than anyone else (I literally created it).
| Copywriting | Content Writing |
| Persuasive, benefit-focused | Educational, informational |
| Concise, direct | Long, detailed |
| Short to medium, but sales pages can be long | Medium to long |
| Focused on conversions | Focused on building trust |
| Targets warm leads and an audience ready to buy | Targets audiences at the awareness stage who are seeking information |
| Tracks conversions, clicks, action related metrics | Tracks traffic and engagement-related metrics |
Why does copywriting matter?
This is a loaded question for me, lol. How anyone could think copywriting doesn’t matter is beyond me.
(Says the girl who *just* wrote about people not knowing copywriting exists two paragraphs up).
But I’m obviously biased.
Copywriting matters because it’s the driving force behind marketing. Without storylines and words, ads would be pretty boring, don’t you think?
Copywriting builds relationships
While, at its core, copywriting is intended to get a customer to take action, on the surface, it also helps build relationships. Good copywriters know exactly how to tap into your target audience and speak in a way that makes them feel connected to the brand.
Copywriting builds authority
If your brand is constantly pumping out compelling copy, odds are your audience will start to think you know your stuff. And that’s the goal, right? Good copywriting should attract your audience and position your brand as a solution to their problems.
Copywriting Sells Products
Need I say more? The ultimate goal of copywriting and why most businesses hire at least one copywriting expert for their team is to close sales. Whether it’s from a sales page, an email, or an advertisement, good copywriting sells products.
What are the different types of copywriting?
If you read the start of this blog, I’m sure you’ve picked up on some of the different types of copywriting, so forgive me for the repetition. But for those of you who came here and skipped straight to this section, let’s get into it.
The most common forms of copywriting include websites, emails, advertisements, social media, script development and physical products. Here’s a breakdown of each:
Website Copywriting
Website copy is my personal favorite. There is truly nothing better than writing a new website for a client and watching their eyes light up as they see their vision come to life on the screen.
And of course, hearing about all of the new clients they rake in after we hit publish. Website copywriting is exactly what it sounds like: it’s all of the words that are written on a website.
A little side note – most website copywriters are also well-versed in SEO. While you should never assume that’s the case, the majority of us will make sure your web copy is optimized for keywords.
Sales Page Copywriting
This could probably have been incorporated into website copy, but I think it deserves its own slot. If you’ve ever clicked on a marketing ad to buy a course, you’ve seen a sales page. Sales pages are typically quite long, and the copywriting is intended to guide readers from a pain point to a solution.
When it comes to hiring a copywriter for sales pages, it’s not uncommon for them to write the whole sales sequence. Meaning the copywriter would write the sales page, the upsell, and maybe even the emails.
Email Copywriting
Next on the list is another one of my personal favorites — email copywriting. There are tons of different types of emails, so I’ll save the juicy deets for another blog so as not to bore those of you who didn’t come here to learn the ins and outs of email blasts.
But in short, the most common types of email copy is direct-response emails, welcome series, launch sequences, sales sequences and newsletters. Although some may argue that newsletters are content rather than copywriting.
Social Media Copywriting
Yep, copywriting even shows up on your social media! Social media copywriters typically write captions, ad copy, overlay text for reels and carousels, or even story scripts for talking-head posts.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of people resort to using AI for their social media copy, and everyone is starting to sound the same. But that’s a story for another day.
Script Copywriting
This definitely isn’t my niche, but there are many copywriters who specialize in scriptwriting. This may be used for social media, television, radio, commercials, ads and sales presentations. They may also work alongside producers and directors on storytelling development.
Ad Copywriting
This feels redundant because I’ve mentioned ads various times throughout this blog, so I’ll keep it short. Copywriters frequently write ads for businesses, which may show up in the form of overlay text, captions, catch phrases, emails, commercials or scripts.
Physical Product Copywriting
This one seems to get left out. But another form of copywriting is in writing physical products such as brochures, flyers, magazines and pamphlets.
What does a copywriter do?
Believe it or not, copywriters do a lot more than write. At least the good ones do. A copywriter’s job is to analyze your market, conduct research into your competition and your target audience and craft compelling words that drive your customers to take action. Copywriters also tend to participate in messaging strategy development, content strategy and often take part in more hands-on marketing efforts, such as running email campaigns and conducting AB testing.
Is AI a threat to copywriting?
I get asked this question at least once a week, and my answer is a hard NO.
AI is not a threat to copywriting because it can never replicate the lived human experience.
Trust me, I’ve tried countless prompts, and I’ve even built my own GPT’s with no success. If you disagree, please email me and prove me wrong. I’ll admit my loss and write a blog about it if you do.
And still, every time I log onto instagram there’s some content creator telling me they have the perfect AI scripts to “help you scale your business” or to buy their prompt because it’ll “make your AI bot sound just like you”!
But the truth is, AI can never replicate you. Even when you give it the perfect instructions, it fails. It forgets instructions, it pumps out incorrect statistics, and it regurgitates content that already exists online.
AI is great for some things, and I use it every day. But it’s horrible for copywriting. And it’s exceptionally dreadful for storytelling.
YOU are the secret sauce. Don’t fall for the AI copywriting trap.
Do you need a copywriter for your business?
I’m a firm believer that every business needs a copywriter. That’s not to say that you need one for every part of your business.
For example, I actually think long-form emails are best written by the business owner. Take Jenna Kutcher, for example, who tends to write most of her own emails, and the storytelling shows.
But no business owner should write ALL of their own copy. It’s a lot. It’s exhausting. And your time is better served doing what you do best — running your business.
If you’d like to work with me on website copywriting, email copywriting or brand messaging strategy, fill out my contact form, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Shoot, I might even write a blog for you if you’re lucky.
