Copywriting vs Content Writing: Differences And Similarities

Have you ever ran into job ads that go something like this: 

“We’re looking for an experienced copywriter to help us with blog posts, e-books, and article writing.” 

Or something like this: 

“Looking to hire a content writer to write social media ads and sales emails for our clients.”?

Can you spot the mistake here? 🤔

In the past few months, I came across many job ads from companies looking for a copywriter to do a content writer’s job and vice versa.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure it’s a genuine mistake. See, many still can’t tell there’s a difference between copywriting vs content writing since they have so much in common. And many times, they overlap. Both the copywriter and content writer speak to a specific audience and convey a specific message to that audience, and they both require high-quality writing. But still, they’re not the same.

Whether you’re a freelance writer or building your in-house team of writers, the truth is ‘words’ are vital to your business. And knowing the differences between copywriting vs content writing will help you be (or find) the right person to tell your brand’s story authentically.

Before jumping straight into their differences and similarities, let’s cover the basics first.

What Is Copywriting

Simply put, copywriting means writing persuasive copy to increase brand awareness, converting, or selling – right away. 

Copywriting has a short-term, direct goal – generating sales.

Since its goal is to get immediate action, copywriting follows a clear direction using persuasion and emotions – because even when we don’t realize it, our decision-making is based on emotions. The copywriter’s job is to speak to those emotions and lead you to make an immediate decision. 

So, instead of emphasizing what some product does, copywriting highlights how having that product will make you feel.

Now, let’s take a look at some examples of copywriting.

Examples of Copywriting

• Magazine advertisements
• TV and Radio scripts
• PPC landing pages
• Product pages
• Social media ads
• Press releases
• Product pages
• Video scripts
• Sales emails
• Brochures
• Billboards
• PPC ads
• Taglines

Now that we covered copywriting basics let’s see what content writing is all about.

What Is Content Writing

Content writing means creating high-quality, informational, insightful, and engaging content with the primary purpose of educating and engaging readers while building brand trust. 

Content writing is designed to influence a potential sale, but the bigger goal is sharing valuable information about a product or service with the ideal customers. 

To achieve engagement and build brand trust, content writers also use persuasive and emotional language. 

Let’s take a look at some examples of content writing.

Examples of Content Writing

• Unpaid social media posts
• Case studies
• Whitepapers
• Advertorials
• E-books
• Articles
• Blogs

Now that we know the basics, we can jump into the key differences between copywriting vs content writing.

Copywriting vs Content Writing Differences

Both copywriting and content writing are incredibly valuable for all businesses. And while both create words for businesses, they write with different purposes.

Here are some of the key differences between copywriting vs content writing: 

Intent

Copywriting and content writing are primarily distinguished by intent. 

While both are created for marketing purposes, copywriting’s intention is to sell or convert, while content writing’s intention is to inform, inspire or entertain. 

Copywriting is sales-focused, while content writing is engagement-focused. 

Length

Since copywriting’s purpose is to get immediate action, copywriters usually write short-form copy. 

I emphasized ‘usually’ since a short-form copy isn’t always the right way to make your readers take action. Take David Ogilvy, “the father of advertising,” as an example. He’s known for his long-form copy that people (actually) enjoyed reading. 

How to tell if a short-form or long-form copy is best for you? Test, test, test!

The length of your copy depends on many variables like your market, product, offer, etc., so testing is the only way to know which one is better for you. 

On the other hand, content writing usually results in long-form content since its purpose is to educate or entertain. 

And again, I emphasized ‘usually’ because both short and long-form content is equally valuable (depending on your reader’s needs).

Short-form content can be extremely valuable if your readers want quick answers to their search queries. This type of content writing is best for providing a basic overview of the topic while saving your reader time. Short-form content is generally under 1,000 words.

On the other hand, long-form content dives deeper into topics, covering more than just basic info. So, if you want to rank high on Search Engines and build your website’s reputation, long-form content is the way to go. Every content that’s above 1,000 words is considered long-form content.

Goal

The only goal of copywriting is to convert a customer or generate and increase sales, so it always ends with a clear call to action (CTA) button like “buy now.”

Meanwhile, content writing’s primary goal is to increase brand loyalty by informing and engaging the audience. 

Many content writers also include CTA’s in their content, but more subtly than copywriters. For example, “share,” “comment,” etc. 

Now that we know the key differences between copywriting vs content writing let’s see where they overlap. 

Copywriting vs Content Writing Similarities

Although copywriting and content writing differ in intent, length, and goals, they have many things in common. And one of them is their ultimate goal.

While the primary goal of content writing is increasing brand trust, its ultimate goal is the same as copywriting’s – to convert a customer or generate sales. So, both copywriting and content writing share the same ultimate goal. 

Besides the ultimate goal, copywriting and content writing have many other similarities, like:

• Doing in-depth research to find out which topics are beneficial for the readers
• Conveying a specific message to a specific audience 
• Increasing brand awareness and building brand trust
• Using persuasive and emotional language
• Including CTA in their writing
• Targeting specific keywords
• Creating catchy headlines

As you can see, copywriting and content writing have so much in common. So, it’s no wonder why some people still can’t tell there’s a difference between copywriting vs content writing. 

Let’s Digest It

Both copywriting and content writing have a massive impact on the customers’ value journey. Fact! And both are vital for any business’s success and growth. Also, a fact! 

And ideally, every business should have them both on the team. 

But, if you don’t want to get an awkward look the next time you ask your copywriter to write blog posts, it’s good to know the differences between copywriting vs content writing. 

Understanding how they differ will help you make informed decisions regarding your copy or content needs and be (or find) the right person to tell your brand’s story authentically. 

And now, it’s time to throw in a CTA in this blog post 🙂

What are your thoughts on this topic? Would you add another difference or similarity between copywriting and content writing? I would love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to share them in the comments section below.

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