Becoming or staying relevant online means adapting to the ever-evolving digital world, and one of the ways to do that is by consistently publishing content.
Once you get started, you’ll find that content creation plays an essential role in top-of-funnel marketing and is the most effective way to scale a business in a reasonable amount of time.
However, creating content for your audience can take time, especially when you have other responsibilities.
As a result, many marketing teams and business owners outsource their content. But sometimes the hiring process can be challenging because of a common dilemma: hiring a copywriter vs. a content writer.
What Is Copywriting?
Have you ever read an ad that’s so amazingly written that it makes you want to buy whatever it’s advertising? Well, that’s copywriting in action.
Copywriting is the practice of writing influential copy to motivate readers to buy a product or take a desired action. Copywriters are responsible for writing ads, product descriptions, landing pages, website copy, and social media posts, to name a few.
The writing is shorter than educational or entertaining content because the purpose is to sell or influence.
In essence, a copywriter is a highly skilled salesperson with a knack for writing—they know how to move an audience.
What is Content Writing?
If you’re an avid fan of podcasts, educational YouTube channels, or blogs, then you should know they exist because of content writing.
Content writing is the practice of creating content that engages, entertains, or educates. A content writer is responsible for writing content that builds an audience. Some examples include blog posts, articles, white papers, ebooks, scripts, webinars, and newsletters.
The writing is in-depth and solves an underlying problem. In other words, a content writer helps you achieve top-of-funnel marketing goals, such as brand awareness, tough leadership, and loyal customers.
Copywriting vs. Content Writing: Which One Is Better for Your Business?
Since profitability is a strong factor in determining the success of a business, it’s not far-fetched to think that copywriting is more important than content writing.
However, the truth is, you need both to be successful online.
As a business owner, there are two types of content you should be publishing:
- Content that educates or entertains (while quietly building brand awareness and trust).
- Content that motivates people to buy from you.
That’s because relatability is the easiest way to get people to trust you, especially if you’re a B2C business. So to create this type of content, you need a copywriter, a content writer, or a writer who can do both.
It’s possible to focus only on creating copy, but you’d be missing out on the opportunity to:
- Expose your brand to new audiences.
- Rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
What Makes Copy and Content So Important?
As you may know, businesses used to rely solely on traditional advertising methods to attract new customers and increase sales.
But with the arrival of the 2.0 world, digital advertising and marketing have become essential to a company’s growth strategy—especially for those that operate online only.
So copy and content are important because they allow you to become known in the digital world. Whether you’re trying to get your business noticed on social media or the web, you need to get your business out there by creating content for your target audience.
Remember, copy helps you sell and influence, but content gets you closer to your audience. So, although each serves different purposes, copy and content are two sides of the same coin.
Should You Hire a Copywriter or a Content Writer?
Now that you know the importance of copywriting and content writing, you may be wondering whether to hire a copywriter or a content writer. Unfortunately, there’s no clear answer to this question.
Some businesses hire both, while others hire writers skilled in both.
These writers know how to create high-performing content and have SEO and digital marketing skills. They usually go by the names of freelance content marketing writer, SEO writer, content strategist (sometimes), freelance digital marketing writer, or freelance writer.
So, depending on the amount of content you want to publish weekly, your budget, and your preferences, you can either hire a freelance writer who understands copywriting and content writing or build a content team by hiring content writers, copywriters, and content strategists.
There you have it—the truth about copywriting and content writing services. I hope this post helped clarify the difference between the two and their role in digital marketing. I’d also like to note that it can sometimes be difficult to separate one from the other and that skilled writers can create both types of content.