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Perhaps the question "What is copywriting? " might prompt you to answer that copywriting is the rights relating to the authorship of literary, musical, etc. works.
Don't worry, some of us felt the same way when we first heard it a long time ago.
Truth be told, in both digital and traditional marketing, we're more than used to hearing the term "copywriting" (or "copy") to refer to any written text used in the world (by the way, copyright is "copyright").
Whether it's a blog post or newsletter , a piece of writing for social media, or a piece of writing that will appear in a store window: it's all called copywriting.
But let's empty the cup and fill it again. Because, just as not all that glitters is gold, not all marketing copywriting is copywriting .
To cut to the chase, what exactly is copywriting?
Although there are many definitions of copywriting, we're going to give ours, simple and without any strange words: "Copywriting is using words to convert."
That is, copywriting is persuasive writing that pursues a goal.
And that goal is to encourage the potential customer to take an action , a conversion, such as visiting a specific page, downloading a document, filling out a form, or, of course, adding a product to their shopping cart.
But be careful, very careful.
Because copywriting, persuasive text, is not the only factor that influences convincing a person to take an action.
You can hire the best copywriter in your industry, but if the segmentation of your PPC campaigns, your sales page, or even your checkout page (among other factors) isn't optimal... you'll never get that potential client to buy from you.
Can you imagine a Ferrari with a Citroën 2 HP engine? Well, that's a bit what happens when we have good copywriting on a page with poor usability or technical issues.
The characteristics of copywriting (the real one)
Now that we're more or less clear about what copywriting is (and that it has nothing to do with copyright), the next question is obvious: what are the characteristics of copywriting?
In general terms, we can mention the following three:
- Talk to the ideal client
- Talk about the ideal client's problem
- Talk about the solution to the ideal client's problem
The copywriter (who talks a lot, as we see) puts himself in the shoes of the potential client, empathizes with their problems, and presents the solution: the product or service you offer.
To achieve this, copywriting must be as concrete and specific as possible , without words that may be unfamiliar to the reader and without going off on rhetorical tangents to confuse the meaning.
Remember: it's about writing a text that converts, not a chapter in a novel .
Types of copywriting
Within copywriting, we have to talk about different types. As we've said, the general objective of copywriting is to convert, but it varies depending on the specific objective and the subject matter .
According to the specific objective
Creative Copywriting
Creative copywriting is typically the work of agency copywriters, both offline and online. It's characterized as the most creative version of copywriting and is most closely related to the world of advertising .
A creative copywriter would be responsible for writing a script for a television advertisement, or for writing brand slogans or claims .
The goal of creative copywriting is not to seek an immediate response (click a button here and now), but to position a brand to generate awareness among its target audience .
SEO copywriting
SEO copywriting is specific to the internet and involves writing texts that rank well on search engine pages.
Therefore, its main objective is to make it easier for users to find these texts when they browse the web (if no one finds the text, how will it convert?).
Marketing copywriting
A marketing copywriter is someone who writes to achieve an immediate response from the user (usually online), although they typically also have SEO knowledge to position these texts.
For example, marketing copywriting is what we see on website sales pages or in texts used for email marketing, among others.
Types of copywriting according to the subject matter
General Copywriting
As the name suggests, a generalist copywriter covers many sectors without going into technical detail.
Specialized Copywriting
For their part, a specialized copywriter is an expert in a specific sector and is capable of producing texts with a high level of technicality and specialization.
So, is copywriting the same as writing?
And, once we've seen what copywriting is and its different types, we get into the nitty-gritty.
In the introduction we said that “copywriting” is used (erroneously) to refer to any text produced in the field of marketing.
But, knowing that the goal of copy is more or less direct conversion, would you still say it's the same as writing?
It's true that copywriting and web writing fall under the umbrella of marketing (both online and offline) . However, while copywriting is more conversion-oriented, writing is more informative.
The goal of writing is to inform the user about something related to your sector, to provide value, not to seek an immediate answer.
Writing is closely related to content marketing (fundamental to the sales funnel ), and helps us generate awareness and attract users to create a community around our brand or company.
Let's look at the following example:
– “Tools to manage your business effectively”
– “Did you know you can make your business invoice while you’re on vacation?”
The first could be the title of a blog post: let's explain what tools to use to manage a business effectively. It's informational in nature: to make the user aware of these tools, without the intention of offering them to them.
We would use the second as a title for a sales page: we're going to explain how to make money for your business even when you're on vacation. We don't specify how; we just spark curiosity in the reader, who's looking for a way to do what we're describing.
Yes, it is a somewhat subtle difference… and at the same time the BIG difference between copywriting and writing.
Copywriting and writing as complementary digital marketing tools
Although they differ in their objectives, copywriting and writing are marketing tools that complement each other perfectly.
Through writing (blog posts, lead magnets, etc.), we attract potential customers by providing valuable content that builds trust in our brand. To do this, it's necessary to design a good content strategy that addresses the searches (expectations) of users interested in our sector.
Later, copywriting comes into play, to persuade subscribers (on the web, on social networks) that it is our product or service that will solve their problem or satisfy their need.
Now that you know what copywriting and writing are, tell us: do you write to drive sales or do you write to inform your audience? Although, if you don't do either, our creative agency can lend a helping hand...
