In this blog, I\u2019m offering my two pennies on something that I didn\u2019t realise people cared about. However, it recently came to my attention that some people do care AND other people get confused about it\u2026I realised it might be helpful to share my thoughts on it! So without father ado: what\u2019s the difference between copywriting and content writing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This question came to my attention several weeks ago on Facebook. I don\u2019t spend much time on Facebook these days, but I am a member of some freelancer groups and one or two equine and rural business groups. It was on one of these groups that someone advertised that they were giving away copywriting services for free\u2026 And boy did they get some grief! But that\u2019s not why the whole debacle caught my eye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The person posting (the original poster or OP, as I believe the cool kids say) was offering to write a blog or website copy for small businesses and not take payment. They are trying something new and wanted to get their business off the ground by building a portfolio of work. So far, and all pretty standard stuff. I read plenty of posts like this every week from people offering their services in web design, photography and content creation for free to build up their portfolio. It honestly doesn\u2019t bother me \u2013 I\u2019m lucky to have a portfolio of work I\u2019m incredibly proud of and an excellent reputation that leads to lots of word-of-mouth work. Plus, if a brand or businessperson\u2019s budget for copywriting is $0.00, I\u2019m not the right writer for them. Or, to put it another way, they are not the customer for me! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What caught my eye were the comments underneath the post. They had clearly caught a few other people\u2019s attention too, as I had multiple screenshots sent to me for my opinion! The comments in question had been left by another copywriter whose feathers seem to have been ruffled by the post. I understand that it feels like people are undermining our work when they give away services for free, but there\u2019s nothing you can do about it. However, this group member and fellow writer had proceeded to attack the OP in the comments. She claimed they couldn\u2019t possibly be a copywriter, giving several reasons for her claim. E.g., she had done some analysis on a website from their previous business to see if they could SEO-optimise his copy (he failed her test, quelle surprise), highlighted the lack of lead magnet on their site and was generally being rather mean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her comments were dressed up as a warning to other people in the group to be wary of people offering their services as copywriters when they don\u2019t have the expertise to back up their claims. In principle a fair warning, but not well executed and you could forgive the original poster for feeling attacked. Putting her butthurt (there\u2019s no other word for it) to one side for a moment, I was interested in the comment where she insisted on separating copywriting and content writing into two different specialisms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there a difference? If so, what is the difference between copywriting and content writing? I thought I\u2019d share my thoughts with you here. Nope. And it absolutely doesn\u2019t matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not one bit. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For most business owners the argument is completely and utterly irrelevant and what\u2019s more, she got in a bit of a muddle in her definitions of the two. Now, if you Google \u2018the difference between copywriting and content writing you\u2019ll find lots of blogs confidently giving you the answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hope those blogs were all written by someone with the official job title of content writer, given that they are educating anyone who cares to read them on such an important matter. OK, that might be some sarcasm slipping in! Personally, I think it\u2019s all nonsense. Here\u2019s why\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Content marketing is a relatively new strategy in the world of marketing and is a direct result of the rise of digital media channels. The idea is that if you have a website to sell your products or services then you need a content plan and a content writer to create lots of blogs, white papers and case studies! That way you can rank higher in Google and educate your audience. They will, thanks to your content, think you\u2019re the number one authority in your sector and buy from you. Let\u2019s ignore the fact that the content marketing bandwagon has been careering along unchecked for years now and there\u2019s a lot of nonsense out there dressed up as educational content. And with the advent of generative AI, that\u2019s bandwagon is getting heavier, faster and harder to control as every brand can churn out blogs, blogs based on information from thousands of other blogs and content about the same subject already on the internet. But that\u2019s a subject for another day\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n So: content writers write content. That\u2019s nice and clear, isn\u2019t it? But here’s the rub \u2013 lots of copywriters can write blogs and white papers too. Whisper it quietly, but the ability to write an epic email subject line doesn\u2019t mean that the part of your brain that can write a blog dies and falls out of your ears. Copywriters have existed as long as marketing has been around. My favourite marketing book is Ogilvy on Advertising<\/em> by the godfather of all copywriting, David Ogilvy. This man is a legend, and the book is full of his amazing words that were features some of the world\u2019s most famous adverts. Famous if you\u2019re nerdy about marketing and advertising, I must add. Not so much if you’re not. And would you know it, in some of those adverts his copy is both educating people AND trying to persuade them to do something. Crazy, eh? <\/p>\n\n\n\n And what happens if you need to send out a newsletter that has both an offer in it and a CTA to read your latest blog? As per those tight definitions of copywriter versus content writer that you\u2019ll find online, you\u2019d need a copywriter to write that email but, ohmygod, you\u2019d need a content writer to craft that blog for you. Off you go to find one of each, please. Don\u2019t let that copywriter near your blog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Content marketing is relatively new; copywriting isn’t very new<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can copywriters turn their hand to content writing? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n