Copywriting is essential to any business's success. A business cannot exist online without copy. That's because you need written words to communicate what you do and what you offer - whether that's through your website, email campaigns, or social media posts.
And yet, with copywriting being so omnipresent in the digital marketing world, many people - including seasoned marketers - don't really understand what copywriting is.
So, let me lift the veil once and for all.
In this article, I'll share with you what copywriting is, what copywriters really do, and the main types of copywriting you need to know.
What Is Copywriting?
The official definition says copywriting is writing compelling text to convince people to take action.
In other words, good copywriting - aka, writing copy that converts - is using the right words to inspire the right actions. This means persuading someone to purchase a product or service and converting them from a prospect to a paying customer.
To be a good copywriter, you need to have knowledge in four different areas that have seemingly nothing to do with each other:
Marketing
Sales
Writing
Psychology
The key to good copywriting is not only knowing the ins and outs of digital marketing but also understanding the psychology behind human behavior.
This means knowing how people respond to certain stimuli and how they perceive information. It means understanding the psychology of sales and what inspires people to make buying decisions. It means knowing what makes people tick and what words to use to appeal to them when presenting an offer.
This is exactly why copywriting is so fascinating to me!
What Do Copywriters Do?
Contrary to what many people think, copywriting isn't "just writing."
As a copywriter, I don't just sit down, write some words on a page, throw in some buzzwords and industry terms, and call it a day.
Copywriters do so much more than write. For instance, whenever I write copy for a client, I follow a set of proven steps that help me craft copy that actually works.
As a conversion copywriter, my copywriting process includes these four core stages:
Stage 1: Understanding The Brand
You cannot write good copy for a client without fully understanding their offer.
Before I write a single word of sales copy, I need to know what I'm writing about. I need to get to know my client's brand and understand what problem their offer solves and how it bridges the gap between their target audience's pain points and desires.
Plus, I need to understand the basics of every industry I write copy for to craft a cohesive and compelling sales message that highlights the benefits of my client's offer against industry standards.
Stage 2: Crafting a Sales Message
Now, it's time to figure out how to position my client's offer in a way that stands out and appeals to their target audience - aka, it's time to craft a powerful sales message.
That's the fun and most important part of the process. No copywriter, not even the most talented, can write copy that sells without first figuring out how to craft a compelling sales message for their client.
And that involves a few crucial steps, from doing competitor's research through understanding your client's unique value proposition to actually knowing how to write copy that sells.
Stage 3: Writing Copy
I only start writing after doing proper competitor research and figuring out how to position my client's offer as the ultimate, no-brainer solution for their potential customers.
Writing is only a part of the process. In reality, good copywriting is 80% psychology and strategy and only 20% writing.
This means that a skilled copywriter will spend more time figuring out the right positioning and messaging strategy than writing the actual sales copy. Because once we've figured out what to say, writing becomes as easy as stealing candy from a baby.
Stage 4: Revising Copy
But writing copy isn't the end of the process. Once the copy is written, you need to revise it to figure out if it can be improved.
I have a 4-step revision process that my copy goes through before being sent to the client as a final draft.
I go through what I've written to see whether I can make the headlines more engaging, whether I can improve the copy to make it more persuasive, whether it's fully aligned with my client's brand voice, and whether there are no grammar or spelling errors.
The Difference Between Copywriting vs. Content Writing
You have no idea how many times I felt like screaming at a job offer that said: "Copywriter needed to write blog posts." That's not what copywriting is!
There's a common misconception about copywriting, with many people - including experienced marketers and sales experts - thinking that copywriting and content writing are the same.
Well, they're not. There's a subtle yet crystal clear difference between the two. Brace yourself because I'm about to explain once and for all what it is.
The difference between copywriting and content writing lies in their respective objectives.
Copywriting refers to writing marketing or promotional material, while content writing refers to writing informational or educational content for blogs or social media platforms.
Both terms describe writing that is intended to persuade someone to take action.
Copywriting focuses on persuading readers to buy products or services. In contrast, content writing tends to focus on providing useful information to the readers to pique their interest in pursuing their relationship with the company in question.
This means that copywriting and content writing refer to completely different types of content.
Copywriters write website copy, email sequences, advertisements, white papers, marketing copy, and anything else that aims to convert the reader from prospect to customer and sell them something.
Content writers, on the other hand, don't need to worry about converting anyone. All they have to worry about is writing informative, educational, and valuable content that engages the reader and makes them want to pursue a relationship with the company.
Usually, content marketing and content writing aim to increase brand awareness, educate potential customers about a particular problem or solution, and get found in search engines.
Content writers write blog posts, social media posts, news stories, and other types of educational content.
So, no, writing blog articles is not copywriting. Nor is writing social media captions. That's called content marketing.
5 Types of Copywriting Every Marketer Must Understand
Now that you have a basic understanding of what copywriting is let's dive deeper into different types of copywriting every marketer and business owner must understand.
Conversion Copywriting
Conversion copywriting is the art of writing copy that converts prospects into customers. It's about inspiring potential customers to take action, whether it's signing up for a newsletter, buying something online, downloading a file, or filling out a contact form.
Conversion copywriting is about getting someone to do what you want them to do by addressing each stage of brand awareness. Conversion copy walks the prospect through a thought process that takes them through the following stages:
Problem aware
Solution aware
Product or service aware
Ready to take a step further, whether that's booking a free consultation or buying something.
Conversion copywriting is used mostly for websites, landing pages, and email sequences - and this is exactly what yours truly specializes in.
Direct Response Copywriting
Direct response copywriting refers to writing specifically designed to get an immediate response from the customer. This type of copywriting tries to get the sale directly and is mainly used in ads and marketing campaigns.
Instead of focusing on creating awareness about a product or service, direct response copywriting focuses on getting people to take action. Every word of direct response copywriting aims to sell products or services directly to your target audience.
So, yes, direct response copywriting can be considered a subset of conversion copywriting, but they aren't the same thing.
The main difference between conversion copywriting and direct response copywriting is that conversion copywriting takes the potential customer through each stage of brand awareness, while direct response copywriting doesn't. It goes straight to the point of getting the sale.
Brand Copywriting
Brand copywriting is the process of creating compelling stories about brands that are memorable, consistent, and persuasive. It's about creating a consistent voice for your brand.
Brand copywriting is usually more conversational, intimate, and human than direct response copywriting or conversion copywriting, as it doesn't focus on selling but rather on connecting with the audience and building lasting relationships with them.
A brand copywriter can help you with crafting your brand story, establishing your brand's voice, and creating branded content.
Product Description Copywriting
Product description copywriting is a very specific type of copywriting that aims to write product descriptions optimized for specific eCommerce platforms.
It's a very specialized type of copywriting, and not all copywriters can do it.
That's because each eCommerce platform's product descriptions need to follow stringent rules. A product description copywriter must adhere to these rules to create a fully SEO-optimized description. It can get very tedious.
Public Relations Copywriting
PR copywriting is another very specialized type of copywriting that consists of writing press releases and other types of written media communication.
A press release can be written whenever the company launches a new product, organizes a special event or conference, or something noteworthy is happening in the organization.
However, companies often end up with poorly written press releases that hurt their reputation because they have no idea that public relations copywriting is a thing. Or because they think they can write a good press release themselves and save themselves the cost of hiring a copywriter.
So, What Is Copywriting?
To me, copywriting is both an art and a science. Copywriters use words to powerfully persuade, motivate, and inspire the reader. Well-written copy can convince someone to buy your product or service.
Now that you understand the idea behind copywriting and what copywriters do, you might want to leverage it to grow your business if you're not doing so already.
And while you can use various copywriting and content writing tools to help you write your own copy, nothing can replace hiring a skilled copywriter to write copy for you. Not even AI.
*This blog post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through my link, I get a commission from the sale at no additional cost to you. You're just helping me keep the blog alive!
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