What Is Copywriting?

Both an art and a science, copywriting is highly sought after by numerous businesses. Copywriting is the art of creating content to market a good or service in its most basic form. Every website and e-commerce company has a copy, which is the text you see there. Its main goal is to persuade readers to do a specific action.

Although many people think copywriting is easy, the truth is that it requires a lot of practice. The most challenging aspect of copywriting is condensing your content into a brief text that also communicates your business identity. This is where experts- the copywriters come in.

One common myth about copywriting is that it is new and that it has appeared only now- in the digital era but that’s not true at all. In his 2007 book Adland, Mark Tungate writes that advertisements for new brothels have been discovered as far back as Pompeii. Tungate even recognized that certain cave paintings can be seen as advertising. It has evolved for sure.

In this article, let us try to understand what a copywriter today does, how a copywriter is different from a content writer and more.

What does a copywriter do?

Simply put, a copywriter produces content for the internet. They produce educational content for companies that serve as a roadmap for the reader's independent inquiry. Copywriters are regularly tasked with creating clear and succinct content for advertisements, marketing materials, and websites, writing for a wide range of audiences and industries.

Copywriter versus content writer

Let us outline some key differences between a copywriter and a content writer. Let us understand what part does each one play in creating a strong brand?

Copywriter

• Sells your brand to your target market

• Main goal is to persuade

• Writes copies for online and offline ads, slogans, taglines, landing page content

• Has a fair understanding of SEO

• Effectiveness can usually be measured in short term

• Best at converting organic traffic into leads

• Style of copy is usually short form

Content Writer

• Informs, entertains, enlightens and educates audiences about your industry and its relevance

• The main goal is to inform

• Writes articles, blogs, email newsletters, whitepapers, reports and eBooks

• Is an SEO expert

• Usually contributes to a longer-term strategy

• Best at driving organic traffic

• Focuses more on long-form content

Types of copywriting

There are five main types of copywriting:

1. Marketing copywriting

Paid advertisements and conventional marketing materials can both use marketing copywriting. They are blatantly sales-driven pieces of material with an evident attempt to sell as their primary objective.

The language at the top of this Facebook advertisement by Kate Spade serves as an example of marketing copywriting. They chose lowercase font for a consistent writing style and gave the discount right away to entice their potential customer to click on the advertisement. In this case, it is obvious that the purpose of this commercial is to promote the sale of their handbags.

2. Social media copywriting

Because of its huge readership across various demographics, writing social media content entails a few specific components. Here are a few distinctions between this kind of copywriting and others:

● Emoji usage is accepted, and is, in fact, widespread.

● It is more acceptable to speak informally.

● Typically, your material is accompanied by a visual element.

● You can be writing for sponsored advertisements on different platforms.

● On each platform, KPIs are measured in a different way.

● Your advertisement will drive users to the landing page of your website.

● Your copy needs to be succinct.

3. Brand copywriting

Gaining reputation in your field and establishing a relationship with clients mostly depends on effectively communicating what your brand stands for. Writing with a specific vision of your brand in mind will help you achieve that. It might take the shape of a logo, theme music, saying, or aspect of a brand's personality.

However, in order for this picture to be successful, your audience must connect with it. The customer must be at the forefront of your mind for brand copy to be effective. Are your clients the jingle-loving McDonald's type or the Nike sort who enjoy motivational commercials? Your buyer personas can provide the majority of the answers to these queries.

You can also get feedback on your brand copy by doing a series of tests, such as:

● Audience polls

● Focus groups

● Blind evaluation

● Testing A/B

4. Direct response copywriting

Direct response copywriting persuades the audience to act. Any content that implores the reader to act immediately falls under this category. This includes:

● landing pages following an ad click

● open-ended emails

● Pop-ups

● Offers, sales, promos

5. Technical copywriting

Technical copywriting aims to explain technology while selling a product. Copywriters must first describe a technological product in order to convince clients to purchase it rather than a rival offering. The buyer can then select whether or not to purchase the product once they have a better understanding of it.

For example: See how copywriters are selling IBM’s cloud solutions in these copies-

Top tools for a copywriter

Copywriters leverage a wide range of tools to create great copies quickly and efficiently. One such tool is the Facebook Ads Library- an online archive of commercials that have appeared live on the social networking site. Another great tool is one of the top free headline analyzer tools we've come across online- the Sharethrough headline Analyzer.