Copywriting vs. Content Writing vs. Blogging

Are they all the same thing?

Copywriting is defined as “the activity or occupation of writing the text of advertisements or publicity material.”

This also includes writing the copy on a company’s websites or for their marketing emails. It is to help someone sell a product or service.

Content writing is much broader and is loosely defined as “writing about any topic given by a client to meet their specific goals” and covers a large range of topics — and includes writing copy to sell things.

Blogging is defined as “adding new material or regularly updating a blog.” With “blog” literally defined as “short for weblog, an online journal or informational website displayed in reverse chronological order.”

With any of these, you are a “writer,” defined as “a person who writes.”

They all sound pretty similar, right?

So, what should you call what you do (or want to do)?

Well, there are subtle differences.

Differences

One major difference lies in the purpose of the writing. In copywriting, the specific purpose is to make sales. You are specifically selling a brand, a product, or a service to the readers. This is most evident in advertisements, billboards, websites, and “sponsored posts” on blogs. It is promotional content. Copywriting is all about the “brand.”

Content writing is basically everything else. While you may have a general purpose of selling your services overall, the content can be to educate, inform, entertain, make fun of, do a deep dive into something, write a poem, anything you want. Its main purpose is to inform.

Copy, what the copywriter is writing, is also typically shorter-form content, such as a Facebook ad or marketing email or an About Us page, and is often also referred to as “marketing copy.” It is persuasive in nature. Copywriting is also typically far more focused on SEO and keywords than other forms of writing.

A content writer is writing anything they want, whether it is for sales or for fun. Content writers are not just personal writers, a company might hire a content writer to update their blog with informative or educational content which is not specific to sales. For example, one of my clients was a home remodeling business, and while a lot of their content was geared toward sales, they also liked to post general informational content, such as “popular cabinet styles in 2019” or “advantages of different floorplans.”

“Content” can be anything, from articles and blogs to press releases, books, and even TV scripts.

People who write social media content could be considered in both copywriting AND content writing categories.

Blogging is usually considered a more personal form of writing, wherein one person has a blog and writes whatever they want to and posts it whenever they want. They are generally trying to get exposure and gain an audience. They may also want to sell services and products, but it is their own personal blog and they can put whatever they want on it. Even company blogs are usually more informative or educational than sales-y.

It All Works Together

No matter what kind of writing you do, it is all linked. Content writers and bloggers are still trying to generate interest, create a brand, and sell their story, even if a physical product or service isn’t currently available to sell.

Authors are content writers — we’re creating original written content and producing a book.

Let’s look at some interesting statistics:

• According to HubSpot, 53 percent of marketers say that blogging is their top content marketing priority.
• Also according to Hubspot, sites with blogs see a 434 percent better chance of being well ranked on search engines.
• According to Nielson Norman Group, on average, visitors only read 20% of the content on a web page.
• Many companies say they have generated more leads simply by having a regularly-updated blog.
• According to TheNextScoop, consistent blogging can increase your website traffic up to five times.
• According to DemandMetric, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing programs and generates approximately three times the volume of leads.
• According to Contently, Coca-Cola now spends more money on content creation than it does on television advertising.
• Also from Hubspot, in their State of Inbound 2018 report, 82% of marketers see a positive ROI from their blog.
• Curata says that long-form blog posts generate nine times more leads than short-form posts on average.
• In the 2016 B2B Content Marketing report by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, they state that the primary goals of companies that use content marketing are lead generation (85%), sales (84%), and lead nurturing (78%).
• According to the Aberdeen Group, the average conversion rate is six times higher for companies that use content marketing compared to those that do not (2.9% versus 0.5%).
• OptInMonster says that 65% of people find it challenging to produce engaging content — and that is where the writers come in!

Interesting, right?

So, what kind of writing do YOU do?

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