Explore key differences between content writers vs. copywriters, and see which career path aligns with your writing skills and professional goals.
Many writers dream of achieving literary success, an endeavor that’s usually more hopeful than lucrative. This means you likely need to find a paying job while working on your novel and hunting down compatible agents.
If you search for professional writing jobs, content writing and copywriting are two terms you’ll commonly come across. They’re often used interchangeably but should not be mistaken for each other. Yes, content writers and copywriters have overlapping skills, but the purposes they serve in digital marketing efforts vastly differ.
In this blog, we’ll explore key differences between content writers vs. copywriters, so you can choose a job aligning with your professional writing skills and goals. And make money to fund your creative writing career while you’re at it. 🙌
What Is a Content Writer?
A content writer produces written materials that aim to educate, inform, or entertain readers. In the marketing world, their content often promotes ideas rather than specific products or services. Brands hire content writers for their search engine optimization (SEO) skills, which include keyword research and link building.
A content writer’s goal is to:
- Drive organic traffic to a brand’s website
- Attract and engage a target audience
- Build trust and brand loyalty
- Provide value to prospective customers
What Is a Copywriter?
A copywriter produces written materials that aim to sell a product or service. Using carefully crafted marketing and promotional copy, copywriters raise brand awareness and influence readers to take action, like purchasing a product.
A copywriter’s goal is to:
- Attract potential customers
- Build brand awareness
- Promote events, products, services, or causes
- Educate customers about a brand’s offerings
Content Writer vs. Copywriter: 4 Key Differences
Businesses, marketing agencies, and media companies all hire content writers and copywriters to craft branded content for target audiences. Sometimes these writers create in-house content for a brand. Other times they develop content for clients using a brand’s services.
For example, I used to create job ads and social media content for a tech company’s hospitality clients. Even though I worked directly for this tech company, my content served the clients.
Despite their similarities, these writing roles provide different types of content that serve unique purposes. Below, you’ll find four key differences between content writers vs. copywriters to help you identify which role aligns best with your skills and experience.
Main Responsibilities
A main difference between content writing vs. copywriting is their associated job duties. For example, copywriters focus on creating compelling, persuasive copy to sell a brand’s product or service. Typical copywriting job duties include:
- Researching product or service features
- Understanding a target audience’s needs and concerns
- Interpreting creative briefs for clients
- Collaborating with marketing associates, graphic designers, web developers, and clients
- Identifying brand competitors and emerging industry trends
- Editing and proofreading copy
Meanwhile, content writers instruct, inform, and entertain readers. Typical content writing job duties include:
- Researching industry-related topics, keywords, and trends
- Using SEO practices to improve visibility and organic traffic
- Collaborating with editors and subject matter expects to ensure quality and accuracy
- Developing and maintaining content strategies
- Editing and proofreading content
Length of Content
Another main difference between copywriting vs. content writing is length of content. Copywriters create catchy, engaging short-form copy, including:
- Ads
- Email campaigns
- Slogans and taglines
- Social media captions
- Web page content
- Product descriptions
- Video scripts for TV, radio, or social media ads
Content writers create educational or entertaining long-form content, including:
- Blogs
- Articles
- Newsletters
- Books and e-books
- White papers
- TV, film, or podcast scripts
- Magazine features
SEO Usage
Businesses often hire content writers to boost search engine ranking and increase organic traffic to their website. These tasks require expert understanding of best SEO practices.
Content writers research relevant keywords based on the topic and industry they’re writing about and strategically integrate those keywords into their content. They also utilize link building by linking to authoritative external sources or other pages on a brand’s website to build credibility and improve visibility.
Copywriters also use SEO but only for digital content, like online ads or web pages, that can potentially rank on search engines. They follow similar SEO practices as content writers but for different reasons.
For example, content writers aim to increase organic traffic, while copywriters focus on transforming that traffic into viable leads. In other words, content writers lure the customer in, and copywriters persuade the customer to make a purchase.
Content Intent
And this brings us to content intent. Copywriters and content writers are essentially partners in crime. Copywriters want you to buy something. They use emotionally evocative copy to create a sense of urgency and excitement about a product or service. Their copy usually ends with a call to action, prompting the reader to purchase a product, subscribe to a service, or sign up for a newsletter.
Conversely, content writers seek to build trust and brand authority. They want readers to view that brand as a reliable source of information and the answer to their most pressing concerns. Rather than creating persuasive, emotionally charged copy, content writers use direct language and compelling research to write informative, high-quality content.
How to Choose Between Content Writing vs. Copywriting to Boost Your Career
Now that you understand key differences between content writers and copywriters, it’s time to decide your fate. Ultimately, both jobs benefit from strong creative writing skills.
Whether you’re writing a lengthy blog or a short, snappy sales email, you need a strong sense of storytelling and narrative development to resonate with readers. When a person can strongly envision how a product or service may benefit or potentially change their lives, they’re more likely to show interest.
Still not sure which role speaks to you? Consider the following factors:
- Writing strengths: Short- and long-form content require different skills and strengths. Determine whether your writing better serves catchy slogans or in-depth, informative resources.
- What type of writing you enjoy: As mentioned earlier, copywriting tugs on the reader’s emotions, while content writing seeks to educate and entertain. Copywriting also involves salesly language, and content writing requires more intensive research and industry knowledge. Decide which task sounds more appealing.
- Preferred work environment: Copywriters often collaborate with other employees, while content writers work more independently. Determine whether you thrive in interactive environments or feel more creative when left to your own devices.
Embark on a Fulfilling Writing Journey
You also don’t have to choose one or the other. Copywriters and content writers both need strong writing, research, storytelling, marketing, and critical thinking skills. If you decide your skills can adapt to both types of writing, don’t hold yourself back. Embrace both jobs, and become the writing superstar of your dreams.
And if you don’t want to do either but need the money, think of these jobs as creative stepping stones. They’re simply ways to hone and build strong storytelling and writing skills to make your novels, short stories, or poems more unique, engaging, and dynamic. All essential components in growing and maintaining a loyal reader base. 📚
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