Skills Required for Copywriting and Content Writing

Companies require a lot of written material to post on digital platforms. This written material is the very core of any business with an online presence. Although the purpose of all digital writers is to create awareness and generate business for their company, the role of a copywriter and content writer is quite different from one another. Here in this article, we have tried to differentiate between the two and offered tips to determine which one to use.

What is Digital Content?

People are always curious to look for online resources to learn about brands, products, and services of their interests. There are various ways of connecting with the audience like e-mail, blogs, websites, and other such digital channels. There is a lot of content and all of it is not relevant to us.

So the big question is how to reach your potential client at the earliest? Here comes the work of a content creator to create digital content. Digital content creates strategies over multiple platforms to connect with the reverent client. Digital content ensures that the content reaches the right target customer by use of various platforms.

The content should be useful and must keep the reader engaged. Some professionals are required to create digital content. Content writers and copywriters are the two main specialized people who create digital content for the online platform.

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the creation of content for advertising and/or marketing of a company. The aim of copywriting is to increase brand awareness and influence the target audience to take action, and generally purchase. To do this, the copywriter has to make the content interesting so that the target audience can memories it and relate to the product.

To do this, the copywriters highlight the features of the product in the best possible manner so that the message is creatively conveyed to the target audience. Copywriters express themselves in many creative ways.

Here Is a List of a Few Places Where You Will See the Work of Copywriters

• Magazine Advertisement
• Press Release
• Landing page
• Brochure
• Billboards
• E-mail campaigns
• Social media posts
• Taglines
• PPC landing page and ads

Although the Responsibilities May Differ From Company to Company, Here Are a Few Job Responsibilities of a Copywriter:

• Develop and execute brand strategy.
• Write for a range of media like print, video, online and social.
• Edit and proof work to make sure the content is of high editorial standards.
• Work together with other departments like creative, marketing, sales, and legal, to ensure all the project requirements are met.
• Stay up-to-date with current trends and competitors within the editorial sphere.
• Overlook the projects through creative prospects, from beginning to end.

What is Content Writing?

Content writing is the creation of written content to entertain or educate readers. These writers make every effort to generate web traffic by using SEO. They produce dedicated material for digital mediums, like websites, landing pages, etc. Their primary purpose is not to generate leads but to educate and entertain the customers with high-quality content. Content writers tend to do a lot of research to produce rich content so that they can produce content by which the reader understands the topic and give credibility.

A Content Writer Has to Do Deep Research to Produce High-quality Content. The Work of a Content Writer Includes:

• Blog Writing 
• E-book 
• Tutorials 
• E-mail newsletter
• Case study 
• New articles
• Social media posts.
• Reading and researching industry-related topics 
• Writing content to promote and educate about the product or service. 
• Making well-structured drafts using Content Management Systems.
• Conduct keyword research and use SEO principles to increase traffic 
• Proofread content before publication. 
• Edit blog posts.
• Work with the design and marketing team to illustrate articles. 
• Look out for the gap between the content published and what the reader wants.

Learn about Web Copywriting

Content Writing VS Copywriting

While both copywriting and content writing are used for businesses, the writers have different intentions in their minds. Here are a few points that distinguish between the two.

Purpose:

Before creating any content for a digital platform, it is important to know the main purpose for content creation. The content created by copywriters is different from content written by content writers. A copywriter creates content with the purpose to persuade the reader, whereas a content writer writes to inform the readers.

A copywriter writes with the purpose to sell a product or service, their copy ends with a call to action. Whereas the job of a content writer is to encourage brand loyalty through their articles, which entertain and educate the reader.  Most of the text ads seen are the work of a copywriter as it requires the reader to take action.

Be it on Google, Facebook, or Bling, businesses use text ads to persuade potential customers to take action. On the other hand, organic website content is the work of a content writer. An organic website is designed with a purpose to educate and entertain with no noncommercial value, which is the work of a content writer.  

Length of the Content:

As the focus of content writing is educating or entertaining, the length of the content is longer when compared to copywriting. One might be able to influence the reader to buy with a few sentences, but the main aim is still educating and entreating the customer, which requires longer and more in-depth content. 

Depending upon the topic, the length of the article can be anywhere between 500-2500 words. Shorter pieces of content can also solve the purpose of educating and entertaining, but they are noncommercial in value. Short content pieces may or may not provide the reader with much value as compared to the in-depth knowledge of a longer piece of content.

Emotions:

Another major difference between copywriting and content writing is that copywriting generally invokes an emotional response. According to research done by Professor Gerald Zaltman (Harvard University), over 9 in 10 consumer purchases are driven by emotion.

For example, the fear of missing out (FOMO), can force a consumer to buy a product, so that they don’t miss out on the benefits. With a lot of promotion being done on social media, consumers are compelled to buy new products by getting influenced by friends, family, and influencers’. 

FOMO is just one such example that copywriters use to trigger emotions. Other influencing factors include comfort, pride, security, etc. marketers use these emotions in copywriting to influence the reader to take action.

Also Read: Major Types of Writing Styles and Techniques

Grammar:

Grammar plays a vital role in content writing as grammatical errors interrupt the reader’s thoughts by compelling them to stop. Some readers just don’t like to read grammatically incorrect content; they abandon the content without reading the rest of it. So a content writer needs to produce rich content without any grammatical mistakes.

Content writers should read and re-read their articles over and over again to ensure there is no error in them. On the other hand, grammar rules do not apply to copywriters. They are free to use grammatically incorrect and incomplete sentences as long as their purpose of persuading the reader to take action is achieved. 

Most advertising portals have a word limit, so a copywriter has to ensure that the message is conveyed within the word limit. As long as the ad text complies with the advertising portal guideline they are free to post their ads. A copywriter should ensure that the ad is coherent and easy to read.

Another major difference between these two types of writing is the tone they use. The latter is more informative, their tone is generally formal. Whereas a copywriter uses more of a conversational tone for a buyer can relate.

SEO:

Content created by both types of writing can rank high if it is relevant to the search query. Content writers tend to use SEO to drive more traffic to their website and earn higher search rankings. Content writing is better for SEO as compared to copywriting for many reasons.

Firstly, it offers great value to the readers and secondly, it doesn’t put forward any commercial target. Another major reason content writing is better for SEO is the length of the content. Longer content ranks for more keywords as compared to short forms. There is a very fine line in distinguishing between copywriting and content writing.

The latter is used to educate or entertain whereas copywriting is about persuading. Content writing is performed while creating content for an organic website. Copywriting is performed while creating paid ads and sponsored texts.

You may also want to learn about Academic Writing

Skills Required for Copywriting and Content Writing

As the purpose of copywriting and content writing is different, they require a different set of skills. Here we have penned down a few skills required by each to become an expert in their relative fields.

Copywriting Skills:

Practice Writing Content for Different Industries: 

As a copywriter, one works with a lot of different sectors, and it is advisable to get experience writing for different fields, such as health, technology, FMCG products, hospitality, etc. The more the writer works with different brands and topics, the more experiences they gain. This experience enables the writer to produce better and more relevant content for the target audience. 

Empathy:

To attract the target audience, a copywriter must know how to write with compassion to make their audience feel good. The main aim of a copywriter is to increase sales thus it becomes necessary for the writer to market its product with compassion so that it triggers a need to buy your product.

Emotions play a vital role in copywriting and the copywriter needs to know exactly which point to trigger to make the audience relate to their products or services. When you’re writing triggers, if you feel-good factor, half of your work is done. And don’t forget the kindness in your tone as it makes a big difference in the reader’s mind. 

Team Player:

As copywriters work with various departments in the organization, they need to be team players. A copywriter works with the product development team to help them know what the customer is looking for. This will help the team to design the product or service which is closest to the customer’s requirements.

Copywriters work closely with the marketing team as they define the marketing strategy for the product or service they offer. The marketer tells the writer about the target audience and the copywriter writes the content as per the requirements. The marketing department plays an important role in the copywriter’s writings.

All marketing strategies designed by them should be incorporated into the data produced by the writer. This team also suggests the images to be used and what time of emotion should be trigged for the success of the product or the service. Thus it becomes a responsibility for the copywriter to be a team player and work closely with nearly all departments of an organization.

If one is not a team player, the writer will face many issues concerning producing the right data for the organization. This is a very important skill that all copywriters should have to deliver good work which can be further converted to sales.

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Content Writing Skills

Research Skills:

To generate an informative and reliable article, the content writer must do deep research on the topic. They conduct research using various resources to back their piece of writing with facts and claims. Deep research about gives understanding to the writer about the topic.

Only after good research, the content writer can produce high-quality content that the readers will enjoy. It is also important for the writer to know what the reader wants to read. Therefore the content writer needs to know the topic very well before writing about it.  

SEO Knowledge:

One of the most significant skills for a content writer is to have a good knowledge of SEO. It is the SEO and keywords that generate traffic and business for the clients, thus making is the utmost skills for a good content writer.

Headline Creation:

To attract readers, content writers have to generate appealing headlines so that the reader is curious to read the article. Most of the readers read the headline and then decide whether they are interested in reading the complete article or not. It is very important to have an appealing caption to ensure that the readers read the complete article.

Here is a guide to Creative Writing

Skills Required for Copywriting and Content Writing 

Certain skills are required by both copywriters and content writers. Here is a list of skills that will make the two effective writers in their domain.

Time Management: 

One of the most important skills for any business is time management. Both copywriting and content writing have deadlines and the content should be submitted within the stipulated time. These writers need to follow the deadlines given by the clients and handle multiple projects at a time. 

Creative:

Copywriters and content writers have to be creative in their content. They have to be original and informative while generating content. The content should be engaging so that the reader can relate and enjoy the piece.

Knowing Their Audiences:

The target audience is the main concern of any business. Copywriters and content writers must keep their target customers in mind while creating a copy so that the needs of the viewers are met.

Story Telling Ability:

Both roles focus on weaving thoughts in a way that the content leaves a memorable impression on the reader’s mind.

Copywriting and Content Writing- Uses

Here are a few tips to effectively use copywriting and content writing for your business. 

Content Writing- When to Use

The Best Way to Identify When to Use a Content Writer Is When Your Business Wants to Meet the Following Goals:

• Passing information 
• Educating the reader 
• SEO optimized content
• Generating web traffic 
• Building loyalty and trust for prospective sales.

Copywriting – When to Use

Copywriting Is Used When the Business Has the Following Goals:

• Selling a product or service 
• Revealing your brand 
• Advertising product or service
• Increasing web presence by encouraging customers to do a particular task.
• Converting leads into sales

Frequently Asked Questions- FAQ

Q1. Who gets paid more content writer or copywriter?

Although, a Content writer can make a good amount it is a copywriter who gets more pay. This is because they facilitate sales and returns to the company.

Q2. Can a copywriter be a content writer and vice versa?

Yes, you can be a content writer and a copywriter, and vice versa. You must have a clear understanding of the goals and objectives of the two roles to ensure that the content is logical and effective. It is also advisable to be aware of the different styles of writing which is required by each role. Content writers tend to use long sentences with deep research in the article whereas a copywriter typically writes shorter sentences to get the attention of the potential customer. Once you understand the difference will help you to create high-quality content without compromising the purpose of the data.

 Q3. How to become a copywriter or content writer?

To become a content writer or a copywriter one must learn to do research and stay focused and committed. There are many online courses, paid and free which can be of help. A course can give an outline of the work done by these writers, how to write content, how to edit it, and how to post it. Although there is no basic qualification required for becoming a content writer or a copywriter but a good understanding of the language in which one wants to do content writing is required along with some basics of computers.

Conclusion:

Not all styles of content creation are alike, for instance, there is content writing on one hand and copywriting on the other. Both Copywriting and content writing employees are an integral part of digital promoting campaigns, but their functions are very different. It becomes important for the company to know the purpose of the campaign. Once the purpose is clear it will become easier to decide which writers to use for the current proposal.