When creating content for the web, the terms “content marketing” and “copywriting” come up frequently. What do these terms mean? And, more importantly, how can applying these concepts help you write effective content?
Content marketing and copywriting are often confused, which is understandable since they are related. But each of these approaches has its own specific characteristics, applications, and conventions. Moovizz explains it all …
What is content marketing?
Content marketing refers to practices aimed at providing prospects or customers with a variety of useful or entertaining content. A content marketing strategy can be developed for either B2B or B2C audiences, often with significant differences in terms of strategy and the content created.
Simply put, it means having a presence across all channels, using various formats (text, audio, video) to generate buzz around your brand and increase brand awareness.
What about copywriting?
Copywriting can be defined as the art of writing text designed to achieve specific objectives (branding, brand recall, conversion, etc.). Most often, copywriting aims to be concise, impactful, and persuasive; in the field of advertising, it aims to implement the copy strategy.
The goal of copywriting is to captivate the reader and keep them from clicking away. It’s not enough to just “know how to write”—you have to keep them hooked and make them want to keep reading an article (For example, an article that explains the difference between copywriting and content marketing… Don’t go away—we’ll get to that).
What are the differences between copywriting and content marketing?
When you read the definitions, you might think that they’re actually exactly the same thing, and that we’re promising to show you the difference when, in fact, there isn’t one. While both are related to marketing, I’d say that one is the art (copywriting) and the other is the method (content marketing). But should you do one or the other, or both?
The primary goal of content marketing is to help you grow your online presence. It also helps you build brand awareness, increase visibility, and foster customer loyalty. The aim is to attract potential customers and convert them through high-quality content shared for free.
Copywriting, on the other hand, helps you build a relationship with your audience, and that relationship will lead to a purchase.
How do you do content marketing?
To implement a high-quality content marketing strategy, you need to produce content that is relevant and interesting to your target audience: Create content on social media, write blog posts, make videos or podcasts—the key is to be visible, which will help boost your online visibility.
How do you do copywriting?
The most important thing is to know your audience, your target audience. Because to captivate your readers and spark their interest, you need to identify their challenges so you know how to speak to them. Listen to your target audience and understand them. Your audience gives you the keys to reaching them—you just need to hear their knock to open the door. And you can practice using a method well-known among copywriters: the AIDA method. AIDA is an acronym for:
NOTE: “Set the scene,” as my grandmother would have said. Capture the reader’s attention, make a lasting impression. Use color, bold type, italics, an eye-catching image—in short, grab their attention…
INTEREST: You’ve caught your reader’s attention; now spark their interest. To do this, you need to know your target audience well and understand their needs and expectations. From the very beginning, the reader should immediately feel that this applies to them.
DESIRE: As Lucifer Morningstar would say, “What is it that you truly desire?” Entice your reader with compelling arguments. You need to show that what you’re offering is indispensable to your future customer.
ACTION: The Action phase cannot take place if the three preceding steps have not been properly completed. At this stage, don’t hesitate to include a call to action to encourage engagement.
Tools to help you get started with content marketing and copywriting
There are several tools for copywriting and content marketing; let’s highlight two for each (as my grandmother would have said, “so no one feels left out!”):
Copywriting
Scribeur is a web content writing platform that allows users to order SEO-optimized content. Scribeur features a semantic algorithm designed to help web content writers choose the right keywords.
Google Keyword Planneris available through Google Ads and helps you find the right keywords to use.
Content Marketing
Google Trends: This tool is designed to track search trends on a search engine and compare different keywords.
Google Search Console: a must-have if you have a website. It provides insights into your website’s traffic, identifies the most commonly used keywords to find your website, and shows where your pages rank in search results.
So, in the end, Content Marketing or Copywriting?
If you've been paying attention throughout this article, you know the answer! Although they're often confused, the two have quite different goals. One helps you gain visibility on the web, and the other helps you build a relationship with your audience.
So if no clear winner can be identified, we recommend choosing one approach or the other (or a combination of both) based on YOUR goals. Feel free to experiment, see what works, and adjust your strategy as needed. And of course, you know that if you need a helping hand, Moovizz is here to support you!
