Copywriting and content writing are both significant elements of successful marketing. But, which is more vital to the success of marketing for local businesses?
If you’re not a digital marketer – which I hope – then you might not know the difference between copywriting and content writing. Let’s start by defining both:
Terms Defined
Definition: Copywriting is the creative process of writing text used to compel a target audience to take a particular action.
Definition: Content writing is the creative process of producing text used to educate and engage readers.
This article, for example, is content writing not copywriting. The goal is to inform and engage, not to compel and sell.
1. Marketing Goals
A. Generate Leads
Lead generation is the marketing activity of persuading a target market to contact your business about it’s products and services. Local businesses can’t thrive without generating new business, making lead generation a staple marketing goal.
Copywriting deals with crafting messages that will convince people to take actions such as: clicking on an ad, purchasing a product, or contacting your business. This is obviously highly important in lead generation, making copywriting a critical element.
Content writing can cause someone to become interested in your brand, products, or services, perhaps because they gain respect or trust as a consequence of consuming your content. However, that isn’t it’s primary purpose. The primary purpose of content writing is to provide a target market with the knowledge and skills it desires. It’s not inconsequential, it’s just not as significant as copywriting.
B. Increase Website Traffic
Aiming to increase website traffic is a common objective among local businesses. Marketers helping with this objective know that there are various means of accomplishing it, including: paid media, earned media, and organic listings.
Copywriting accomplishes this goal by helping to increase the chances that someone will click on your ad, post, or organic listing when it is seen – also know as click-through-rate. Catchy headlines, well crafted value propositions, and enticing offers can all help attract potential customers and prompt them to visit your website (owned media).
Content writing is a Swiss army knife for increasing website traffic. It helps your website show for more search queries, informs search engines that you’re an expert in the subject matter of your industry – thereby increasing the average position for search queries, and increases the likelihood that your websites content will get indexed. Also, good content increases repeat users.
Both are important for increasing website traffic.
2. SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a marketing activity focused on increasing a websites authority in it’s industry organically so as to increase it’s visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Local businesses that dominate the SERPs tend to get a lot of “free” traffic to their websites.
SEO copywriting has two focal points: 1) converting traffic into prospects, and 2) incorporating text that will aid in ranking website pages for certain keywords and related search terms. SEO copywriting is conducted on, but not limited to, a websites homepage and service pages. SEO copywriting plays a significant role in search engine optimization, however, most experts agree that “content is still king.”
SEO content writing has one focal point, namely, creating high-quality content that shows expertise in a subject, and is valuable to the end user. This undertaking is particularly important in SEO, who’s goal it is to increase topical authority.
In terms of importance, I believe SEO content writing wins the battle. Nevertheless, both SEO copywriting and content writing are usually going to be included in SEO packages, so you should get the value of both when you pay for SEO services.
3. PPC
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a marketing activity focused on driving traffic to websites, lead magnets, native forms, etc. using a model which requires the advertiser to pay the ad-publisher each time their ad is clicked. Local businesses, especially those that have low visibility, can put themselves on equal playing ground with competitors (even established ones) quickly via PPC campaigns.
Copywriting can significantly assist or hinder a PPC campaign, making it absolutely necessary to do, and to do well. Well written ad-copy, for example, helps to peak curiosity so that someone will click-through to your landing page. When landing page copywriting is executed well, it will spur those who have clicked-through to take the action you’d like them to take: calling your business, filling out a contact form, scheduling a demo, etc. Conversely, poorly executed copywriting will cause those who have clicked-through to “bounce”. I.e. you will have wasted the money you paid for the traffic and potentially have left a bad taste in a prospects mouth.
Content writing isn’t a very important component of PPC campaigns for most Local businesses, however, there are some exceptions. Certain manufacturing companies and managed service providers, for example, can benefit from content writing because they tend to have longer sales cycles. Whitepapers, and eBooks are content pieces that can help gain these types of local businesses gain consideration.
Conclusion
As in many “marketing battles” each “competitor” has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Content writing is strong in helping generate leads, and is especially important in PPC campaigns. Content writing is strong in helping to increase traffic, and SEO. Carefully carrying out each can help local businesses win their marketing battles.