The Difference Between Copy and Content and How to Integrate the Two
One of the most confusing terms in marketing your products or services is the difference between copy and content, and how your business can integrate the two for the best results. This is an important distinction because you want to use the right type of content in the right places.
You need to make your messages relevant, tell a story, use the right keywords and speak directly to your audience of one. In addition, you want to use your resources correctly, and understanding the differences between copy and content can save you a lot of money.
FREE Download: 5 Step Content Strategy
What Is The Difference Between Copy and Content?
Copy Sells But Content Informs
Firstly, what is copy? Copy is a type of content. That’s why it’s so confusing to people trying to explain it. But although copy is content, not all content is copy!
Content that is meant to be copywriting (meaning it’s intended to advertise or market something having a call to action) is usually referred to as copy. Any content that is not meant for advertising is often referred to as just content. But what all content is, is information. That information can be expressed in various ways via video, images, infographics, eBooks, reports, white papers, blog posts, speeches, videos, art, writing, and so forth.
But Content Can Inform and Sell with Copy Integration
This means, though, that a blog post can also be copy. Why? If you add a call to action to it, it becomes copy. You can see how you can start integrating the two so that you tell fuller stories on your sales pages, create richer, higher converting email marketing newsletters, and so much more. When you start combining different forms of content to get the results you want, you become a content marketer to reckon with.
Copywriters Research More
If you’re writing content for your website, consider how a copywriter would write and what tricks they use. For example, copywriters tend to do a lot more research into stats and data than a content writer normally does. Add in some stats to your blog post and a call to action, and you’ll likely see a huge improvement in conversions.
Content Writers Feel More
If you’re coming from the perspective of a copywriter, you may want to start looking more toward the overarching story that you can tell that pulls and guides the audience toward making a purchase in a gentle but effective way. Start integrating storytelling and audience engagement into the mix.
Add Images to Copy
To make copy look softer, graphic designers use color and images to offset and make an impact on the audience’s mind. Maybe they want to highlight one word of the copy to bring a certain feeling to the mind of the viewer before they view the rest of the advertisement.
Keep It Simple
Copywriters can be long-winded, while sometimes content writers can barely get 450 words. Consider how you can make everything you create simpler. Do you need those extra words to express the importance of buying right now or will it work without them? That’s what A/B testing can do for you. This is the process of creating two versions of one thing that you want to test.
Free Checklist: 5 Step Copy And Content Strategy
The difference between copy and content and how to integrate the two becomes clearer when you realize that copy is just a type of content that is used to market, advertise, and sell. So next time you need to promote your products or services, look at your messages from the perspective of a content writer. Then look at it from the perspective of a copywriter to sex up the content.
When you have a system in place that takes the guesswork out of every step of the content research, creation and delivery processes you’ll save time and money and get a better result. Download my Free Checklist, The 5 Step Content Strategy to discover the best practices used by the most successful bloggers and online entrepreneurs.