The Importance of Content & Copywriting Part I

In Part I of this two-part blog series, we will understand the difference between content and copy. Let’s dive in with a fun exercise!

The words content and content are homographs. Although spelled the same, they have different pronunciations and meanings.

Confused?

Think about it within the framework of this sentence:

You deserve to feel content about your content.

Meaning:

You deserve to feel happy (or satisfied or gratified) about your content.

Even though the words content and content look the same, they have completely different meanings and sound different depending on their context. This little exercise not only displays the complex and sometimes confusing nature of the English language, it also serves as a roundabout—hopefully not too prolonged—method to make it to our greater point for this blog which is:

Copy and content are two equally important but different formations within the digital marketing landscape.

Read the following two sentences:

You deserve to feel content about your content.

You deserve to feel content about your copy.

Do those two sentences have the same meaning?

More significantly, do copy and content have the same meaning? Are copy and content the same?

No, they are not.

Within digital marketing, copy and content are often used synonymously, but they are actually two different words with different meanings. They aren’t synonyms and they certainly aren’t homographs. They are however, closely related. Some may go as far as saying they are two sides of the same coin.

Content and copy are most easily distinguished by their respective purposes.

What is content writing?

Content writing informs, educates, or entertains. It helps solve problems, build relationships, make decisions, or all of the above. This blog post is an example of content (Are you not entertained!?…darn). Typically, content runs on the longer side, but that is not always the case. Additional examples of content include:

• Articles
• Blogs
• Emails – newsletters
• Press releases.
• Social media posts
• Tutorials

What is copywriting?

Copywriting persuades action and drives conversions. These are the convincing words you hear in an ad on YouTube or read in a Facebook ad. Copywriting draws forth an emotional response. Who doesn’t tear up a little bit during those grocery store commercials during the holidays? Copywriting needs to say a lot more in a lot less time, so it’s usually short yet impactful. Examples of copywriting include:

• CTAs
• Landing pages
• PPC ads
• Product pages
• Promotional emails
• Social media ads

Copy and content have many similarities and it’s easy to see how they often overlap and intertwine.

At Enspire for Enterprise, we provide copywriting services and even we are guilty of using these terms interchangeably. Within this context, copywriting envelops both content and copy, because we provide both. To keep it simple, we call it “Copywriting Services” but with that in mind, we still want to communicate awareness of the nuance to you, despite our faux pas.

Both copy and content play significant roles in your overall digital marketing strategy.

Outfitting your website with a breadth of information, such as details about your services and educational blog posts, places you as a reliable source for helpful information. Equally as such, knowing when and how to encourage your readers to take the next step, whether that is to call your business or make a purchase, contributes to your success as a business. It’s not about telling people what to do. It is all about guiding them through the sales funnel. Copy and content work in tandem to do this effectively so your business grows and thrives. We will delve deeper into this in Part II, so stay tuned!