I know what you’re thinking. A writer is a writer, right? Well, not really. Because while all writers can write (it being a key part of the job and all that), there are lots of different types of writers out there. Even if you split them up by the broadest strokes – writing books vs writing for business – you’d still have a shortlist of about 9 or 10 different types of writers and writing style. The main 2 I want to focus on today are copywriters and content writers. Mainly because these are the two words I use to describe myself, and yet they are two very different areas of my business and how I write.
Luckily (for me), the differences between copywriters and content writers fit into 3 categories.
Dictionary Corner
First, let’s pay a visit to my favourite Countdown corner – dictionary corner! Because if we’re going to talk about the differences between two things, what better place to start than with definitions.
Content: Is information that’s communicated to your audience in all sorts of ways including writing, audio and visual. It’s used to inform, educate and entertain an audience, rather than sell directly.
Copy: Is a type of content used to sell a product to an audience. It’s mostly used in adverts, email marketing and landing pages.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get onto those 3 key differences, shall we?
Objectives
What’s the point of the writing, and where is the buyer seeing it? You might think these things would be the same for both the copywriter and the content writer, but you would be mistaken. But for a copywriter, the aim is to pique the interest of the buyer right away. Their work has a heavy emphasis on brand awareness, and the results are often short form copy. It’s all about selling the product and doing it fast. Choosing the right words to bring that product to life and make it seem too good to resist.
A content writer, on the other hand, focuses more on educating the customers and building trust. It’s a long-game, and so content writers tend to play a much larger, long-term role in creating relationships with both customers and prospects. After all, their job isn’t to directly sell to the customer. Instead, their content is a gift to the reader, providing fair, objective and engaging information that gives some extra value to the buyer. Something that will inform their future buying decisions.
Skills
This is always a surprising bit, but writers do have different skills, and not all writers have the same set. All you have to do is look at a typical job description for both to see the difference.
On the copywriters side, companies are looking for concepts, innovation and brand communications. Creativity and new ideas. Flip to the content writers side, and companies are looking more for storytelling, SEO knowledge and channel/format savvy. It’s the authority and the ability to convey information in a confident way that makes all the difference. The writers need to know what they’re talking about, some journalistic skills and the ability to work facts into a compelling story.
Results
Now let’s look at the output. After all, clients want to know about results. The results of copywriting (and digital advertising) are easier to quantify. You can look at impressions and clicks that come through paid ads, or leads captured. Real, tangible results.
On the content marketing side, it’s about whether the content held the readers attention and taught them something. That makes it a lot harder to measure. Content writers often track top-level metrics like unique visitors and time spent on pages.
What was the point of telling you all this? Because I want to clear up exactly what I do. While I tend to say I’m a copywriter to keep things simple, most of what I do is content writing. It’s creating the pieces that you use to connect with your customers, to engage, entertain and inform, and make them feel comfortable in working with you. I do this through writing blogs, case studies and whitepapers for my clients. And yes, I do use some of the traditional copywriting skills in other areas, but at my core, content is what I love. So if you vibe with that and want to create more content for your business in 2026, drop me a line – I’d love to hear from you.