What is Copywriting? Defining What Copywriters Do

Defining copywriting is more complicated than it initially sounds.

For example, copywriting can involve content creation for websites, digital ads, and other marketing materials like download brochures that showcase a product or service’s benefits.

Copywriting can also include other, higher-level written material like press releases, product descriptions, and other means of communicating crucial insights with potential customers. But it’s also so much more than that.

Copywriting is simultaneously a job, task category, skill, and mindset, all within the scope of a marketing team’s day-to-day.

This blog post will deliver a short, clear definition of copywriting, explain what copywriters do, and delve into why it’s a crucial part of any business’s lead and revenue generation practices.

What is Copywriting? A Short Definition

In under ten words:

Copywriting is creating text that prompts consumers to act.

Because copywriting is inextricably linked to promoting a product or service, it is an indispensable part of digital marketing.

Word selection and sentence construction that prompts consumers to act is what writers and marketers refer to as “copy.” Everyday copy examples include:

• A display ad built to get clicks on a search engine result page

• An email pushing recipients to click on a specific link or button

• A landing page asking visitors to sign up for a newsletter or promo

• A product description aimed at increasing online cart adds

• A physical letter or billboard encouraging you to interact with a product or service

Those and many other manifestations of copywriting can be classified as “direct response copywriting” because they’re constructed to elicit an immediate action from a consumer.

That said, immediate action isn’t always the goal. A lot of copywriting focuses on brand awareness, which essentially helps establish an organization as a leader in a given marketplace.

Any time you’re enticed to read a blog post, download a whitepaper, or simply remember a brand’s name or logo through a memorable ad, chances are it’s due to successful copywriting.

While brand-focused copywriting isn’t geared towards a purchase action, it’s a link in a much longer (and more complex) marketing chain.

Let’s take blog posts as an example. The more views and shares a brand’s blog content gets, the more open those readers will be to signing up for email updates, like a newsletter or the occasional promo.

The subscribers the brand gets, the more its organic audience grows, and, in time, its revenue is likely to follow suit.

Consumers tend to buy from brands they trust, which is why strong brand awareness can revitalize a company’s revenue, like what happened with AirBnB.

Before I get more into copywriting as a mindset and vital part of any business strategy, a quick detour:

Copywriting vs Copyrighting: What You Need to Know

Many people confuse these two terms, but they couldn’t be more different.

Copywriting refers to the writing and marketing concepts discussed in this article, while copyrighting refers to the legal protections afforded to authors of original work and/or intellectual property.

There are many individuals more qualified than I to explore the intricacies of copyright law, what it means for artists versus licensors, and so on.

However, due to the fact they’re homonyms, the two terms often get misspelled and confused for one another.

Also, it’s a section I wrote as a shameless attempt to capitalize on an SEO keyword opportunity. Now you know.

Okay, back to our regularly-scheduled programming.

Copywriting isn’t (Always) Selling

A big misconception is that copywriting equals selling. This notion is grossly overstated.

In fact, I’ll go a step further: Marketing, on its own, doesn’t “sell” anything.

It merely leverages psychology to turn audience attention into qualified interest in buying a product or services. That qualified interest is usually referred to as a lead, which is then fed to (and hopefully closed by) a sales team.

The best-known copywriting framework for turning attention into action is AIDA—a concept some may remember from that speech Alec Baldwin made in the 90s.

Broken down, AIDA stands for:

• Attention

• Interest

• Desire

• Action

To see each part of the framework in action, let’s take a look at a slightly unconventional example taken from Reddit’s email marketing community.

From the subject line to the CTA button payoff, the copywriting works to pique your interest and, ultimately, convince you to get your mom some pizza.

Because, if you don’t, you won’t be able to spend time with her and prove you love her so much.

See what I mean? Psychology + skilled writing = copywriting magic.

Why Copywriting is Important for Every Business

Except, it’s not magic at all.

It’s strategic, sure. Exacting, perhaps.

But what that email isn’t saying is “Buy pizza from us right now, please. We just want your money and nothing else.”

Instead, it pulls you in using a relatable sentiment to convince you that, yes, it’s the right time to schedule a pizza night with mom.

In other words, it elevates a simple transaction and makes it a deeper, emotion-driven experience.

Here’s another, completely unrelated example—a sales letter that, according to VeryGoodCopy, drove forty thousand dollars in donations from churchgoers.

You’ll see all the AIDA elements in there, but written in a far more poetic manner.

Dear [Church Member]

Nothing gives like a church organ.

It gives joy at weddings; strength at funerals; family greetings at baptisms. It gives wings to worship; power to praise; humility to Thanksgiving. It gives rest to the weary; welcome to strangers; binding ties to friends.

It gives to congregations of sons who follow fathers and then gives way to sons and sons again.

It finally gives itself.

For over five generations the present church organ at First Baptist has given, freely, generously, bounteously without stint. Think of an organ’s gifts, as you have received them; as your children will in days to come.'

Then give to a church organ, like a church organ… freely, generously, bounteously…

without stint,

[Pastor’s Signature]

So, let’s tie all this to business objectives, like making more money.

If you stop and think about it, every aspect of a brand’s online presence sinks or swims, in some way, on its copywriting ability.

Website pages, emails, text (even if it’s only a handul of words) in a display ad, video scripts and descriptions—they all rely on copywriting to get the point across.

To capture consumer attention and convince them to take the desired action.

But, if copywriting were easy, there would be no businesses struggling to meet their sales targets. Consumers would be excited by every product or service and purchase every single one.

Except that’s not realistic.

Getting a slice of someone’s time, money, and attention is harder than ever. That’s because consumer expectations have never been higher.

They’re bombarded with a tsunami of brand messaging and digital content every day, which means your copy will automatically be swimming against that strong a tide.

To increase the degree of difficulty even more, copywriting communicates far more complex ideas than it did ten, twenty, thirty years ago.

More products and services are software-based means you need to explain everything in more detail. What features do, why they matter, why they’re more robust than other offerings in the market, and why a reader should put their trust in your brand instead of someone else’s.

You have to make an excellent first impression in a matter of seconds. Sometimes you only have a sentence or two.

And, with so much riding on those sink-or-swim moments for copywriting, it’s crucial to invest in a professional who has the knowledge and experience to capitalize on those opportunities.

If you enjoyed this blog and want to learn more about the value of high-quality copywriting services, click through to my services page for all those details.