In today’s digital landscape, the lines are often blurred in terms of what job roles within this field involve, and what’s expected of the people inhabiting those roles. As a copywriter, I know this just as much as anyone.
For me, the lines blur in and around two key job titles – the copywriter and the (digital) marketer. Now, most people still don’t really know what a copywriter is (unless they are one), so when you describe yourself as such to many clients, they automatically think ‘marketer’. This is a term they understand. This is something they see value in.
However: Copywriting and marketing are two different roles. Each is important, but they’re distinct from one another.
Let’s start off with a couple of basic definitions:
Copywriter: ‘A person who writes the text of advertisements or publicity material.’
Marketer: ‘A person or company that advertises or promotes something.’
A copywriter has a unique skill-set which allows them to craft compelling content for a range of promotional purposes (for on and offline use) e.g. for websites, press releases, sales letters, brochures, articles and so on. They help clients find the solution to their problems (e.g. I’ve helped clients to distil the ethos of their brand and convey their message clearly and succinctly); they research and listen to their clients, putting themselves in their clients’ shoes to ensure quality content that reflects their brand. They also persuade in their writing – the skill is that it’s often very cleverly hidden…
The confusion comes, I think, partly because copywriters write a heck of a lot of marketing material – they just don’t market that material. Some do stray into a marketing role and run campaigns for clients. However, a copywriter’s job is not to promote your business or organisation – that’s what marketers do.
So, a copywriter is not a marketer (unless they decide to add this to their skill-set), and a marketer is not a copywriter.
I’ve encountered a fair few clients and people at business networking events who have told me of working with marketers before and being unhappy with the content they’ve produced. Reasons for this generally include the marketer not really ‘getting’ their business and not writing in a style/tone that represents the brand they way they want. The quality and ‘meat’ of the content hasn’t been up to scratch and so, it puts them off hiring someone else.
This is a pity, because what they needed was a copywriter. A copywriter to write the content and then a marketer to promote it for them, as needs be. Sometimes, they go ahead and hire another marketer instead of a writer, so it turns into a vicious circle of frustration and money being wasted. Indeed, a lot of people don’t actually realise there are copywriters out there who can do the writing for them!
There’s a saying which I hear often at business events:
‘Do what you do best and hire someone to do the rest.’
I would add to this: Just be sure you know exactly who you’re hiring before you do it. The copywriter is the person you want to write your content, the marketer the one who will market it for you.
Simple. 🙂