Let’s say you’re thinking about exactly what type of fire pit to install in your awesome backyard (one can dream, right?), and you come across a really excellent web page that goes into detail about one type. When you get to the end of the article, you’re encouraged to go learn more about that company’s fire pits. What you just read was copy. Those words on the page are likely written by a copywriter of some kind specifically to showcase a product and help solve customer problems. The copy on web pages, though, is only one type of copy out there in the wild.
So let’s take a look at what copywriting is in general, what copywriters do, and the 10 main types of copywriting you probably come across regularly.
What Is Copywriting?
Copywriting is writing in a way to persuade your target business or consumer to take an action. That action can be almost anything. It might be as bold as to buy a product or simply to learn more. It might be to sign up for something, complete a questionnaire, talk to a service rep, download a report, or anything else.
The key is that the writing is designed to be persuasive and point readers toward an action. Copywriting is also supposed to be engaging and bring life into sales and marketing. Anyone can tell someone to download a white paper, but copywriters are the ones who make that look like a good idea.
What Does a Copywriter Do?
Copywriters know what drives their customers and why someone might choose to take a specific action. They highlight how their product or service can solve their ideal customers’ problems. And then they also know how to write content in different ways depending on what it will be used for and how it will best reach their audience.
Essentially, copywriters understand people, and they understand who they’re trying to communicate with. They then write in a way that drives that particular audience and resonates with them. Ideally, the copy is also interesting, engaging, and informative.
10 Types of Copywriting
Now not all copywriters write in the same mediums or to the same audiences. That’s why there are different types of copywriting. Let’s take a look at 10 types of copywriting:
SEO Copywriting
SEO copywriting is where a copywriter is crafting a piece specifically to rank on search engines. This type of copywriting requires a deep understanding of SEO. The SEO copywriter will use SEO techniques like keyword research, optimized title tags and meta descriptions to really help their copy shine.
Marketing Copywriting
Marketing copywriting is what I referred to in the introduction with the fire pit example. It’s the type of copywriting where the writer is moving a potential customer through the marketing funnel—awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty, advocacy. The goal of marketing copywriting is to really connect with the target audience and help them move through that funnel.
Some pieces of marketing copywriting will be really broad and answer general questions to raise awareness of the company. Some will give you insights into a specific product or service—like the fire pit example. Some are even targeted at customers who have already purchased.
To create great marketing copywriting, the key is to learn who your ideal customer is and figure out how your product or service can solve their problem.
Social Media Copywriting
Companies’ content on social media is social media copywriting. It’s often similar to marketing copywriting except that the content will come in different forms depending on the social media platform. It’s crucial to pay attention to the platforms you’re publishing your content on. Here are some general guidelines for social media platforms and copywriting:
- Facebook. This is the place to target consumers. You get more text. You get to use images. This platform is all about really connecting with your audience.
- X (Twitter) and Threads. X (formerly known as Twitter) is known for short and snappy content. The goal here is short and shareable content.
- Instagram. Instagram is all about the images. The copywriting that is present on this platform should be brand awareness focused.
- LinkedIn: This platform lets you use more text, but remember that it’s used by job seekers. The goal here is to be more professional than other platforms.
Direct Response Copywriting
What’s direct response copywriting? It can be a lot of things. It might include video sales letters, catalogs, fundraising letters, PPC ads, sales emails, and other similar forms of communication. What makes it direct response copywriting is that it necessitates a response and provides a way for that to happen.
Direct response copywriting should be compelling enough to get an immediate response. Whether that’s buying the product, scheduling a call, or sending an email, the goal is to drive action.
Email Copywriting
Email copywriting is a great way to directly connect with your audience, is it more personal. People who subscribe to your emails are already interested in your product or service. They want to hear interesting things from your company. The goal here is to gain your customers’ trust. Give them informative and interesting content that makes their inbox a little brighter.
Content Marketing
Content is typically blog posts, article pages, product pages, etc. You’ve probably read many articles of this nature. Content marketing should be informational to attract and build relationships. Again, the goal is connecting with the audience and helping them to understand who this company really is. The goal here is that the content should be informative and entertaining without being sales-y. Interesting without being a pitch.
Ad Copywriting
Ad copywriting is specifically written for an advertising campaign of some sorts. It should create an immediate impression or response. The copy for an ad is extremely intentional, and it’s carefully crafted to get your audience’s attention and inspire new customers. Advertising is one of the fastest ways to get new customers, after all.
B2B Copywriting
B2B copywriters help write content that will market their products and services to other businesses. Instead of writing to individual customers, the copywriters are writing to other companies. B2B means business to business. When writing to other businesses it’s important to have clear points. The sales process for B2B is much longer, and you’re going to need fresh information along the way.
What does B2B copywriting look like? It’s often in the form of case studies, white papers, e-books, infographics, press releases, and other similar forms. The content should be packed full of useful information and utilize sources well.
B2C Copywriting
B2C copywriting is targeted specifically at the consumer. So this time you are writing to an individual customer. You should try to prompt an action (like buying, signing up, etc.). The sales process is typically much shorter than a B2B sales process.
Technical Copywriting
Technical copywriting can be one of the hardest types of content to write. Technical copywriting is writing for science or technology. These copywriters break down complex concepts into things that are easier to read and understand. The content is often very long. It’s common to see it in the form of white papers, brochures, and case studies. Because of how, well, technical this type of copywriting can get, It can be extremely difficult to find a qualified technical copywriter
Conclusion
There you have it—10 types of copywriting. How can you possibly pick from all of those types? It’s important to understand what type of copywriting will resonate best with your audience. Think about your audience and what will communicate with them.
The good news is that you don’t have to figure out copywriting all on your own. You don’t even have to staff your company with great copywriters to have the copy you want. Here at BASE, we can help you with copywriting. BASE writes high-quality SEO copywriting that will help your company rank on SERPs and be seen by the target audience. All in all, that improves brand awareness, monthly organic traffic, and more.
Learn more about BASE writing services to take your copywriting to the next level!
