The difference between Content and Copy

Picture by Tjaard Krusch on Unsplash.com. Colourful houses in Burano (Italy). If you haven’t been already, I would recommend a visit to this quirky island in the Venetian Lagoon to wander the streets, with a lemon gelato in hand (the best flavour!), to see its colourful houses, Bellissimo!

Copy is content, and content is copy, right? Sort of. A little bit. Actually no. Both harness the power of words but there is a distinctive difference between the two. Let me explain...

Content and copy are like non-identical twins, that together can get up to all sorts of adventures (and occasional mischief!). Often you won’t find content without copy following close behind, and vice versa.

Content informs, inspires, and engages with its audience. Its goal is to educate. Blogs, articles, social media posts, and longer pieces of writing are all examples of content that underpins brand building and brand awareness.

Copy persuades and provokes action. Its goal is to convert. Copy is short, making every word count and is usually in the form of a call to action, like, for example signing up to an email list, a product description or registering for an event.

It's the desired result of the written piece that dictates whether it’s content or copy. Content builds and copy gets results.

As a copywriter, I create both copy and content, and one question I often get asked is whether you can you have one without the other? Sure! One can exist without the other, but when used together they’re the ultimate brand building dream team.

If content and copy were building houses (stay with me- it’s a weird analogy but it works), content builds, laying down foundations and the framework of the house, whereas copy is responsible for getting someone to walk through the door of the newly built house- and to buy it.  

I’d love to hear about your experience of copy and content. Do you use both in your business or one more than another? Drop me a note…