SEO Copywriter or Content Strategist?

We read a thread on LinkedIn about the role of Copywriter vs Content Strategist which was sparked by this article.  For many people a Copywriter is someone who simply writes engaging copy rather than someone who is involved at a strategic level.

The majority agree that a content strategist is something different…  What that is exactly remains a bit blurry. 

Firstly, lets try to distinguish the role of an online Copywriter?

Based on the comments we’ve been reading it can be anything.  From someone who is given a brief and writes engaging, grammatically correct copy to someone who writes grammatically correct, engaging copy to a brief... Hang on... That’s the same thing.

So are we content strategists then?

We don’t think so.  From The Copywriting People’s point of view an online copywriter is more than just someone who writes copy.  A Copywriter identifies and incorporates key words for SEO purposes.  A Copywriter recognises business goals and marketing objectives. 

Ok.  So what is a Content Strategist in our opinion?  Well… we’re not entirely sure.  But we’re fairly certain it involves numerous space age tools (like the kind we see on CSI) and months spent at the client’s site – all chargeable time of course.

If a Content Strategist does in fact use incomprehensible tools then we’re right and it is the job of the online Copywriter to analyse, strategise and lure the reader.  But CSI and its many tools are fictional.  So if a Content Strategist is only human where does that leave us?  What are we and has our job title changed? 

 

When working on digital media we work in two ways.  Our clients either give us a list of key words and we incorporate them into the text – traditional copywriter duties.  Or we can go ahead and define which key words should be on each page, incorporate them into the headings, links and text; and ensure a consistent tone of voice across the full marketing suite – which are typical content strategist duties right?  But I think we’ll just call it copywriting…

If anyone can answer our many questions please let us know.  We’re quite clearly going round in circles on this one!

And if we are doing content strategist duties, where are our space age tools?!

Girls and boys – what really makes us tick?

We’ve been discussing adverts that have really grabbed our attention – a topic that provoked much debate.  For example, I thought that the Boots adverts were cleverly put together.  I now wear the most uncomfortably elaborate false eyelashes due to the selling power of these adverts!  Tim on the other hand thought they were terrible – the adverts and the eyelashes. 

A few strong words (and a smashed mug!) later, we realised why we felt so strongly.  The adverts were all gender specific.  Duh!

Sooooo we’ve decided to write a blog series looking at gender specific adverts and why they work.

Here come the girls!

The first advert on my hit list is the afore mentioned Boots advert.  I think it’s great.  From the moment it first graced our screens back in 2007 it has inspired us to tweeze, preen and put on our faces.  Whether we head straight for Boots or we go via a whole range of shops, one thing is for sure – it’s made us girlier!

Never again will we think staining ourselves with Gravy or Tea is an acceptable way to fake tan.  We’ve changed.  The series of ‘here come the girls’ adverts have taken everything we’ve wanted to be and made it possible – ultimate glam!

Why does it appeal?  Our bubbly natures and penchant for singing and dancing of course.  It depicts glamorous looking ‘regular’ girls ready for a good night out.  And that song – such independence.  What’s not to love?

So how does a company use this information to create better brochures, web content etc…

I guess the main thing to remember is your audience.  If you are selling to girls – recognise this in your marketing.

Boots know their main audience.  It’s here come the girls – not here come the girls, their dad and his dog.  Sell to your demographic.  Ignore the boys.  Ignore the kids.  Focus your all on the people who buy from you… the girls!

Gemma x

Twacebook and Fwitter – the marketers dream?

I was reading a blog from a fellow Copywriter… that I found via Twitter…. That I discovered because….. oh it doesn’t matter.  This was the moment I realised my life and business have been engulfed in a world of social networking.

I wondered, as many people do, just what is the point?  I am pretty sure there was a time when businesses managed without social networking websites.  Is Twitter pointless profitless work people feel has to be done to save risk of appearing out of touch?  And what of Facebook – is it not just a vehicle for teenagers to advertise their desired personality and hide their adolescent insecurities? 

In a word… no

There’s a reason why my life has become wrapped up in the joys of social networking.  It’s because I can see the benefits of Twitter for businesses.  With the power of re-tweeting and trending it‘s possible to reach thousands of people, providing I can turn each set of 140 characters into an interesting enough tweet.  And as more people follow @copywritingppl I can literally watch our business grow... and that is addictive. 

Twitter also helps to keep in touch with my competition, hear about new theories and find interesting articles on the latest marketing trends.  Twitter is made for businesses, and is not to be frowned at.

Unlike Twitter though, Facebook isn’t primarily made for the business world.  But it does have over 600 million active users all stating their likes and dislikes.  This makes it the perfect place for targeting a particular audience and reaching more people besides.  Facebook is a marketers dream and perfect for shameless promotion – you can like us here.

As for LinkedIn… well that deserves a whole other blog!

At The Copywriting People we’ve been tweeting and facebooking for a while now, for both clients and ourselves.  We’ve seen the benefits.  Today’s social media can bring added efforts and pressures to a business but it’s not a burden, it’s a blessing.

One thing is for sure though it takes more than a quick tweet to get your name out there.  When you’re busy tweeting and ‘liking’ industry moguls, remember to get some sales letter out there too - and if you need a hand writing them, you know where to find us… in social cyberspace of course!

A "blog"

At TheCopywritingPeople we are especially finicky when it comes to using the correct grammar and punctuation.  However we love it when other people get it wrong!

We found this example of incorrectly used quotation marks on this hilarious blog.

The author here clearly has a point to make – unfortunately it is a boring one.  So quotation marks have been used to emphasise the “important” bits. 

Unfortunately though, it just seems sarcastic.  What exactly is this “Student Lab”?

Ah the fun we have over lunch!

Copywriting Agency vs Freelance Copywriter

A round of coffee later and the office was filled with conversation.  We were discussing whether we are ‘Freelance Copywriters’ or a ‘Copywriting Agency’.  The connotations of the words were so different, yet we couldn’t easily say which bracket we fell into.

The connotations

• A Freelance Copywriter is usually cheaper and, for a one off, you can probably get something back quicker. 
• An Agency might be fully booked for the next three weeks but their results are often better.  And once you’re ‘in’ they have the capacity for regular projects.

The research

Google is jam packed with results for freelance copywriters.  Look more closely though and you’ll find many have limited writing skills.  A business professional could be forgiven for overlooking freelancers.

But would they be right?  Spend some time scrolling through their websites and you’ll find Freelancers who can write – and well too! 

It wasn’t just freelancers that were hit and miss.  A quick look at websites for Copywriting Agencies also showed varying degrees of quality.  Additionally, there were a number of ‘Agencies’ that seemed to be single writers operating under the guise of an agency – so no different to a freelancer at all then. 

At The Copywriting People, we’re freelancers with an agency twist.  Deciding where we should market ourselves was never going to be easy.  We chose to just stick with ‘Copywriters’ and I think that is how we’ll keep it.   After all what does it really matter as long as we get the job done… well.