Content Writing vs Copywriting. Yes, They’re Interchangeable.

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There’s no shortage of videos and blog posts talking about content writing vs copywriting. And most will tell you the two are different. In fact, I’ve seen 2000-word blog posts diving deep into all the (so-called) differences.

But here’s the reality: You can absolutely use the words content writing and copywriting interchangeably. And I will explain exactly why—and show you evidence to support my claim.

Now, if you’re a purist, you might not LIKE the fact these words are interchangeable. But that doesn’t change reality. Businesses use the words interchangeably. Marketers use the words interchangeably. Writers use the words interchangeably.

I honestly think all these blog posts about differences exist because aspiring freelancers are searching on “content writing vs. copywriting,” which gooses the search volume in SEO research tools, like Semrush. (Currently, people search on “content writing vs copywriting” 390 times per month.) And savvy, seasoned writers itching to get traffic to their blogs think, “Oh! There’s a great topic.” And the problem is with the “vs” since that suggests the searcher is expecting the two phrases to be different. So the savvy, seasoned writer wants to give the searcher their money’s worth and delivers an article that talks about the differences.

But the lines between content writing and copywriting have blurred to the point that any differences—if they ever truly existed in the first place—don’t exist anymore.

Don’t believe me? Buckle up, and I’ll show you . . .

Content writing vs. Copywriting: Why Is This Even a Thing?

Forty years ago, in 1983, copywriters existed. But content writers didn’t (at least not how we think of them today). Copywriters wrote things like sales letters and ad copy (think print ads and billboards). Picture Peggy on Mad Men.

But “content writers” didn’t exist because the Internet, as we know it, hadn’t gone mainstream. (January 1, 1983, is considered the birthdate of the Internet.)

Back in 1983, most people didn’t have email. Businesses didn’t have websites. Google didn’t exist. Amazon didn’t exist. Social media didn’t exist. We regular folks (I was 10 in 1983) had no idea what was to come. The Digital Marketing Era was still about 20 years out.

But then came the Internet. And Google. And AOL. And the concept of inbound marketing, which is all about attracting people to your website who are already conducting online searches for the things your business is selling. The goal is to draw those people into your site through optimization and keep them there thanks to engaging copy. Or content.

Wait, which is it?

If you search on “define: content” in Google, you have to scroll to the last definition on Dictionary.com to get to the one we’re talking about: “information made available by a website or other electronic medium. ‘online content providers.'”

The “other electronic medium” is what hangs up people, I think. Because content can be more than words, right? Visuals and videos are also considered online content.

But we’re specifically talking about content writing vs. copywriting.

Right?

As in words.

And both content and copy involve words.

Language evolves. And that’s OK.

Purists will tell you that “content writing” is about “engagement.” You’re engaging the readers, not necessarily getting them to “buy now.” Think longer-form content, like blog posts and white papers.

These same purists will tell you that copywriting is all about getting the sale. It involves persuasion. The goal of the copy is to get people to buy, buy, buy—and the copy is usually shorter and more focused. Think things like landing pages, sales emails, and digital ads. This is a carryover from the old copywriting days. It’s outdated, IMO.

(BTW, the “purists” tend to be other writers or marketers. Businesses—as in, your employer or client—aren’t debating whether these phrases are different.)

I say that you need engagement and persuasion in long-form content, like blog posts, and short-form “sales” content like emails. If I’m writing a blog post, my goal is to keep people engaged. But my job is also to get people to do something at the end of the article, most often reading another article related to the topic. Or maybe the blog promotes a piece of gated content, like a downloadable guide. Or it gets people to sign up for a webinar or another free, valuable offer. The conversion point isn’t a direct sale—but it could very well be the first step to a sale somewhere down the line.

On the flip side, in my harder-hitting sales “copy” (like an email), I absolutely MUST engage the person. If I don’t engage them, starting with capturing their attention with a solid subject line (in the email example), what’s the point? No amount of persuasion or other sales techniques will make a difference if I don’t engage them first.

Let’s discuss my journey as a freelance copywriter, content writer, content marketer, SEO copywriter, SEO content writer, case study writer, etcetera, etcetera, and so forth. You get the idea.

I started freelancing in 2002, on the cusp of the Digital Marketing era. I called myself a copywriter then. And I primarily refer to myself as a copywriter today. Or a copy bitch, as you all know. 🙂 However, I’ve also referred to myself as a content marketer, content writer, or freelance writer.

And the main reason why is precisely because the lines have blurred and most people—including clients . . . especially clients—don’t differentiate between copywriter, content writer, and content marketer.

They’re thinking, “We need someone to help with our website. We need someone to write blogs. We need a case study. Or a newsletter. We need a writer for our email workflows for the middle of the funnel. And bottom of the funnel.”

They’re NOT thinking about what “type” of writer they need.

Head over to LinkedIn, and you’ll see jobs for content writers and copywriters. The listings often outline the same tasks. In my video below, fast forward to 5:55 to see a screen share of LinkedIn where I review a couple of job listings, one for a copywriter and the other for a content writer.

We talk in synonyms. It’s natural.

If a client reaches out to me and says they’re looking for a copywriter to help them write blog content, I don’t correct them and say, “Well, what you really mean is a content writer. A copywriter focuses more on sales emails, digital ads, and other sales-y copy.”

Why on earth would I do that?

I know what they want.

And my approach for writing a blog post vs. a sales email isn’t all that different.

I’m a human writing to a fellow human.

In both cases, I want to engage them and capture their attention.

Sure, the content’s goals will likely be different. The sales email might be asking directly for the sale. And the blog post might be trying to get people to stay on the site longer by reading another article.

Persuasion, in various levels, is used in both cases, right?

Whenever I sit down to write something, anything, I’m thinking about who I’m writing for, why I’m writing it, what their questions would be, and what would help them.

I’m not going to sound “salesy” in a blog post because someone reading a blog tends to be at the top of the sales funnel, poking around, researching, and educating themselves.

It’s just writerly common sense.

Bottom line: Content writing vs copywriting. Don’t overthink it.

Guys, listen. We have enough jargon in marketing land (MOFU, anyone?) to worry about keeping one more set of definitions straight. So, breathe easy. Because you can use the words content writing and copywriting interchangeably. Clients do. Writers do. Purists don’t, but that’s OK. You’re not working for them. 🙂

And if by some chance you’re in school and your professor insists that content writing and copywriting are different, fine. Just remember that (they think) content writing is all about engagement and longer-form content, like blog posts, case studies, white papers, guides, and ebooks. And that copywriting is all about marketing and persuasion. Give your teacher what they want, pass the test, and then use the terms interchangeably henceforth as most people do. 🙂

The line is blurry, and good writers will know when to ramp up the engagement factor (like in an ebook) and when to ramp up the sales factor (like in an email series). But many of the principles overlap.

And good writing is good writing.

If you’re an aspiring freelancer, and you’re trying to figure out how to self-identify on your website, I recommend using the terms interchangeably because that will help you in Google search results and when prospective clients are looking at your site. You could even have service pages about long-form content (blogs, white papers, etc.) and services about advertising copywriting, email copywriting, etc. Let keyword search tools be your guide and use the phrases naturally and INTERCHANGEABLY without making a big deal about them.

And if applying to gigs, use the terminology from the job listing. If someone says they need a content writer and you typically call yourself a copywriter, but every task they’re listing is in your wheelhouse, then call yourself a content writer when responding.

Again, don’t overthink it!

Got a question for the Copy Bitch?

Get in touch or visit my YouTube channel and leave a question in the comments on one of my videos.

Digital Content Development: What It Is, Why It Matters & How to Do It Right

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Today’s topic is a fun one: digital content development.

Below, I’ll discuss the following:

  • What is content?
  • What is digital content?
  • What are examples of digital content?
  • When did things shift to this digital marketing mindset?
  • Why is it essential for businesses to produce quality digital content?
  • Why do you need a digital content STRATEGY before you develop digital content?
  • What’s the copywriter’s role in the digital content development process?
  • What are some tips for creating strong digital content?
  • What’s AI’s role in the content development process?

Do you learn better by watching a video?

Here’s my video on the topic of digital content development. Or scroll past it and read away!

What is content? What is digital content?

Content is the words and images we read and watch every day: TV shows. Articles in newspapers. Billboards on the commute to work. Podcasts, YouTube videos, our latest Netflix binge. Textbooks in school are full of content. So are the magazines in doctors’ offices.

The examples above include print items (like newspapers) and digital items we access online (like YouTube videos and podcasts).

Content is content. But the delivery mode can be different: print vs. digital.

For this post, we’re talking about digital content, specifically the kind businesses and brands use to promote their services, products, or causes. (That’s the simplest definition of copywriting: any writing that sells a product, service, or cause.)

What are examples of digital content that businesses use to market their services?

I mentioned some examples above.

Here’s an incomplete list of digital content that businesses use to engage with prospects and customers:

  • Blog posts
  • Case studies
  • Checklists
  • Digital ads
  • Ebooks
  • Emails
  • Graphics
  • Infographics
  • Landing pages
  • Podcasts
  • Social media posts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Websites
  • White papers
  • User-generated content (like Yelp reviews and memes)

As a freelance copywriter, I draft tons of blog posts, emails, entire websites, landing pages, ebooks, digital ads, and video scripts. I still write some print materials. But it’s most definitely a digital marketing world.

When did digital marketing take off?

It didn’t happen overnight or all at once.

I’ve been working as a freelance copywriter since 2002. When I started, digital marketing was still in its infancy. Yes, many people were charmed by the World Wide Web, but not everyone was online.

Some fun facts about the landscape in 2002:

When I started freelancing in 2002, I had an AOL address. I had a very basic website. I also had a physical portfolio—an actual binder—with clips and examples of my work that I’d haul to meetings with prospective clients.

I still wrote many print materials in those early days: trifold brochures, sales letters, and direct mailers (postcards). I was writing some website copy, too. But it was still very much a mix of print and digital.

I do have a distinct memory of a turning point—a seminal moment—in my journey.

It was late 2008 or early 2009. I was working with a marketing colleague. She co-managed a marketing firm I did a lot of copywriting work for. We were working on a client’s website in her office in the basement of her home in central Massachusetts. We were frustrated because we couldn’t easily make the changes we wanted to the client’s website. We’d have to involve the client’s web person, which was a pain.

One of us mentioned we’d recently heard about a Boston-based company called HubSpot and its streamlined content management system (CMS). What’s funny: The other person (I can’t remember if it was her or me) had recently heard about HubSpot, too.

Together, we turned to her computer, visited the HubSpot website, and began poking around. We both knew that HubSpot was different—that it was special. Before long, we booked a demo and never looked back. (We moved the client’s site to HubSpot.)

THAT was a turning point in my career, and things moved quickly from there.

HubSpot is all about inbound marketing.

In a nutshell, inbound marketing focuses on attracting people who are already on the hunt for your products or services. You attract them via optimized search, lead them to your primary digital asset (your website), and delight them with helpful, engaging content—and you continue to deliver this engaging, helpful content at every stage of their buying journey.

On the other hand, outbound marketing blasts marketing messages to everyone—even though most people probably aren’t on the market for that particular product or service. Think about the billboard on the highway. Not everyone driving by needs that product or service. But those who go onto Google and search for a solution to a problem—or a type of product or service—are the folks inbound marketers want to capture.

At the core of inbound marketing is high-quality digital content: websites, blogs, emails, and social media posts.

Bottom line: Digital content makes the online world go round, which is why it’s vital to businesses and brands.

So you might be wondering: OK, great! How do I create quality digital content? This must be where the digital content development part comes into play, right?

Before you can produce quality digital content, you must have a robust digital content strategy.

Producing digital content just for the sake of putting digital content out there won’t get you far.

Instead, you must have a robust digital content strategy to guide your digital content development.

A strong digital content strategy involves the following:

  • Knowing your target audience. What problems do they have? What content do they want? For example, if you focus on older Gen Z (people between 20 and 26), giving them 2000-word blog posts won’t cut it. This is the TikTok generation. They want videos.
  • Agreeing on the goals of each digital content asset. Be specific and align goals with different content. For example, the content you develop for social media will have different goals than the landing page you’re developing for a pay-per-click campaign. With social media, you might measure success based on engagement. For the PPC campaign, you’d measure success based on conversions.
  • Collaboration. Digital content development involves collaboration between the marketing team, writers, and designers (and, ideally, the sales team).
  • You’ll want to research keywords and what competitors are doing. You’ll want to create different and better content than what’s currently out there—more on this below.
  • Planning. Whether you use a Google spreadsheet or more robust project management software like Monday or Basecamp, you need an online calendar that everyone can access. People must know their responsibilities, due dates, and other relevant details.
  • Execution (aka, the actual content development). Writers and designers get to work creating the various content assets.
  • Promotion and repurposing. Just as you need a strategy for developing the content, you need one for promoting the content—not just once, but over the long haul. You also need a plan for repurposing the content. You can (usually) repurpose one piece of content into multiple formats and share it across different channels.
  • Ongoing analysis. You must constantly measure performance. If your digital content isn’t achieving your goals, how can you improve it? Metrics you’ll measure include organic traffic, page views, bounce rates, time spent on a page, engagement (social media), click-through rates, conversion rates, and retention rates. (That’s an incomplete list.)

I don’t recommend going longer than a quarter at a time when planning.

Strategizing beyond a quarter can be challenging. Sure, you can have broad strokes. For example, if you host a virtual conference every fall, you can have it on your radar. But as you’re planning Q1, you won’t be coming up with all the details for the October virtual conference.

What’s the copywriter’s role in the content development process?

To be honest, copywriters aren’t usually as involved as they should be, especially when we’re talking about larger brands and businesses. This is especially true if you’re a freelancer, but I see it happening to full-time copywriters working for brands and agencies.

Too often, the marketing folks devise a plan based on what they’re seeing. They might go so far as to map it out. Then, they bring in the writers. Skilled marketing writers will often spot gaps in the plan’s logic and spend more time trying to understand the goals and revise the plan accordingly, all of which takes more time than if the writer had been involved from the beginning.

IMO, copywriters should be involved (and, in many cases, leading) the content development strategy—they shouldn’t be coming in mid-stream.

But that’s a perfect-world scenario, and we all know we’re not living in one of those.

The good news is if you’re working with small businesses, you can often train them to include you earlier in the process—or if you’re working with solopreneurs, you can lead the charge in the digital content strategy.

And the strategy layout doesn’t need to be complicated. You can create a simple plan if you’ve considered the objectives, researched, and discussed what worked in the past.

It might be something as simple as the following:

  • Let’s produce an optimized blog post a week for one quarter.
  • We’ll pull content nuggets from the blog post and create social media posts.
  • At the end of the quarter, we’ll create two white papers or guides based on the content from the blog posts.
  • We’ll gate the white papers and create robust landing pages.
  • We’ll run some paid ads to drive people to the white papers
  • We’ll review the results: Have we increased organic traffic to the site? Have we seen increased engagement on social media? How many downloads of the white paper have we gotten, and can we attribute any business to these activities?

Keep in mind that each piece of digital content you create will involve its own steps and workflows.

For example, think about everything that goes into developing an optimized blog post:

  • Discussion with the client re: the topics they want to cover
  • Keyword research to figure out the best keyword phrase for each blog post
  • General research – see what content exists online for the keyword phrase and devise a plan to make more substantial  (aka, better) content. For example, if the top content for a keyword phrase is 1500 words, you’ll want to create something that’s longer—say 2000 words. If the top piece of content lists “top 10 ways to do X,” you’ll want to create a blog post focusing on 15 ways.
  • Interviewing subject matter experts
  • Writing the first draft
  • Getting client feedback
  • Revising
  • Layout/images
  • Publishing/promotion
  • Repurposing, as appropriate (for example, if you wrote a blog post on the “15 ways to do X,” you might create 15 separate social media posts, each one devoted to a different way).

What are some tips for creating strong digital content?

If you want to create quality digital content assets that get results, then  . . .

You must create content that’s different from the existing content about the topic.

Again, producing content just to produce content won’t get you far. And keep in mind your competitors will be writing about the same topics. You must find a different spin and angle on the same old content everyone else is putting out there.

Sometimes, that might mean going longer. Going back to our blog post example . . . if the existing blog posts that rank on the first page of Google weigh in around 1500 words, try writing content that goes deeper into various points so that you can hit 2000 or 2500 words.

If the top blog post lists “top 10 benefits you get from installing solar panels on your home,” you’ll want to create a blog post focusing on 12 or 15 benefits.

You’ll want to make sure the digital content you create is optimized for search—for web pages and blog posts, that means having only one H1, keyword-rich H2s, appropriate H3s, bulleted lists, no errors, etc. For videos, that’s making sure you have keyword-rich titles and thorough descriptions.

Again, each piece of digital content will have its own workflows and best practices.

You must create content that’s developed specifically for the target audience you’re trying to reach.

For example, if your target audience is older Gen Z (maybe between 21 and 26), writing 2000-word blog posts isn’t the way to engage with this audience, which is all about TikTok.

And remember that your audience will have different content needs depending on where they are in their journey. People at the top of the sales funnel searching for a solution to a problem and becoming aware of your client’s business are in a critical educational stage. They respond well to blog posts and helpful FAQs. People at the bottom of the sales funnel might be looking to book a demo.

The content must be created (or heavily revised) by a human.

Large-language models, like ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, Writer AI, etc.—are fantastic tools. But they’re just that: tools. AI is not ready to replace human copywriters yet—or any time soon.

I know I might be wrong about this, and that’s OK. Things are moving fast. But right now, AI can’t produce the critical nuances needed for compelling digital copy—and trust me, I’ve been trying to get the various AI tools to do that.

I’ve been using all four of the ones I mentioned above—and I’m on the PAID version of ChatGPT and a paid version of Writer (through a client). I’ve been using these products regularly. They are excellent tools because they are lightning-fast. They can come up with copy points you might not have considered. They can review work and provide instant and helpful feedback. They can create decent outlines.

But they have yet to adequately capture a brand’s voice—and I’ve been trying to train it. And they can’t develop a digital content strategy. AI tools like ChatGPT don’t have awareness. It only knows what it’s been trained on. It’s a reactive tool, not a proactive tool.

And creating a digital content strategy requires a thoughtful, proactive approach.

Again, AI is a great tool. I begin much of my content creation using ChatGPT, Bard, or Bing. However, I’m using these tools for brainstorming or outlining in the early stages of digital content development. I must revise (usually heavily) any content it produces and find accurate sources to cite.

Also, currently, AI can’t produce quality long-form content. Not in my experience, anyway. Nothing beyond 700 words. It loses the thread. “Ask Writer” and ChatGPT can’t deliver more than 600 or so words at once (again, I’m using the paid versions for both). I’ll ask it to deliver longer copy in 600-word chunks, which it can do. But even then, both will often have difficulty reaching word counts beyond 900 or 1000 without sounding incredibly repetitive.

This will likely improve over time. But as of right now, I’d never hand off AI-produced copy to a client PRECISELY because it sounds like everything else that’s out there. And that violates one of the rules governing effective digital content—you must develop content unlike anything else out there.

Quality digital content WON’T sound like anything else already out there. To accomplish this, you need a human writer. We can imbue a brand’s voice and personality into the copy. We can identify how to elevate a piece of copy so it sounds different from everything else. We can spot gaps within the content—and address those gaps.

AI, in its current incarnation, as I write this post in 2023, can’t do those things.

Also, you can’t trust ANY stats it provides, even if it includes attribution and URLs. Both Bard and Bing will cite sources and provide URLs. I’ve found that even if the URLs are accessible and “on topic,” they seldom reflect the exact stat the AI tool tries to convey. I’ll question the AI tool, and it stutters and apologizes. I suspect this will also improve over time, but you can’t trust any stats or sources it shares. The spirit of what the AI tool is getting at with the stat is usually correct, which is helpful. But the copywriter still must go out and find a reputable source with a similar stat.

Bottom line: Anything a large-language model writes in 2023 is “OK,” but rarely (if ever) on brand or different enough from all the other content out there.

The “on brand” thing can be subtle—you know it when you hear the difference. And that’s the thing . . . someone who isn’t a skilled copywriter might not be able to pick up where things falter. They just know something doesn’t sound quite “right,” even if the content itself is otherwise acceptable.

This is where skilled writers excel. We can spot those “off” issues quickly and rectify them. We write for subtext. We write with nuance in mind. We know how to vary sentences. We’re not afraid of contractions. We know how to conduct solid research and get reliable stats and sources. We know how (and when) to push the envelope and how to sound on brand.

Digital content development: Think strategy first.

Digital content is an essential ingredient in an effective digital marketing strategy for businesses large and small. Copywriters create the content for various digital assets, like blog posts, social media posts, paid ads, web pages, etc.

Ideally, copywriters would be part of the digital content strategy from the get-go. But at the very least, writers can focus on creating quality digital content by making sure it’s different from all the other content out there, that it’s appropriate for the various audiences the client is trying to reach, and that it’s written and revised by a human, not AI.

Got a question for the Copy Bitch?

Get in touch or visit my YouTube channel and leave a question in the comments on one of my videos.

How to Conduct an Interview for an Article

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Wondering how to conduct an interview for an article, blog post, white paper, guide, or some other piece of marketing content you’ve been tasked to write as a freelance copywriter?

Well, step right up. You can watch the video below . . . or keep reading for my tips and tricks.

How interviews in Copywriting Land differ from journalistic interviews

You have much more space to breathe as a freelance copywriter conducting an interview with a subject matter expert, or SME as we say in the biz (because we marketing writers love our acronyms and jargon).

As a journalist, you’re often tasked with interviewing people who have no desire to talk to you. That can lead to lots of stress and tension.

Luckily, when you’re a freelance copywriter, the folks you interview will be invested in what you’re doing. You’ll likely be talking to someone on the client side who’s an expert in what they do. Maybe it’s a doctor for a urology practice. Or maybe it’s a lawyer who understands the ins and outs of DOT compliance. They want to see you succeed since it’s beneficial for them and their business. So they’re usually happy to help. You don’t need to worry about it being an antagonistic interview like you might have experienced as a journalist.

That said,  you might still be nervous conducting interviews in this new setting as a marketing copywriter. This is normal, even for folks like me who’ve been at it a good long while. If you’re an introvert and you hate talking to people, conducting interviews via phone, Zoom, or in person can be challenging. Especially in person since that requires pants.

OK, so let’s get to some tips about how to conduct an interview for an article, blog post, white paper, or other pieces of marketing content.

Develop your questions in advance and send them to your interview subject ahead of time. You’re going to want to do some preliminary research based on the angle of your article, blog post, or white paper. Develop questions from there and send them to the subject matter expert (SME). Keep it reasonable, though. I wouldn’t send more than 15 questions via email. If you feel you’re going to need to ask a lot more questions than that, double-check to make sure the focus of your article is focused enough.

Set clear expectations. How will you be conducting the interview? Over the phone? Zoom? Skype? Should they have their cameras on or is audio-only OK? When scheduling, let people know how long you’ll need them. Plan for more time than you need. It will be a treat for them if you complete the interview early. Suddenly, they might have 10 or 15 extra minutes in their day.

Always send a calendar invite and make sure they accept it. I always follow up a calendar invite with an email alerting them that I just sent it. (Yeah, yeah, I know.) And I paste the info in the email, just in case. I might be going overboard. But it works for me. You do you.

Send a reminder the day before or the morning of. Provide the details, like a Zoom link or phone number and the list of questions again. If you don’t send the reminder, then don’t be surprised when someone flakes out.

Show up early to the interview. You’ll likely be conducting most interviews via phone or Zoom. Show up five minutes early. You’ll be able to troubleshoot any glitches. And if your interview subject is early, they won’t have to wait.

RECORD THE INTERVIEW. Be redundant and use a backup device. I use Zoom and the memo function on my phone. I always alert people that I’m recording and explain why (because I can never read my own handwriting). I tell them that I promise I won’t use anything they sat against them in a court of law. This almost always elicits chuckles and puts people at ease.

And while all of the above is true, the real reason you want to record is this: You will listen better and more deeply if you’re not worried about taking notes. I think you should still take some notes, as needed. But put your focus on your interview subject. Follow their directives. Yeah, you don’t want the interview to go off the rails, but allow yourself to follow tangents that seem relevant or interesting.

Ask follow-up questions or clarification, as needed. Your interview subjects will likely say something that surprises you or that you want to know a little more about. ALLOW for this. Ask those questions.

Resist the temptation to bring yourself into the interview. I’ve seen this mistake one too many times. It’s not about you. Shine the light on your subject. (Unless in rare instances your experience is highly relevant or directly related.)

PAUSE AND TAKE A DEEP BREATH. And when doing so, simply say, “Great, I’m just double-checking my questions here. Bear with me.” This allows for a little breather and for you to catch any questions you missed.

Lean into the silences and let your interview subjects fill them in. They will, too, because it’s human nature.

At the end of the interview, set clear expectations about what happens next. For example, let them know when they can expect to see the first draft. Remember, in Copywriting Land, your interview subject will review, edit, and approve the final copy. This is one of the biggest differences between journalism and copywriting. In Journalism Land, people don’t get to approve or change their quotes. What’s on the record is on the record. But in Copywriting Land, it’s a little different. So explain what happens next: “I’ll be sending you a draft in a week. You can make suggested edits in the margins or if we need to discuss more complex edits, we can schedule a call.” Let people know they are welcome to reach out to you via email if they forgot something or whatever.

Be classy and say thank you. Send a quick email thanking them for their time and reiterating the next steps.

How to conduct an interview for an article – best practices for asking questions

Ask open-ended questions. Remember, the goal is to get people talking.

If you need clarification, ask for it. Say something like, “Can you elaborate?” Or: “Can you provide an example?”

Don’t be afraid to ask someone to dumb something down. You can even ask them to do exactly that: “Hmm. I’m not quite sure I understand. Let’s pretend I’m ten. How would you explain this concept to me?”

A great question to end all interviews (or some variation):

  • Is there anything you were expecting me to ask that I didn’t?
  • If there’s one thing you’d want a reader to take away from this article, what would it be?
  • Is there anything else you want to make sure I convey?

Remember, don’t fill in the silences. IT’S SO TEMPTING, I KNOW. But bite your tongue, especially when asking these closing questions. Let the interview subject fill in the blanks.

Final tips on how to conduct an interview for an article, blog post, white paper, or another piece of marketing content

Use a service like Rev.com or Temi.com to transcribe the interview. Either with a human or with their automated transcription, which is pretty good. It’ll make your life so much easier, trust me. Instead of spending valuable time transcribing the interview, you can focus on highlighting important messages, identifying great quotes, conducting additional research, and—oh yeah—writing awesome content. Plus, you’ll get to the writing part SO MUCH FASTER, which is good for the client and you.

Wondering how it’s good for you? Well, let’s say you charge $500 per blog post, and that includes initial research (keywords and topic), scheduling the interview with the subject matter expert, conducting a 30-minute interview, reviewing the transcript, writing the blog post, getting feedback from the client, and providing one round of revisions. If you don’t record and simply go by notes, I guarantee you’ll have overlooked something/forgotten something. And if you choose to transcribe the interview yourself, think of how much time that will take. I don’t care if you’re a good transcriber—it will take you at least 30 minutes (if you’re truly super fast) and more like an hour or more easily. What if you got that hour back for writing—or what if you get that hour back in your pocket?

Look at it this way: Let’s say it takes you five hours from start to finish to produce the final blog when you use a transcription service, but it takes you six to seven hours if you transcribe the interview yourself. You can do the math! Consider how much an hour of your time is worth.

Be kind to yourself, especially if you’re just starting out. And know that even if you end up doing this for years, some days will be better than others. Even now, I still have moments where I’m like, “Hmm. That wasn’t my best work.” It happens. The good news is that all that messy stuff happens in the background. In other words, the interview itself is not the final product—the piece of writing is. So even if it’s a little messy getting there, you can still make sure the final prose shines in the end.

Got other questions about how to conduct an interview for an article?

Get in touch and ask away. Always happy to help!

The Anatomy of a Great Offer

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Dear Copy Bitch: I’m launching a new website (I’m a fellow copywriter), and I wanted to know if you had any ideas for great offers. I can come up with this stuff for clients, but it’s hard to do it for myself.

—Steve T., Santa Monica, CA

ANSWER: Congrats, Steve! But before I answer, I must address that pesky pachyderm in the room. I know some people are wondering why I’d give advice to a copywriter, i.e. a competitor. Simple. I believe there’s enough room for all of us. Competition is good because it ensures we writers (lawyers, marketers, politicians) do as good of a job as we possibly can. I also believe in the concept of paying it forward. Many people have helped me along the way after all.

Okay, enough of the philosophizing. Let’s talk about the anatomy of a great offer. Here are some traits that I think all great offers have:

  1. It will provide me with something that I consider valuable.
  2. It’s easy to access.
  3. It’s easy to understand and/or use.

1. Make Valuable Offers

So how do you figure out what people will consider valuable?

Ask current customers. Shoot them a quick email or make a quick call and ask them what they would get excited about seeing available on your website.

Ask potential customers. Think of the type of business owners you want to do business with, and ask them what they would consider valuable. Chances are if you don’t directly know some of these people, you know someone who does.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Picture yourself as a business owner who lands on your website. What sort of information would be valuable? Tips on how to proofread more effectively? A 21-point guide on creating blog posts that get people talking? A step-by-step tutorial on writing an effective web page?

Worried that these types of offers give away too many trade secrets? Don’t. Educating your clients or prospective clients on certain writing tasks won’t put you out of a job. (Empowering people is never a bad thing. Well, at least in this case.) What it will likely do is 1) make them appreciate what you do even more and/or 2) make them advocate for you (especially if they’re reporting to people further up the food chain).

Something else to keep in mind: I believe in crafting multiple offers. Make them page specific. So if you have a service page on website copywriting, craft your offer around that. For example, a document called “What’s a title tag and why should I care?” might work well on this page.

2. Make Your Offers Easy to Access

Don’t make people email or call you. Make the offers free and downloadable off your site. Use simple forms (i.e. make the forms short). Get only enough info so that you can continue to stay in front of people, but don’t ask people to surrender every last shred of information about themselves. Don’t  use automatic opt-ins. If you have a question like “Do you want to subscribe to my newsletter,” make sure the “yes” box isn’t automatically checked. After someone hits “submit,” make sure whatever it is that people just signed up for—a document, a coupon, a webinar, access to a private area of your site—is obvious. Include easy-to-read directions if your offer involves anything that involves more than one step. A nice touch? Automated emails that include information around your offer.

3. Make Offers Easy to Understand

In your case, you’ll probably be providing tip sheets, white papers, and tutorials. Remember the KISS rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid). These items are not the place to show off jargon or impress people with your literary prowess. Instead, provide readable, practical information that a 10-year-old can follow, digest, and start using today.

The same holds true no matter what the offer is. If I run an online store, and I offer a coupon code, it should be clear as to what the code is and how and where I’m supposed to use it.

The best way to make sure you’ve taken care of items #2 and #3 is to test it yourself and then have some other folks go through the process.

Hope this helps!

Honest Marketing Copy: Ready for “Risky” Conversations?

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Note from The Copy Bitch: I wrote this post in 2010, meaning SEVEN years ago (as I sit here reviewing it on 7/9/17). I was talking about “authentic copy” and “honest marketing copy” seven years ago, and now I’m screaming it at the top of my lungs. Be real, people.

The other day, I had a frank conversation with a client. I said, “Is your product really all that different from your competitors?” The reason I was asking was simple: it was a standard product. I’d gleaned that much from our conversations and competitor research.

He was honest. He said, “When comparing this product across similar tiers/companies, no–we’re NOT different.”

So the challenge I posed to him was this: “So WHY should people work with/buy from you instead of your competitors?”

He didn’t have a ready answer.

But I probed further.

Turns out that many of his competitors are newer companies. There’s no telling how long they’ll last or if they’ll last (although they might). My client’s company, however, has been around for 20+ years (although dealing with a sister product–not the newer product he was trying to sell, but still). The product he was selling requires ongoing tech support. It’s not a “one and done” type of sale. In addition, my client had plenty of experience working with the target audience he was going after (restaurant owners and small retailer owners)–he’d been doing that for years with his main business/other product.

OK.

So I recommended an honest message. I recommended truth. “Hey, our products aren’t much different from our competitors’. The software is pretty standard across the board in regards to the technology. Pricing is similar, too. Sure, you might get a discount here, a free trial there, but at the end of the day, the products are pretty much the same. So why should you buy from us then? Well, what you WILL get from us is security–we’ve been around for 20+ years. Many of our competitors are newer companies. We’re not suggesting they’re going to go under. But what we ARE saying is that you can count on us being here for ongoing tech support. We’re not going anywhere. Plus, we’ve worked with people in your industry. We already get what your challenges are, so we’ll set up the system to work with your business.”

See that? An honest message. A REAL message. Not sexy. Although in some ways (perhaps the same way I found James Comey very sexy during his testimony) it IS sexy.

Because the truth is sexy.

Authenticity is sexy.

Or refreshing, at the very least.

#gettingoffmysoapboxnow

Check out the original post from 2010 below.

Last month, HubSpot released some great news for me: a blog post titled “Calling All Content Creators: Marketers Spending More on Content in 2010.”

But the Great Content Proliferation of 2010 could prove problematic for businesses, and here’s why: now more than ever, what you say and how you say it matters. Yes, those two things have always mattered, but considering how fast The People can rebroadcast your messages via Twitter, Facebook, texts, and other social media, there’s A LOT of pressure on your words.

From my perspective, this means that “corporate speak” is a dying strategy when it comes to creating content, even in notoriously corporate industries. Stuffy, aloof, third-person, passive “Mistakes were made” ways of talking to customers won’t work when there are too many other CEOs who blog, tweet, text, and post status updates on fan pages in a conversational and familiar tone.

In other words: only real, authentic copy and messaging will rise above the endless chatter, not the platypus copy that results from well-meaning, but out-of-touch folks who red-line every natural phrase, who remove every bit of Chunky Monkey personality from the copy, who turn the copy into safe vanilla because it’s well, safe, even though it just won’t work in such a competitive vanilla-filled landscape.

You need to take risks with your copy, with your conversations, if you want your business to stand out in 2010.

But let me be clear about one other important point: the only thing risky about these conversations is the fear I guarantee 80 percent of my readers are experiencing right now. What I’d really like to call this newsletter is “Ready for REAL Conversation?” But we’re not there. Yet.

So let’s forget the adjectives and focus on the word conversation. The following addresses many of the questions I get from clients and onlookers alike regarding this pesky word.

1. What is conversation?
If you look it up, the keyword phrase you’ll see in most definitions is this: “informal discussion.” The very definition of the word gives you permission to have an informal tone.

2. Why should my tone with customers be informal?
Conversational, how I love thee! Let me count the ways! Informal methods (active voice, contractions, shorter words, shorter sentences) make your message easier to understand and retain. The formal method (no contractions, passive voice, $5 vocabulary words, longer complex sentences) involves more time and thinking. Need another reason? How ’bout this: because The People are accustomed to it now more than ever, thanks to 140-character texts and tweets. More? Okay, I saved the best for last: because it works.

3. So you’re advocating the dumbing down of society?
Not at all. I advocate that people read widely (fiction and nonfiction) and that they read balanced arguments about issues. But b2b and b2c copywriting should not sound like Proust. Why? Because reading Proust takes time. Ask yourself this: how much time does your audience have to read, understand, and remember your message? Not much, since they’re busy working, going to meetings, cooking, shuttling kids to soccer practice, working a second job, paying bills, shopping, sporting, and reading Proust. (Okay, I doubt most of your customers are reading Proust. Which should tell you something. But they’re likely doing those other things.)

4. I don’t believe you.
That’s okay. The proof is in the conversions. The best thing you could do is a split test (also known as A/B testing). Sending out a sales letter? Have two versions–a “professional” version and a “completely conversational” version. See which one converts better. My money is on the conversational one. You can do the same testing with email newsletters (start by testing subject lines) and website landing pages.

5. But conversational isn’t my style!
So what is your style? Pedantic? I doubt it. Listen, there are different levels of conversational (and the level you opt for will depend more on who your audience is rather than who YOU are). You don’t need to go the full monty the first time out of the gate. I understand–and accept–that not everyone, nor every business, can get away with using a well-placed “horse shit” in their copy. But a bunch of businesses can. And the ones who can’t could still have clean fun with “horse manure.” (Face it: “manure” is a funny and memorable word, especially when used in business writing.)

6. Okay, I’m not pedantic. But how can I do this conversation thing in my copy?
Listen to me: you already do. You just don’t know it. The absolute best thing you can do is this: record yourself having a conversation with someone about your business. Do not secretly record the conversation a la Linda Tripp, since this would be illegal. Ask permission and then record yourself talking to your marketing person, business advisor, co-worker, spouse, dog, whomever. (The dog is the last on the list because you really do need someone who can respond to you in order for this to qualify as a conversation. And if your dog talks back to you, there are other things we need to discuss first.)

Record yourself long enough so that you forget you’re recording. Just talk. Relax. Enjoy the conversation. Listen to what the other person is saying. Then respond. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Here’s what I’m betting you’ll notice when you listen back: how natural you sound. How authentic. How–holy crap!–conversational. You’ll be using contractions, colloquialisms, and short sentences. You might even start sentences with “and” or “but,” no doubt causing your poor sixth-grade English teacher to roll over in her grave. And guess what? The stuff you’re talking about will probably be interesting, specific, and concrete as opposed to the vanilla “expected” copy so many business websites succumb to. Your conversation will have personality.

Now do this: transcribe the conversation. YOU do it–don’t hire someone. I want you to feel the words as you type them out on your keyboard. I want you to see how they look on the page. I want you to envision how certain phrases and paragraphs would look and sound in your sales letter, on your web page, and in a marketing brochure.

Then ask yourself this: what risk is there in that?

(Note: I suggest doing the above exercise even if you use a conversational copywriter like me.)

7. But there IS risk! What if someone reading it thinks I’m an unprofessional moron?
Contractions won’t make you look like a moron. Neither will starting an occasional sentence with “but.” What will make you and your company look like an unprofessional moron? Misspellings and typos. Amateurish design. Unsubstantiated claims. Navigation that leads to the tenth circle of hell. Generalizations that waste my time. Hiding your contact info. Forms that don’t work. Sites that are blander than the vanilla ice cream that’s been sitting in my mom’s freezer since the Bush administration. The first one.

8. You say all this, but show me copy that works.
Okay. Check out these sites.

Taking a Writing Hiatus (i.e. Back Away from the Computer, Ma’am)

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Dear Copy Bitch: We’re kindred spirits: I’m a copywriter by day, and at night (for the last three years anyway) I’ve been working on a memoir. Lately, I just can’t seem to do either well, even though I try forcing myself to write through it. I’ll admit that sometimes I work seven days a week, but I’ve always seen this as dedication to my craft. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just blocked. Would love to get your take. Thanks. Love the blog!

—Miami Memoirist

Answer: Sometimes the most important thing you can do when the writing isn’t clicking–be it client copy or creative writing–is to step away from the computer. Or throw down your legal pad. Or cast aside your journal.

Listen, I don’t believe in writer’s block, and I’m the biggest proponent of “Ass in Chair” and banging it out and working through it because I know that nine times out of ten, you can. But then there’s that stinky tenth time. You know, the one that causes neck and back spasms that leave you drooling on the carpet. The moment when you just. Can’t. Write. Another. Word. (Again, I don’t think this is a block; it’s your mind’s way of telling you it needs a rest–there’s a big difference.)

So step away. From the whole gosh-darn thing: from the room in which your computer purrs, from the house in which your writing festers, and get thee somewhere else. Anywhere. The park, the movies, the bookstore, your best friend’s house. Just get out. Leave it alone. For as long as you can manage (ideally 24 hours, but I realize this isn’t always feasible–even a morning or afternoon can do wonders). Try not to think about it (ha!). Seriously, though, give yourself permission to breathe and to take a break and to allow your mind and body a Take Five.

Go back to it the next day and see what happens.

Then, start carving time like this into your schedule. If you draw peace and inspiration from spending one morning a week with the dogs at the dog park, then book it. If you love film and feel that a Wednesday matinee is one of the best things since George Clooney’s birth, then block out that time (and don’t feel guilty, either. This is one of freelancing’s perks. Take advantage of it). If you need yoga three times a week to keep the mental muscles happy, okay. Dedication to craft is commendable. But so is dedication to your own sanity.

(On a completely unrelated note, I wish I could go back and mark the moment–the precise moment–when I went from a “miss” to a “ma’am.” Seems to me there should have been a helluva lot more hoopla involved.)

Don’t Write Like This (even if you’re a lawyer)

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Dear Copy Bitch: Aren’t long, complex sentences with big words more impressive, professional, and “important” sounding than the short sentences you seem to advocate?

—The Curious Cursory Blog Reader

Answer: Here’s a story for you: A few years back, I taught a first semester writing course to law students. The reason why this brave little law school hired me, The Copy Bitch, is because it wanted someone to teach these folks how to write clearly instead of like the stereotypical lawyer.

One of my former students, now an attorney, sent me an email the other day that said, “I just had to read a clause in a legal contract. Guess how many words it had it in it? I’ll give you a hint: slightly more than twenty.” (I used to tell ’em to keep sentences as short as possible to make for easier reading. No, this rule doesn’t apply for everything. But it’s not a bad rule to guide you, at least in professional writing, which is what lawyers do.)

I asked him to remove any identifying info and send me the clause, which he did. It’s below.

Company and Mr. Smith Release.  For good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Company and Mr. Smith (the “Company Releasors”) do hereby remise, release and forever discharge and by these presents do for themselves and their successors, assigns, subsidiaries, parent corporation, affiliates, insurers, and past, present and future members, managers, employees, agents, and representatives remise, release and forever discharge Ms. Jones and her successors, legal representatives and assigns (the “Jones Releasees”) from, against and with respect to any and all actions, accounts, agreements, causes of action, complaints, charges, claims, covenants, contracts, costs, damages, demands, debts, defenses, duties, expenses, executions, fees, injuries, interest, judgments, liabilities, losses, obligations, penalties, promises, reimbursements, remedies, suits, sums of money, and torts of any kind and nature whatsoever, whether in law, equity or otherwise, direct or indirect, fixed or contingent, foreseeable or unforeseeable, liquidated or unliquidated, known or unknown, matured or unmatured, absolute or contingent, determined or determinable but excepting and excluding the Promissory Note (collectively, a “Claim”) which the Company Releasors ever had, now have, or which the Company Releasors hereafter can, shall or may have against the Buyer Releasees, related to, for, upon or by reason of any matter, cause or thing whatsoever from the beginning of time to the date hereof related to, for, upon or by reason of any matter, cause or thing whatsoever; provided, however, that this Release shall not affect, waive, extinguish or otherwise release the Jones Releasees from any and all future claims which the Company may have related to the Promissory Note.

This doesn’t sound impressive, professional, or important. Do not write like this, ever. Even if you’re a lawyer.

(Note: I’m not an attorney, but you don’t need to write like this simply because you are one. To wit: my former student, the one who’s now a lawyer, was pulling his hair out over this piece of crap writing.)

Do You Write Peek-a-Boo Headlines?

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You should.

What’s a peek-a-boo headline? Let’s brush up on what peek-a-boo is, first. You, no doubt, know the game of entertaining a baby by covering your face and (in a really high-pitched, silly voice) saying “Peek…peek…peek-a-boo!” and then revealing your face on the word “boo.”

Think about what happens next: What baby doesn’t stop what he or she is doing (yes, including the one wailing in the seat in front of you on the plane), stare, laugh, giggle, and then–this is important–looks for more.

That’s what a peek-a-boo headline does to a reader. The headline stops the reader in his or her tracks. It startles the reader, in a good way. The reader then looks for “more” by reading what follows next (e.g. the blog post, the ad, the email, etc.).

My post from the other day–Apples, Peaches & George Clooney Naked–is one example. And every time I work on copy, that’s my goal: to create a peek-a-boo headline.

Of course, what follows AFTER the headline is almost as important. I say “almost,” only because you could have the most brilliant body copy on the planet, but if that headline doesn’t get the reader craving what comes next, then it won’t matter.

Blog Content Question

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Dear Copy Bitch: I met a chiropractor in my local BNI chapter who is looking to possibly launch a blog. I took a look at his website today, and it seems that he has used this special web provider for chiropractors: [name redacted]. This provider provides all sorts of content with automatic content updates and a full newsletter library. The trick is, you have to be a “member” to log in and see this content.

Do you have any ideas about what benefits this doctor will get by having a personal blog that he won’t get by simply having the mass-produced content available? The one thing that I can think of is that potential customers who are just browsing for information may not want to become a member just yet, and that this requirement may send them away never to return. But I thought you might have some additional ideas.

–Addie Z.

A: Okay, if I’m reading this right, it sounds like he has a blog with automatically generated content, but people need to login to view the blog posts. If that’s the case, here’s my take: I can’t think of any business blogs where people have to register to see the content. The whole point of the blogosphere is to have immediate, relevant content at your fingertips when you need it. Many blogs require people to register in order to post comments, but I can’t think of any business blogs where you have to register just to SEE the blog (personal blogs are different; many people lock those, and for good reason). He’ll lose a lot of people right there who don’t want to bother with registration or who don’t want to surrender their info. And he’ll also lose those valuable inbound links. One reason businesses have blogs is so that people will link to their blog posts. Those links can help rankings (if the blog is integrated correctly with the website) and help drive traffic to the business site.

As for the auto-generated content, there are two issues. First, Google doesn’t like duplicate content. So if a blog post is being published on his blog and 20 others, Google doesn’t like that. No one (except the folks inside Google) can say what sort of “penalty,” if any, exists, but a good rule of thumb is to avoid duplicate content. Which brings me to the second issue. One of the other reasons to have a blog is so that you can create a community, engage with your customers or potential customers, position yourself as an expert, and give something back for free: your expertise. The best blogs do all these things.

I imagine he’s doing the auto content thing because he feels he doesn’t have enough time to devote to a blog or that he doesn’t have enough ideas. I do believe that the key to blogging is consistency; I always encourage my clients to blog at least three times a week. Blog posts needn’t be long or Pulitzer-prize worthy. They need to be real, relevant, and conversational. As a chiropractor, I bet he has a ton of topics to blog about. If he doesn’t have the time to do it, he could hire someone (like you) to ghostwrite his posts (option #1) or be his blog writer (#2). If he gave you 30 minutes of his time per week, he probably could give you enough copy points for at least three blog posts (and they don’t all need to be text heavy; you could link to interesting articles related to chiro or other forms of complementary medicine, you could have a poll or survey, you could post a relevant cartoon, you could do “video cam” posts [e.g. maybe of an exercise demonstration that helps with lower back pain]).

Encourage him to make his blog public and to create fresh, customized content.