The five types of copywriting, the five Andersen tales
In the text Qué es el copywriting, Spanish copywriter Maïder Tomasena writes about different aspects of compelling writing.
One of them is the question about how many types of copywriting there are. Maïder finds that there are five copywriting types:
Direct response copywriting
Marketing copywriting
Brand copywriting
SEO copywriting
Technical copywriting
However, Maïder’s text is quite extensive as it addresses many topics regarding compelling writing.
My intention is to answer the following questions:
Which are the types of copywriting?
Where can we use each one of them?
What’s the purpose of each copywriting type?
Furthermore, I’m going to compare the five types of copywriting with the five most famous tales by the Danish writer, Hans Christian Andersen.
I’ll do that because we must talk about the protagonists of the Andersen’s tales to see which type of copywriting you need.
What is direct response copywriting
Direct response copywriting is a compelling writing technique that seeks a direct and immediate response.
Maïder defines it as “the origin of all types of copywriting”.
WE USE IT TO WRITE:
Home pages
Contact pages
Social ads (Facebook ads, Instagram ads, etc.).
THE GOAL: To get the visitor to perform the desired action. For example, to click a CTA, to subscribe to the newsletter, to download a lead magnet, to share the content, etc.
If your company is a protagonist of the tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, you need special clothes to get the desired reaction from the public.
Professionals specialised in direct response copywriting “tailor” that clothes to measure.
THE MORAL: The clothes must be visible.
In this tale, the tailors assure the Emperor that his clothes have “the miraculous virtue of being invisible to every person who is unfit for office.”
On the hand, copywriters don’t address every person in the copies. They speak to your target audience.
Moreover, a compelling text should be clear and direct, with a straightforward goal. Even the child from the tale must be able to see the “Emperor’s clothes” and understand the purpose of his copy.
Direct response copywriting: If you have a copywriter on your team who is willing to “knit” compelling copy to measure, your company doesn’t have to go (or seem) naked.
What is marketing copywriting
Marketing copywriting is a compelling writing technique that focuses on consumer’s problems, desires, and pain points.
When we apply marketing copywriting, we offer solutions to consumers’ problems and insist on the benefits our solutions provide.
WE USE IT TO WRITE:
Newsletters and sales emails (email copywriting)
THE GOAL: To close the sale or get the contract. We can define this type of copywriting as writing to sell.
If your prospect protagonises the tale “The Princess and the Pea,” marketing copywriting should insist on the nuisance the pea causes.
The goal is to persuade the princess to change the mattress, the bed, or even the castle.
THE MORAL: There’s no marketing copywriting without the pea.
Before asking a marketing copywriter for help, make sure that:
There is the pea that bothers the princess – Without the problem, there’s no solution. Without the solution, there are no benefits. And without the benefits, there’s no marketing copywriting.
Your princess isn’t in another castle – Without knowing who is your target audience, there’s no copywriting at all.
Marketing copywriting: You must insist on the discomfort the pea produces to persuade the princess to change the mattress, the bed or even the castle.
What is brand copywriting
Brand copywriting is a compelling writing technique that conveys the image and the identity of a brand.
The idea is to establish an emotional connection between the brand and its target audience. To achieve this, many copywriters turn to storytelling.
THE GOAL: To transmit the mission, vision and values of a brand, so that the target audience can recognise, identify, and differentiate it from competing brands.
If your brand is an ugly duckling, brand copywriting will help you transform it into a beautiful swan and give it the voice of the swan.
THE MORAL: From the ugly duckling to the precious swan, there’s only one compelling text.
The image and the voice of a brand must match. If your brand is an ugly duckling, don’t ask for it to have the voice of a good-looking duckling.
It’s necessary to turn it into a swan, and then work its voice. Without the transformation, there’s no brand copywriting.
Brand copywriting: If your brand is an ugly duckling, don’t ask it to sound like it’s a good-looking duckling. The idea is for it to become a swan.
What is SEO copywriting
To persuade the reader to take a certain action
To position the content in Google
WE USE IT TO WRITE:
Product descriptions
Product categories
Landing pages
THE GOAL: The text should be appealing both to the readers and Google.
Many Spanish marketers define the relation between SEO and copywriting as a marriage. However, I would rather compare it to the story “The Little Mermaid”.
SEO is the tail that helps the Little Mermaid to reach the sea surface.
Copywriting is the voice that allows her to carry on the conversation with humans.
THE MORAL: The Little Mermaid is an outstanding protagonist, but only if she belongs to both worlds, the sea and the land.
Staying in the sea, she remains invisible to the person she’s in love with. In the sea, the Little Mermaid has a voice, but humans don’t hear it. The same goes for copywriting without traffic.
Renouncing the tail and living on the land, the Little Mermaid loses her voice and can’t talk to the person she loves. The same goes for organic traffic without copywriting. If there’s no copywriting, there’s no voice.
SEO copywriting: SEO is the tail that helps the Little Mermaid to reach the sea surface. Copywriting is her voice, the one that allows her to speak to the humans.
What is technical copywriting
Technical copywriting is a compelling writing technique that focuses on an audience that has an in-depth understanding of how a specific sector works.
Technical copywriters use to go for a highly specialised language (jargon). Their texts are information-driven.
It’s possible to distinguish different types of technical copywriting:
Gastronomic copywriting
Tourist copywriting
Copywriting for the health sector
Copywriting for the fashion and beauty sector
WE USE IT TO WRITE: Any compelling text, as long as it addresses to a competent audience with an in-depth knowledge in a sector.
THE GOAL: To create bonds and engage the target audience, hiring the language it uses and understands.
There are 24 soldiers in the tale “The Tin Soldier”. All of them are equal.
The same goes for copywriters who don’t specialise. They offer the same service to all kinds of clients.
However, soldier number 25 is different from his peers. He has one leg shorter than the other ones.
Due to the disability, the soldier 25 understands the feelings, needs, and insecurities of “imperfect toys.” Therefore, he knows how to address these types of toys (the target audience).
THE MORAL: It doesn’t matter how many legs a tin soldier has. What matters is that he understand which battle he should be fighting and how to reverse his disability into an advantage.
Technical copywriters are like tin soldiers. They’re the ones who understand how the “imperfect toys” feel.
The five types of copywriting: which one do you need
Now that you know the five types of copywriting, the question is: which one do you need?
But before answering that question, remember the famous quote:
“Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.”
Hans Christian Andersen
Although I agree with his point of view, I must add something. Not only life stands as a wonderful fairy tale. Copywriting does, too.
If you think the same, please email me. I can help you determine what type of copywriting you need.
And not only that I can. I’ll be happy to do it!
https://www.stasadurdic.com/en/copywriting/types-of-copywriting/
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