The digital landscape has considerably transformed traditional brand-client interaction. Today, most firms rely on different types of copywriting to increase sales, visibility, and brand awareness.
Understanding the different types of copywriting ensures you create goal-appropriate content.
The four most commonly requested types of copywriting are:
- SEO copywriting
- Brand copywriting
- Technical copywriting
- Direct response copywriting
We’ll also share some awesome tips to help you get the ball rolling.
Direct Response Copywriting
Direct response copywriting entails creating content that stirs immediate, measurable responses in customers.
Firms use this technique to increase sales, get more email sign-ups, and improve customer engagement.
Distinctive characteristics of direct response copies include:
- Irresistible offers
- Obsessing over clients
- Powerful calls to action
- Positioning products as saviors
- Targeting clients’ most pressing issues or desires
Direct response copywriting is one of the trickiest types of copywriting.
Clients are naturally wary and skeptical of firms that try to sell services and products to them. To get an instant positive response, you need to overcome their psychological barriers quickly.
Time-proven techniques to help you write a winning direct response copy include:
| 5-Point Direct Response Copywriting Checklist | Explanation |
| Create a compelling headline | Address specific audiences, highlight benefits, provoke urgency, stimulate curiosity, and make a promise |
| Personalize the copy | Don’t address readers as a group. Act like you’re writing a letter or talking to one of them |
| Use the right words | Stick to concise and impactful words like Exclusive, Instant, Join, and Now. Trigger the fear of missing out (FOMO) and scarcity. To do this, give one-time offers or a limited number of products or services at a specific price |
| Value proposition | Highlight the benefits of the client’s products and services |
| A strong call to action | Add a captivating and powerful call to action, initiating an immediate desired action |
Copywriting like this will provide the reader with less room for thinking and prompt an impulsive action.
Below is an excellent example of a copy that ticks all the right boxes.
The copy:
- Is personalized
- Has a clear value proposition—access to 465 vetted freelancers.
- Uses the right words to create a persuasive call to action—join now…
- The headline addresses website owners who need qualified freelancers and makes a promise
SEO Copywriting
SEO copywriting involves creating valuable, captivating marketing materials that are search engine optimized.
Companies use this type of copywriting to increase visibility in the digital space and pitch clients.
Businesses need several SEO copies to rank, making this the most common type of copywriting.
How do you write excellent SEO copy?
Research and Understand Your Client’s Audience
Conducting an audience analysis will enable you to:
- Differentiate their firm
- Appeal to their potential customers
- Identify existing opportunities for growth
An excellent way to understand their audience is by following their comments on social media forums.
Create a customer persona listing your clients’ goals, values, fears, and challenges.
Alternatively, conduct surveys or brainstorm with employees who interact with them.
Perform Audience-Based Keyword Research
Next, you need to know the phrases that their customers may use to search for product information.
These words, also known as keywords, will help search engines like Google understand the content on your page.
Using relevant keywords ensures your page appears in your client’s search results when they enter a related search query.
Write High-Quality Content
Like in all other different types of copywriting, you’ll need to write high-quality content.
High-quality SEO content refers to any marketing material that appeals to both the search engines and your customers.
To ensure that your content appeals to both categories:
- Provide unique, creative, and fresh content
- Show expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness
- Organize your content using optimized headers
- Answer the search queries in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand manner
- Use quality internal and external links to help people navigate the topic
- Add different visual interests components to your articles—like images, tables, and lists
To get a feel of high-quality SEO content writing, read the Small Revolution blog.
Brand Copywriting
Brand copywriting is any type of content marketing intended to create or increase brand awareness.
Sales or customer commitment isn’t the intention here, instead, it articulates a brand’s vision, values, mission, story, and ethos.
In simple words, brand copies help their customers understand who they are, what, why, and how they do it.
A well-written brand copy establishes a clear brand identity and helps you stand out in the marketplace.
Personalizing the brand, and helping the firm to build positive, long-term business-client relationships are the goals of brand copywriting.
Similarly, it imprints the brand in the customers’ minds, influencing their buying decision even months later.
An excellent brand copy should:
- Feel authentic
- Mirror the brand’s tone of voice
- Show what makes the brand unique
- Align with the brand’s overall strategy
- Communicate the brand’s overall promise and position
- Communicate the expected qualities of product or services
What steps should you take to write a captivating brand copy that protects the brand values?
Determine the Brand’s Personality
Brand personality refers to the human traits that your clients associate with their company and what they offer. These attributes determine how their customers relate and interact with the brand.
Firms that can successfully mirror their audience’s preferred characteristics can connect with them on a human level and drive action.
To determine brand personality, answer these questions:
- What are the brand’s aspirations?
- What does their brand consider most important?
- What human attributes would best appeal to the brand’s clientele?
The 5 main brand personalities and some well-known companies that embody them.
| Brand | Brand Personality |
| Jeep | Ruggedness |
| Bentley | Sophistication |
| Small Revolution | Competence |
| American Addiction Treatment Center | Sincerity |
| Nike | Excitement |
A brand can embody two or more personalities, so don’t be afraid to explore all possible ones.
Adopt an Appropriate Tone of Voice for the Brand
You’ll need to determine the most appropriate vocabulary, style, and grammar for the brand.
A brand copy of a business or institution that favors sincerity should use a warm tone. Likewise, one that embodies excitement should be chatty and lively.
Communicate a Consistent and Believable Story, Promise, and Message
Make sure your copy agrees with the values that their brand promotes.
Consistency ensures that their customers associate their brand values with their products.
To make the brand more authentic, share both successes and failures.
You can also include witnesses—use customer testimonials or expert opinions—to draw attention and promote their business.
An example of an ideal brand copy is demonstrated in this “About Us” page.
Technical Copywriting
Technical copywriting involves creating promotional material for high-tech and industrial products.
These types of copy have three major functions:
- Explaining products to clients who lack a technical background
- Encouraging clients to get acquainted with the promoted product
- Increasing product sales by enlightening about the features that make it stand out
| Products that may require technical copies | Types of technical copies | Companies that contract technical copywriters |
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To write a captivating technical copy you need to acquire adequate information by:
- Requesting product documentation
- Talking to the target audience—potential buyers and current owners
- Testing the product
That way, you’ll have a better understanding of the product’s functions and features, as well as your client’s needs.
Start Off on the Right Foot
It’s not enough to know and understand different types of copywriting.
Creating a winning copy requires the right set of content creation skills. You need to know how to write with authority, how to use different tools, and several other things.
Don’t forget, copywriting is ever-evolving.
That’s why the most successful copywriters are those that keep learning.
Small Revolution has helped thousands of copywriters hone their digital marketing skills and grow their careers.
Here’s what one of our students has to say about us.
