If you are able to articulate your copywriting service clearly to your client, the better off you will be able to find projects. Likewise, if you are a company looking to hire a copywriter, it is best to know what type of copywriting you are looking for, to hire the best writer for your needs.
In general, there are four main types of copywriting:
1. Direct Response Copywriting
This is the most well-known category of copywriting, it is taught by many copywriting experts and it is likely the first type that you will start out with for a project. Many people think that direct response copywriting is the only type of copywriting, but this is a common misconception.
This type of copywriting involves a very direct style, featuring short sentences, and has a very sales-focused approach. It employs a lot of marketing and sales language and gets to the point as quickly as possible.
The purpose of direct response copywriting is moving people to the sale, or inspiring people to take action. Its goal is to get a direct response from the reader.
For example, if you were emailing someone, the direct response goal would be getting them to reply. If you were posting a proposal, the goal would be getting the client to respond.
Learn more: The definitive email marketing guide: is it possible to learn this power?
If you were selling a product on e-commerce, then you would be moving someone to click the “buy” button to complete the sale. The entire purpose of direct response copywriting is to elicit a certain response through your words.
Direct response copywriting is the type that most writers are familiar with or want to learn more about. However, many clients do not always want this style. Or, they do not want to only use this style, as it can come across too sales-y.
2. Brand Copywriting
Brand copywriting is very different than direct response copywriting, as the latter is designed to produce a direct response from the reader, while brand copywriting is more about emotions, identity, and prompting certain feelings from your customer with the intent to turn them into a loyal, long time brand-identified person.
Someone who can not only identify the brand by its colors, words, and phrases, but someone who feels the way they want to feel when seeking this product or service, keeping them coming back for more.
Brand copywriting is all about capturing the right words, creating the right images in the mind so that the customer or the potential customer can begin to identify with your brand.
These feelings are something that you want them to have, they are something that you create in their minds using only your words.
Brand copywriting is not necessarily intended to get an immediate response, it’s more subtle. It is a long-term persuasion, it is meant to drop seeds and strengthen your brand identity and loyalty over time.
The goal is to get the customer to feel like part of this brand, that they are aligned with the company. Brand copywriting is all about identification.
3. Technical Copywriting
Technical copywriting is a more structured style, it is mainly about simplifying complex topics into things people can understand, read, and move forward, and take action on.
Your goal is to write to persuade someone to do a certain thing. For example, this could be writing a grant asking to fund your non-profit, or it could be writing technical manuals or instruction books for e-commerce products.
Learn more: How to write product descriptions that really sell… or at least make a decent effort to do so!
Essentially, anything where you are taking a complex thing and trying to simplify it so that regular people can understand.
Technical copywriting is often where many people miss opportunities. There are many technical copywriting jobs out there, but many people hear the word technical and they think it is going to be too complex or that you will need a specialized skillset or niche knowledge to do it.
However, there are many places you can go to learn about these topics online if you wanted to. There’s a lot of opportunities when it comes to technical copywriting, and with a bit of research, it could be the right fit for you.
4. Transformative Copywriting
Transformative copywriting is a more personal style. It involves taking someone from Point A to Point B, or on a journey. Often this is accomplished by telling a story. It can be blended with brand copywriting, as oftentimes brands want to tell a story in order to build a personal brand.
However, a transformative copy is more about telling somebody a story of somebody moving from one place to another, and typically that place that you are moving from is the place that the customer is right now. And moving them towards the place the customer wants to be.
Showing the transition, and what it takes to accomplish that change, and how your brand can help them transition, so that the customer will want to buy your product or service to get where they want to go.
This type of copy focuses on persuading the reader that in order to make the transformation they want, they need your brand.
Hopefully, you now have an idea of the different types of copywriting in order to better market your own services and skillsets, or if you are a company looking to hire a copywriter, you can be clear on what types of copy your brand needs to build on.
Many freelance clients are looking for a versatile copywriter, that can blend different styles to adapt to their unique requirements.
Learn more about our copywriting services and what can Key Content do to help your business, contact us.
