Messaging vs. Copywriting: What's the Difference?
With my kids fresh out of school, travel, and camps, summer brings a whacky work schedule and more moments goofing off in the sunshine.
Now's a good a time to keep things simple and stick to the basics.
In a recent workshop I talked about how people aren't hitting their business building goals not because they're missing a "secret" strategy or a "hack" for their marketing.
Rather many people are simply missing one or more of the basics like:
… specificity about their audience …
… clarity and organization with their offers …
… a compelling call to action …
… a simple way to attract new leads that works for their type of business …
But let's kick it way back and start with this:
What's the difference between messaging and copywriting?
Did you know there is a difference? Indeed there is and both are vital to your business communications.
Messaging, or 'brand messaging,' is a compilation of key ideas to convey who you are as a business/expert, who you serve, how you help them, and why they should choose you over their other options.
Copywriting is turning that information into marketing-savvy language for the specific purpose of selling people on an idea and a next step to take.
Developing brand messaging is like mining for gold to reveal the vein of value that already exists, just below the surface.
Sometimes you can find the vein yourself. Often you need someone with the right kind of tools and expertise to help you fully extract that precious metal.
Copywriting is turning those highly valuable nuggets into jewelry and tools, translating that messaging into something inspirational and useable.
Again, you may want to enlist the help of a goldsmith (aka a copywriter) to fashion the gold into function.
Messaging comes first, copywriting second.
You can have great copywriting, but if your messaging is still half-buried in the earth, you won't get the desired results.
You can have great messaging, but if those words languish in a Google doc, it's not useful to anyone.
You need both.
You need to mine the gold. Then you need to shine and shape that metal into something that grabs people's attention, makes them want to turn it about, examine it, play with it, act on it.
To carry this metaphor one step further, your marketing channels and materials are where and how someone interacts with your gold—on your website, on your social media, in your emails, proposals, slidedecks, etc. This includes the sales conversations you have.
Like with mining and goldsmithing, you often need a builder to help you create the right kind of storefront or display case to show off all that polished, functional, and valuable gold.
At Paraphrase Communications, we serve as the miner, the goldsmith, and the builder for small business service providers (specifically coaches, consultants and creative professionals).
We always start with identifying and clarifying the brand messaging.
Next, we shape that messaging into high-converting copy for use across channels.
Finally, for clients who don't already have the resources on their team, we build/redesign websites and other marketing collateral for a professional, distinctive lead-to-client journey.
All along the way we offer strategic brand coaching and marketing mentorship with a healthy dose of encouragement and empathy for the challenges of entrepreneurship.
Do you want this kind of help in your business?
Do you need it?
If you're ready to find and shine your gold so others can find and hire you…
Book a call with Lisa to explore your options for getting support from us. The conversation is free and the least you'll leave with is more clarity than you have now.