The Intersection Between Branding And Copywriting For Small Business Owners

WRItten by jo FLYNN – JFLYNNCOPYWRITING.COM

Branding is like copywriting’s older, more popular cousin. Business owners everywhere know about branding. They know how important it is to create a cohesive brand, including color schemes, logos, and web design.

But copywriting? Never heard of her.

I’m here to change that. Although copywriting might be less well known and have a misleading name (no, it has nothing to do with copyright law), copywriting is just as important for your small business.

Hi, my name is Jo, and I’m a copywriter for wedding vendors and small businesses. I write empathetic, approachable copy to help business owners connect with the clients they actually want to work with. But we’ll get there in a minute. First, I would love to introduce you to copywriting, branding’s less popular (but equally important!) cousin.

What Is Copywriting? And Why Does It Matter For Small Businesses?

Copywriting has nothing to do with copyright. It has absolutely nothing to do with intellectual property law. Copywriting has everything to do with you, your business, and making sales. The long definition for copywriting is the text (aka, copy) used in marketing and promotional materials. So yes, copywriting is literally any writing you use in your business.

Copywriting is all about persuasion, forming connections, building trust, and creating relationships with your clients. It’s about explaining the benefits of your services, translating your personality into words, and booking clients. It’s not about pushing your services onto unsuspecting clients. It’s not about sleazy car salesman tactics. And it’s not lying about who you are, what you do, and what you charge to “get more sales.”

Good copywriting is ethical and meaningful. It uses words to form genuine connections and find the people who want what you have. And then, it helps you build relationships, earn trust, and create a community of like-minded people.

How Copywriting Complements Your Branding

Now, I’m not a branding expert. That’s why you have Donata. But there are a few key intersections between branding and copywriting.

If you’ve been in the small business sphere for a while, you’ve heard the term “Brand Identity.” Your brand identity is the way you present your business to the world. It’s how your branding (aka, colors, logos, website, writing, general tone, etc) makes people feel.

Does your brand feel fresh, edgy, and bold? Or do you identify with softer colors and a gentle tone? Do you want your clients to view you as a hard-line expert in your field, or do you want to be more approachable? Do you include humor in your business, or do you prefer to keep things straightforward?

These questions have everything to do with your brand identity.

Now, copywriting is another way you communicate your brand identity to your audience. In fact, copywriting is the most important way you communicate your brand identity! When people land on your website or social media, they get a sense of who you are from the images and colors you use, absolutely. But they really start to get to know you when they read the words you’ve written.

Like right now. As you read this blog, you’re getting a sense of who I am. My sense of humor. My personality. The things I think are important (ahem, copywriting. In case that was not obvious already).

The same goes for you! When your clients land on your website or blog, what will they learn about you? If your copy is dry, boring, or – God forbid – grammatically incorrect, well, your clients are going to judge you. But fear not! Because that’s why your website is there. Yes, to be judged.

Your website should tell people who you are, what you do, and who you do it for. It should attract the people you want to work with and repel the ones you don’t.

Take this blog as an example. If you’ve read this far, you’re likely enjoying the content. You’re learning something. And, hopefully, my writing makes it fun to read and easy to understand. In fact, you might even like it enough that you click on my website to learn more. Chances are, we’ll get along great!
But I’m willing to bet some people clicked out of this blog pretty early on. Some people just don’t vibe with the way I write. And you know what? That’s okay. I want my writing to attract like-minded people and turn off anyone who isn’t into it. Because this way, I get to work with people who value me and my work.

Copywriting & Search Engine Optimization

Okay, last thing. I can’t write a whole blog about copywriting and not mention SEO. SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and means using tools that search engines understand to increase your visibility in search engine results. This is how you start showing up on the first page of Google and getting inquiries directly from your website (instead of needing to post on social media every day).

A lot goes into SEO, but as a copywriter, I focus mostly on keywords. Keywords are terms that your ideal client is searching for. For example, if you’re a wedding florist in Manchester, NH, your ideal client is likely searching for a “Wedding florist near me.” Google is scanning web pages to see if they match this query. If your webpage has the appropriate keywords, you’ll be included in that search result!

The more frequently you show up in search results, the more frequently people will click on your website. And the more clicks your website receives, the more authority Google will assume you have, and the higher your website will rank in search results. And so the cycle continues.

This is a super basic explanation of how SEO and keywords help your website gain visibility. A lot more research and understanding is required to get places in the right searches, and it requires more than just one term on one page. But you get the idea!

Learn More About Copywriting for Your Small Business with J. Flynn Copywriting

Copywriting is vital to creating an online presence that authentically represents you and attracts the right audience. It’s not just “nice to have.” It’s the difference between struggling to find leads and letting them come to you.

So branding and copywriting might seem like distant cousins, but they’re actually more like siblings. You need both to create a strong online presence for your business and attract the clients who want what you have – and are willing to pay for it!

So if you’re looking to add copywriting to your marketing strategy and start connecting with your clients on a heart level, we should totally grab coffee (virtually, of course). Click here to explore allllll the ways we can incorporate empathetic, search engine optimized copy into your small business. And hey, if now isn’t the time and you’re just looking for some helpful pointers, give me a follow on Instagram! I’m excited to connect with you and see how copywriting can help your small business grow!

GUIDES AND RESOURCES

ABOUT THIS POST

This post is written by Joanna Flynn – A copywriter extraordinaire who writes approachable copy to help business owners connect with the clients they actually want to work with. We’re honoured to have her collaborate on a series of blog posts on copywriting and connecting words with visuals.

HEAD TO JOANNA’S SITE HERE