Digital Marketing

Understanding the 11 Major Types of Copywriting (Infographic)

September 20, 2025

Marketing Copywriting
SEO Copywriting
Email Copywriting
Social Media Copywriting
Website Copywriting
Direct Response Copywriting
Brand Copywriting
Public Relations Copywriting
Thought Leadership Copywriting
Product and Sales
Technical Copywriting

1. Marketing Copywriting

This is the type of copywriting that people are most familiar with. Marketing copywriting can be anything you see and hear that’s promotional in nature, whether it appears in print, digital, broadcast or outdoor placements.

Marketing copywriting includes:

Online display ads.
YouTube videos.
Radio commercials.
TV commercials.
Flyers.
Billboards.
Branded stickers.
Direct mail.

Marketing copywriting can come in the form of paid advertisements or traditional marketing assets. These are clear, sales-driven pieces of content that have an obvious goal of trying to sell a product, service or brand offering.

When executed well, this copywriting type also strengthens overall brand voice and contributes to a cohesive omnichannel strategy.

Kate Spade’s ad demonstrates marketing copywriting by its copy written at the top of this Facebook ad. They opted for lower-case type for an on-brand writing style and immediately offered the discount to prompt their prospect to click on the ad. This advertisement is clearly created with the intent of selling their purses in this example.

Marketing copywriting is a tried-and-true way to communicate new products to potential customers. You can use a targeted paid ad like this Adidas promotion or reach a broader audience with a billboard or a radio commercial. As long as it is part of a marketing campaign, it’s considered marketing copywriting.

In today’s digital space, integrating paid ads with SEO copywriter insights allows brands to create content that performs well across both paid and organic channels.

2. SEO Copywriting

SEO copywriting involves optimizing copy using keywords and phrases for search engines to more easily discover the copy and list it as a top result. A sales page can be optimized for a search engine results page (SERP) if done correctly.

More specifically, SEO copywriters weave high-value keywords — such as “types of copywriting,” “copywriting services,” and “UX copywriting” — into headings, meta descriptions and on-page body text so that search engines understand the page’s relevance.

This page from Hatfield includes SEO copywriting that is selling the company’s products while using keyphrases to optimize the page for a top SERP spot. Going a step further, pairing keyword integration with compelling CTAs can simultaneously boost rankings and conversions, making SEO copy an indispensable part of any modern content strategy.

3. Email Copywriting

Writing a great email copy is one of the best ways to directly connect with your most targeted audience, nurture leads and build trust over time. There are many methods for writing great email copy that works with your marketing campaigns and your customers.

When you create content for a drip series, remember that every subject line, preview sentence and CTA contributes to your overall brand awareness and reinforces your unique brand voice.

Email copywriting always includes:

A great subject line.
A thoughtful preview sentence.
An intro sentence for the body of your email.
A compelling CTA.

This email from Wanderlust is promoting the company’s meditation webinar. The subject line for this email is “Don’t hesitate, meditate!” It’s an attention-grabbing subject line that is sure to stand out in the sea of emails for anyone’s inbox.

The image included in the email has the title of the webinar, the duration of the challenge and the host’s name. Following the key information is another eye-catching headline that urges subscribers to keep reading.

Savvy email copywriters also incorporate social proof, short product descriptions and benefit-driven language to keep click-through rates high.

Email copy can be both educational, as with newsletters and roundups, or more sales-oriented in nature, like a direct response or free trial promotion.

B2B email copy is a little different from B2C in a few ways:

Write for a logical buying process vs. emotional.
Build a personal relationship with the subscriber.
Open up the email to engage in conversations.
Utilize more industry terminology.

Here is a sales email from Exectras. The email’s opening two lines speak directly to the customer’s questions and pain points, followed by a direct outlining of the nature of their service offering.

You may notice that the email isn’t overly image-heavy — B2B email copy aims to get to the point quickly. Businesses go through a longer buying process because they need to consider budgets and how the purchase will affect their bottom line.

That’s why a B2B copywriter should engage subscribers on a more logical basis to support an argument for making the purchase. This includes why the price of the product is justified, how it will help their business and the ways this collaboration could be leveraged in the future. In many cases, including links to relevant white papers or case studies can add credibility and strengthen the email’s persuasive power.

People who subscribe to your email list are some of your most valued prospects. They subscribe because they want to stay informed on your business’ new products and services. Writing email copy can be muddled with trials and errors, but direct communication with your subscribers is invaluable, particularly when it is aligned with broader copywriting social media efforts to create cohesive messaging across channels.

There are many different social media platforms you can use to communicate with your audience. Doing thorough research to find out where your customers are spending their time will help you write the right message for them.

Based on your research, you can tailor the voice and tone of your social media copywriting to speak to your audience effectively while staying consistent with your overall brand voice. For instance, a SaaS company might adopt a more professional tone on LinkedIn while reserving playful memes for Instagram Stories.

Smashburger is known to have funny, endearing social media posts because its audience is a younger generation of fast-casual diners who love great food. While the restaurant’s posts commonly depict young families enjoying a burger meal accompanied by brand-nuanced copy, they don’t shy away from some comedic copywriting to engage their audience:

Writing social media copy involves a few distinct elements because of the target audience. Here are a few ways this type of copywriting is different:

Emojis are widely used and accepted.
An informal tone is expected.
Your copy is usually paired with a strong visual component.
You may be writing for paid ads across several platforms.
KPIs are measured differently on each platform.
Your ad will redirect to your website’s landing page directly.
Your copy should always be brief.

Because of these key factors, focus on shareability and clearly show that you understand who your audience is when you’re writing copy for social media.

The structure of a social media post is very distinct. Whether or not they’re sponsored, most posts you’ve seen on social media have something visual like a picture, informational copy and promotional copy. Additionally, social media copy can be used for both B2B and B2C marketing strategies.

5. Website Copywriting

From the top-of-funnel appeal of a high-level, engaging article explaining a product to a highly targeted service landing page that speaks directly to those on the bottom-of-funnel, companies of all sizes and industries utilize website copywriting to communicate their unique offerings.

Website copywriters adopt a handful of best practices and considerations: brand tone, SEO-friendliness and applicable CTAs are among them. Further still on best practices, excellent website copywriting conveys a clear message about the brand and its products and services while also encouraging readers to take that next step down the funnel — whether that’s to sign up to an email list, consider subscribing or to make a purchase.

We can’t overemphasize that good web copy should be scannable, logically structured and supportive of accessibility guidelines, which is where UX copywriting techniques become invaluable.

This website copywriting from Saphisle, worked out by the team at Brafton, takes an in-depth service offering and communicates it in simple, appealing language — accompanied by clear CTAs. The way the copy is laid out encourages readers to navigate to the landing page that best suits where they are on the consumer funnel.

6. Direct Response Copywriting

Direct response copywriting is a type of communication that is compelling enough for the customer to take action. Think of any form of copy that encourages the recipient to take an action right away, whether that’s clicking a button, claiming a coupon or downloading a free resource.

Direct response copywriting can be used in:

Landing pages after clicking on an ad.
Open-ended emails.
Pop-ups.
Limited time offer explanations.

You’ll find here that Nuuly’s landing page has its logo, slogan and several CTAs that ask for an action. “Join Now” is the direct response button that will move the customer along in their sales process.

Oftentimes, as a customer scrolls through a website, a pop-up will appear before changing pages or exiting out. This is another form of direct response prompting them to stay on the page by signing up for something the company offers.

These are great ways to see more responses from your customers. Sometimes all a customer needs to purchase or download your eBook is the right CTA button or form inviting them to do so.

7. Brand Copywriting

Communicating what your brand represents is a big part of gaining recognition in your industry and connecting with customers. You can do that through writing with a specific image of your brand in mind. It can come in the form of a logo, theme song, phrase or a distinct brand personality trait.

That said, this image must resonate with your audience or else it will fall short. For brand copy to work, the customer needs to stay at the top of your mind. Take this brand copywriting from AirBnB for example — one that engages both the heart and mind.

Via Medium.

Knowing your audience is imperative, so you can gather feedback on your brand copy through a series of trials, such as:

Audience surveys.
Focus groups.
Blind testing.
A/B testing.

Consistent brand copywriting — whether on packaging, blog posts or social captions — reinforces your mission and values, creating a unified customer experience across every touchpoint.

8. Public Relations Copywriting

Through a uniform structure and journalistic voice, public relations copywriting aims to inform media publications and the public with a pointed directive of promoting a business, product or service. It’s often written by a public relations specialist. They write about an event from their organization’s POV and share the copy with several different media outlets.

Public relations copywriting can be found on sites like PR Newswire, but the same story could be shared through news outlets and radio shows if it gets picked up. It works to form a relationship with the public and organizations in a direct communication medium via news media organizations.

The audience for a press release is specific to B2B reach like:

A journalist looking for leads.
An entrepreneur looking to invest.
A business owner doing research.

Press releases are typically written for B2B marketing.

9. Thought Leadership Copywriting

Thought leadership copywriting comes in many forms but is usually from a prominent figure in an industry. If a top health care executive came out with an article recommending the public to adopt a new type of personal care practice, that article would be known as thought leadership copywriting.

This type of copywriting can be written for B2C markets, as well as for the general public. The articles can also be put together by writers who use well-known news mediums to communicate their thoughts on a particular issue.

Thought leadership and think pieces amplify weighted opinions on each issue, with their authors gaining authority as trusted experts on those specific topics.

Take this article on Search Engine Land, for example, where Danny Goodwin — Search Engine Land’s Managing Editor — expressed his opposition to an article put out by The Verge which conflates SEO specialists with the downfall of the internet. Beyond serving as a rebuttal, it also gave Danny Goodwin an opportunity to provide thought leadership for SEO more generally.

While thought leadership copywriting isn’t about selling a product, it does urge readers to believe in and follow a particular subject. All of this contributes to building a worthy hub of educational and informational content that helps readers stay abreast of the latest happenings plus make better choices.

10. Product and Sales

Product and sales copywriting encompasses the online description of a product or service, brochures, product catalogs and packaging labels, among other forms. Naturally, anything that is intended to bring about the purchase of a product or service forms part of this type of promotional writing.

With the rise of technology, tools like an AI paper checker have become crucial for ensuring the quality and accuracy of written content in these materials.

The nature of product and sales copy in more traditional forms of writing — whether that of newspapers, magazines or print media more generally — hasn’t changed too significantly compared to the copywriting involved in more conventional channels.

At its core, product and sales copywriting is about crafting persuasive messages based on an in-depth understanding of the consumer, intended to bring about a direct set of actions.

Semrush’s product catalog is to-the-point, easy to navigate and draws on action-oriented, persuasive language. Through their copywriting, businesses are crystal clear on what they stand to gain through Semrush’s service offerings, and are promoted to take action via direct CTAs.

11. Technical Copywriting

Technical copywriting is a piece of copy that aims to explain tech (like cloud-based technology) while selling a product (like IBM’s new Mono2Micro). It bridges the gap between complex subject matter and customer comprehension, using clear language to demonstrate real-world benefits.

To sell a technical product, copywriters must first explain what it is, how it works and why customers should buy it instead of a competing product. Then, once the customer understands the product, they’re able to decide whether to buy or not.

Industries in the tech world are constantly changing and upgrading their products. Technical copywriting helps the business of tech progress. A skilled technical SEO copywriter might incorporate ranking terms like “user experience,” “digital marketing,” and “search engines” subtly into their documentation, thereby increasing discoverability among technical decision-makers.

This is a sales page for IBM’s Cloud Infrastructure. Compare this sales page to that of the clothing brand Nuuly earlier in the post. Neither of these brands includes FAQ sections for their products because clothes are easy to understand.

To demonstrate the importance of IBM’s new cloud services, the customer will likely need more information on how the service addresses their needs before they make a purchase. And that’s the task a technical copywriter would have to champion.

Final Thoughts: Becoming a Successful Copywriter

Writing copy is a creative and fun process for connecting with your audience and promoting your organization’s brand, products or services. A copywriter puts in the required time and effort to know a great deal about buyers, their wants, needs, pain points and online behaviors.

While not every piece you write has to be as iconic as a brothel promo from 70’s AD Pompeii, it should make every effort to speak to the people who like and are searching for your offering. Strong copywriting skills empower marketers to create content that ranks, resonates and converts.

If you think you don’t have any copywriting experience, you might be surprised to learn that you do. Think of the times you’ve written a cover letter, emailed someone asking if they want to go on a trip with you or sent a text urging a friend to try a new facial cream that helped you. Each of these small interactions serves as a micro-lesson in persuasion, tone and audience-specific messaging.

Becoming a successful copywriter involves making a case for something that you want people to buy into, in a way they can get on board with.

When you write copy, keep in mind that you’re writing for whoever is reading it, not necessarily the business you’re working with. This shift in mindset ensures empathy, authenticity and clarity in every sentence you craft, whether you’re producing long-form white papers or bite-sized social ads.

In Ann Handley’s 2014 book Everybody Writes, she says writing is “part habit, part knowledge of some fundamental rules and part giving a damn.” You don’t have to be a Pulitzer Prize winner to write great copy; you just have to step into the shoes of who you’re writing for and practise speaking to them effectively.

Combining that kind of empathy, enthusiasm and effort with data-driven insights from SEO ensures your words reach the right readers at the right time — in the right way.

Some skills a great copywriter has:

Empathy for the reader.
Research-based writing skills.
Ability to take criticism.
Capacity to write the same thing in different ways.
Knowledge of grammar rules.
Drive to practise their writing almost every day.

A great way to get started is as a freelance copywriter or asking your department leader to task you with a few writing projects. Any way you can receive direct feedback will help you grow as you build a writing portfolio.

Over time, you’ll master multiple copywriting types, from media copywriting social campaigns to technical product descriptions and beyond.

And, as Handley says, it’s all about getting your hands moving to the point where “the typing becomes writing.” Embrace that momentum, keep refining your craft and you’ll soon find that your copy can captivate audiences, elevate brand awareness and drive meaningful business outcomes.

Editor’s Note: Updated September 2025.

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