You’ve heard the phrase ‘brand messaging’ from your favourite copywriter or coach. They’re singing the praises of having a solid brand messaging strategy before crafting copy for your website, sales page, socials. But you’re a little confused. 

What’s the difference between copywriting and brand messaging? Does my brand need one more than the other? Or should I be investing in brand messaging and copywriting?

In this blog post, we’re simplifying things and explaining the difference between brand messaging and website copywriting, so you effectively communicate as your creative brand.

Brand Messaging 

Brand messaging is what you say to your audience – it’s the messages you repeatedly tell them and embody as your brand. 

Your brand messaging encompasses the foundation of your business, i.e. your purpose, your vision, your mission. The purpose of your brand messaging is to effectively communicate this foundation, so you can speak to, connect with, and attract the people who value and believe the same things as you.

While your copy will differ from platform to platform, the message you’re sharing will remain the same. Your messaging is designed around your brand strategy (who your brand is) and conveyed using your brand’s voice and personality.

For example, our client, Wild Kind focuses on Showit website templates that allow ambitious business owners to live bigger, more intentional lifestyles.

In her messaging guide, we outlined this focus and developed her brand personality around it:

This is the foundation of her brand (her brand strategy).

Which then develops into her brand messaging:

We developed plug-and-play messages that she can use across her platforms to reinforce her message and inform her copy.

Using her brand messaging, we then crafted her copy:

Copywriting

Brand messaging is how you communicate your brand to your audience, and copywriting is what you say to share this message.

The easiest way to remember this is, copy is the words on the page. Messaging is the meaning behind these words.

Your audience will connect with the meaning, but your copy is your tool for sharing it with them.

It’s like saying, “Hey, this is what I value and believe and these words are how I’m telling you this. Do you care about these things too?”

For Wild Kind, the message was that you can live a more intentional, purposeful life if you invest in a strong business foundation and dependable support.

So, to communicate this to their audience through their copy, we wrote:

These are all snippets of the brand’s website copy that was written using their brand messaging guide (a handy roadmap to ensure what you’re saying makes sense in the context of your brand and audience).

What’s the difference between brand messaging and copywriting?

To summarise, brand messaging captures the essence/foundation of your brand – it’s what makes your brand who it is (it’s personality, uniqueness, voice). Your copywriting communicates this identity (uses language strategically to share this essence in a clear, compelling, and engaging way.

Which do I need for my business: brand messaging or copywriting?

Every brand needs brand messaging and copywriting. There’s no point crafting copy if you don’t understand who your brand is or the message you want to share with the world. It’s a waste of time, money, and effort. 

People buy because they connect with your brand, not your business. And this connection comes from aligning with your brand’s beliefs, values, and personality. It’s the same as how we bring people into our worlds – we love our best friend because of who she is. People will only love your brand if it has a clear identity that they can relate to and resonate with. 

So, you need your brand messaging to establish who your brand is and how you communicate this. Then, you need your copy to actually *do* the communication for you. These words on the screen are what tell your audience who your brand is, so they can decide if they want to bring your brand (& so, your business) into their world.

What comes first: brand messaging or copywriting?

Brand messaging always comes before copywriting. Your brand messaging sets the tone, personality, and focus of your copy. It informs what you need to write and how you need to write it to attract the people you want in your world. 

Writing copy without understanding your message will result in wishy-washy messaging that prevents your audience from ever truly connecting with your brand. 

Imagine turning up to coffee with a friend every week and she acts like a completely different person each time. One week she’s an animal rights activist and the next she hates dogs. Urm, you’re going to start questioning who she is at her core and if you can trust her.

It’s the same for your brand. Your audience expects to see the same values, beliefs, and personality present with every interaction they have with your brand. Otherwise, they won’t remember or connect with you.

Cupid’s approach to brand messaging and copywriting 

At Cupid Copy, we only craft copy once we’ve worked on brand messaging together.

Our website copywriting services always include your brand and messaging strategy because we believe in crafting copy that’s proven to work – connect, convert, and establish your brand in its industry. We’re dedicated to the art of brand building, and so, will always focus on laying the foundation with our clients (who your brand is) before focusing on its expression (your website copy). Doing otherwise would be a disservice to our clients and our craft.

We’re big on brand building and promise that every project we work on will be brand-focused and designed to establish your brand to grow your business.

If you’re curious about Cupid Copy’s brand & messaging strategy//website copywriting services, you can find out more here. Or reach out to Jasmine here.