Copywriting is both an art and a science. There’s a lot of skill, time, research, and psychology that’s behind good copy. Many therapists also consider themselves writers, which is fantastic. Being a writer is a talent that not everyone has. Just like being a therapist is not something everyone can do.

The tricky part is knowing why you should hire a copywriter. There’s a big difference between scholarly writing, book writing, content writing, and copywriting. Copywriting takes different skills than the other types of writing. This isn’t to say that other forms of writing are lesser than copywriting, they’re just different.

As a therapist, your time is precious. Even if you had the copywriting skills, which you didn’t learn in grad school, you still don’t have the time to put into writing your website, creating weekly blogs, emails, and everything else that your business needs. This is why you should hire a copywriter.

Copywriting Is Different Than Content Writing

The biggest difference between copywriting and content writing is that copywriting always has a call to action (CTA). Copywriters get people to do things. They want people to opt-in to your email list or sign up for your workshop or book a consultation call. There’s always a CTA in a piece of copy.

Content writing informs but doesn’t sell. Copywriting is also different than content marketing, which is usually free content that attracts new prospects and converts them to returning customers. [1] Copywriting gets a reader to take a specific action. 

You need content to write copy. However, content alone isn’t enough to market yourself. At the end of the day, you want people to take action.

The Difference Between Copywriting and Scholarly Writing

Copywriters do research. We try to keep the research as scholarly as possible from credible sources. Sometimes, though, you gotta reference a good blog on Psychology Today.

Obviously, scholarly writing is all research. There are formatting guidelines you have to follow, such as APA. The tone is formal. The grammar is impeccable. There are no dangling prepositions.

Copywriters write like we talk. We connect with our audience in a way that feels like we’re having a conversation with them. Copywriters also use less jargon than therapists who write scholarly articles. And the content of most pieces of copy, save a white paper, for instance, is much shorter than a scholarly article.

If you’re a therapist who writes scholarly articles, you might struggle to write your own copy. Copywriting should be easy to digest and at the end of the day, as I said before, get people to do something.

The Difference Between Copywriters and Authors

Many of you have written books. Congratulations! That takes skill, time, patience, and a whole lot of work. Copywriters put those things into practice a little differently.

Books are technically content. You’re not necessarily trying to get anyone to do anything. You want them to read your story. Books can also be examples of scholarly writing, so the same principles from the above section apply.

As an author, you have a specific style of writing. That style may not be the right fit for copywriting. It takes a village to write a book. You’ve got editors, ghostwriters, and publishers to deal with. When you hire a copywriter, you’re just dealing with one person. That copywriter learns your voice and style and writes as you. So basically, most copywriters are ghostwriters! You should hire a copywriter because you still get the benefit of your name on a good piece of copy while also freeing up your time by not having to write it.

If You’re a Writer, You Still Should Hire a Copywriter

You didn’t learn how to write copy in grad school. You probably had to write research papers and a thesis or dissertation on whatever type of psychology you studied. But you never learned what search engine optimization (SEO) is or how to use it. You definitely didn’t have to write in a way that sells something to your audience.

It’s ok if you don’t have copywriting skills. That’s why copywriters exist. I write for a lot of therapists and I find that some of them struggle to edit my work because they’re stuck in scholarly writing mode. That’s why it’s so important to read copy out loud. 

A conversational style of writing, like you find in copywriting, is hard to adopt when you’re used to writing more formally. But conversational tones speak to your audience. You don’t want dense copy, you want copy that people will digest quickly and easily.

Copywriting is also a form of marketing. I bet you didn’t learn how to market yourself as a therapist in grad school. That’s ok, I didn’t either when I was studying to be a therapist. I had to unlearn a way of writing and figure out what makes a good copywriter. I found that my talents lie in copywriting. Yours are in therapy. That’s why you should hire a copywriter so you don’t have to learn how to do a second job!

You should hire a copywriter even if you’re a writer because you don’t have time. Focus on your clients and your work-life balance and let the mental health copywriters do the heavy-lifting in the copy world.

It’s a Good Thing If You’re a Good Writer When You Hire a Copywriter

Most of the time you need to hire a copywriter because you just don’t have time to do it yourself. It actually helps if you’re a good writer. During the shared editing process, it’s important that you know how to articulate yourself. If you’re a good writer, you can fit your edits into the copy seamlessly.

You also know what you’re looking for if you’re a good writer because you understand well-written copy. You have a leg up on professionals who don’t have a strong writing background. Not that you need one to hire a copywriter. But it doesn’t hurt.

If you’re a good writer your editing process will be more efficient. You know what your voice sounds like. And you can communicate with your copywriter precisely what you do and don’t like and why. Communication is key when it comes to hiring a copywriter. 

Hiring a Copywriter

As a mental health and wellness copywriter, I pride myself on being able to write in my clients’ voices. As a former therapist, I pride myself on my overall understanding of the content I’m writing about. I also know where to find the best research.

When you work with me, you’ll get a copywriter who values your thoughts and feedback. I welcome your ideas and work collaboratively with you on your copy.

If you’re ready to take the leap and hire a mental health copywriter, contact me. I offer a 30-minute free Zoom consultation to talk about your copy needs. Let me take the burden of writing off your plate. Let’s work together to create the best copy for your therapy practice. Happy writing!

References
[1]https://copyblogger.com/content-marketing-copywriting/