Brand Messaging vs. Marketing Copy

What’s the difference?

There is a little bit of crossover in that you can use some of your brand messaging for marketing copy, but these two are not the same thing.

Brand messaging encompasses how your brand speaks and how you describe what you do. It is everything your brand stands for. Your brand messaging is created as an internal guide; at times, you may want to also use some of those messages externally as marketing copy. Eg. putting your mission statement or values on your website. A brand messaging guide created by a copywriter typically includes elements such as your vision statement, mission, brand bio, tone, and more.

Marketing copy, however, is created solely to get a reader to take action. It's how you package your brand messaging into something that gets people to take action. Examples of marketing copy include content on your website, emails, social media captions, or in your brand materials.

And finally, the biggest difference between the two is that your brand messaging will be stable and consistent. Sure, you might tweak it from time to time, but your brand messaging should largely be consistent copy describing what your brand encompasses.

That’s very unlike your marketing copy which will be adapted depending on the segment of your audience it’s directed to, the platform it’s being used on, or the specific campaign it’s a part of. As marketers, we’re constantly testing new messages and ideas to see what is performing the best.

Hopefully that helps clarify! For more articles on Brand Messaging, head here.