REWRITING AND COPYWRITING: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Anyone who has written a school retelling of a text at least once in their life might have felt like a rewriter. You changed the order of sentences, rephrased word combinations, picked synonyms—but didn’t add anything new to the piece. Essentially, that was rewriting. But when the task was to write a reflective essay, a description, or a story, you could turn into a copywriter for 45 minutes.

What is this about?

• What does a copywriter do?
• What’s the difference between rewriting and copywriting?
• Rewriting with ChatGPT
• What skills should a copywriter have?
• Conclusions

What Does a Copywriter Do?

PR materials began to appear as early as the 15th century, and the first advertising agencies—at the beginning of the 20th century. The term “copywriting” originated in the U.S. in the late 1980s.

Copywriting is a professional activity, the writing of advertising and promotional texts (advertising—direct or hidden—of a product, company, service, etc.). Copywriting, Wikipedia

The first copywriters mainly focused on creating texts for ads and other marketing materials, slogans, and brochures. Today, copywriting is understood as writing any original texts for websites, including informational and news content.

A copywriter writes text to build trust with potential customers (for example, through a blog or educational materials), increase brand awareness, and encourage the reader to take a desired action—such as making a purchase or subscribing to a service. The specialist uses product-specific data to describe its benefits and demonstrate clear value for the target audience.

What Can a Copywriter Create?

• website content (main page articles, product and service descriptions, blog texts);
• posts for social media and Telegram channels, Viber groups, etc.;
• emails for marketing campaigns and chatbot messages (including within sales funnels);
• scripts for commercials, explainers, interviews, and other types of videos;
• descriptions and slogans for flyers, brochures, banners, and other printed ads;
• texts for landing pages, including headlines and calls to action;
• e-books, checklists, and various materials to be used as lead magnets;
• case studies, marketing strategies;
• press releases;
• content for marketing kits, business presentations, speeches, etc.

The scope of a copywriter’s work extends beyond this list. New platforms for promotion, marketing tools, and corresponding tasks requiring interaction with consumers constantly emerge. The results of a copywriter’s work serve as content for a variety of platforms and materials. For example, UX copywriters help users navigate interfaces of services, software, and mobile apps.

At the moment, state universities do not offer dedicated departments that train copywriters. However, you can acquire basic knowledge through a philology or journalism program. For copywriting platforms, a higher education degree is not a mandatory requirement. But if you plan to apply to well-known companies, a diploma will definitely come in handy.

After receiving an education related to text creation, it’s advisable to complete specialized courses for copywriters. You’ll need to understand the fundamentals of human psychology (especially consumer psychology), journalism, advertising, and marketing. So, if you have a degree in psychology or strong knowledge of client communication, that will also be useful.

Even if a writer tends to make minor grammar mistakes, they can still try their hand at copywriting. In specialized agencies, editors and proofreaders are responsible for checking and refining texts. This is similar to how writers work—authors often make spelling and punctuation errors, but it doesn’t stop them from writing books. The important thing is to show the manuscript to an editor before publication.

Such professionals are also referred to as advertising writers, advertising journalists, or simply writers. In Western practice, there is a distinct profession known as content creator. Content creators don’t focus on advertising—instead, they write image-building and in-depth informational articles such as longreads, case studies with storytelling elements, manuals, and reviews. They can also create entertaining content that boosts audience loyalty.

The texts of content creators are more focused on delivering value to readers than on driving sales. That’s why they are used at the top of the sales funnel, while advertising copywriting comes into play after potential clients have been engaged. However, in local marketing practice, there is no such division of responsibilities—copywriters may both advertise products and services, and educate or entertain readers.

Rephrasing existing original material is not part of a copywriter’s job—that’s the responsibility of rewriters.

What’s the Difference Between Rewriting and Copywriting?

If you’ve read an article and want to retell it to a friend or colleague, you’re essentially giving an oral summary. Now imagine that everything you’ve read needs to be written down without adding anything new and without omitting important points. That’s rewriting.

Rewriting—the act of rewriting someone else’s text in your own words. Professionals who lexically modify original texts are called rewriters. Rewriting (media), Wikipedia

So, rewriting is rewriting. The process involves making changes to a written text to improve or make it unique. Sometimes a rewriter’s task is to polish a text to improve the content of a website. Keywords are added, an engaging introduction and informative conclusion are written, and fluff is removed. However, in many cases, this isn’t necessary—the rewriter is simply asked to produce an equivalent article that passes a uniqueness checker with at least 90%.

What Techniques and Methods Do Rewriters Use?

• Using synonyms.
• Changing direct speech to indirect.
• Rearranging the order of words, sentences, or entire paragraphs.
• Simplifying the text by removing redundant words and phrases.
• Changing the style, for example, by adding terminology if the article is for a specialized platform.

Rewriting is in demand for implementing brand strategies when the same news or service needs to be shared across multiple platforms. In such cases, there’s no need to write original articles—it’s enough to rewrite the source material, essentially “multiplying” it.

Rewriting original texts may also be necessary for search engine optimization (SEO) of websites. If articles were written and published a long time ago and an audit reveals they are not optimized or are not unique, you can either pay a copywriter to rewrite the site’s content from scratch or take the existing material and improve it (for example, by adding keywords, subheadings, and bullet or numbered lists).

Deep rewriting can involve rewriting every sentence of an article. This kind of work is hardly different from copywriting. If the text doesn’t meet the requirements specified in the brief, the rewriter may retain only the factual information and completely change the formatting, style, and structure.

The Rewriter’s Workflow Can Be Described in Three Steps:

• the client provides the original text or source that needs to be rewritten;
• the specialist reads it and rewrites it in writing, preserving the meaning and main points;
• if needed, the article is optimized for better page ranking or improved by eliminating grammar and stylistic mistakes.

Unlike copywriting, rewriting does not require studying a large number of websites or academic papers, creating an outline for a new article, or searching for quotes from authoritative figures in a given niche. It’s enough to retell a single source of information. Often, professionals combine the roles of rewriter and content manager, publishing the newly created material for an additional fee.

While certificates or higher education diplomas may be important for copywriters, for rewriters, the key skill is the ability to competently rewrite everything in their own words. Clients value conciseness and the ability to structure information in such specialists.

Rewriting with ChatGPT

Marketers, copywriters, and rewriters have a wide range of tools at their disposal. Paid and free online services, specialized software, and browser extensions help reduce the time spent on various routine tasks, provide clear analytics, set up advertising, and more. But what about creative tasks, now that large language models can compose full-fledged texts on any topic?

If you talk to marketers, 43 percent believe that more than half of all their marketing tasks will be automated in the next five years. Elements of copywriting definitely fit into that forecast. Copywriting Explained: Your Comprehensive Guide,—Neil Patel

ChatGPT can perform rewriting at an average level, but it’s better to entrust this task to a human. Author copywriting also differs significantly from AI-generated content, so it’s more reasonable to use a chatbot for idea generation, drafting outlines for articles, marketing strategies, and so on.

What Skills Should a Copywriter Have?

Copywriters can write for commercial websites, blogs, and online publications as well as for creative media, including television and print. In many companies, they develop content ideas, and if they possess the necessary skills, they also create additional creative assets such as infographics and videos. The more knowledge and skills a person has—the higher their position and compensation.

If a specialist works freelance, they can narrow their specialization to the minimum and, for example, work exclusively on legal blog content. Some companies—including representatives of well-known automotive brands, medical centers, etc.—hire in-house copywriters responsible for implementing content strategies.

However, in most cases, copywriters work in teams. They collaborate with creative directors, developers, and graphic designers. This work is highly interactive and requires a broad set of soft skills.

Let’s look at the key skills a copywriter should have and the fields in which they should be knowledgeable.

Literacy and Language Sensitivity

The ability to intuitively sense the correctness of word forms and spelling, as well as the appropriate use of punctuation, is considered an innate talent. However, language sensitivity can be developed—by reading extensively, writing regularly, and constantly working on mistakes. In reality, the importance of error-free text is often underestimated. A properly written article or email is perceived more positively and helps build trust in a brand.

Women are 81% less likely to buy a product if an ad contains spelling or grammatical mistakes. 77 percent of men feel the same. Copywriting Explained: Your Comprehensive Guide,—Neil Patel

Psychology

Copywriters sell products and services, create branding, informational, news, and educational materials. They must master different styles, anticipate the audience’s mood, and select the appropriate tone of voice depending on the platform, text purpose, and other factors. Certain trigger words capture attention and generate desired emotions—like writing a comment or placing an order.

Words don’t just persuade and inspire—they can drive conversions.

Marketing

Different stages of user interaction require different types of content. It could be an informative checklist at the awareness stage, a promo email for engagement, or concise, high-impact descriptions for a landing page. It’s great when a copywriter not only writes articles on assigned topics but also understands marketing terminology and knows what and when to offer potential clients or subscribers.

Storytelling

Stories are used on social media, “About Us” pages, in commercials, and during project presentations. When writing stories, it’s important to use humor effectively and emotionally resonate with client needs.

SEO

Understanding the basics of search engine optimization helps a copywriter write articles that boost organic traffic. Knowing how to correctly insert keywords—or even select them independently—is a big advantage, as it removes the need to hire another expert for technical tasks. This makes collaboration more convenient and cost-effective for the client, which can lead to higher pay. But it also increases responsibility.

SEO copywriting is the process of combining standard SEO techniques that help increase traffic (like keyword research) with persuasive words that motivate users to take a specific action, like making a purchase or subscribing to a mailing list. What Is SEO Copywriting?,—Flori Needle

LSI

LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) refers to the practice of using semantically related keywords. Unlike exact-match SEO keywords, LSI phrases are more naturally integrated into the text—they can be declined, reordered, placed in subheadings and anchor links.

This helps Google understand even long and vaguely formulated queries. LSI-based texts are considered more user-focused than robot-oriented and tend to provide more valuable content.

Industry Experience

To create informative content on niche topics, one needs work experience in specific fields or a professional education. A marketer with 6 years of experience will run a blog on online business promotion better than a beginner. A person with a background in cosmetology will write useful Instagram posts about body and hair care—not just subjective reviews.

Copywriting Formulas

Formulas shouldn’t be overused. They are relevant for landing pages, emails, and ad scripts. In many cases, storytelling with a veiled call to action is less direct and therefore more effective.

1. AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action);
2. PAPA (Problem, Advantages—solving the problem, Proof—that you can solve it, and Action);
3. 4 Ps (Problem, Promise, Proof, and Proposal).

Long-form texts tend to convert readers into customers more effectively. However, this applies to content formats where the audience is ready to spend time consuming the information—such as expert-level longreads.

For landing pages and promotional materials, conciseness is one of the key indicators of quality. Examples of short, punchy descriptions and calls to action can be found on the pages of well-known brands like Apple.

A copywriter may be tasked with developing a unique brand style and tone. Mailchimp, for example, even has a tone and style guide for its authors.

We speak plainly. We understand the world our customers live in—a world tangled with hyperbolic language, persuasion, and over-promising. We say goodbye to all that and value clarity above all. Since people come to Mailchimp to get work done, we avoid fluffy metaphors and cheap emotional tactics. Voice and Tone,—Mailchimp Content Style Guide

Conclusions

There is a significant difference between the terms copywriting and rewriting. A copywriter creates text from scratch using many reliable sources and quoting experts. A rewriter takes a single piece of material and rewrites it. Both processes can be performed by artificial intelligence, but we do not recommend this if the text will not be reviewed and edited by a human expert before publication.

A good copywriter possesses a variety of skills and has knowledge in marketing and SEO. This explains the difference in pay—copywriting is more highly valued. Pricing is affected by the topic, complexity of terminology, need for specific expertise or education, type of text (LSI, SEO, or general copywriting), and additional services such as selecting content promotion platforms, publication, image sourcing, and so on.

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