What is a Healthcare Content Writer and What Do They Do?
What is a Health Content Writer?
A content writer aims to establish credibility, build trust, and foster relationships with target audiences by creating content that is relevant to those audiences. “Relevant” content is content that educates, entertains, or otherwise attracts a target audience. A health content writer or healthcare content writer is a content writer who specializes in the healthcare or medical industries.
Unlike a copywriter, a content writer does not use their content to directly sell a product or service. Instead, they focus on providing content that their target audience will benefit from. Content writing often functions adjacent to copywriting within a marketing plan, and it tends to consist of longer-form content, such as blog posts or e-books.
For example, a healthcare content writer might write a blog post for a medical practice’s website, in order to educate and build trust with patients.
Social media content typically falls under the umbrella of content writing, as the standard social media approach is to inform or entertain a certain audience. Advertisements published on social media, however, would fall to a copywriter.
Content Writer vs Copywriter
Content writers are often confused with copywriters.
Copywriting and content writing both function as part of a broader marketing plan or strategy. Content writers work to attract an audience, and copywriters work to sell to that audience.
Today, most of the writing we see is not easily categorized as only content writing or only copywriting. For instance, you might read an informative article (content writing) that concludes with a call-to-action (copywriting).
To further complicate matters, many content writers refer to themselves as copywriters. “Copywriter” is often unwittingly applied as a blanket title for the two different roles, though this is technically inaccurate. Some content writers intentionally mislabel themselves as copywriters in order to limit confusion by non-communicators, who are more familiar with the term “copywriting” and don’t necessarily need to fully understand the nuance of the communications industry.
Additionally, many copywriters also do the work of content writers, and vice versa. There are many opportunities for crossover between the two roles, especially as the nature of integrated marketing evolves at a rapid pace.
In Summary
Content writers:
Aim to establish credibility, build trust, and foster relationships with target audiences by creating relevant content
Entertain or educate
Tend to create long-form content, like blog or social media posts
Do not directly sell a product or service to an audience
Copywriters:
Aim to sell a product or service to a target audience by using persuasive language
Influence a reader to take action
Tend to create shorter-form content, like advertisement copy
Directly sell a product or service to an audience
Need content support for your MedSpa or private practice? We’ve got you. Check out our copywriting and content writing services, here.
