What “content” means (and how I separate strategy, marketing and copy)

People use “content” as a catch-all. When I say content, I mean useful assets that help someone decide: pages that rank and convert, posts that earn attention, videos that show what to do, and emails people actually open. The formats keep changing. The job stays the same. Help the right person take the next step!

Below is how I break the big terms apart and use them together on real projects.

Content strategy (the decisions)

Content strategy is deciding what we make and why. I start with demand, not brainstorms. I pull real questions from Search Console, sales calls, support inboxes and social comments, then group them by job-to-be-done: choose, compare, budget, implement, troubleshoot.

From there I map questions to page types:

• Money pages: services/products, pricing, comparisons

• Proof: case notes, reviews, results

• Education: guides, checklists, templates

• Video: explainers, walkthroughs, FAQs

My strategy doc is one page. Audience, jobs, inventory (keep/merge/retire), a 90-day roadmap, and a simple distribution plan. If it doesn’t fit on a page, it won’t survive month two.

Content marketing (the distribution)

Content marketing is how we earn attention and trust with the assets the strategy chooses. It’s not “post more”; it’s putting the right thing where buyers already are.

• Search: match intent, write titles and descriptions worth clicking, structure pages so they’re easy to scan.

• Social: publish finishable ideas — teach one thing, show one result, or make one decision easier — and reply to people.

• Email: one useful idea, one clear next step, sent on a rhythm people can count on.

• Video: short for feeds, longer for YouTube. Promise the outcome up top and show the steps.

Create once, distribute with intent, measure by outcomes.

Copywriting (the persuasion)

Copywriting is how we move someone to act. It’s not the same as “content writing”. Content might teach; copy decides.

On a page that sells, I want:

• A headline that finishes the reader’s sentence (“Get X without Y”).

• Proof early: numbers, names, logos, reviews.

• Plain-English benefits and a safe next step (call, demo, price).

• A layout that respects scanners: sub-heads that tell the story, short sentences, buttons that say what happens.

Four hundred clear words and a strong CTA will beat 2,000 words of padding every day of the week.

Other terms people ask about (and how I use them)

Content plan / calendar

The schedule. One view of what ships when, who owns it, and where it gets distributed. If a piece doesn’t have a distribution line next to it, it’s not ready.

Content pillars

Your repeatable themes. I pick three to five that map to revenue, for example “Pricing and ROI”, “How it works”, “Use cases”, “Comparisons”, “Local expertise”. Pillars let you repeat with variety.

Content design / UX writing

The words and structure inside products and interfaces. If you have forms, dashboards or an app, this is the difference between confused users and happy ones. I treat it like conversion copy for your UX.

UGC (user-generated content)

Proof from real customers, such as reviews, clips or quotes. People trust people. Bake it into pages and ads where it matters: category pages, landing pages, remarketing.

Short-form video

Often worth the effort because that’s where a lot of attention lives. Keep it useful, not performative: one job per clip, captions on, a clear “what to do next”.

YouTube SEO

Treat YouTube like search. Research phrases, title for the promise, craft a thumbnail that shows the benefit, add chapters, and pin the next step in a comment. It compounds when done properly.

AI in content

Great for outlines and research. Risky for final copy without lived experience and proof. The brands that win show authorship, evidence and a point of view.

How I stitch it together on real projects

I begin with a site reality check: what already brings qualified traffic, what converts, and what confuses. Then I draft a one-page strategy and a 90-day plan that touches search, social, email and video without burning the team.

Month one — foundations

Rebuild two money pages (home and your top service/product) so they match intent and convert. Add one comparison or pricing explainer that sales can send in replies.

Month two — authority and distribution

Create one simple data point, tool or checklist people will reference. Turn your best new page into a 5–8 minute YouTube walkthrough and a short clip for feeds. Start a monthly email that shares one useful idea.

Month three — proof and iteration

Publish three short case notes with numbers. Refresh titles and meta based on real CTR. Merge or retire anything that isn’t pulling its weight.

Every piece has a job and a way we’ll know if it did it: book a call, request pricing, start a trial, reduce support tickets. If we can’t write that job in the margin, we don’t write the piece.

What “good” looks like to me in 2025

• A service page with pricing signals, proof above the fold, and a form that asks only what we need.

• A comparison page that says the quiet part out loud and helps someone choose.

• A short video that shows a step on screen and earns the right to a longer one.

• An email that teaches one thing and asks for one thing at the end.

• A social post that’s finishable in under 20 seconds and worth saving.

Do that consistently and you don’t need a content factory. You need a clear plan, tidy execution, and the discipline to measure by outcomes.

If any of this clicked for you, drop me a message with your URL and the one outcome you want over the next 90 days. I’ll come back with a one-page plan: the first three pieces I’d ship (page, video, email), the angle for each, and how to get them seen. You can run with it, or I can lend a hand, either way you’ll have a clear path and a starting point you can act on tomorrow.