It is often difficult for novice copywriters to understand how informational articles differ from selling texts. In the application, they ask to compose a selling description for a product in an online store, and in articles on training sites they write about mysterious one-page pages, but what it is is not clear. Let's try to figure it out.
An informational article is an article in which you can find information on an issue of interest to you - and nothing more. She will not persuade you to buy something, her role can be compared to that of a lecturer: to provide you with information. The purpose of the informational article is to strengthen the position of the site using low-frequency queries, to increase the site's reputation with potential buyers by providing them with useful information.
A selling text, on the contrary, must convince the person who reads it to use a product or service, or to take some action.
White papers and sales copy have a lot in common. So, both types of texts contain useful information on the topic of the article - in the informational article, and information about the product - in the selling texts. The lack of product characteristics, its advantages makes the selling text useless. Perhaps such a text can be converted into an image text, but it will no longer be sold.
The second common characteristic is that both types of text work to create a positive image of the person or company that owns the site. If the article is informational, it adds weight to the site, because on it you can get valuable information on an issue that is relevant to the reader. If the text is selling, it creates a good reputation for the manufacturing company or seller, without which it is impossible to sell the product.
The first and foremost difference between the two types of text is the purpose for which they are written and used.
The structure of the selling text and the informational article is also different. The white paper has a simpler structure. It can be text, decorated with subheadings, lists, tables, supplemented with photographs or illustrations. The structure of the selling text is more varied. The text consists of several blocks, which can have a different structure, and among the design tools can be used color design, many pictures, slide shows, and much more. Reviews can be used, designed as separate letters. The selling text can also include information on working with the company, how to place an order, how to get to the warehouse, the opening hours of the call center, payment options, everything that the client may need. Even a small description of a product in an online store, if it is composed as selling, will contain a lot of useful information and characteristics of the product - and the arguments in favor of it.
The style of the sales copy is more emotional, because its goal is to convince the customer to make a purchase. Selling copy also necessarily deals with possible objections, dispelling the prospect's doubts. A bright catchy headline, catchy text, a description of the client's problems - all this affects the client and helps him make a choice. The white paper doesn't have it all.
Finally, a one-page sales copy can be large. An informational article that is too long is more a minus than a plus: a large volume can simply scare away the reader.
