Have you ever had someone mispronounce your name, or write it incorrectly? (See: Starbucks.) Or maybe a teacher kept mistaking you for another student?
If any of these situations ring a bell, then you’ll probably understand how a Content Designer feels when they get called a “Copywriter” in a meeting. It’s a common situation, and it’s happened to me at tech companies both big and small. Sure, both Copywriters and Content Designers are writers…but they do totally different things!
As someone who has worked as a Copywriter and a Content Designer, I wanted to give a primer on the differences (and strengths!) between the two. So if someone ever gets your role wrong in a meeting, you can kindly Slack them this post! ✌️
What is a Content Designer?
- What they do: Deliver in-product content and strategic thinking related to hierarchy, structure, tone, and voice; understand user needs and their journey–all while balancing those needs with business goals
- When and where they’re usually involved in the process: Ideally early on and usually at all stages of the project, especially concept phases and product kickoffs
- What main skills are usually involved: Design thinking, content hierarchy, being able to interpret and use qualitative and quantitative data to inform and defend their content decisions, working with other cross-functional partners on a daily basis
- What a Content Designer isn’t: Someone who just writes copy on a screen
“What I love about Content Design is how it puts so many pieces together to create something bigger,” says Sami Harvey, Content Design Manager at Eventbrite. “We use research and data, triangulate mood and journey, and balance user and business goals to create, often, one string of copy that encapsulates a whole message.”
What is a Copywriter?
- What they do: Deliver copy for print or digital mediums like flyers, magazines, emails, and blog articles; usually have a marketing and/or advertising lens
- When and where they’re usually involved in the process: Ideally early on, especially in concept phases. Work is usually complete once the client or stakeholder signs off.
- What main skills are usually involved: Long-form and short-form copy, marketing strategies, a solid grasp of tone and voice, delivering under extreme deadlines, balancing client feedback with priorities
- What a Copywriter isn’t: Someone who just fills in the blanks. They also don’t write text inside an app or product; Copywriters are mostly concerned with external copy that promotes a product. (ex. A Copywriter writes the marketing website copy to promote a new app, not the onboarding copy you encounter on the app itself.)
“I miss copywriting because I miss print!” says Bridget Lawrow, who was once a Copywriter but now a Content Designer for Eventbrite’s Self Service Experience. “In my past roles, I got to write for print advertisements, magazines, and postcards. There’s something really magical about seeing your work on a glossy sheet of paper.”
Copywriters also do more than just writing! Sami remembers all the skills she used as a Copywriter in her past life at Hilton. “I took on a lot of strategy work that was above my pay grade. I had a passion for the work, so I just did it,” she said. “In hindsight, they were getting a lot of free labor out of me. And I know I’m not alone in that. That’s why I think it’s so important to understand the distinction between the two roles — so people can set expectations and boundaries.”
How are they different?
As someone who has done both jobs, I like to describe the difference as 2D vs. 3D.
Copywriting is “two-dimensional” because it’s mostly focused on two things: an audience and the medium(s) the copy will exist as.
Content Design, however, is “three-dimensional” because they have to consider everything in 2D and also account for all the ways people will encounter their content. Think about emotional states, time of day, user journeys, existing data and research, etc. Like 3D, Content Designers need to consider multiple perspectives.
And if my example didn’t make any sense, then Bridget may have a better take!
“Both writers and Content Designers use words to shape the user experience. But writers tend to be much more constrained,” said Bridget. “For example, a designer may need some copy for a button. A Copywriter will ask, ‘Who’s the audience?’’ and ‘What’s the character limit?’ But the Content Designer considers the entire user experience to ask questions like, ‘Should this be a button at all? Is this page the right moment in the flow to include this interaction? What distractions, concerns, misconceptions or other factors could prevent users from interacting with this?’”
Ok, well what about Content Strategists and UX Writers? How are they different from Content Designers?
Depending on the company you’re at, there may be some slight nuances and differences. But in other companies, they might use these terms interchangeably. For example, a UX Writer at Google is the equivalent to a Content Designer at Meta.
You’ll have to look at a job description carefully to see if your skills align with what the company is looking for. Content is still a new profession in the tech industry…and it’s every writer’s dream to want parity in it!
But if you’re looking for solid guidelines, Yael Ben-David from the UX Collective helps define the differences between each role:
- UX Writing is in charge of writing copy inside the product and in UI like screens, menus, pop ups, toasts, error messages and notifications–but not much else.
- Content Strategy also involves writing in-product copy, but they also have a holistic view and say in how content coexists and functions at the company. Style guides and systems thinking are also within their wheelhouse.
- Content Design does all of the above and, unsurprisingly, is more focused on the design and structure of content. They specialize in hierarchy, navigation, user journeys, and dabbling in data by conducting A/B tests.
So how does Eventbrite treat Content Strategy and Content Design differently? Jacob Moore, Eventbrite’s resident Content Strategist, helps define the role for us. He’s currently working with Bridget on overhauling Eventbrite’s Help Center and Contact Us page. “[Bridget] takes the lead on user testing prototypes, whereas I focus on developing the content model within our new content management system.”
For him, the key difference between Content Design and Content Strategy is that the latter involves systems design. “You want to ensure that customers can find the content they need, so you need the right organizational structure and tooling configuration to make that happen,” he said. “An effective content strategy also ensures that your systems can scale for future capabilities and shifting business requirements.”
In conclusion…
Whether you’re a Copywriter, Content Designer, or a Content Strategist, we’re all writers. We care about words. We’re emotional about emotions. And empathy is what we lead with–so it’s understandable why some of our partners may get us confused with one another!
I hope this helped. Now let’s create a test and see if this post helps reduce misunderstandings! 🤓
How do you feel? Is this different from what you thought? Drop a comment!
