The great divide: copywriting or content design?

If so, I get why.

On the surface, copywriters and content designers both write words for companies. We both discuss grammar rules with our peers, and we definitely both get stuck in the write, rewrite, chuck it in the bin and start over doom loop.

It's the method and motivation that differentiate content design from copywriting. But more on that later.

For now, I want to lean into the overlap and discuss some of the fundamentals from my copywriting days that I still draw on now.

Building the foundation

My first copywriting job was creating on-hold messaging for businesses. I wrote short marketing scripts that would play when someone was placed on hold during a call.

After drafting a script, I would read it aloud a few times. I paid close attention to how the words sounded when spoken and what meaning a listener might infer from the tone. Were the sentences too long? What punctuation could be added to support the phrasing? Did the prompts need any pronunciation cues? I would edit and refine the words, going back over the script and adding guidance for our voiceover artists.

I didn't know it at the time, but this was a rudimentary attempt at accessibility: the practice of making an experience simple and usable for everyone. I was prioritising language that would make sense in both written and verbal contexts, and adding cues to ensure it was clear and natural when voiced. This exercise would stand me in good stead for the accessibility choices I make as a content designer.

Later, I joined a recruitment firm as a communications specialist, working in a small team of designers, social media executives and brand strategists.

In this role, I learned how to leverage content within different spaces and platforms. I discovered the part consistency played in aiding recognition and familiarity with our brand, and began to realise that visual choices like white space, font and colour were critical for how our campaigns were received.

It was also my first time using data to make results-driven decisions about content. After publishing a social media post, I would look at the analytics to see how it performed. When posts did well, I noted the reach, impact and impressions for future campaigns. When they didn't, I learned and iterated.

The biggest lesson I took from this role was that my content needed to make sense within a much broader information ecosystem. People rarely compartmentalise their experiences with a brand, so I started to consider content from a more holistic perspective.

Okay… so how is content design different from copywriting?

I've talked about the qualities shared by copywriting and content design. Let's focus on where they diverge.

Copywriting is artistic and subjective, leaning on creativity to sell or persuade. It typically occupies the upper sales funnel as a driving force behind advertising, social media campaigns, blogs and more. Basically, copywriters are responsible for many of our vital first interactions with a product or service.

Content design is more scientific and objective, helping people understand and complete tasks within specific parts of their online journey. Often, our content lives much deeper in a product or service, and it can cover anything from a single error message to an entire upgrade flow.

Where a copywriter might ask "How can I make this more compelling?", a content designer will ask "How can I help this user get from point A to point B?"

Tools of the trade

As a copywriter, I typically only needed a word processor and internal software for any admin. My daily routines were simple, working from clearly defined briefs and getting straight into the writing. Sign-off was handled by a clear chain of command.

As a content designer, I use at least five systems daily. None of them are word processors. Sign-off is still needed, but it's approached in a much less hierarchical way, with far greater personal accountability over my output. Instead, I'll set up ceremonies like content critiques to review designs for consistency, as well as handover sessions with relevant product and technical stakeholders.

Writing UI copy is also the last thing I do, informed by series of steps I take first to understand what needs to be communicated. For example, I start most projects with a lean canvas to break down my interpretation of the task at hand.

Once I get the big picture, I map out a basic user journey with any messaging opportunities and pain points my content may need to support.

Only now am I ready to plan my content hierarchy, and I use different methods depending on the scale of information required.

For smaller user tasks, I'll create a basic content skeleton or 'wire', that frames what users need to know and do in priority order. This is a lightweight way of outlining the content and ensuring I lead with the most important information first.

Next, I'll explore copy that best fits my proposed structure, often with multiple options to reflect variables like brand voice, tone and accessibility best practices.

For larger flows, I'll zoom out to consider the hierarchy within a wider context. Usually this involves setting content principles, reviewing current information patterns or even workshopping a strategy with stakeholders before I take concepts forward into more focused exploration.

Notice that in all of these examples, I'm shaping content outside of Figma with no single interface in mind.

Good content design takes a village

Where copywriting is mostly a solo effort, content design is a team sport. It relies on close collaboration with other disciplines and a deep understanding of where we can be most effective for our users.

First, we connect with product managers and solution designers to understand our roadmap and how features will be scoped to meet user needs and business goals. Content designers are nearly always out-ratioed in design teams, so we need to be strategic and disciplined with where we spend our time.

Next, we consult researchers to get a clear picture of who we're designing for and what they want from our products. This often requires us to be comfortable working with a variety of information sources, like market research, desk research and user testing.

Data is the other side of this coin, making sense of things from a quantitative viewpoint. Whether they're running A/B tests or providing performance metrics, data analysts offer a wealth of information to help us back our decisions or iterate on experiences.

Developers are key too. We check in with them regularly during the quality assurance stage of a build to see how our content looks and feels in staged environments. This helps us protect the integrity of designs and catch any bugs before pushing a feature out.

Without doubt, our most crucial collaboration happens with UX designers. I could write a whole piece on the content designer-visual designer relationship, but maybe that's for another day.

To sum it up, we both share a stake in the interface, so we sketch, wireframe and refine designs together. This takes time and experience of course, and no content designer does this exactly the same way. But you can't design an interface without knowing what information it needs, and that information should be defined by a content designer.

Lastly, we consider content at scale. This might look like working with design system teams on patterns and componentry. Or checking usage and consistency to keep on top of design debt. It could even be pair writing with legal counsel to ensure things like terms and conditions are accurate and easy to understand.

Across all of these areas, I hope it's clear to see that content designers view content through many lenses, zooming in and out to support strategies at both micro and macro levels.

A word to my writer friends

Everywhere I've done content design, I've met people with backgrounds as varied as journalism, learning design and customer support. The same is true of Sage, where we prioritise strong writing skills and adaptability over hands-on experience in tech. It's about knowing the fundamentals, then learning how to apply them in a new context.

If you're looking to make the move into content design, reflect on the skills you already have. As I found on my own journey, my skills weren't just transferable but valuable. And they shaped the kind of content designer I am today.