I love my job title. I relish in telling people I'm a senior copywriter by trade. Then I have to describe what it is, which makes it sound rather reductive. So sometimes I just say "writer for businesses", which I also love as it has the operative word, 'writer' in it.
After all, it's what I pride myself on - doing a job that I've always wanted to do.
However, I've worked in digital teams for most of my career and the title doesn't reflect the length and bredth of what we do.
No longer do we just write copy for an ad that runs on TV or a billboard for as long as the media budget allows.
There it sits. In isolation.
No linking anywhere. Not doing anything. Just sitting there and looking pretty.
We now have the internet. And we all carry around super computers in our pockets.
When I see or hear a TV or radio ad, spot a OOH poster or get a leaflet through the door. I immediately reach for my phone, fire up Google and look it up.
If it's piqued my interest, that is.
From there, I expect SEO to kick in to direct me to the right place.
That place has to answer my questions - telepathically knowing why I'm on that page.
It then has to influence me. Guide me through the decision journey so I buy whatever they're selling.
This means the page has to offer what I want.
In a way that I want it.
At the time that I want it.
In the place where I am.
Which is invariably, the internet.
This means more than just writing copy.
It needs to be thought of as a journey. Where have they come from, where are they going and can we fulfill it easily.
This means knowing how to create video, audio or graphics, having knowledge of user experience and information architecture, talking to operations to make sure demand can be met and the journey isn't a broken one (there's no point guiding people to a frustrating road with lots of stop signs, speed humps and dead ends) and being able to write everything, from microcopy to scripts and everything in between.
Copywriting, any indeed content marketing, isn't writing long or short-form copy.
It's writing everything with a user experience hat on.
And so much insight, it's difficult to know what to do with it.
But with the ability to test and agility for change, you can continuously optimise - which is something traditional copywriters can't do.
So as much as I love my job title, I don't just write copy. I design content.
From mapping journeys to deciding format and creating strategies, which is why content design is a welcomed evolution for digital copywriters.
