When we talk about Content Marketing, we think about a lot: planning, optimization, posting frequency, results. Many people forget, however, that the basis of good content is good writing. American author Ann Handley knows this. And, to teach what she learned by producing materials for different platforms in the last decades, she launched the book Everybody Writes.
Everyone writes
If you answered an email or posted to Facebook recently, you can already write – just refine it!
- Writing matters more now, not more minor. Our words are our emissaries; they tell our customers who we are.
- The text is the format you will use to produce much of your company’s content
Rely on word count, not time
Measure your work by the words you wrote, not the time spent
- Set a daily goal for your writing
- Are you telling your story from a unique perspective, with a voice and style that are clearly yours? Good writing!
The more you think before you write, the easier it will be to write
Ask yourself these three questions before starting to write: what is my purpose with this text?
- What is my point of view on this matter.
- Why does this matter to the people I seek to impact?
Prefer words of truth
Jargons are technical terms familiar to a specific activity. Avoid jargon, clichés, and buzzwords that say little.
- Use terms that mean what you mean. A thesaurus can help you get to the exact word.
Switch places with the reader
The idea is that your text will serve those who read it, not yourself
- Look at the topic you are writing about from the point of view of your target audience
- What experience does this text create in the reader? What questions can readers have?
Instead of counting, show
Convince them how your product or service solves problems for the target audience
Put an essential idea of each sentence at the beginning of it
This makes the reader think a lot until discovering the central idea
- E.g. “It is necessary/essential / suggested that…I believe that…The purpose of this email/post/article……”
Be straightforward but not simplistic
Don’t assume that your reader doesn’t know anything, but never that he is stupid
