Content centric ? how you can make content work for you



Content drives the power to make heads turn. A single word sometimes can attract or turn off its audience. Your prospective clients might be thoroughly convinced that you are the product or service they are looking for or might be completely convinced otherwise. Content can work both ways, to your advantage or to your disadvantage. Keeping content to your advantage in any and every situation requires a certain amount of experience, maybe a tablespoon or two of intellect and of course a whole lot of talent. Words having the power to sell, compel or unite are the ones that are crafted with the help of exceeding talent and unending intellect.

Content changes with its purpose, audience and message. The same writing style and tone are not understood the same way by diverse persons who are looking within your content for fulfillment of their unique purpose. Your customers might read your flyer to understand more about your business, your prospective partners might sit through your corporate presentation to understand your investment potential and a visitor to your website might do so buy your product/service online. For precisely this reason, the style, intention and tone of the content on these cannot be the same. Understanding this minute yet blatant differentiation helps create content that individually speaks to your different clients, shareholders, and prospective.

1. Business presentations require content to be concise and to the point. You cannot afford to be verbose as your audience might lose interest and render your presentation useless. Content must broach the subject immediately and thoroughly. This understanding helps create business presentations that are compelling yet concise and effective.

2. Website content can be wordy or brief depending upon the purpose of the website. In general though, website/online content is kept brief as reading from a screen is slower than reading print. So get your message across, convince prospective clients that you product/service is the best or incite volunteers to join your cause in 450 words or less. Website content is most effective when sprinkled with a balanced dose of well-researched keywords. But that's the story of another article

3. Corporate communications should spell three things professionalism, professionalism and still more professionalism. The corporate image that you are trying to project must be of foremost importance when writing for corporate communication. The business intention should be the next. Both these things need to be blended into stately content that speaks clearly and with marked elegance.

4. Marketing material ? flyers, brochures, sales presentations needs to be centered solely around your marketing intention. Keeping content in a flow that stimulates the thoughts of the readers to align themselves with the business intention is the art of writing good content for marketing material. Whether you are talking of the Eiffel tower but selling antique ink pens you need to connect the two in an intelligent manner to convince your reader to perform the required action.

5. Manuals and process documentation should be as wordy and comprehensive as seems fit for the particular subject. When writing for manuals and process sheets you must remember that the reader is not aware of the second-switch minute feature of the subject. Hence, labeling and cross referencing play a major part in manual and technical writing.