These quick and easy to implement techniques will elevate your writing, help you stand out, improve your SEO rank and will push you towards being an influencer in no time!
2022 is a tough, tough year to make engaging content. Well that’s mainly because we live in a live in a world of INTENSE information overload. Take this article by Harvard Business Review from way back in 2009- they had NO IDEA as to what 2022 was going to bring to the world in terms of content overload. These days it is difficult to even get out of bed without having read 2 news articles, 4 blog posts, 7 social media messages and 2 self glorifying essays on LinkedIn. That the struggle is real, is not even a question at this point. But the real question is, and remains-
‘How can one make great written content these days — how can ANY content stand out in the great sea of prose and poetry that we find ourselves adrift in?’
Fear not, team Kreo is here with some quickfire tips to help solve your concerns:
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Audience is King (or Queen/ whoever they want to be!): The main thing to remember is that especially when making any kind of content online- focus on your reader. It’s that simple. This means that unless the reader is mainly going to be you/ your family/ your friends- e.g. something like a diary entry for yourself and that’s why you do all your writing- that’s Sweet! Go Right ahead and do your thing- but if you have even a sliver of hope about your content making it big on the world wide web- you have GOT to get into the mindset of asking ‘why’ someone would ever take the time to read your work.
Consider this example: You are writing a blog focused on management consultants and are flummoxed when they don’t read / share it often enough Have you taken a pause to wonder why? Maybe it’s because of the crazy hours and the hectic lives they lead! Instead, if you target something that entertains them or solves their problems (See: Crazymgmtconsultants Insta page), suddenly you’ve got yourself some REALLY loyal readers and fans! - Paint me one of them pictures: That a ‘picture is worth a thousand words’ has been immortalized into the deep recesses of our memories. We see that beginning with the Graphic User Interface (GUI) on computers all the way to Posts/ Reels on Instagram today — computing too, tries to time and again revert back to that old adage. Let your content not be different, drop in a picture / drawing/ emoji or video too for effect?
- Don’t use industry jargon: (Disclaimer: Unless you are writing something super technical and focused on a specific kind of audience, again remember, Tip #1 precedes all others for a reason) Make your content EASY to understand + retain wherever possible. That’s what would make it memorable. In addition, this is the best way to reach out to readers that may not yet be fully involved in your industry but are on the fringes and can be addressed through your content!
- Tweak your headlines: You may write the most beautiful content that might even move the reader to tears- but if they scroll past your artwork without even giving it a glance, it’s time to blame your headline! In the world of ever-increasingly clickbait-y headlines- how do you make yours stand out? i) Make the key value proposition stand out (FOCUS on what the audience wants- hmmmm where have we heard that one before?) , ii) Use catchy words/ phrases (check out this INSANE, AMAZING!, MINDBLOWING!?, RIDICULOUS?), iii) Pique their interest, but keep it short: Make your headlines short and crisp- a Key factor that can help you is to ask yourself ‘Is this something I would share on my personal social media if I read this?’ -Headlines after all are all about getting people inside the door, the quality of your content will keep them there!
- Fact check: In today’s day and age, it’s easy to get carried away with something and just write things for the sake of it just in the process of creating more content for whatever reason. It’s always great to be motivated and write more, but its always good to know where to hit the brakes and fact checking for accuracy is one- your audience will forgive you for the occasional small error (provided it follows on with some kind of a correction), but do this frequently and you are going to be bleeding readers!
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Repurpose/ update your content and make current: Let’s face it, sometimes when inspiration doesn’t strike, we have all worked on repackaging content in various different ways. Content marketers do this, so do influencers, even people working in corporations on power point decks, they all do this ALL THE TIME!
Updating and repurposing content can be done in 2 ways- i) Adding existing content to different platforms with potential backlinks to your original platform (e.g. Medium to LinkedIn or vice versa) by also making some tweaks is a great way to ensure an increase in traffic. ii) Updating the same content with some new facts and figures or some new images to make it more relevant and contemporary is a great way to ensure that you get more traffic to your work AND that your content is ALWAYS refreshed and ready to go!
That’s all for today folks- look forward to seeing what you all come up with! Add in any links to your work in the comments below if you want us to evaluate something/ or just read and enjoy it!
Writer: Niraj