Our talented team of content experts brought us a lot of great, unique, and helpful insights for the WriterAccess blog this May. In this edition, you can learn how to appeal to game developers, attorneys, and scientists among other industries, and good writing isn’t enough anymore: how can one create content that people want to read and share? Learning how to engage readers is key to cultivating a loyal following and our experts have figured out how to do just that: read on!
Engaging the Reader: “Are You Talking to Me?” by Wayne C.
Rachel P is a 5-Star writer at WriterAccess
The author’s experience in the nonprofit world trying to get people to donate and get grants from major foundations taught him how to simplify this process: read your work out loud. If you’re tripping over your words, there’s no way you’ll engage your reader to do anything from award your organization millions of dollars or give you enough money to buy a pizza. Language that’s simple and to the point is more engaging to the reader.
That’s not to say there’s no such thing as a need for more formal writing. A white paper, for example, is not usually written in a conversational style. But it doesn’t have to be dull, either.
How to Create Content Scientists Care About by Marianne P.
Writing for scientists presents challenges: they are compelled by evidence, not mere statistics, and have an incredibly difficult language for the average writer to decipher if they don’t come from a scientific background. But scientists are also highly motivated by curiosity, so if you want to appeal to them then you must present some kind of hidden thing to discover even if you have no idea what a centrifuge is.
Their logical, inquisitive and analytical minds are driven by a relentless, daunting and often, painful quest for the truth about life.
How to Attract Readers to Your Niche Content by Lisa M.
Trying to get exposed to a broad category of people– such as one industry or one demographic– is a major challenge for most businesses. Targeting a specific niche is more likely to produce a loyal following that will ensure your success and in doing so, you need to really know that niche and try to be the first to report on major industry happenings or discoveries.
When you share your industry expertise with your writers, leave them the room to create, then use your industry experience to vet the finished product, you’ll magnify the reach of your voice and your appeal to all readers.
How to Create Content People Want to Read by Shelby M.
What’s the point in having content if people aren’t going to actually read it? High click-through rates are great, but effective content that’s relevant your audience and has some kind of significance in them because of the timing, their interests, or they find it entertaining or otherwise relevant is going to make them actually read it.
Start with the most important point. Many only look at a section’s first line, so make it count.
Hack Your Marketing With Cutting-Edge Developments From the World of Software Development by Lisa M.
In this podcast, the editor of chiefmartec.com and author of Hacking Marketing, Scott Brinker, discusses how marketing professionals can use agile principles normally used in software developer to form strategies and communicate them to upper management.
What either makes it thrive or fail is a lot about the actual culture, the spirit of embracing how we’re going to approach that iterative feedback loop, that transparency of what people are working on, that transparency in prioritization of what’s most important.
Content Marketing for a Technical Audience by Jeffrey D.
Writing about technology for the people who are the most well-versed with it requires high levels of detail but also snappiness. Content for technical audiences needs to be attention-grabbing but also has to provide a frame of reference that can be easily grasp.
It doesn’t need to be a lowest-common-denominator headline screaming at you – “These Hot Nobel Prize Winners Will Make Your Jaw Drop!!” – but you still need to make it interesting.
How to Create Content Donors Care About by Lorraine S.
Nonprofits that rely on individual gifts frequently find themselves in a bind: they need to keep donations rolling in, but support staff is in short supply unless the organization is very large. Communication takes a backseat and because of this, it’s why bootstrapped nonprofits lose donors. Nonprofit content needs to not only continually communicate with donors, but also ensure that the day-to-day impact the organization has on its beneficiaries is being told well to donors and making an emotional appeal.
A lot of smaller nonprofits don’t feel that the day-to-day stories are worth sharing. They are.
How Content Marketing Can Help Indie Game Developers Win by Rachel P.
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One of the biggest pains that indie game developers face is how to market their work and organically grow a following. Content marketing can not only help them get the word out about their game, but for story-driven and lore-heavy games can also significantly add to the game world and help keep their fans happy until the next game gets released.
Incorporating the game’s story and world into content marketing efforts helps keep fans excited, and draw new ones in who get curious upon seeing a blog entry or lore page, and shows off more of the game without giving too much away in the demo.
How to Create Content that Gets Results by Veronica M.
Building the audience is the hard part: keeping them engaged is a whole other challenge, and usually because followup is forgotten.Getting to know your following’s traits, interests, favorite brands and TV shows, and what keywords they search for will provide you a thorough road map for your content strategy. Then you can pound the pavement with that road map by engaging with your audience and following up with them.
To stay connected to your audience, you need compelling content which arrives quickly and consistently.
Answers to the 8 Questions Translators Hear Most by Ilona K.
Hiring a human to translate your site copy, book, menu, and other written materials is integral to avoiding an All Your Base Are Belong to Us kind of meme-worthy gaffe. Translators have a tougher job than simply putting foreign grammar and syntax into English: there are idioms, regional dialects and colloquialisms, and words that may not even have an English equivalent. Either way, Babel Fish can’t possibly stack up to a real live human even if a Supreme Court Beef Taco is at stake.
A few months studying abroad does not make you a translator. A professional translator studies intensely for many years to become proficient.
Four Things to Keep in Mind When Publishing Content for Attorneys/Law Firms by Cindy D.
Law firms constantly need great content that is helpful to current and potential clients, and is appropriate to the jurisdictions in which the attorneys are licensed. There are also professional conduct rules set forth by the American Bar Association as well as state bars that content creators must be aware of when creating legal content, so that the model rules are not violated.
Knowing whether federal, state or local law applies when publishing content is important; if the wrong jurisdiction’s laws are referenced or used as source material, the information contained in the communication may not be accurate.
Keep up with the exciting and fast-moving content marketing world with the WriterAccess blog, and check out our incredible writers and translators for hire today!
5-Star writer Rachel P is an indie game developer, writer, and consultant. An experienced entrepreneurship writer, her blog/consulting business is tailored to professional development for indie developers and other creative professionals.
