Content marketing – a vital part of your overall marketing strategy, but how do you make sure the content you’re sharing is the best it can be?
Okay, so writing might be subjective, but there are qualities that every great writer possesses, making them stand out from the crowd…
Attention to detail
How observant are you? Great writers have incredible attention to detail. Not only does this give their writing the descriptive detail that inspires their readers’ imagination, it also means their editing skills are on another level, allowing them to pick up the smallest grammatical error. Don’t expect to see any embarrassing typos from a brilliant writer.
This even extends to when they text and are on social media – they’re the ones correcting typos (YOU’RE means you are, YOUR means your!) in Facebook comments and sending a panicked corrective text as soon as they spot an extremely rare typo in their message.
Devoted
Being an epic writer doesn’t mean writing the perfect piece of content the first time. In fact, most will be all too familiar with the frustration that comes from editing, re-writing and improving their work. But they go through this process because they’re devoted to their craft and want to ensure their work is of the highest quality.
This is where deadlines are important – otherwise writers could end up spending as much time on their content as George RR Martin has on the next instalment of the Game of Thrones books.
Break it down
No matter how complex the subject, effective writers are able to take away the key points and translate it into language that their audience will understand. If their readers are new to a subject, they can introduce it in an uncomplicated way.
Wide vocabulary
A sure-fire way to lose the interest of your audience is to repeat the same words over and over again. Not only is it boring for the reader, but it shows the writer lacks the imagination to conjure up new phrases.
A good writer will use a wide-ranging vocabulary to hook and maintain their audience. It also enables them to communicate more effectively – a key trick if you’re sticking to a tight word count!
Open-minded
Writers aren’t the only one working on a project, and this is particularly true of content writers. Whether they’re part of an internal marketing team or are an external writer, they need to be open-minded when it comes to collaborating and creating content – working with people from all over the company to make sure their work is on point with the brief and on brand.
This open-mindedness also enables great writers to draw valuable insights and approaches to their work, all of which will help their content be more unique and creative.
Love of research
A few years ago, nobody had heard of the term ‘fake news’ but now it seems like it’s thrown around multiple times a day. For that reason, research has arguably never been so important.
And this is another aspect that sets great writers apart as they love to research – which probably stems from their love of reading. Research gives a piece more credibility and provides readers with a greater understanding of the topic.
Understand tone and audience
Okay, so you might understand that a piece of content will need to be written differently depending on the audience and the purpose of the text – a blog post giving advice isn’t going to be written in the same way as an informative news piece.
But great writers don’t just understand this, they know how to tweak the tone to make sure it is fitting for the reader and the purpose. They know how even a subtle change in language can alter the whole aim of the content.
Storyteller
All of these traits come together to help make great writers fantastic storytellers. No, we don’t mean they’re all about to be the next Tolkien but it does mean that they have the ability to captivate, engage and entertain their readers. After all the hard work that goes into your content marketing strategy, you want to make sure your audience hear what you have to say.
If you’re still struggling with creating great content for your blog but don’t want to waste your precious time on finding blog writers and managing their work, contact M2.