We’ve all heard the saying, “Good design is good business.” This is just as true (if not more so) when it comes to your content. It’s all too common to see creative teams and executives agonize endlessly over colors, fonts, and logos.
While these are all vital to a brand, no doubt, content strategy should be a central part of any design project — not an afterthought. After all, your customers aren’t really coming to your website to admire your lovely brand palette or photography choices. They are looking for content.
And that content needs to be good. It needs to answer your customer’s questions, and provide them with relevant information. It should be easy to read, friendly, and on-brand. It needs to be consistent across channels. It needs to be purposeful.
So, how do you go from “making content” to mattering to your consumers? Here are some key places to start.
- Adopt a content-first approach. I’ve seen this conundrum countless times: the UX/design phase happens before a content strategist or copywriter is brought into the fold. The writer is asked to fill in the lorem ipsum with real content. I argue that the content objectives should be defined before creative starts, for a more purposeful and powerful user experience. A content strategy should be defined upfront, based on business goals, customer journeys and personas, and brand. Tools like core models can help you “design inside out,” aligning content and design.
- Make content for humans. While it’s important to follow SEO best practices, focusing too much on visitor numbers is a dated practice. Search engines might prefer long-form copy, but what do your visitors prefer? Does it really make sense to stretch a 500-word article into 1,700? If it means fewer visitors are engaging, then no. Focus your content efforts on attracting highly-qualified, focused leads, and copy that’s likely to engage them (not just appeal to search engines.)
- Establish voice & tone. One of the best ways to stand out from the noise (besides creating content that’s interesting) is to develop a recognizable and consistent brand voice. Good voice & tone guides can help ensure that regardless of who’s writing your copy, or what channel you’re using, your content complements your brand promise, and appeals to the target consumer. It shouldn’t be a huge, burdensome document — I actually like to create infographics to communicate voice & tone. It’s also wise to give “do” and “don’t” examples that show nuance.
- Always ask “why?” Say your CEO forwards you a cool video that his favorite brand, Porche, just came out with, and the subject line is “We should do something like this.” Should you? Probably not, if you’re a company that makes frozen fish sticks. It’s tempting to want to imitate brands we admire or chase the shiny object — whether that’s the newest social media channel for Gen Z or an executive’s wish to “go viral.” But if these things aren’t relevant to your target audience or brand, what’s the point? Don’t make content for your CEO. Make it for your target audience (then show him how well it’s working.)
- Always ask “who cares?” The fastest way to turn off a consumer is brand propaganda. Unless you’re a serious lifestyle brand with die hard fans, they will glaze right over it. Just say “no” to videos featuring your CEO (unless he’s Richard Branson), content that talks too much about you, or any content that’s inappropriate for a particular channel (e.g., a press release on your Pinterest page.) Never try to mix PR with marketing.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and stories!