I’ve been talking to some potential clients and often times I’ve been asked, as a content person, about writing. Yes, I, and other content people, write; we write articles, marketing materials, user manuals and other text related stuff, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Content is not just about writing. Writing is one of many other options that are a result of content strategy and analysis. In some cases I would see a need for writing, in other cases writing would not be necessary. Writing is a result or an option when tackling a case.
When I say that I’m a content guy, it doesn’t mean that all I do is write.
Content is all about giving or receiving information. It’s not a conversation, it’s the bulk data that flows in one direction. When it’s good content, the data flow is used, consumed, understood and accepted and leads to the target stated at the beginning (sales / awareness / anything else).
That data could be a user manual or an article with tips about keeping your diapers white, but it could also be a slogan. A logo. A picture. A TV add. A statue. A painting on a sidewalk. A billboard sign. T-shirts on a bunch of college kids etc. etc. etc.
I might be stepping on some toes by saying so, but content is a package, which is the connection between your brand/product/service to the customer (or potential customer). It includes advertising, marketing tools etc. and writing if needed.
The end user of your content needs to find a use for that content. If the content is not aimed, directed or delivered correctly, you miss out on a customer. The end user must “get” something from your content. It is the added value that could make that customer a happy one which in turn usually means a returning one.
A good content person does advertising and marketing and POS (point of sale) and analytics and research and testing and what not. If after all that he believes writing is needed, then he writes.
We do not “do writing” on our first meeting 🙂
If all a client wants is writing (user manuals, technical writing or SEO) then he can freelance one of many companies that do exactly that. But to get to that point, a client needs to know that all he needs is writing. A good content person is what is needed at the beginning in order to assess the whole picture; in house or out-sourced is not the issue at hand.
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