Content Marketing Tips Your Grandmother Would Approve

Don’t let Grandma’s gentle nature fool you. Sure, she loved those science projects and piano performances over the years.  But now you own a business online, and when it comes to effective content, she is your toughest judge.  Do you have what it takes to create content your grandma finds valuable?

A content marketing strategy involves formats like blog posts, imagery and infographics, and videos. We use these formats to provide helpful information for users.  This creates value.

However, content is only as helpful as it is comprehensible. As marketers, we need to ask ourselves whether our content is really doing its job.  Is it too tangled up in industry jargon and promotional language for users to discover its value?

Revise your current content and ongoing strategy for reader comprehension. When the message is clear, the value is clear.

Here are our tips for creating comprehensible content that really gets your point across to all readers. Think about how you’d explain a technical concept to Grandma in a blog post. What does she need in order to understand it?

Clarity

Grandma understands concepts and ideas that make sense in plain language.

The tone is informal, as though she’s enjoying a face-to-face conversation with the author.

Sentences are concise and to-the-point.

Technical terms are defined, so Grandma doesn’t feel out of the loop.

Examples

It’s even easier for Grandma to understand a technical concept when its explanation provides on-topic examples.

Examples come in many forms: graphics, charts, stories, and videos. These give the subject depth.

Grandma gives bonus brownie points if the example is relatable to her experience. She then feels empowered by the information, because she can envision its impact on her daily life.

Context

Before Grandma even clicks to open the blog post, she knows what to expect.

The title clearly states what the article/video/infographic is about.

Some sites offer Grandma skill-level tags on blog posts, so she can gauge whether the subject matter is right for her.  FYI: She reads the ‘Intermediate’ stuff on gaming blogs.

Active Voice

The fewer mental transformations Grandma needs to convert a sentence into actionable understanding, the better. She prefers active, positive phrasing.

You can guess which one of these sentences sound better:

“Non-organic eggs should be avoided by cooks” Passive, negative

“Great cooks use organic eggs” Active, positive

Employ the active voice to engage Grandma (and the rest of your target audience). The active voice often helps create concise, authoritative content.

Conclusion

As usability expert Jakob Nielsen says, “writing style impacts profitability.”

The more comprehensible your content is, the more likely Grandma will understand your business, and be motivated to make a purchase.

Yes, that fuzzy feeling of Grandma’s approval is within your grasp. And the rest of your target market, too.

Contact us today to learn more about our content marketing packages. We make it fun and easy to understand your options!

See Also

How Does Tinder Relate To The Value Of Web Design?

References
Nielsen, Jakob. “Passive Voice Is Redeemed For Web Headings.” 22 October 2007. Useit.com