Top 10 Tips for Creating Interesting Content for a Technical Market
So you’ve got a world-beating new product. It’s the best thing since sliced bread. But it’s a highly technical piece of kit and you’re worried that no-one beyond your business will be interested. Well, think again! Here are House Digital top 10 tips for crafting engaging marketing content that not only gets read but also wins you some sales.
There is nothing more soul destroying than slaving over a polished piece of technical content only to see it fall on deaf ears. Call it modern society’s attention deficit. Or blame it on information overload. Call it what you will, but the statistics don’t lie. A 2013 study by Chartbeat revealed that most people only bother to read around 60 percent of the way through most online content.
So how do we go about forging vibrant content for ‘less-than-sexy’ products or topics that retains our audience’s interest from start to finish? Well, you can start by following these failsafe tips from KW Digital finest marketing minds. We’re aiming for you to read this one in full of course!
1. Drop the jargon. Yes, you’re an expert in your field. You know your subject matter inside out. But your audience invariably doesn’t. Even in a B2B environment, it’s good practice to start from the assumption that your audience knows nothing about your product or service and tailor your language appropriately. Jargon, acronyms and industry speak are all unnecessary barriers to getting to the point!
2. Keep it brief. If you suspect that your subject matter isn’t exactly page-turning material, keep it brief. Why write War and Peace when you can convey a message in a fraction of the wordage? Of course, you might want to work with a digital agency who has a dedicated copywriter (like KW Digital!) to trim the fat from your content. It’s essential to keep your followers hooked and one of the best ways to do that is by being succinct.
3. Helpful is never tedious. One of the main points to consider when setting about your writing is that people gravitate towards content that is genuinely helpful. It might be the driest, most niche, topic in the world but if it’s answering people’s questions then it cannot fail to hit the mark.
4. Inject some personality. There’s a fine line between keeping your content professional and boring your audience silly with lifeless, turgid content. Snooze! Let’s face it, a splash of humour here, and a topical reference there, can bring a technical piece to life. Keeping things lighthearted and human can work wonders for engaging your audience.
5. Be specific. Do you know why case studies are so effective in terms of selling a product or concept? It’s because they offer a point of reference for people to identify with. It’s far easier to engage with a technical piece of content if we can picture how the solution is applied in specific applications and therefore visualise how we might be able to utilise them ourselves. Check out some engaging application stories on our content marketing platform, Process Industry Forum.
6. Employ a well-placed analogy. When you’ve dropped the jargon, and cut to the core of your specific pitch, the final sticking point for your audience is often complexity. Nothing is guaranteed to turn off your audience more than content that’s difficult to fathom. Break it down with a well-placed analogy that boils things down in such a manner that your customer clearly comprehends.
7. Use visual effects. Think about the entire gamut of mediums open to you when trying to convey your technical messages. For instance, rather than always opting for a long form article or technical blog, why not go for a video interview with one of your experts? Furthermore, you could turn to dynamic imagery, or an informative infographic, to elevate a seemingly boring subject into something captivating.
8. Turn to interesting interviewees. Talking of interviews, when you do decide to break the mould and formulate a podcast or YouTube video to get your message across, bear in mind that people want to hear from an authority figure – someone who really knows their stuff – if they’re going to bother to click through in the first place. That means putting your most knowledgeable, and preferably most dynamic, figureheads forward to illustrate your business’ technical know-how.
9. Consider shock tactics. The element of surprise should never be underestimated. In the spirit of giving your audience something helpful, couching your technical message around a surprising fact or statistic can be a highly effective means of grabbing someone’s attention and drawing them in to find out more.
10. Give your audience a break. Just as complex theories can switch off readers, a wall of text can also leave them cold. Break up text into bite-size messages, employing headlines, bullet points and other visual markers to make your content instantly accessible and less overwhelming for your readers.
How do you make your technical content leap off the page? We’d love to hear your tried and tested techniques.