{"id":226,"date":"2011-08-27T12:22:24","date_gmt":"2011-08-27T12:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/?p=226"},"modified":"2011-08-27T12:22:24","modified_gmt":"2011-08-27T12:22:24","slug":"4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/","title":{"rendered":"4 common mistakes writers make in white papers (and all marketing content)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Keep<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Trying to sell instead of tell.<\/strong>
\nThe focus on Steve Jobs<\/a> this past week reminded us of how fanatical the guy is about good, clean, corporate writing, the kind that never “sells” technology.\u00a0 Instead, he insists on the kind that tells how the product would help the reader reach a goal.\u00a0 Emphasis on the reader.<\/em> And the reader’s goal or problem.<\/p>\n

2. Complicating the message. <\/strong>
\nJobs has a one-sentence description \u2014 or vision \u2014 for every product he has ever introduced.\u00a0 Incredibly, every single piece of written content, in all marketing material, revolves around this simple sentence.\u00a0 Study after study shows that people think in \u201cchunks\u201d and remember no more than three or four characteristics of anything.\u00a0 That’s why the best content contains no more than three, core leave-behinds.\u00a0 Your reader is busier and more easily distracted than ever. Make it easy on them.\u00a0 Think about the most effective content you’ve read.\u00a0 Chances are, the writer kept it pretty simple.\u00a0 It’s why you remember it.\u00a0 After all, no less a mind than DaVinci said that simplicity was the ultimate sophistication.<\/p>\n

3. Failing to stay on message. <\/strong>
\nBegin with a clear expression — the single sentence — of what your content must convey.\u00a0 Then think of it in three parts and sketch an outline of the “sum” of the parts: What? So what? And now what?\u00a0 In other words, consistent with the core sentence, describe the problem being experienced by the customer\/reader, (2) all the dimensions of why this is a significant issue at this moment and (3) what needs to happen for resolution of the issue (solution to the problem).<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Ignoring (boring) the reader.<\/strong>
\nIf you’re not energized to the point of passion about your subject matter, don’t expect your reader to take up the slack. \u00a0 Look at what you’re writing through the reader’s eyes. To what would you favorably respond?\u00a0 Studies show that readers favor a graphic presentation of complex data, thus the popularity and more frequent use of infographics. What would make you<\/em> keep reading? In your experience, which styles of content convey the most information most forcefully and memorably? Most important, what would make you want to know more about what the vendor has to say about this issue and what they have in the way of solutions?<\/p>\n

What does your team do to optimize the readability and simplicity<\/a> of your written content — including those white papers?\u00a0 BTW, for an animated video of Jobs’ career, check this out: \/08\/26\/ste\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  1. Trying to sell instead of tell. The focus on Steve Jobs this past week reminded us of how fanatical the guy is about good, clean, corporate writing, the kind that never “sells” technology.\u00a0 Instead, he insists on the kind that tells how the product would help the reader reach a goal.\u00a0 Emphasis on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,36,1,53,44],"tags":[26,38,11,212],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-content-marketing","category-content-strategy","category-uncategorized","category-white-papers","category-writing-services","tag-content-creation","tag-content-strategy-2","tag-optimizing-content","tag-white-papers"],"yoast_head":"\n4 common mistakes writers make in white papers (and all marketing content) - The Write Stuff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 common mistakes writers make in white papers (and all marketing content) - The Write Stuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  1. Trying to sell instead of tell. The focus on Steve Jobs this past week reminded us of how fanatical the guy is about good, clean, corporate writing, the kind that never “sells” technology.\u00a0 Instead, he insists on the kind that tells how the product would help the reader reach a goal.\u00a0 Emphasis on […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Write Stuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-27T12:22:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/keep-it-simple-blue-paper-clips-thumb11270545.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/#\/schema\/person\/ae2533696fae154a2fd11d04326ef5c6\"},\"headline\":\"4 common mistakes writers make in white papers (and all marketing content)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-27T12:22:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/keep-it-simple-blue-paper-clips-thumb11270545.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"content creation\",\"Content strategy\",\"optimizing content\",\"white papers\"],\"articleSection\":{\"0\":\"content marketing\",\"1\":\"content strategy\",\"3\":\"white papers\",\"4\":\"writing services\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/4-common-mistakes-writers-make-in-white-papers-and-all-marketing-content\/\",\"name\":\"4 common mistakes writers make in white papers (and all marketing content) - 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