I’m not shaming you for wearing jogging pants right now. Frequently. Sometimes with a button-up business shirt to attend that work-from-home business call. I get it – we all needed those soft, forgiving pants for emotional support in 2020.
While I fully applaud jogging pants self-care, your 2021 marketing content should be dressed better. As other aspects of your business have likely changed over the past year, so to should your business communications.
With the world largely at home and highly captive online, try these top four 2021 content writing tips to better serve your post-COVID audience.
Don’t feed the funk
The pandemic funk is real. A constant tide of negative and fearful 2020 content has taken a serious and lasting toll on many. More than ever, data suggests people are seeking mental relief online – in the form of entertaining, funny and creative content.
That doesn’t mean there’s no place for serious messages. It is just a challenge – to do better with the information you need to deliver. To somehow make difficult or dry topics, less so. To balance harder topics with lighter relief in some way. The world and your content are not always sunny, but try to leave readers better with each interaction, without feeding that funky funk.
Offer value – fast
Before you pen that next #longpost, stop. Back up and try the #shortpost version, please. It’s true, storytelling is an integral part of positioning your overall brand, but not an invitation for excessive use of long form copy. At some point, we’ve all muted or unfollowed that one over-sharing brand or person. Don’t create excessive noise – don’t be that person.
Across social, web, email marketing or blog content, drive to your point fast. Respect that your reader, more than ever, may be dealing with mental overwhelm. Hit key messages quick, and pump out that genuine value. It is a waste of everyone’s time if that long meandering message is never read.
Mix your methods
The weary mind needs variety, so create interest by changing it up. It’s great to model admired peers or competitors, but resist the call to ‘sameness’. When email templates, social feeds and web pages in your industry start to fall into the same look and feel, strive to find what makes you unique.
Maybe it’s time to change up your brand colour palette? Establish a clearer brand voice in your writing, or explore more behind-the-scenes video of your business at work. Insights and analytics can reveal a lot about what’s working and not, but don’t miss the opportunity to directly ask readers themselves – what more can I do for you?
Listen – or appear tone deaf
I hope the words ‘unprecedented times’ finally met the fiery demise they deserved in the dumpster fire that was 2020. Like so many other pat and canned phrases emerging during the unfolding pandemic, these words became a bitter coffee none wanted to drink.
Oversaturation of message is common when major topics are trending. Also, easy to avoid – especially if you are actually listening. Dedicate time and energy to researching and paying attention to the broader online conversation. By all means, plan and author your content calendar in advance, but be prepared to pivot as needed. Issuing a canned message on a day where a local or global issue demands recognition can make you appear tone deaf, insensitive or just plain cold.
It’s a new year – wishing you health and success on your 2021 content strategy journey. Need help getting your content out of jogging pants? Contact KimberlyMacG Creative.