So, you want to be a content writer

With over 15 years of content writing and marketing experience, Katie Lantukh , sits down with us to give you the principles and practices that guide her work.

She starts with these practical skills:

"I rely on some of the fundamental principles I learned from my undergrad in Journalism:?

1. OUTLINE FIRST - When you have a story idea for an article, you first create an outline and a general flow based on your research and what you already know or can find out about the issue you're covering. You find the gaps in that outline and then seek out sources, typically in the form of people you can talk to.? I approach marketing writing today much the same way. Before writing a piece of content, I want to know things like who the audience is, where they are in the customer journey, what the brand wants the reader to do after they read this piece of content. This direction serves as the "outline" of marketing content writing.?

2. GATHER BALANCED INFO - When writing a news article, you get at least one source from each side of the issue. Someone in support and someone opposed. (At least that's how we were taught in my degree program.) It needed to be balanced because the Journalist's job was to present the issue and let the reader make their own informed opinion. Marketing content is obviously different because our job IS to persuade with the writing instead of presenting an ideally neutral piece of content. But the process is the same that I want to understand the "other side" of the issue by understanding the competitors and alternatives that my client is up against. I want to know how the alternative options in the market are presenting themselves so that I can present my client's brand as the better option for their right-fit customers.??

3. ASK OPEN QUESTIONS - Then you do the interview for the news article. During this question / answer session, the Journalist is asking open-ended questions. You craft your questions ahead of time so that you know you're filling in the gaps of your outline, using your time effectively and asking your source balanced questions -- not leading them or baiting them.?? For my marketing content, I interview my clients and often times their clients. I ask open-ended questions and often circle back and rephrase what they've said so that I'm positive I understood what they were aiming to communicate.? As I'm positive all readers can see, the end result of a journalistic news article and a sales landing page are very different. There are conventions and artistic flourishes that are present in one and absent in the other. But what I find really fun and interesting is how similar the behind the scenes process is. You start with the end in mind, you seek to understand the context of "both sides" and you ask open-ended questions, not yes/ no answers."

And she ends with a note about the importance empathy:

"It seems like being empathetic is something that a lot of people talk about, but only sometimes see in practice -- at least in this very digital space of online marketing. What I think most people don't realize is that empathy is something they can learn and nurture within themselves. I find that when I'm in a heated moment -- a sales call is going poorly or a client has sent a terse email -- I've learned to take a pause. Instead of reacting immediately or saying I lost internet connection like I want to, I will stop and think of them as a person. First and last name, not their brand name. Not their title. Because that's how we think of ourselves, right?

You're not your job title to the people who live in your house with you. You're so much more than your email address to the other parents at carpool. You're a person with God-given value and so is the person on the other side of you. And when we see our clients and colleagues this way, we also will begin to see our "audience" this way. They're more than the ideal customer persona we made up for them. They deserve to have their problems solved, not to be sold to.

So in summary, empathy is seeing each person as a person whose value extends far beyond who they are at work. And then importantly, empathy is taking a step of compassion in light of their value. You pause before responding, you ask how their son is feeling, you ask about their vacation. Empathy is treating that person like a person."

At the end of the day, it's all about putting people first. Thank you so much for this reminder and for sharing your expertise, Katie!!