- Have you ever tried to listen to a podcast
but the sound is all over the place?
One interview is really quiet, so you turn the volume up,
only to be blasted by the host in the next episode?
How about trying to read an article on your phone
but the text is too tiny and frustrating to read,
so you close it and you move on?
Structural details like these can negatively impact
the experience people have with your content,
deluding its message and limiting its effectiveness
over seemingly small missteps.
So, it's important to format your content effectively
to ensure you're giving a campaign
its best chance at success.
Let's review three considerations
you should always account for
to ensure content provides a smooth experience
to your audience without unnecessary disruptions.
First, understand the formatting nuances
of the types of content you're creating.
For example, when writing an article online,
it's important to only include a few sentences per paragraph
to keep them short and use subheaders
to divide the piece into different sections.
The point of accounting for these nuances
is to increase the readability of the piece
so it's effortless for a person to read through it
and find the information they're looking for.
Learn these nuances by researching best practices
associated with different types of content
but most of all, through actively testing them firsthand.
While formatting your content correctly
doesn't guarantee your content will reach your audience,
not formatting your content will certainly guarantee
it doesn't get seen.
Even having a process in place where all company content
is reviewed by more than one team member
can help catch formatting errors that are easy to miss.
Secondly, meeting the expectations of your audience
is an important part of the experience
your content should provide.
Whether the title of a report or the description of a video,
these small details matter
as they summarize the subject of your content
and impact a person's decision to engage.
If your content fails to live up to the promise
provided in the headline, teaser, or synopsis,
then you'll have wasted a person's time
and likely lost the opportunity to gain their trust.
While it's important to frame your content
so it's enticing and distinct enough
to get a person's attention,
make sure to realistically describe
what it offers without misleading.
A strong example of finding this balance
between getting people's attention
and managing expectations with content
can be seen in the promotion
of the online courses from Patch.
An online plant company,
Patch publishes trailers on Instagram and Facebook
to promote its urban planting courses
to give customers a sample
of their high quality instructional videos.
Each post is very descriptive, straightforward
and features the course instructor
who's a journalist and plant expert,
helping this content stand out for all the right reasons.
Lastly, every time a person interacts
with your company's content,
it's an opportunity to engage them further
by providing helpful next steps.
Whenever possible,
include a call-to-action with your content
to encourage a person to watch a related video,
read a similar article, or otherwise.
For the customer, you're continuing to provide
useful information based on the topics
they've expressed interest in.
For your company, each customer interaction
is an opportunity to drive their attention
to more useful content, increasing the likelihood
that they'll return again to engage with your offerings.
Speaking of a call-to-action,
pay close attention to your content's formatting details
as they can really add up to provide a wonderful experience
or a lackluster one.