5 Ways to Format Your Content To Avoid Clutter
I was reading a business blog today about a company and it’s value proposition for a new product line they are offering in another state. It was a well written article and the content seemed well positioned except for one thing, I wasn’t sure why I was reading it. The content seemed lost in the benefit structure of the product launch. It lost me with the offer to take me to a site when it failed to reach me as to why I would need their product in the first place.
If you want readers to read your content, try avoiding clutter. What do I mean by clutter? Have you ever come across a blog post, tweet, or press release that left you scratching your head and thinking, “Why am I reading this?”
The real reason you want to start a blog is to provide good format for your message and to educate your readers about your solution offers. Right? It’s important to understand that the content you have in your head can come out interpreted very differently based on one thing: format.
Here are 5 ways we can format this content:
Blog post
Keep your content light but informative. Identify what you are trying to convey without sounding like a sales pitch. Be specific and break down your content. You might want to say something like “3 Things About Home Renovations That Can Save You Time And Money”.
E-book
Putting together an e-book is different from a blog in that you should take a bigger look at your content and add a supporting cast. For instance, you can take your blog title and modify it to say “Your Home Renovations Kit: Ways To Save Money With Home Renovations”. Now you can add more visuals such as picture samplings, visual aids, and possible infographics to make your content valuable.
Social media post
This type of content has a much shorter shelf life so the message needs to be short but the media channel needs to be considered. For instance, Twitter asks for less text and lead-in links to your content site or blog. Facebook and Google+ are good for graphics and a bit more explanatory descriptions. LinkedIn will generate an interest with business owners and professionals.
White paper
Don’t mistake this for a blog post. Content for whitepapers are formatted to bring out more data and cited information. This is your research paper that, in our example of home renovations, could be titled “Research Indicates Home Renovations Saves The Seller 20% On Average For Every Sale”.
Video
So with video you can take this example of home renovations to a completely different level. Where before you sampled data and facts about your home renovation, you can now show your audience your value proposition. A great content concept would be “5 Bathroom Renovations To Save You Time And Money”.
Take the extra time to study your format and keep your content from cluttering. Content cluttering is a phenomenon ever since the concept for content marketing exploded in the last couple of years. Yet, regardless of the hype, your content still can add value to prospects if you just pay attention to the format and how to present your content. LUXA can help you with Tulsa inbound marketing at an affordable solution rate. We specialize in offer blogging strategies for Tulsa business owners. If you need a free consultation session just check us out here and good luck in your future content!
