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No matter what kind of writing you do, you must always consider its purpose, where it will appear, and who will be reading it.
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But no matter what kind of writing you do,
you must keep
0:00
some key questions in mind so that your
writing projects always remain focused.
0:03
First, what is the purpose of what I'm
writing?
0:10
Secondly, where will this writing appear?
0:14
And, for whom is this writing intended.
0:19
Purpose, location, and audience.
0:21
Now, the purpose.
0:26
Identifying the reasons why you're writing
something is key to making it effective.
0:28
Keeping your purpose in mind helps guide
your writing, and it keeps you on track.
0:32
You often find the purpose of a blog
0:37
post for example within its title or
description.
0:38
And the same goes for the title of a page
that you might write for a website.
0:41
However this doesn't only refer to the
subject of what you're writing about.
0:46
It can also refer to your goal for writing
about it in the first place.
0:50
Now, if you're selling products online,
and need
0:55
a need to build a page for each product,
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the purpose of each page should be to
effectively
1:00
communicate all the details you can about
a product.
1:02
But what you must also consider is how to
use helpers like images
1:05
and video to complement what you're
writing,
1:09
to make it as effective as possible.
1:12
Now sites promoting apps often include
photo
1:15
or video walk-throughs to show how
features work.
1:18
And they complement the visuals with
helpful text.
1:22
This example here is the Instagram Tumblr
blog.
1:26
And when they release their Photo Maps
feature they
1:29
did a video walk-through, and they
included it here.
1:33
As a way to help communicate the features
and to
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help break down, you know, any concerns or
misconceptions that
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people might have to lead them closer to
the goal
1:43
of, you know, downloading the app or using
the feature.
1:46
The next thing is location.
1:51
In addition to considering the purpose
behind your
1:53
writing, you also need to know where the
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text will appear, and not everything you
write
1:58
will be displayed within the body of a
webpage.
2:01
Some text will have limited space, such as
a sidebar in a
2:04
layout with columns, which you'll actually
see here on the MarketingProfs website.
2:08
Over on the right side you have these
email sign ups, and
2:13
you have the social medial links that
they're trying to call out.
2:16
But they don't have a great deal of text
2:19
to promote these things and describe the
value behind them.
2:22
But you can see the value very clear in
2:25
that top one, it's free the email
newsletter, it's free.
2:28
And the little link there says we also
respect your privacy.
2:32
And as far as the social media section
where
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they're trying to get people to connect
through there,
2:37
you can see 623,000 marketers follow us,
so this
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is a huge network and there's the value
right there.
2:44
So with limited space, whether it's a
sidebar or a carousel or any
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number of spots within a page you need to
communicate this value very succinctly.
2:52
Blog post titles again work best when you
limit the number of
2:58
words or characters, but not just for SEO
purposes but for basic readability.
3:01
Now forms are another location where space
is usually limited.
3:08
You probably don't have to explain every
single step
3:13
of a contact form for example, many things
are self-explanatory.
3:15
But if you write anything, make sure that
you're clear about
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how the form works and what users can get
from their efforts.
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And if you're asking them to do something,
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they should get something of value in
return.
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This particular slide here, from the
Krispy Kreme
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website, includes an item called Locate on
the navigation.
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But instead of linking to another page, it
actually brings
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down a very, very short form, it's got one
field.
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And it tells you right there: city, state,
province, or postal code.
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And after you enter that information in
there and submit it,
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you'll get a list of locations that are
close to you.
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It's very short, very simple, and it's
easy to understand.
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Now calls to action are very similar.
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They must be short and compelling, and
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only include what's necessary and helpful,
and in
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the cases of marketing text, you need to
be clear about what the reader can gain.
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From completing whatever, whatever action
you want out of them.
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For example this screenshot right here of
a, the Ford C Max website.
4:20
You have a, a lot of information, you have
a
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navigation across the top, but one of the
key things
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that you'll see on this page is the call
to
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action in the upper right corner, the
Build and Price.
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They're trying to compel users to go
through
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the Build and Price process because it's
part of
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the, the process of conversion, of getting
people
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to look up information or to purchase an
automobile.
4:45
Maybe they don't purchase online, but they
can reserve one.
4:49
But also, while you might have considered
the
4:52
location of your text on a website or
form.
4:54
Be sure to give it the same consideration
on a mobile device.
4:58
Smaller screens mean smaller text.
5:02
So make sure that what you write is still
readable.
5:05
You gotta check this stuff.
5:08
Responsive designs can also change the
layout or
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per of, potentially, any element and that
includes text.
5:13
So make sure that you review your website
on a phone or tablet
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and ensure that the text is where it
should be, and it remains helpful.
5:21
Okay?
5:26
So the third thing is audience.
5:27
Now beyond the purpose of what you need to
write and it's location,
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you should also understand who will be
reading the work that you produce.
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Knowing your target audience will help you
plan what and how you'll write.
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Now many targets are easy to figure out.
5:42
If you're writing a cover letter, or
excuse
5:44
me, if you're writing a cover letter it's
5:46
going to get read by hiring managers and
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often by the person that you'll be working
for.
5:50
So you should make sure you write about
details and
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information that they want to know, and
that will benefit you.
5:56
Now, certain subjects can be written about
in multiple ways.
6:01
And you might have to consider all of them
in order to reach your goals.
6:04
And this is where the, the Ford website
comes in as a great example.
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Companies that try to sell cars, know that
customers
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possess many different needs, when it
comes to information.
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Some customers need to see the product to
be motivated to learn more.
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And photos and videos work great for them.
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Others require more technical details.
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So make sure that they have access to
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specs, like you see here, and other
detailed numbers.
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And still others require financial
information.
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Because they're most worried about the
money involved with a potential purchase.
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So provide access to financial
information, or financing
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terms, like you see here on the Ford site.
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In fact, you can bet that many potential
customers are going to
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need a mix of this content, in order to be
sufficiently influenced.
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Now one practice that can benefit your
writing, especially for
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professional and corporate writing is the
creation of user personas.
6:59
User personas, you might have heard about
them before.
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They're kind of imaginary characters that
represent
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a common type of user on your site.
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But they can also be used to represent the
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ideal reader that you want to reach with
your writing.
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One site that can also provide helpful
details is
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Quantcast, which provides demographic
data, as well as some
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related online interests, which you can
see in this
7:26
view, for the users of many different web
sites.
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And this is a analysis we did on Ford.com
on the Quantcast site.
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And you can see that the audience likes
certain types of topics.
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Well with information like this you can
create
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personas in mind when you begin your
writing process.
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And when you put all these aspects
together, the purpose, the
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location, the target, the focus of your
writing should become very clear.
7:52
And if you understand the purpose of what
you need to write.
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Where it's going to appear, and who you
hope to
8:01
influence, you'll have a much better
chance of writing effectively.
8:03
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