Live from Congility: We are all Content Marketers Now

We are all content marketers now, by Charles Cooper

We’ve used many techniques, but it’s all communication. The content is the same; it’s how we display it that changes. The Bible, for example, has been on everything from handwritten to typeset to printed to tablet.

People remember more if they’re engaged

• The mindset hasn’t changed – we’ve focused on what we’re sending out
  • We need to change the mindset – it’s a 2-way conversation
• We get more feedback face-to-face
• If we focus on output, we don’t engage people.  It’s just a broadcast.
  • People fear trolls
  • Who Cares?!
  • We lose when we don’t get feedback
• Actors and comedians work with feedback from the audience
• Electronics and human resources request feedback
• This is why we need to do content marketing, not just marketing/sales

What is content marketing?

• Information that benefits the user and meets the business’ needs
• Bring writers and readers together to share information
• How do we do this as tech writers?
  • Understand the customer needs
  • Leave the customer satisfied (through manuals, help text, etc)
  • Tell a story
  • Make it shareable
• Most of all: TALK to each other

When writing complex technical documentation, make sure you’re not causing more problems than you’re solving.

Key things to keep in mind

• Titles are important
  • Technical communicators keep things short and task based
  • Marketers go for inviting and memorable
  • It all depends on what the purpose is
  • Titles identify what the user should expect when they click
• Make it shareable
  • Marketers and branding people are good at this
  • Technical communicators – ask for help! get advice! it’s their job!
• Rich media
• Tell a story
  • For marketers it’s content + brand
  • For technical communicators, it’s often just information (just content) with no context (brand)
  • Not everything needs to be a long story. Some things are just enough to provide context.