In a world where the supply of content is overwhelming, capturing the reader's attention has become a vital art. The reader is the central focus, and it is paramount that our texts are useful and add value to them. To achieve this, we must understand empathy and usefulness as pillars of content creation. John Atom Code Man, who worked at Facebook and now collaborates with Intercom, puts it magnificently: "Start with empathy, continue with usefulness".
How to generate empathy with the reader?
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Emotional connection: sharing personal experiences or situations that the reader might have faced is a great way to connect emotionally. If we can make the reader feel that he or she is not the only one who has lived through a certain situation, we establish a meaningful bond.
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Shared stories: anecdotes of joys, frustrations or other strong feelings can help create an emotional bond, making readers feel understood. For example, describing fear before a blank page may resonate with a novice writer.
How can we make our content useful?
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Practical solutions: Offering tips that readers can apply enhances the usefulness of our content. By sharing a clear and concrete solution that the reader can implement immediately, we are providing valuable content.
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Practical example: a good example is to encourage the reader to write a letter to someone they appreciate if they feel blocked when writing, helping them break the ice with their first lines.
How to create a Bayer persona for our readers?
Identifying and becoming familiar with our Bayer persona is essential to writing messages that resonate with them. This imaginary figure must be built from a deep understanding of his or her context and personal needs.
What questions should we ask ourselves?
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Who is he and what does he do: this helps us delineate his demographic and socioeconomic profile.
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Why and how he does it: it is crucial to understand his motivations and methods in order to connect effectively.
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When do they do it: knowing their information consumption patterns will allow us to send the right message at the right time.
How can we improve our texts by focusing on the reader?
Becoming a critical reader of our own work can remove major obstacles in communication. This exercise of introspection allows us to generate relevant content.
What questions should we ask ourselves about our texts?
- What does my reader feel?
- Am I evoking an emotion? A flat text is not engaging.
- What questions are left unanswered?
- Let's avoid narratives that leave the reader more confused than informed.
- Am I overworking the reader?
- Clarity is paramount; let's not overload the reader with information to maintain focus.
Why replace "I" with "you"?
The reader should be the protagonist of the narrative. The writer's mastery of the subject matter should be reflected in the ability to empower the reader with every written word.
What common mistakes should we avoid?
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Writer-centered narrative: avoid speaking from our perspective all the time. Changing "we" to "you" or "you guys" shifts the focus.
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Example in practice: let's look at how a landing page that seems designed for the user often ends up being an empty business statement. Let's transform those messages by making sure the reader feels targeted and valued.
In short, empowering readers, understanding their needs and providing clear and useful messages is the path to effectiveness in the content we create. Empathy allows us to connect, usefulness engages, and reader focus establishes the authority and credibility we so desperately seek. Let's apply these principles and keep learning to get better every day!
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