Business leaders know that engaging and compelling thought leadership content expands their reach and reinforces their expertise. However, in order for their blogs, social media posts, case studies, white papers, and other content to be successful, they need to be crystal clear and laser-focused. In other words, thought leaders must write for clarity instead of complexity.
How clarity enhances your thought leadership content…and complexity diminishes it
Great thought leadership content has to check several boxes before it’s published. It needs to be
- Compelling enough to draw readers in
- Engaging enough to keep the audience reading
- Easy to read for a wide range of people
- Focused on one clear message
- Direct and concise so the readers earn value quickly
Unfortunately, many business leaders fall into a couple of traps that make their content fall flat. Some try to include too many ideas or insights into one piece of content, which makes it confusing and muddled. Others use language that’s either ambiguous or too specific to their industry, which isn’t approachable for all readers.
Here’s the good news: you can craft timeless content that’s clear enough to communicate your message and enhance the readers’ value—and we have the professional tips you need to succeed.
Tips to clarify your content
Sitting down to write clear and concise content might sound easy. However, as a thought leader who has a lot of wisdom to share and ideas to spread, you might find yourself struggling to create focused and direct content. To get started, follow these tips.
Identify your message
Each piece of your thought leadership content should have a laser-focused message. Although you can communicate different points in different pieces of content (for example, two different blogs can speak to two different topics), your individual works should be centered around one message that you reinforce throughout the piece.
When you sit down to create content—or to outline your upcoming content calendar—identify the messages you want to communicate. Then, write each piece with a clear thesis statement and points supporting it.
Understand ideal lengths for different types of content
Long, unfocused, and overly complex content frequently falls flat because the writer values complexity instead of clarity. To help you avoid this pitfall, familiarize yourself with the ideal or customary lengths of each medium you’re creating content for. Here are some basic examples:
- Blogs that take three to four minutes to read are generally around 750 words.
- Blogs that average eight minutes to read are usually about 2,000 words.
- Shorter social media posts tend to earn more engagement, so try to keep your LinkedIn posts to 150 words or less, and use closer to 100 words or less on Facebook and Instagram.
- Customer case studies tend to be 1,500 words or less.
- White papers will vary by industry, but a general guideline is six to ten pages.
To pare down complex content, many thought leaders choose to partner with professional editing services that will clarify their message, maximize the impact of each word, and tailor the content to the right audience.
Tailor your content to your audience
Impactful thought leadership content isn’t only about what you want to say—it’s also about what your readers want to hear. It’s imperative that you tailor your content to your audience and deliver a clear message to them in a way that’s easy for them to understand.
The first step here is usually to edit out any industry jargon or niche phrases that some members of your audience might not be familiar with. Using universally understood verbiage will make your content accessible to a wider range of people.
As a second step, include valuable information that your readers will appreciate. Depending on who you’re targeting, this might include citing data sources, quoting other industry experts, or adding infographics to make the piece more engaging and readable. Just consider what will maximize your readers’ takeaway value and enhance the language and tone of your content.
Write with strong, direct language
You only have about ten seconds to hook readers, so you’ll need to use impactful words to keep them engaged.
Use active voice rather than passive voice as much as possible, and make direct statements with power words to drive your message home. The language you use and the voice you write in should evoke an emotional response in your readers so they keep reading—and then seek out more of your thought leadership content.
In addition to being a great way to keep your audience’s attention, writing with strong, direct language also helps you clarify your message, focus on your point, and prevent complexity from lessening the impact of your thought leadership content. This method can also help amplify your voice so the world sees you as the subject matter expert you’ve worked so hard to become.
Elite can amplify your voice with high-quality thought leadership content
Business leaders and industry powerhouses aren’t always the best content creators—but you still need impactful thought leadership content to expand your reach, reinforce your expertise, and deliver your insights to your audience. Our content creation service will amplify your voice and lift you high above the crowd so you stand out as the thought leader we know you are.
We’re here to elevate your authority. Tell us about your goals, and we’ll follow up to schedule a consultation to learn more about you.
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