Creating content that resonates with and sparks joy in your audience should always be the name of the game—especially when it comes to written content. That means focusing on your audience and their needs first and ensuring that everything you write is done with their best interests in mind.
Here’s how to do exactly that…
Writing Content that Sparks Joy
Know your Audience
You can’t spark joy for someone if you don’t know anything about them. Imagine you’re dating. You want to cook a meal for your date, but you forget to ask what their favourite meal is. So, you pick one out of a hat and hope for the best. It’s steak. They’re vegan. Goodbye, next date.
Not taking the time to get to know your audience deeply can result in content that falls flat. Your audience can’t relate to it and won’t see how your product or service can benefit them. For content that really sparks joy, you need to know exactly what your audience wants and serve it to them in spades.
Before you start writing, take the time to create detailed customer personas. What do your customers love? What do they dislike? What solutions are they looking for? Do they want to be inspired or entertained or educated or all of the above? This will give you a well-rounded example of the kind of people you’re trying to reach, allowing your content to align with exactly what those people are looking for.
Inject Personality and Authenticity
About 7.5 million blog posts are published every single day. How can you make sure people are looking at yours? By injecting plenty of personality and authenticity. Now, that doesn’t have to mean littering it with emojis and slang or cracking a joke every other sentence, but it does mean making sure your content represents you. Allow your unique voice to shine through by writing as if you’re talking to a friend. Steer clear of complex jargon or overly formal language unless the piece calls for it, and be aware of the tone you’re creating. It should be conversational, personal and true to your brand.
Content that doesn’t quite hit the mark often lacks authenticity. It might feel forced or void of feeling – both of which can leave your audience feeling a bit deflated. To really spark joy through your content, focus on writing in a way that forges those human connections your audience is seeking.
Focus on Providing Value
If you’re looking to create content that sparks joy for your audience, it needs to provide value above all else. The goal here should be to inspire, inform or solve a problem for your audience. By focusing on their needs first, you’ll create content that your audience will benefit from.
For example, if you’re writing a blog post, consider this question – ‘what will my audience take away from this?’ It needs to be something tangible, or something they can action in their own lives that will enable them to see results. Actionable tips, insightful advice and expert knowledge all work well here, offering your audience something unique that they can’t get anywhere else.
The key is to ensure that your audience leaves your content feeling like they’ve gained something meaningful – a surefire way to build those connections and stoke that spark of joy they feel when interacting with your business content.
Engage Emotions with Storytelling
Storytelling is another effective way to spark joy for your audience. We humans connect deeply with stories because they evoke emotion and allow readers to visualise themselves in the narrative. This is particularly handy when you’re trying to sell a product or service – stories break down the wall around your business, allowing your audience to see the people behind it.
Whether you’re sharing the origin story of your business, customer success stories or simply behind-the-scenes anecdotes, your audience is given a glimpse into why and how your business exists. It ceases to be a static entity and comes alive with the stories you tell. This helps your audience feel connected to your business and your brand. By artfully weaving in elements of your personal journey and highlighting the real impact your business has, you can spark joy and foster emotional connections that drive loyalty.
Write with Clarity and Simplicity
When your audience is looking for information or a solution to their problem, the last thing they want to do is to work hard to decipher your content to find the info they need. Content that sparks the most joy is content that is easy to understand and digest. That means keeping the business or industry jargon to a minimum and taking the time to break down complex ideas.
You may even decide to go a step further and use formatting to help your audience out. You could summarise the key points of your blog post in bullet points at the top of the article, or you might highlight keywords or phrases within the body of your context to make scanning for information as simple as possible.
Your audience will be hoping to find the answers they need quickly and easily in your content. If you can make that happen for them, you’ll ignite that little spark of joy that keeps them coming back to your content time and time again.
Content Writing Support
Here at The Edwards Company, we specialise in writing content for small businesses that has the audience at its core. For more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.