Many individual writing styles have declined in recent years due to the prevalence of texting and tweeting. Combine this phenomenon with our goldfish-like attention span, and you have an environment where the task of communicating a successful message can be enormously difficult. So it is more important than ever for companies to renew their focus on excellent writing, with the goal of accurately and efficiently articulating their messaging in order to capture potential customers’ attention.
This is one reason we love Medium so much. Medium is a new place on the Internet where people share ideas and stories with friends and strangers alike; it celebrates the written word itself without the usual “gratuitous sidebars, plug-ins, or widgets” that come with most websites. It also allows writers to seamlessly collaborate, editors to provide support, and readers to give feedback.
It is also fascinating from a marketing perspective, helping writers to find their audiences. According to the website, “Through a combination of algorithmic and editorial curation, posts on Medium get spread around based on interest and engagement. Some get hundreds of thousands of readers — and not because they were written by famous people. Medium is not about who you are or whom you know, but about what you have to say.”
This point of view has significant implications for individuals and brands alike. As Michael Lee states in his recent Forbes article, “Brands need to stand for something, and powerful words help that.” And as Ted Royer, the newly appointed Chief Creative Officer at Droga5, points out in the same piece, “Great writing goes straight to the mind of the consumer, helps people reframe how they think. However, our attention span is waning. Too many words, and people turn off.”
Need some support with developing and clarifying your messaging and blogging? Call us to discuss how you can more effectively communicate your mission online.