Writer 2.0 - Part 2: Why digital writers are the new rock stars

Author: Donald Holder | Category: General

Now that everything is digital and the world is rushing to hell in a hand basket, every word counts more than ever. Pond digital writer Donald Holder reckons you need a digital writer who can rock your world.

Pond digital writer Donald Holder

Remember the Millennium Dome? Heralded (pompously) by Tony Blair as “a beacon to the world”, this huge structure in London’s docklands ran hideously over-budget and then completely failed to attract enough people to repay its ballooning debts. 

The problem was simple: although it was a brilliant piece of architecture, no one put any thought into putting anything equally brilliant inside it. They were simply too scared to face the decisions involved – and the buck-passing began.

You can see where I’m going with this: it’s about content. Or more specifically, it’s about the partnership between form and function, builders and thinkers, words and music, that is essential to making something useful, efficient, and, yes, beautiful. 
No matter how elegant the design or cutting-edge the features, an online asset is pointless if no one can find it because the copy is not search engine optimised and no one will use it if it’s all bells and whistles but no content.

Careful planning is key but as time and budgets get squeezed, seemingly essential things like strategic thinking can get prioritised right out the window.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in demand to ‘back fill’ websites which have already been built – in some cases with only a couple of days notice before the go-live date,” says Clinton Ulyatt, The Pond Client Liaison. “In the rush to nail the client’s demands, we often get asked for writers to liaise directly with the client to try and fast track content creation.

“There was a particular case where the website had been completely built before content was planned and discussed. This meant a one-month delay in launching the new site while the writers got busy with the client.” As timelines and budgets blow out, momentum disappears and client relationships can get a little strained. It’s like your amp is plugged in, the band is ready to rock, but the lead singer has forgotten the words. And then the audience is starts to slow-clap...

But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

In the competition for fickle audiences, online assets need the same attributes as hit rock songs (I’m determined to keep this metaphor going, dammit) – they have got to have cut-through, style, power, and a little swagger in their step.  And they have got to be compelling and ‘sticky’ so your client stands the best chance of converting eyeballs into click-throughs.

The problem is, faced with a choice between doing what agencies do best – designing websites – and dealing with the scarily large mound of misshapen content the client has provided, most people will opt for the former. It’s human nature.

This is where digital writers can really rock your world. Digital writers should be brought on-board early in the planning process to work alongside the digital producer, information architect, and design director to get the content on the table from the get-go and keep it there. 

Because it’s not just about extracting raw content out of the client and beating it into shape, and it’s not just about gaining a deep understanding of the client’s business objectives and brand essence (although all of these things are a digital writer’s bread and butter).

Where digital writers can really add value is by taking all that fresh insight and reinvesting it into your design process. They can riff off the existing content to find new ways to serve up better customer experiences, build stickier sales pathways, and generally take the whole project to another level.

What I’m saying is, digital writers are not just hacks you bring in at the last minute – they’re star performers. Rock stars, if you will...

“More than one agency has said to me that many clients still think they can put any old thing up on the web and it won’t matter,” says Leighton Howl, Pond partner. “But they couldn’t be more wrong.

“With the world at their fingertips, online audiences can vote with their, um, hands, in a New York minute. So content is of paramount importance and has to be created by people who know what they’re doing, people who know about user behaviour and how audiences digest digital content.”

Which brings us to The Pond. We’ve got the people and expertise to create on-message, on-budget content that does the job whatever it is you’re doing for your clients. Bring us in early in the process and we can provide thought leadership, we can generate content, we can manage content securely – and we can help manage the client as well.

If any of this strikes a chord, and you want to add digital writing to your service offering, talk to Clinton or Leighton today. Our digital writers are standing by to pull on their leather trousers, slap on some heavy eyeliner, and start kicking digital butt! 

Coming soon:

Posted on 13 August 2009, 12:34 p.m. | No Comments