Without a doubt, the most challenging aspect of marketing an expert firm is reliably creating content. There are many reasons for this.
Sometimes it’s a lack of differentiated positioning, a struggle with focus and commitment, or simply a lack of measurement. In fact, roughly 95% of the firms we work with face struggles like these and many more when first getting into content marketing. And while positioning, focus, and measurement challenges are valid impediments to sustaining a content strategy, they’re typically symptoms of a larger struggle.
Writing the content in the first place seems nearly impossible. That’s the complaint we hear from smart, knowledgeable, successful firms all the time.
But what if it were easier? What if there was a way for you to reliably create content and for that process to feel natural for you?
The question is not one of your capabilities. The question is one of your method. We’re all wired differently. The ways that I learn, teach, and engage with the people around me are likely quite different from the ways you learn, teach and engage with the people around you. The natural ways we express ourselves are related to the ways we’re best equipped to produce content. If you take some time to understand your innate strengths, you can be creative in choosing the best method for creating content. It might mean, for example, that you never write another blog post again.
Through our work, we’ve had the opportunity to observe hundreds of experts’ natural engagement styles and to work with them to find the content development strategy that most closely aligns with those capabilities. There are five primary styles of communication and each style is optimally equipped for a different method of content creation. In this white paper, we’ll introduce you to each group, explain their content creation strengths and weaknesses, and present some options for how to best leverage those strengths on your content team.
Communication Style #1: The Orator
These highly charismatic and enthusiastic individuals are never at a loss for a new idea. They’re great at getting others excited about those ideas and possibilities. Typically, they have no problem taking charge in a group setting and others often defer to them as a natural leader. The orator is gifted at captivating the people around them through their language. When in the presence of an orator, you’ll notice they use their whole body to express themselves. They might sit up a little straighter when talking or begin to move around the room as they build an argument. Many are very expressive with their hands as they talk. In essence, they’re natural performers.
Natural Strengths
Orators are wonderful people to have in your topic ideation sessions. Because they aren’t intimidated by group dynamics, they’re often the first to throw out ideas, which can warm up the rest of the team. They’re great at building on others’ ideas as well, taking the seed of one thought and imagining the most exciting way to express it. This quality can be motivating for other team members, who begin to grow in their own enthusiasm for creating content for the idea.
Orators are inclined to take center stage in a group setting and that’s when they do their best thinking. They are more likely to elegantly craft an argument on the fly in a conversation or presentation than they are if given endless hours to research a particular position.
As editors, orators are excellent people to bring in early in the content development process. They help evolve ideas presented in the first draft of an article, for example, because their creative vision allows them to imagine where the piece will end up before it’s fully arrived. This allows them to influence the direction of the content piece while enabling the primary writer to manage the details of how it gets there.
Natural Weaknesses
Sometimes orators can be difficult to reign in in a group setting. Their enthusiasm for their own ideas can overshadow more subdued members of the team, so they have to work at allowing enough space for others to think and react to their energy.
We’ve also observed that orators don’t tend to be great at sticking to detailed processes. They’re more likely to be distracted or frustrated if asked to manage a certain workflow for content development, for example, because that level of detail gets in the way of their bigger vision for the concept at hand. This is not to say that processes aren’t necessary to keep this group on track; orators are simply not the right people to create or enforce them. This is also why orators are not great copy editors. They’re less likely to notice and correct small style guide and grammatical errors, so it’s better to have a more detail-oriented person perform that function just before the content is published.
Ideal Content Development Methods
As you might imagine, the classic model of putting pen to paper is not ideal for this group. In many cases, the orator is not a natural writer. They can write, if forced to. But their innate strength lies in engaging people through their language. This makes content platforms like webinars, videos, and podcasts a much more natural fit than vehicles like blogs, white papers, or eBooks. The great news is you can still harness SEO equity from their thought leadership by transcribing the audio from these media when posting them to your website. Your listeners and viewers aren’t likely to read the full transcript of a 60-minute webinar, for example, but Google will, and that will help boost organic traffic to your website.
If your orator must create content in the written form, it’s best to make this a collaborative effort. For instance, have an individual from your firm write 5-10 questions related to a topic of the orator’s choosing. Without allowing the orator to review the questions first, record the audio of an interview (using a simple Voice Memo on your iPhone will work fine). Presenting the questions cold will elicit the best performance from the orator, and you’ll likely find that once prompted, the orator will find ways to guide the conversation into interesting, yet unplanned, territory.
After the interview, send the recording off to be transcribed. (We use and recommend Rev.com, if you’re looking for a quick, affordable, accurate transcription service.) Have the interviewer use the transcription to develop an initial draft for the orator to review and provide big-picture direction. The final draft should be finessed by the original interviewer, and moved on to the copy editor before publishing.
Remember, orators work best with an audience. So while it’s possible for them to conduct a self Q&A by writing out their own questions, recording their answers, and having that audio transcribed for a written content post, they’re likely to be more enthusiastic and creative if they have another person in the room whose energy they can feed off of as they speak.
Communication Style #2: The Researcher
You’ll recognize the researchers on your content team as the people most likely to absorb a group conversation quietly before weighing in. When they do speak up, they’re likely posing a question or a series of questions. Researchers are constantly looking for more data input before forming their own position. They like to be well-informed and they methodically gather all necessary information before taking action. Researchers don’t enjoy being put on the spot. They’re keenly aware of multiple viewpoints and perspectives that could shape the direction of a conversation, and they’re patient and inquisitive enough to learn about all of them before voicing their own perspective.
Natural Strengths
Researchers are supremely curious, and that makes them great additions to content marketing teams. While they might not be the first to offer up an idea during topic ideation, they’ll love to discuss all the possible options for approaching a topic someone else presents for consideration. Researchers don’t form their opinions immediately, which keeps them objective during content planning. Their expertise is not derived from instinct but rather careful, methodical research, testing, observation and pattern-matching. When a researcher speaks up in a group, it’s likely their perspective is well-informed and thoughtful. While orators deepen their expertise by talking through their ideas out loud, researchers prefer to quietly ponder all the options and they often wonder what perspective they might be missing as they’re forming their final conclusions.
Natural Weaknesses
The researcher’s need to consider all possible avenues of an idea often compels them to pose multiple questions or point out flaws or weaknesses in an argument. In a group, this can sometimes be deflating, as the researcher is seen as “poking holes” in the idea rather than working to support it. It’s important for the entire team to understand that questioning is the way the researcher supports an idea. It’s how they make it stronger and it’s a necessary quality to have on a strong content team.
The deliberate nature of the researcher also requires more time for content development in most cases. A researcher just won’t feel comfortable under a tight timeline; they’ll feel at risk for producing subpar work because they didn’t have the time to acquire all necessary data in order to create a cogent argument. This sometimes makes them seem inflexible if content deadlines change due to unforeseen circumstances. The more the researcher can plan ahead, the better.
It’s likely unsurprising that the researcher can also be prone to perfectionism. They’ll need to be encouraged not to be too precious with their content, or they’ll lose all momentum as they get themselves stuck in a never ending cycle of revisions.
Ideal Content Development Methods
Researchers are perfect for long-form, marquee pieces of written content. Most researchers are actually quite talented writers. Their challenge is less with the medium and more with the time frame. For a researcher to shine, they need a content development workflow that leaves plenty of time for multiple rounds of revisions. That’s why it can be ideal to assign them your more in-depth content pieces like white papers, research studies, or eBooks. These assets are typically released less frequently than blogs, podcasts, or videos and tend to require more planning at various stages of the content production process. The key to a researcher successfully completing a long-form writing assignment is twofold: process and time. Researchers need the time and structure to produce an outline and first draft, to thoughtfully take in the feedback from the internal review and craft a second draft, and to think about how to apply the finishing touches. As long as the process is clear and the timeline is generous, researchers will thrive.
Researchers also make excellent copy editors. They are extremely detail-oriented, so they’re likely to catch minor grammatical mistakes or deviations from your firm’s style guide. Bringing them in early in the drafting process can also prove fruitful, as the researcher is great at suggesting perspectives the original writer might not have considered.
Finally, the researcher is typically a wonderful interviewer, which makes them a highly collaborative partner for the orator. The researcher’s objectivity and curiosity coupled with the enthusiasm and charisma of the orator make for stimulating conversations that can easily be recorded, transcribed, and published to your website.
Communication Style #3: The Visualizer
The visualizer sees the world through pictures. They do their best thinking by absorbing data and expressing it through symbols or visual representations. A visualizer learns this way, too. They’re more likely to retain information that’s presented visually than information that’s presented primarily in text. You’ll notice the visualizers on your content team doodling in the margins of their Moleskines during topic ideation sessions. Don’t be fooled when you do. They’re entirely plugged into the conversation; they’re just making their mental process visible. In a group, the visualizer is the first to jump up, grab a marker and dissect an idea on the whiteboard. Their creative energy is contagious, which makes them tremendous assets to group brainstorming sessions. They can shake up a conversation or ideation process that’s become rote and inspire new ideas among the team.
Natural Strengths
Visualizers are great at connecting thoughts and ideas in unexpected ways. They’re usually the first to offer up a metaphor for a complicated concept. Visualizers are highly imaginative people and they do their best thinking outside of the constraints of a typical meeting room. For them, topic ideation might be most productive if structured as a walking meeting, for example. Many visualizers are excited by novelty, especially in their work. When this power is used for good, it helps them think of creative new ways to express expertise they’ve been cultivating for a long time. This strength also makes them great collaborative partners for content team members who feel stuck in a rut with their own topics. Talking things through with a visualizer is a great way to find a fresh approach to what might feel like a stale topic.
Natural Weaknesses
Visualizers might be the most distractible members of your content team. Their constant search for new ways to represent their thoughts sometimes leads them down roads that wind up not entirely connected to the original goal. This can sometimes make it difficult for visualizers to stick to a particular messaging strategy or even a specific topic after the editorial meeting has concluded. Because of this tendency, visualizers rely heavily on their editors and might discover they’re asked to provide extensive edits to their work from time to time.
Also, their distractible nature can sometimes make it difficult for them to stick to deadlines. Not because they’re not disciplined enough to put in the work, but simply because they move on to other interesting tasks and their deadlines sneak up on them. Most visualizers we’ve met will readily admit this about themselves and welcome having someone to remind them of important milestones in the content development process as they approach.
Ideal Content Development Methods
You might be quick to assume the visualizer is not well-suited as a writer, but you’d be surprised. While their preparation for writing looks different than most, we’ve found visualizers to be excellent writers. A couple of factors will make writing much more natural for your visualizer. The first consideration is that of the topic itself. More than any other communication style, visualizers need to be inspired by and comfortable with the topic they’re assigned. Making sure they attend topic ideation sessions and weigh in on the choice of their topic will go a long way toward ensuring they select one that’s exciting and stimulating to them. The other important element of success for the visualizer is the planning of the content. They’ll likely need to develop an outline using a pen and paper. Visualizers don’t plan in spreadsheets or Word documents with headings and bullet points. In order to build their most interesting perspective, they need to organize their thoughts in pictures and symbols. While it’s tempting to push the visualizer to conform to the internal process of submitting a traditional written outline, it’s not advisable. Build in the time for the outline, but don’t require it to fit any particular mold.
In addition to a classic text-based format like a blog, visualizers are excellent contributors to highly visual formats like infographics, motion graphic videos, and eBooks. Whether as a collaborator in the conceiving of the visual representation of the content or as the lead writer and designer, they’ll shine.
Communication Style #4: The Collaborator
Collaborators bring people together. They tend to naturally become the central node of the content team. Most often, an individual with a collaborative communication style is the administrative lead of the content strategy for the entire firm. These individuals easily observe and take note of the engagement styles of their colleagues, and they’re great at optimizing the strengths across the team. Collaborators love to riff off the ideas of others. They’re not shy about offering up their own ideas, too, as they’re generally unhindered by their own egos. Collaborators understand their ideas can be improved when built upon by others and they’re eager to work in groups to make that happen.
Natural Strengths
When operating as the primary content contributor, collaborators like to crowd source ideas and approaches, and will often lean on the their teammates to help vet and plan out an idea. This group is great at facilitating group discussions and debates, which can often produce interesting perspectives others would have never thought to voice. Collaborators rarely struggle to meet their content deadlines, as they’re motivated by the feedback and input from others. They’re eager to get a draft in front of the eyes of their colleagues and equally determined not to disappoint others by missing a deadline.
In a group, collaborators are inspired by the knowledge of their teammates and celebrate the success of the group as if it were their own. They’re inclined to offer help at all stages of the content development process and because of this, they’ll regularly take on many responsibilities and duties inside of the content team, from writer to editor to publisher to task master and beyond.
Natural Weaknesses
While working with others can breed excellent content, collaborators sometimes lean a little too much on their colleagues for support. Some are uncomfortable with operating in isolation, which can often lead to one of two scenarios. Sometimes, the collaborator loses momentum during the content development phase because they feel the need to check in with colleagues well before their first draft is fully developed. This heavy editing mid-stream can cause the collaborator to lose confidence in their article and spend an inordinate amount of time finessing their work before “officially” passing along for internal review. The opposite scenario is also common. The collaborator develops a dependency on the feedback of the rest of their team and in order to get it as soon as possible, delivers a somewhat sloppy first draft, knowing their teammates will weigh in and make it better.
Because they’re eager to assist their team members in every stage of the content development process, collaborators are also known to take on more responsibility than is reasonable for a single team member. They’ll sometimes need reminding of their own bandwidth and should be discouraged from taking on too much.
Ideal Content Development Methods
A collaborator can successfully contribute to your content team in a variety of ways. They’re incredibly versatile. A collaborator is a great person to partner up with to conduct a Q&A-style interview, for example. Record and transcribe the conversation, and you’ve got a great piece of written content ready for publication. Collaborators can facilitate roundtable discussions among many members of your team quite well, which can be a great format for webinars, podcasts, or public speaking events. Typically, a collaborator will work well solo if assigned smaller written assignments, like blog posts, but long-form pieces of content like white papers or research articles are not great projects for them unless other members of your content team are also contributing.
If you’ve got a collaborator on your content team, make sure to take advantage of their skill at keeping groups motivated and on track. Collaborators like to feel needed by the group and they’re excellent at helping others maximize their own content development strengths through brainstorming sessions, editing, or logistical management intended to help others meet deadlines.
Communication Style #5: The Wordsmith
Wordsmiths love the written word and prefer to express themselves that way, as opposed to working through their thoughts out loud. They are, by nature, excellent writers who love language. They can captivate readers through the pen, as this is where their mastery of their own expertise and their command of written language have an opportunity to meet. Wordsmiths often become the defacto editors on many content teams, as they’re naturally adept at polishing a near final draft into a finished product. In a group, the wordsmith is likely one of the more subdued voices in the room. You might notice them quietly jotting down their ideas in their notepad rather than sharing them out loud with a larger team.
Natural Strengths
Of course, the fact that wordsmiths are natural writers make them a huge asset to any content team. They can intrigue and engage readers no matter what written format they’re asked to produce. Their strong editing skills can also make them great teachers for other members of your content team. Wordsmiths are great writing coaches, as they’re skilled at explaining why certain phrasing or sentence structures are optimal for the reader, which elevates the writing skills of the rest of the members of the content team. If other team members are stuck on how to phrase a particular concept or idea, a wordsmith can typically offer up a suggestion in a fraction of the time it would take the original author.
Natural Weaknesses
Wordsmiths struggle when asked to perform live. You might find them to be one of the more reserved members of your team during topic ideation, as they hesitate to throw out unbaked ideas until they’ve had a chance to write them down. Improvisation is typically not one of their strengths, so you’re unlikely to see them volunteer to appear on your firm’s podcast or webinar. Also, wordsmiths can sometimes be difficult to collaborate with. They know they’re great writers and can struggle to be open to and implement the editorial advice of others on their team. They’re most receptive to editorial critique during the brainstorming phase before they’ve begun to shape their ideas into the written form. When editing a written piece from a wordsmith, it’s best first to weigh in with conceptual, strategic feedback and allow them to synthesize that information into the most elegant written format.
Ideal Content Development Methods
Crafting a smart, intriguing position comes most naturally to wordsmiths in the written form, which makes them ideal authors of blog posts, white papers, position papers, eBooks, etc… What’s most important to note about this group are the formats that are not ideal for their skillset. Most wordsmiths are uncomfortable when asked to perform out loud on the spot. Live webinars, speaking events, podcasts and other performance-based content development methods are likely to be a struggle at first. If it’s necessary for the wordsmith to contribute to these platforms, be sure to give them plenty of notice and time to prepare. Encourage them to develop notes and outlines to help them organize the thoughts they would normally present in the written form.
In Summary
Understanding your communication style or styles is essential to designing a content plan that is sustainable for your firm. We’re all built with natural tendencies toward the way we learn, teach, and engage with the world around us. In reading through these styles, you might find that more than one resonated with you. That’s normal. Sometimes the way we choose to express ourselves varies depending upon the context we’re in. The goal here is not to pigeonhole yourself into developing only one type of content for the rest of your career. Rather, the point is to take note of your own content development strengths and weaknesses (and those of your colleagues) and to use that information to relieve some of the frustration you might be feeling around marketing your firm.
You might not be a natural writer. You might not be a natural presenter. But you are successful in your field for a reason, and it’s possible to create a content plan that’s a more natural megaphone for your expertise. Intentionally designing a content portfolio that considers the communication styles of each of your content team members is the most effective way to build momentum and improve not only the process by which you develop your content but also the quality of it.