Buzzwords: Engaging – does it mean anything?

by Stratton Craig

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Producing engaging content is surely the aim of any copywriter worth their salt. Any search on Google, Twitter or LinkedIn for the term ‘engaging content’ will throw up a host of blogs and posts about how to create content that really connects with the reader and gets them thinking. Yet some have come to regard the word as just another form of jargon that is littering our thinking space.
Well as a copywriter myself, I’m here to stand up for ‘engaging’ and all that it represents.
The defence
According to the dictionary, ‘engaging’ means charming and attractive. To engage in something means to become involved or establish a meaningful connection with something.
So is it possible for copywriters, content marketers and digital specialists to produce engaging content? Well clearly the answer is yes. Producing charming and attractive content through language that merges brevity with creativity, pretty pictures, or eye-catching infographics is what many spend their days doing. Successful examples of these will lead to that all important meaningful connection between the reader and words on the page. When those words effectively demonstrate the value of a product and how it solves a problem, you’re on your way to a sale.
Engagement is the first step
The key to engaging content is to produce something that is aimed directly at the audience; this is your best way of generating an eventual response. If you can spark a train of thought in the reader’s mind then you’ve engaged them, and it should be the aim of all writers, designers and marketers. If you can engage a potential customer, they will be more likely to buy your product.
So there you have it, the case for the defence of ‘engaging’.
Agree with us? Or do you think ‘engaging’ is a meaningless buzzword that should be consigned to the scrap heap?Leave a comment below or tweet us @strattoncraig with your thoughts.
 

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