How to Create Content with Clarity for HealthTech

The HealthTech buyer demands clear, efficient, and practical content. No matter which format you choose to present your ideas, don’t just write, speak, or design polished words and images. Use the seven tools detailed below in every article, video, webinar, and more to create content with “clarity.”

In On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King tells a story about his Uncle Fazza’s toolbox. When King was around nine, he helped his uncle repair a window screen. Uncle Fazza lugged a large, heavy, handmade toolbox from the garage all the way to the back of the house but ended up only using a single, small screwdriver to repair the screen.

King was puzzled as to why his uncle carried the enormous box when he could’ve slipped the screwdriver in his back pocket.

“Yeah, but Stevie,” he said, bending to grasp the handles, “I didn’t know what else I might find to do once I got out here, did I? It’s best to have your tools with you. If you don’t you’re apt to find something you didn’t expect and get discouraged.”

I have no doubt as a content creator, you are an expert in your field. You possess amazing tools when it comes to your specialty — great command of language, photo composition, sound design, public speaking, word pictures, and more.

Allow me to challenge you that the tools listed below are even more important than your content-making tools. Take Uncle Fazza’s advice and bring all of your tools to every job. By using these tools, you will connect with your audience more deeply and, in the long run, build a larger and richer client base. The seven tools create the acronym, C.L.A.R.I.T.Y.

• Company
• Listenership
• Appointment
• References
• Invitation
• Treatment
• Yourself

Company

Business experts have dedicated millions of web pages and thousands of hours on the lecture circuit trying to convince business executives that they should be able to communicate their unique value proposition in a few words. Yet so many we meet can’t express their company or product’s core quickly.

If you’re unclear on how you’ve positioned your company in the marketplace amid and against your competitors, your audience will be confused.

Each piece of content you produce needs to quickly and succinctly reflect who you are, clearly point to your positioning, and complement your branding and visual identity.

Ask yourself:

• How do we present how we solve our audience’s problems?
• What sets us apart in this content?
• How does this compare to what our competitors are saying?

Listenership

When crafting your content, where do you start?

There is no better place than with your audience. Past podcast guest Andrew Hoerner echoed our ethos when he posted on LinkedIn:

Flip the script and start with your audience as the hero of the story. Your copy will sing.

Never lose sight of your audience. They are first in everything you produce. The best content arises from a partnership in listening—they are listening to you; are you listening to them?

• What problems does your audience encounter daily?
• How frustrated are they in trying to solve them?

Appointment

“He who aims at nothing, hits it every time.”

Without a structure and plan, you will not produce enough content to meet your online and business goals.

Every piece needs an appointment on your content calendar as an outgrowth of your overall content development process. You will not produce the quantity nor the quality of well-targeted content without one.

• Are you allowing enough time for your editorial team to produce their best content?
• Do you have the right volume and cadence goals?

References

Like the ancient wisdom says, “ Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.”

This wisdom applies to the points you want to make as well as the value of your company or product.

Your content should connect to those who sing your praises. You should also curate and reference statistics, resources, and quotes from leaders and organizations that matter to your audience.

• What would your customers say about you on the topic you are producing?
• What are the most poignant thoughts in the marketplace about your topic?

Invitation

You must be intentional about how our content moves visitors to the next decision. Think of it this way: when reading a novel, have you ever arrived at the end of the chapter and felt as though you must turn the page? Your author has done the job. Are you getting the “page turn” with your content?

Don’t forsake the presence of your audience on your site. Invite them to take action—download a resource, book an appointment, or read/view another piece of content. Create calls to action often.

• What is the best thing a visitor can do after experiencing this piece of content?
• Have you established a journey through your material that leads to a contract?

Treatment

I’ve often heard, “Just make good content and the web traffic will take care of itself.” I appreciate the passion to not game the system or get lost in the gobbledygook of keywords and metadata, but that advice has passed. The best content creators can produce amazing material and build a steady stream of traffic.

While the most important thing you can do is write well, every piece of content must receive the correct treatment for search engine optimization. Is your content maximized for those searching?

• Have you established a checklist or process for optimizing each type of content?
• Do you know the most important keywords your audience is searching for?

Yourself

Your buyers aren’t buying just a product; they are buying the relationship that will help them solve their problem. In B2B HealthTech, relationships can trump features every time. Relationships are built with empathy — understanding the other’s needs and expressing a desire to help.

You must bring yourself to the person who is actually consuming your content, not a cold corporate entity. In doing so, you will empathize with their situation and lead them to a solution out of that empathetic understanding.

• Neither you nor your company is the hero of the story: your audience is.
• Don’t be afraid to make a personal connection.

The First Thing to Do After Reading this Article

If you’re like most HealthTech organizations, you are struggling to create enough content. This struggle is a huge boulder sitting on top of your own expectations. If you could move it, your content would get out there, you would be found online, and you’d convert new business by solving your prospects’ problems.

Don’t see these seven tools—C.L.A.R.I.T.Y.—as extra weight you have to move. They are the lever that can move the boulder.

Distribute this article and infographic (below) to everyone on your content team. Challenge them to gain C.L.A.R.I.T.Y. before they begin their next projects.