People say that print journalism is dead—that it’s a thing of the past. But you know how the old saying goes: The past is never through with us; in fact, the past is never even the past. To put it differently, I’m not so sure that print writing doesn’t still have plenty of lessons to impart to us.
Sure, the technology of marketing has changed considerably. So has user behavior. Some of the basic principles are timeless, though—and as such, there is still much that today’s content marketers can glean from the way print copywriters and reporters used to do things.
Let me give you a few examples of what I mean.
Lessons Learned from Print Journalism
Good journalism seeks to impart actionable insight—and content marketing should, too. The whole point of reading an article in the newspaper, or in a magazine, is to learn something you didn’t already know; something that might, in theory, shape the way you live your life or run your business. Content marketing should have a similar aim—not just to sell and certainly not to waste time, but rather to impart something of real, practical value and application to the reader.
Objectivity matters! A journalist is always passionate to avoid any appearance of personal bias. The lesson for content writers, I think, is that objectively presenting facts, and laying out problems and solutions without too much sales-talk or overt marketing language, is the best way to earn your readers’ trust.
Quality control is an important part of the process. Print articles are edited ruthlessly and proofread meticulously—because of course, a misplaced comma or typo, no matter how innocent, is out there, and can’t be reeled back in. Paying attention to the nuts and bolts of writing matters—and that’s true in online content marketing, too, where quality is a key indicator of success.
Claim your authority. In the old days, each print journalist would have a beat—an area where he or she had unique experience and authority. As a content marketer, it’s important to know your niche forward and backward, and to write from the perspective of a real thought leader in that area.
Writing content for your business is a very particular, very valuable skill—and as such, it’s worth taking lessons wherever you can find them! To learn more about content marketing, be sure to check out some resources from ACES.