There’s no value in content your users don’t understand or don’t trust. In this presentation, Sarah Rhea Werner digs into the importance of having a fresh, authentic, and honest voice for your organization, and shows you how to create content that people actually want to consume. It’s time to stop kidding ourselves about who we are and what our users want from us. It’s time to re-think how we talk to people online. It’s time for honesty.

1. Let’s Be Honest:
CREATING CONTENT PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT
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3. “Your call is very
important to us.”
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7. “Your call is very
important to us.”
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8. Bad web content
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9. PR spin
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10. False advertising
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11. Why are businesses
dishonest?
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12. Thoughtless
vs. malicious
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13. They’re lying to
themselves.
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14. “We’re fun!”
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15. Aspirational so
easily becomes
delusional.
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16. Agency.
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17. Money.
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18. Fear.
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19. Today:
● Gain a deeper understanding of your
audience & users.
● Create honest content with an
authentic voice that engages users.
● Take a moment to consider SEO
& web best practices for users.
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20. Today:
You’re not going to come away from this
with a “silver bullet” that fixes all of your
problems.
In fact, you’ll probably leave with even
more questions than you started with.
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21. But that’s OK.
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22. Step back.
Who are you, really?
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23. Know the truth.
If your company was a person, what
would their personality traits be?
(Positive and negative.)
(And don’t spin it.)
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24. Most companies
are unable to
do this.
They are not willing or able to come to
terms with who and what they are.
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25. Aspirational so
easily becomes
delusional.
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28. Truth can hurt.
But broken things can be fixed.
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29. What creates our
truth?
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30. What creates our
trust?
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32. “The idea of advertising
is to lie without getting
caught.”
—Joel Spolsky,
CEO of Stack Exchange,
co-founder of Trello,
& kind of cynical dude
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39. Why are we OK
with this?
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40. We’re becoming less OK
with companies that are:
● Disingenuous
● Opportunistic
● Dishonest
● Insincere
● Clearly in it for the $$$
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41. Relationship era.
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42. “The public is paying zero attention to
your own pronouncements, but they are
listening to one another talk about you.
And, unlike your advertising and PR,
they trust one another.”
—Bob Garfield,
WNYC’s “On the Media”
(emphasis mine)
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46. “Business, government and all
institutions used to do business from
impregnable fortresses. Now they all
reside in glass houses. Everything they
do — or don’t do — is quickly located
online and Google-able in perpetuity.”
—Bob Garfield,
WNYC’s “On the Media”
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48. “We’re experiencing
unexpectedly high
call volume.”
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49. “Are they really so inept at planning that
the call volume is unexpected? For
months at a time?”
—Seth Godin,
“And What Else Will You Lie About?”
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50. A more honest revision:
“To save money for our customers and
investors, we keep our support team
lightly staffed. Please wait patiently for
a few days and we’ll get back to you.”
—Seth Godin,
“And What Else Will You Lie About?”
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51. I believe web content &
marketing can have
integrity.
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52. The idea of advertising is
to create awareness &
prove the trustworthiness
of your brand.
—Me
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54. In the relationship era,
content must be a
conversation.
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55. you + users
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56. Who are your users?
Real vs. ideal.
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57. Know the truth.
What type of personality traits do your
users tend to have?
(Positive and negative.)
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58. Users want what
users want.
Not what your board wants.
Not what the president’s spouse wants.
Maybe not even what you want. (!!!)
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59. Users want what
users want.
Users come to your website with a
question. Please don’t talk over them
with information they don’t want.
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60. x
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xkcd.com/773/
Wants & needs.

61. How do I know what
my users want?
Ask them.
● User interviews
● A/B testing
● Analytics
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62. Users want what
users want.
Do they like you? Do they trust you?
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63. Engagement?
● Is it a conversation?
● Is it giving users what they want?
● Is it you getting what you want?
It’s what happens BETWEEN the give
and the take.
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64. Engagement:
● Eliciting an emotional response from
your users
and
● Inspiring them to act.
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65. Trust & action.
“Action is quite rare. For most people,
the story of 'later' is seductive enough
that it appears better to wait instead of
leaping.”
—Seth Godin,
“Awareness, Trust and Action”
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66. Trust & action.
The value of trust is action.
We like people we can trust.
We buy from people we trust.
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67. “...for the first time in human history,
commercial interests are rewarded for
good conduct and penalized for bad
conduct and have no capacity for
obscuring which is which.”
—Bob Garfield,
WNYC’s “On the Media”
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68. Content is a
conversation.
How are you speaking with your users?
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69. Do you have a
voice & tone brief?
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70. Voice & tone:
Voice expresses who you are.
Tone responds to what your audience
wants & needs.
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71. Voice & tone:
Voice stays consistent.
Tone shifts & changes with context.
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72. Keep it readable
& usable.
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73. Is it something users
want to read?
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74. Click Rain designs, strategizes,
and develops websites that adhere
not only to the fundamental best
practices of website development,
but embody a commitment to
ensuring that success can be
measured across all disciplines
and within every aspect.
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75. At Click Rain,
we make smart, strategic websites.
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76. Keep it readable:
● Dialogue, not monologue.
● Conversational (we, you, etc.).
● Use headers to break up text chunks.
● Shoot for a 7th grade reading level.
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77. “But we need to
sound smart!”
Do you? (Whom does that serve?)
Use hemingwayapp.com/.
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78. Keep it readable:
● Dialogue, not monologue.
● Conversational (we, you, etc.).
● Use headers to break up text chunks.
● Shoot for a 7th grade reading level.
● Make sure it is literally readable.
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80. Keep it usable.
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81. Responsive web design.
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82. Write mobile first.
What’s good for mobile is good for
desktop.
But what’s good for desktop is
not necessarily good for mobile.
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83. Answer users’
questions.
If they don’t want to know it,
don’t put it on your site.
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84. FAQs:
Are these questions REALLY frequently
asked?
Or is it just a repository of information
you couldn’t shoehorn in anywhere else?
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85. Let’s talk web content.
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86. Let’s talk web content.
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87. Keep it usable:
● Keep your content “device agnostic”.
● Answer your users’ questions.
● Keep information easily findable.
● Limit choices to 7 or fewer.
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88. Content is a
conversation.
Creating good content is synonymous
with creating an engaging conversation.
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89. “SEO today cares mostly
about engagement.”
—Rand Fishkin
Founder & CEO, Moz
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90. Insane honesty
with Doug Kessler.
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91. Setting & meeting
expectations.
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92. Put your worst
foot forward.
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94. It’s not PR spin
if it’s true.
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95. "Nobody does it. And when they do it, it works.”
—Doug Kessler,
Author of “Insane Honesty”
& Creative Director at Velocity Partners
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96. Fear.
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97. "No product or service is right for everyone on
the planet. Not even Coke.
So why can’t marketers simply admit that? Why
are we so allergic to excluding even the most
unlikely-to-buy from our target audience?”
—Doug Kessler,
Author of “Insane Honesty”
& Creative Director at Velocity Partners
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98. Alienate
the right people.
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99. "We should be developing content that actively
repels people we don’t want to work with."
—Ann Handley,
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
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100. Whom should
you alienate?
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104. "Insane honesty builds trust. And that’s maybe
the single hardest thing to build in a marketing
context.”
—Doug Kessler,
Author of “Insane Honesty”
& Creative Director at Velocity Partners
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106. Why does everyone hate
?
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107. “Nickelback is too much of everything to be
enough of something. They follow genre
expectations too well, which is seen as empty
imitation, but also not well enough, which is read
as commercial tactics and as a lack of a stable
and sincere identity.”
—Salli Anttonen
The University of Eastern Finland
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108. Don’t be the
Nickelback
of the web.
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109. Stop trying so hard.
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110. Stop trying so hard.
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111. Stop trying so hard.
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112. @SarahRheaWerner | Click Rain@SarahRheaWerner | Click Rain

113. Setting & meeting
expectations.
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116. Be authentic.
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117. Stay readable.
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118. Show your good
stuff.
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119. Show what
you’re proud of.
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120. Don’t hide what
you’re not proud
of.
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121. Change what
you’re not proud
of.
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122. Let go of the stuff
that doesn’t
matter anymore.
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123. Know it’s OK to be HUMAN.
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124. In fact, it’s PREFERRED.
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125. Become comfortable & confident
with the truth.
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126. Respect your
users—be honest
with them.
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127. And you’ll be
well on your way.
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128. Thank you.
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129. Keep in touch!
● Email: sarah@clickrain.com
● Twitter: @SarahRheaWerner
● iTunes: The Write Now Podcast
● Visit me at clickrain.com!
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130. Questions?
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