Style

Do you need style in content marketing? Well, you really do. This is one of the crucial area which can make your work not only stand out but also effective. With the right style to fit your content you have a competitive advantage. In addition to matching your content, the right style can improve the content's usefulness. My experience with style is mostly with writing, editing and promotion. Working with graphical designers also helps in understanding design style.

Style in writing, editing, design, promotion, referral, targeting, messaging and every other internet marketing specialty is crucial to success. While most people understand clearly writing and graphic design style, in marketing there are specific styles in every other aspect of your work. A corporate B2B SEO or even affiliate style is very different than the style of a consumer product (i.e. electronic gadgets, health product review). While the skill set may be similar, many aspects of the work are as different as working a different specialty. 

Experience and then mastery in style comes from practice and experience. Some can come from theoretical learning (books, magazines, industry publications). There are many style elements which we can learn from industry leaders and from companies and tool providers. 

Writing style for internet marketing can cover a wide range of formats. From classic English writing style (Strunk & White, Chicago, MLA) all the way to styles developed for the internet or other technical fields (Yahoo, Microsoft). These formal guides are useful for certain type of writing. In corporate settings they may be used. I did meet a technical writer in a large cell software company where style manuals are used. On the other end there are many writers which are either technical or write for general audience. A food or fashion writer for the NY Times is quite different than a writer for Slash Dot or TechCrunch. On a different level take a read at Manolo's Shoe Blog. Simple, to the point, no expectation of college level writing or style guide adherence here. Or a bit of real fun, Scott Adam's (the Dilbert cartoonist) blog. Need we say more? Back to more formal writing, the Wharton School of Business, has been publishing first a newsletter now a portal. Same with the Harvard Business Review (a network of blogs).

There is a whole set of graphic design styles which are less known to most content marketers yet just as crucial. The blog and site design templates (themes in WordPress) are an areas which have developed a whole new need for professionals who understand and know beyond the design itself. Here there are issues related to information organization and content access. Page and information (data) design is just as crucial to many companies.