Yogyakarta, July 20th 2020—Gadjah Mada University’s Center for Digital Society held the 27th digital discussion. In this episode, CfDS invited Izzati Dwifitriani, a content writer at RWE Digital Agency. The event titled “Content writing: from Hobby to Profession” was held through a Whatsapp Group. As usual, half an hour before the event started, the moderator — Made Agus Bayu Sudharma, CfDS’s Event Assistant — reminded the attendant that the event will start soon. Right at 7 pm, the moderator opened the discussion by introducing himself and telling the attendant the rules. The moderator also gave a chance for the speaker to introduce herself.
Izzati had a material titled “An Easy Way to Cook Content” and she used an analogy of cooking to explain the process of making a content. The process of ‘cooking’ a content consists of five steps; it starts with getting the brief from a client, to brainstorming, to creating a social media content strategy, to actually writing the content. Like cooking, content writing needs some main ingredients such as brand knowledge, audience insight, and trend. Each of the three ingredients have their own characteristics and function for a content.
Izzati explained that there are three things that are needed for comprehensive brand knowledge. That is the SWOT analysis and the brand’s objective, as well as additional data and research. Meanwhile, audience insight encompasses all things on how to tailor a content to fit a certain audience’s needs. Three things are needed to map the audience; demographic factor, habits, and audience’s preference.
The last ingredient is a complimentary ingredient, it doesn’t always have to be there, but it should be known by the content writer. That ingredient is the trend. “Trend might not always be needed, but when it is added to a content, the flavor of the content will be more interesting,” Izzati wrote in her material.
Izzati then summarized those three ingredients to an easy recipe. Brand knowledge is converted to ‘what we have’, added with audience insight which is ‘what they want’ and perfected by the trend which represents ‘what’s going on’. This recipe can be reworked and applied to content for us or for brands. Izzati also offers other recipes as well as the content output made from those alternative recipes.
A food that isn’t cooked right can be burnt, so does a content. A content that is made without care may make that content absurd. That is why there are several things to pay attention to when writing a content. Firs, make sure that the topic chosen fits the brand and the audience’s needs. Don’t forget to curate and choose the most interesting information to write in a content. Information also needs to be written in our own words and taken from a valid source. Also, pay attention to our word choice when writing content. The words don’t have to always be formal, but make sure it is written properly and it’s in the dictionary.
Of course, there are some hurdles that Izzati had to go through while being a content writer. Starting from the trend dynamics, social media, information, and limited time while writing a content. But do not worry, Izzati thinks that in a couple years, the content writer position will not be wiped out by the presence of softwares. In the middle of a pandemic like this one, many companies need to go digital. So, content writing is needed for brand marketing.
Izzati delivered the material with easy to understand words without undermining the importance of the discussion. She also gave several examples of real content while she delivers the material which makes the explanation more comprehensive. The attendants looked excited, shown by the various questions in the question and answer session. “The bottom line is, just write, don’t be afraid. Be a freelancer. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes so that we can learn more on how to handle a brand,” Izzati’s words closed the discussion at 9.20 pm.