If you work with writers to produce content for your organization, the following scenario may feel familiar:
- You give the writer instructions on what you want.
- The writer delivers a draft.
- It’s not quite what you were expecting.
- You tell them that.
- They make changes. The changes don’t quite help.
- You go back and forth.
- And back and forth.
- And … back … and forth.
You and the writer both want to get to a final, polished draft quickly. So why is it so hard to actually get there?
In many cases, it comes down to miscommunication. Giving helpful feedback to writers is difficult. But giving more clear and specific feedback can be the key to getting the results you’re looking for – faster.
Here are five fixes for common feedback pitfalls from our team at Message Lab.
Feedback pitfall #1: “This is a little vague.”
We all know what it’s like to read a draft and know that something is … missing. But it’s sometimes difficult to articulate exactly what that “something” is. Many times, this leads to feedback like “this is a little vague,” which leaves writers guessing.
The fix? Get very specific about the problem – and offer some direction for fixing it.
Instead of: “This is a little vague.”
Try: “This feels like it needs more detail. Consider adding something that helps highlight the sleep medicine team more by providing specific information about their advanced training/experience that isn’t found elsewhere.”
In many cases, the writer will need your expertise to add this extra layer of detail. In the example above, you might include links to other content that highlights the fact that you have the only board-certified sleep psychologist doctor in your region.
Tip:
Resist the temptation to re-write and edit the copy directly. Instead, honor the role of your writer by putting a “suggested” re-write in a comment. You might say: “Something along these lines might be stronger here: ‘Having the only sleep psychologist in the region means we’ve helped hundreds of people with insomnia find relief.’”
Feedback pitfall #2: “Let’s beef this section up.”
What this feedback is really saying is, “I think we need something more in this section, but I’m not sure what that is.”
This is a sign to pause and consider: What are you hoping this section will accomplish or clearly demonstrate to your reader?
When you can answer that, it can help you provide more specific feedback.
Instead of: “Let’s beef this section up.”
Try: “This section needs more information to feel complete. Can you pull some more details from [this source]?”
Instead of: “This section is missing something.”
Try: “This section needs concrete examples. Here’s a couple you might be able to use [offer examples].”
If you’re not sure what a section needs, it’s OK to ask your writer. You might say: “This section feels like it needs something more. Do you think we should add some examples or a story? Did you come across anything else relevant or interesting in your research? What do you think might work best?”
Feedback pitfall #3: “This isn’t quite working.” or “I don’t like this.”
It’s perfectly OK to say that something isn’t working, but be sure to tell your writer why – and what you’re looking for instead.
Instead of: “This isn’t quite working.”
Try: “I think this section would work better if you [added this detail / moved it earlier in the piece].”
Instead of: “I don’t love the way this sounds.”
Try: “This makes it sound like [xyz]. I’d like this section to feel more [abc]. Can we rephrase to position it more like [abc]?”
Don’t be afraid of details! The more specific you can be about why something should change and what you’d like to see instead, the more quickly and effectively the writer can craft a great piece.
Feedback pitfall #4: “This isn’t our style.”
This feedback has a few variations including: “This doesn’t feel like us” or “This isn’t quite on-brand.”
Every brand has (or should have) a sense of their own style, tone, and voice – how your content sounds and feels that helps you stand out and connect with your audience. As the in-house expert, your goal is to communicate those brand and style guidelines to your writer in useful ways.
Instead of: “This isn’t our style.”
Try: “This sounds a bit more like a casual blog post than an authoritative, evidence-based piece (which is what we’re going for). Here’s a link to our style and brand guidelines with some good examples.”
Instead of: “This isn’t the right tone here.”
Try: “This section sounds like it’s talking more toward a general audience. But we want this piece to specifically target oncologists. Can we use more scientific language?”
If you find yourself giving a lot of written feedback, it may be time to have a conversation with your writer about:
- Tone and voice
- Desired reading level
- Format
- Channel(s) for the piece
- Length and depth
Ahead of the conversation, pull together resources or examples to help your writer better understand what you’re going for and your target audience. During the conversation, give them an opportunity to provide more insight into the choices they’ve been making.
Feedback pitfall #5: “Can you take another crack at this?”
When a draft feels incomplete, it’s tempting to simply ask the writer to rewrite it and leave it at that. But, again, more specific direction will get you to a final draft more quickly.
Instead of: “Can you take another crack at this?
Try: “Given that we know we have just a few seconds to hook our audience, I’m wondering about playing with a different angle here. I’m thinking x or y — but feel free to try out other ideas!”
Instead of: “This section doesn’t really feel very compelling.”
Try: “I think we can make this more engaging if we include a story or some examples. Here’s a few you could work off of: ____.”
3 additional tools to help writers create the content you want
Use the acronym SAD
One useful tool to remember and practice how to give good feedback is the acronym SAD.
SAD stands for:
Specific
Explain the change you want to see, not just the problem.
You might say: “Let’s help reassure a patient that they’ll be in good hands here and that we care for the whole person.”
Actionable
Explain the action they can take to make the desired change.
You might add: “Adding some details about our wraparound services could help.”
Demonstrate
Give a rough example.
You might continue: “One way to do this would be to say something like: Our team includes psychologists and social workers, who can provide both emotional and financial support.”
Use a creative brief
The more direction you give a writer upfront, the less feedback and adjustments you’ll likely need to make later.
We use a creative brief for almost every piece of content we create. The brief includes questions for the organization’s team about:
- The piece’s goals
- The length of the piece
- The key ideas and takeaways
- The audience(s)
- What they hope people will do, think or feel after reading the piece
- The call to action (CTA)
Answering these questions thoughtfully in advance goes a long way toward getting a project started on the right foot.
Remember to be kind
Sometimes it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it!
When it comes to writing feedback:
- Keep it positive. Focus more on guiding your writer towards improving the piece, not critiquing what isn’t working.
- Actively point out what IS working. By signaling what’s working, you not only offer encouragement for your writer but you also focus their attention on what you do like (so they can do it more in the future!).
- Ask questions. Working with your writer to get clarity on why certain decisions were made (instead of just changing their work yourself) builds a trusting, supportive relationship that honors each of your expertise.
Want better writing, faster?
As a leading nonprofit and healthcare content marketing agency, we know that writing great content is a team sport – especially when it’s about complex topics.
We love to translate complicated information in ways that patients, donors, families and stakeholders can easily grasp and relate to. And we rely on healthcare teams, researchers, and other organizational experts to help us bring a piece home.
At Message Lab Media, every piece goes through a comprehensive editing process before we submit it to a client. Our goal? For a piece to be as close to final as possible before you ever see it. Once it’s in your hands, we prioritize timely feedback from your team in order to deliver standout content.
Want to create effective content, more efficiently?
Reach out to us to learn more about our process and results.
