Ann Handley

other words, don’t talk about your features, benefits, and shining

moons. Tell me—better yet, show me—why they matter to me.

Details are what make your words come alive. You’d think the

generic and nonspecific might apply broadly—and therefore almost

anyone reading the description of a product or service would come to

regard it as being relevant to them.

the truth is that specific details make content vibrant, and they

add a necessary human element that makes your content more relat-

able. Details paint a fuller, clearer, picture and give readers necessary

footholds for getting more involved or vested in the writing.

Be

specific enough to be believable, but universal enough to be credible.

the practice of adding details as giving

things “the dignity of their names

So, whenever possible, specify geranium instead of flower,

Especially in a business-to-business scenario, specific details can

help put flesh and blood on the dry bones of a so-called solution,

making it real and palpable to the people you are trying to reach. It’s

particularly effective in giving personality to case studies and customer

testimonials.

The generic or the

specific?

I suppose my setup wasn’t entirely fair. The business world has

room for both: complex whitepapers that give a comprehensive

look at the changing world of IT, and lighter, specific, story-based

content that adds a heartbeat and a pulse to an idea.

I like the innovative

approach of showing true personality in corporate IT.

“A key to getting people into a

relaxed, conversational state of mind is getting the right environ-

ment,”