Writing for Your Prospect, Not Your Boss

 

Content is supposed to be for readers. 

Painfully obvious, right? 

And yet, wander through the content halls of most organizations and you’ll see something different. Something noisier. Something that looks less like “a delight machine for readers” and more like one of those overengineered Rube Goldberg contraptions ... except instead of marbles and pulleys, it’s approvals and compromises. Every stakeholder pulling a lever, everyone with a title wanting a piece of the copy.

What comes out the other end isn’t useful. It’s… safe. Neutered. A word casserole designed to reassure your VP that their pet phrase made it onto the page.

Here’s the thing: machines only produce what they’re set up to produce. If yours is wired for internal politics, you’ll keep getting content that serves the org chart instead of the prospect.

Of course you can’t ignore the boss entirely. Nobody’s saying write your case study in crayon and skip the legal review. But given the current state of things? You might want to lean hard the other way. Overcorrect. Build for the people outside your building who are actually trying to figure something out.

Clear. Useful. Human. 

That’s the stuff prospects read, remember, and maybe even act on. That’s the whole point.