Choosing Your Format

Effective and appropriate formats

Good communicators create all sorts of content. The key is understanding which format is best suited to which message.

Your format might be a blog, a video, a case study, an infographic or any other content type. This is different to your channel choice, which is how you choose to distribute information (eg social media, email marketing, advertising).

To make this decision, you need to know about your audience, the type of message, and how it’s meant to be received.

Regardless of format, we need to both grab our audiences’ attention, and retain it. To achieve this, it’s crucial that every section of our content is concise, focused and necessary.

Matching your message to the format

The message you’re sharing plays a very large role in determining the format you use.

For example, an urgent message demanding immediate action needs to be short, precise, and directed to a specific relevant area immediately.

A guide can often be more technical, such as information on applying for an international student visa. It requires close understanding so can be a longer and more detailed static piece of content.

When you are deciding on the right format, consider:

• how much detail do you really need to share
• when it needs to reach your audience
• what your audience need to do and what you want them to do

Also, make sure it is in the places your target audience expects, with a familiar and accessible structure.

Considering your audience

When choosing the format for your message, there are are many factors to consider to ensure that you are tailoring your content to your audience:

• how much time they have for your content
• the medium they are using
• how they absorb content most effectively
• if they expect to see this messaging on your chosen channel

For instance, your audience may be less able to read a long blog post if they are dashing between appointments, or reading on their phone.

You should also consider that members of your audience may have visual, hearing, or reading difficulties. They may also prefer to learn and absorb information in different ways, and some may not speak English as a first language.

Justifying labour-intensive content

It’s natural to want to showcase your message in the most impressive way possible.

You may want to create a high-quality video, or an interactive article full of images, infographics and exciting widgets.

But that’s not appropriate for every piece of content.

Your audience may access content like this out of curiosity, but won't stay long if the messaging isn't useful, interesting or relevant.

When planning more interactive, dynamic or high-quality features for your content, consider:

• if they help the message land, or detract from it
• whether the investment produces a justifiable reward
• how long the content will be live
• whether it is a high priority, and whether you have time
• the skills required to make it an effective piece of content

Practice and review

The more you practise and engage with a particular format, the more you will improve.

Likewise, the more you engage with your audience, the more you’ll understand what they respond to, what they enjoy and what they don’t.

But don’t just rely on your instincts. Review and measure the impact of your content on various channels to see what’s working and what’s falling short.

Keep an eye on good practice elsewhere too, as you might learn something interesting from others.

Find out more about reviewing and measuring content impact on our knowing if content it working page.