On Brand with Nick Westergaard Writing for Humans and Robots with Maddy Osman
Maddy Osman is the founder of the Blogsmith, an SEO content writing agency for B2B technology brands. An expert in content creation and strategy, she's the author of the new book Writing for Humans and Robots. We discussed all of this and her University of Iowa roots this week on the On Brand podcast.
About Maddy Osman
Maddy Osman is a digital native with a decade-long devotion to creating engaging, accessible, and relevant content. After teaching herself web design at age 11, she found her true passion in content creation—learning the intricacies while transitioning from technical to creative SEO marketer. Maddy's journey from freelance writer to founder and CEO of The Blogsmith yielded numerous insights to share about content creation for enterprise B2B technology brands. Her efforts earned her a spot in BuzzSumo’s Top 100 Content Marketers and The Write Life’s 100 Best Websites for Writers.
Maddy has spoken for audiences at WordCamp US, SearchCon, and Denver Startup Week. She's also the author of the new book Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style.
Episode Highlights
Two sides of the same coin. We began by talking about the duality of content writing in service of both humans and robots, “It's like yin and yang,” Maddy notes.
Humans or robots first? I asked Maddy a hard question right off the bat. Which audience do you start with—humans or robots? “Hmmm probably robots,” she said noting that it's really more of a back and forth, push and pull dynamic.
Creating brand voice. Maddy cited the Nielsen Norman report defining brand voice across four spectrums:
- Funny vs. serious
- Formal vs. casual
- Respectful vs. irreverent
- Enthusiastic vs. matter of fact
Knowing where your brand falls across these can be a great start to developing your own brand voice! Maddy also shared the Blogsmith internal style guide which offers several tips as well.
What brand has made Maddy smile recently? Maddy shared the smile that MatchaBar brings to her face—even if, as she noted, her wallet isn't always smiling back!
To learn more, check out Maddy's website The Blogsmith, her book website (which includes a free chapter, and follow her on Twitter.
Want more Maddy Osman On Brand? Check out her first appearance back in 2016!
As We Wrap …
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Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet!
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