An interview with an existing customer or industry expert can make great content for your marketing strategy. Just make sure it’s conducted well by an interviewer asking the right kind of insightful questions. A marketing interview is all about establishing yourself as an authority in your field of expertise.
But after your interview has been recorded, then comes the more challenging task. It’s time to turn the interview into meaningful written content for your website. Fortunately for you, we have various tips that can help ensure your published interview has special value to those who read it.
The trick is to polish up the conversation you recorded to make it super engaging to read! No one will continue scrolling down to read the content of a dull interview. Here’s our 5-step guide.
Table of Contents
Step 1. Format your conversation correctly
The process of corporate transcription helps pull out all the accurate details of the conversation and transcribe them into written form. The most authentic way to format your interview is in the traditional Q&A style. This approach allows readers to interpret the questions and answers in whichever way they want. It’s much more engaging to read the interview like a real conversation you’re listening in on. Being a fly on the wall means it’s down to the reader to decipher their own thoughts and opinions about what’s being said.
Step 2. Get creative with your writing
The content of an interview article should read like a story, so don’t be afraid to get creative with your writing! There should be a clear beginning, middle, and end with a coherent narrative. If you’re confident with your journalistic skills, include your own opinionated voice too. Draw out the key points of the conversation at the start and end of the article. Summarise the general gist but make sure your interpretations all have strong arguments behind them.
Step 3. Don’t be afraid to rephrase quotes
Your interview should be easy to read from start to finish. Remove any stall words like ‘um’ or ‘well.’ Polish up the raw text of your conversation to make sure it’s still a sophisticated and grammatically correct piece of writing. Don’t be afraid to tidy up quotes by rephrasing them to make more sense too. Paraphrasing is a great way of pulling out coherent meanings. Just remember not to include any quotes around those sections.
Step 4. Add voice or video clips
It is worthwhile to include voice clips of the interview if it’s good sound quality. Having raw voice or video clips of the conversation will make your entire article feel more believable and authentic. Putting a real voice to the words you’re reading gives the chat a whole new meaning. Just remember to ask permission from the interviewee beforehand!
Step 5. Incorporate social media
Posting your interview content on social media is essential for promoting your piece to a wider audience. Your social followers already value your brand, so give them something thought-provoking and inspiring to read. It’s also good to post pull quotes that summarise certain important points made during the conversation. Seeing snippets of the interview will entice your followers to go and read the entire article.
Featured Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst