4 Ways to Simplify Complex Content for Your Audience

As an expert on your business and the services or products you offer, what is complex to others seems simple to you. But without you simplifying complex topics for your audience, they’ll never understand the genius of what you offer. To do this, it’s important to always put your audience first while making your content accessible, helpful, relevant, and continuing to build trust. 

Let’s dive into the 4 ways to simplify complex information.

1. Know your audience.

The first step in breaking down a complex topic is to understand your audience and create content from their perspective. Sometimes we want to jump straight into creating, but if we don’t stop to think about who is reading the content, we’ll lose sight of the purpose: To share a complex idea simply.

To do this, you need to ask questions:

Who is reading your content? What is their purpose?

For instance, your company creates small-batch whiskey, and you want to highlight the benefits of using American white oak barrels versus European white oak barrels. Who will read this: Your repeat customers or customers new to your brand? Are they reading it to better understand why your brand is superior or to understand the whiskey-making process?

What is their background? How will that affect the way they read your information?

How you write for a school teacher differs from how you’d write for a doctor or socialite. For example, through market research, you’ve found a large segment of your whiskey customers is in the financial and scientific community. And when you write content, you’ve noticed your audience engages with it more when you include data and statistics – something scientists and financial customers would understand and enjoy.

2. Identify the one thing they should understand about the topic.

Topics become complex because we often focus on too many details or points of information that are “important.” But if you want your audience to understand your topic, decide what is the most important concept, idea, or point your audience needs to understand and act on.

As you write, ask yourself:

• What is the one thing I want my audience to understand?

• Why is this one thing important? Why should my audience care about it?

And get specific on the “why.” This will help you simplify your information down to the most important details – instead of trying to focus on everything. This is like a feature versus a benefit idea. Companies can get so focused on one feature (like an extra long cord on an electric lawn mower), they fail to talk about how this benefits their customer (you can plug it in and start mowing without ever having to stop!).

3. Use context and examples to simplify complex content.

Most people love storytelling, and stories are a great way to simplify a complex topic. Look for stories that complement the information and make the information engaging. You can also use analogies to connect your complex topic to common knowledge. For instance, to help your audience understand the level of expert coding in your CRM software, you compare it to being a matchmaker – doing all the magic behind the scenes to make great connections between customers and salespeople.

And don’t just use copy to do this – also use images, like video and infographics, to help create a better understanding.

4. Watch your language and formatting.

Language:

When you write about a complex topic, write what you mean. It isn’t necessary to use complex words, phrases, or sentences to get your point across. And plain language isn’t about “dumbing down” an idea. It’s about making your topic accessible to different audiences – even audiences with lots of knowledge or education. To write in plain language:

• Use everyday words and phrases.

• Use active voice and personal pronouns.

• Write simple short sentences.

• Avoid industry jargon and complex words.

And don’t forget to write with passion! Your audience will find your content more interesting if you’re excited about it.

Formatting:

Organize your information by using subheadings to break a big topic into smaller bite-sized pieces. If subheadings make little sense for your topic or purpose, break larger paragraphs into smaller paragraphs. Either of these will help simplify the content in a way your audience can easily digest and has the bonus of making content more visually appealing. 

Need help turning your complex ideas into a story your audience will understand?

Art in Facto can help! We aren’t just content creators – we’re content artists who will help you craft your brand’s complex topics into engaging and provocative content your audience will love.

Contact us for a consultation.