How do you make sure a piece speaks to a specific audience?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Understand who the reader is and what they need
- Use real customer language from research
- Match vocabulary, depth and examples to their level
- Address their problems and objections
- Check with someone from that audience if possible
Model answer
Before writing, I find out who the reader is, what they already know and what problem brought them to the page. I use the persona if one exists, but I also look for real customer language in sales call notes, support tickets, reviews and forums. That tells me which words they use and which questions keep coming up. Then I choose examples, vocabulary and depth that fit them. A finance director wants numbers and risk, while a first-time user wants simple steps and no jargon. I address their likely objections directly. When I can, I ask someone from that audience, such as a customer or a salesperson who talks to them daily, to read the draft and tell me where it feels off.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed easy round and get scored on every answer.
More easy Content Writer questions
- Walk me through your writing process from brief to published piece.
- How is writing for the web different from writing for print?
- How do you handle critical feedback from an editor on your draft?
- What is search intent and why does it matter to a content writer?
- Tell me about a piece of content you are proud of and why.
- How do you research a topic you know nothing about?
- How do you proofread your own writing when you know the text too well to see mistakes?
- What makes a good headline for a blog post?
- How do you manage several writing projects with overlapping deadlines?