Serving as a judge for a communications contest each year is a useful reminder of something many teams forget: good communication is not just about filling space. It is about making the right message easier to understand, trust, and act on.
Reviewing a wide range of entries gave me a front-row seat to what separates strong communications from just, well, content. Some teams were strategic, clear, and audience-aware. Others had good intentions buried under extra words, weak takeaways, or design choices doing a little too much. In other words, a pretty normal Tuesday in marketing.
Here are a few of the biggest lessons I saw, and where communications teams should focus in the year ahead.
Clear Communication Objectives Improve Content Quality
The strongest entries knew what they were trying to do. That sounds obvious, but it is not always common.
The best work had a clear purpose from the start. Inform. Reassure. Educate. Build trust. Prompt action. When that objective was clear, the writing was tighter, the visuals were more intentional, and the final piece felt more useful.
Too often, teams create content simply to publish something, not because they have a specific communication goal. Readers can tell. If your team wants stronger content next year, start by asking a simple question before every project: What should this piece accomplish?
If the answer is fuzzy, the content usually will be too.
Strong Storytelling In Marketing Requires Structure, Not Just Style
Several standout entries used story well. They had momentum, shape, and a clear point of view. They did not just relay information. They built interest and carried the reader somewhere worthwhile.
That matters because audiences do not remember facts nearly as well as they remember meaning.
But storytelling is not the same thing as decorative writing. Some entries leaned too hard on flowery prose, long sentences, or language that sounded polished but said very little. Strong communication is not about sounding impressive. It is about being clear without being flat.
If your team wants to improve, work on story arcs, sharper leads, smoother transitions, and endings that actually land. Good writing has rhythm. Great writing also knows when to stop.
Calls To Action In Content Marketing Need To Be Stronger
This was one of the most common gaps I saw.
Many pieces were informative, well-designed, and professionally written, but they did not clearly tell the reader what to do next. That is a missed opportunity. Every communication does not need a giant sales pitch attached to it, but most pieces benefit from a next step.
That next step might be:
read more,
contact someone,
visit a page,
use a resource,
watch for an update,
or simply understand why the information matters.
If your content ends and the reader is left thinking, “Okay… and?” then the piece is not finished yet.
For the next year, I would encourage communications teams to audit their calls to action. Make them more visible, more specific, and more aligned with the reader’s needs.
Brand Consistency In Communications Builds Trust
The best entries showed variety without losing consistency. They could shift tone, format, or topic while still feeling like the same organization. That is harder to pull off than it looks.
Strong teams had a recognizable visual identity, clear editorial standards, and content that felt connected from piece to piece. That kind of consistency builds trust. It also makes content easier to produce because the team is not reinventing the wheel every time.
If your communications feel scattered, this is the year to tighten the foundation. Revisit your brand guide. Define content pillars. Clarify voice. Set standards for design, formatting, and approvals. (Need help with that? Call me at 715-584-6773)
Better Editing Makes Professional Content More Effective
The encouraging news is that grammar was generally solid in much of the work I reviewed. The bigger opportunity was editing for clarity, conciseness, and usefulness.
Professional communication should respect the reader’s time. That means cutting jargon, trimming excess language, and choosing plain English when plain English will do the job better. It also means avoiding distracting habits, whether overusing punctuation, relying on scare quotes, or including too little substance.
In the coming year, communications teams should spend less time trying to sound important and more time trying to be understood.
That is usually the smarter move. It is also rarer than it should be.
The biggest takeaway? The strongest communicators are not just creative. They are intentional. They know their audience, they know their objective, and they make it easy for people to follow the message and act on it. That is the standard worth chasing.