‘Tis the season for “unpacking”, to judge by all those news show panelists and hosts…

I hear the two verbs “unpack” and “unpackage” a lot lately, particularly from TV anchors analyzing political candidates’ speeches in painful detail. The word “unpacking” once referred to the act of emptying one’s suitcase upon returning from vacation, while to “un-package” meant taking new items out of their bubble wrap. Today, it seems, both words are getting more use as synonyms for “explaining” or elucidating”, part of a help-the audience-decide-what-to-think action.
 

“Bob,” the TV host might say, “You heard the nominee’s speech
last night – now help us unpackage it for our viewers.”

“Unpackaging” and “unpacking” are actually both very good descriptions for the work of blog content writers. One task we business blog writers have is putting facts and statistics into perspective for our readers, drilling down to the core of the information and helping readers realize that yes, there’s something here that relates to them.

Certainly, when you blog to market your business or practice or organization, your choice of content needs to be based on solid research into the needs and interests of your target customer.

But when you’re presenting the information, remember that readers want to know what you think, where you’re “coming from”; they want you to “unpack” the statistics and facts for them. You need to voice an opinion. In other words, blog posts, to be effective, can’t be just compilations; you can’t just “aggregate” and serve up information, letting that represent your entire blog presence.

Effective unpacking strikes a delicate balance. You’re not telling readers what to think. Still, you’re going a step further than merely giving them facts to think about. What are you doing? Unpacking!

Remember to make today a really special day,
Rhoda Israelov
Owner, Say It For You
We create content for your business marketing!