February 17, 2017
We get a variety of jobs here at Content Juice. We’ve written for a wide range of industries, working with large commercial brands and local SMEs too. We never like to turn a job down in truth and will wrap our creative minds around any brief that comes our way. We even relish the research and learning opportunity that comes from tackling a subject we’ve never taken on before. We know, sad right?
However, some projects are a little bit more challenging than most. Writing absolute filth is particularly challenging. We are of course talking about content writing for the adult industry. No – not that adult industry. We’re talking about online shops that sell adult lingerie, sex toys and all the freaky things in-between.
Okay let’s begin with one of the many elephants in the room. You do not have to be filthy to write filthy content. It helps, but it’s not crucial. It really doesn’t matter if you are the Virgin Mary or Charlie Sheen; after a while your knowledge of lovemaking becomes immaterial. Once you have a few thousand words written, the ideas begin to dry up slightly and a re-think is required. More brainstorming is necessary and a reinvention of your approach becomes common.
This is not dissimilar to most writing projects. Typically, some amount of research is required beforehand and sex toys are no different. Only a lot funnier. So even the shyest of writers can adapt to the brief and fit their usual style of writing around a pretty taboo subject. Interestingly enough, we found that over-zealous contributors to this type of content actually produce much less effective work. A degree of subtly and elegance seems to satisfy users more than smutty and X-rated content.
You must approach your writing with neutrality and completely detach yourself from the subject. Of course, do this once you’ve got over the giggles and the downright horror first. Some of the sizes of these things! Honestly! But once you get past that, just concentrate on the facts. It’s the best way to approach any piece of writing. The product will sell itself to the right people looking for it; you just need to adapt your content to fit that targeted demographic.
With an objective mind and a good writing technique, selling sex products is just like selling plastic spoons. Well, sort of. Again, we believe this approach works best in the adult industry online – just saying it as it is! How does the product work? What is required to obtain the best experience? How will it benefit you? These are the questions you would expect to ask about any product in any industry.
So, how do we know so much about this? In the past, we have written for 1 or 2 rather naughty websites, we must admit. Each project was incredibly entertaining and extremely eye-opening. Some people…are just sick. These briefs were also very testing and frustrating at times. There were a few moments where we just couldn’t take it anymore! What was so hard about it? (We hear you ask). Writing about sex toys can’t be that difficult, right?
Well, we sell nothing but unique and tailor-made content here at Content Juice. So, writing about one dildo is fine. Absolutely. Writing about 600+ dildos, using completely different text for each, is not so easy. You would not believe how many different varieties there are for every single sex toy on the market. No, seriously. Whatever number you are thinking of, double it.
There are only so many ways you can say ‘provides a tingling sensation’ or ‘stick this up your backside’ if you get where we’re coming from? It is somewhat ridiculous the amount of choice there is online and each product has been written about before by someone else. This makes it twice as hard! No pun intended. We were tasked with writing over 2000 product descriptions by a previous client. Imagine. Everything we looked at seemed to mirage into a vibrator for weeks!
See our case studies page for more info on that one!
The art of storytelling is particularly valuable to this industry. Telling it how it is with facts and an impartial approach is all very well and good. But it can come across quite boring and robotic. Selling a product that some would consider filth, in an elegant and alluring style, can only be achieved with creative storytelling. Your words need to paint a seductive and sultry image, but in a classy format and choice of language.
Don’t just write what the product does. Explain how it benefits the user and describe how it will make them feel in relation to their desires. Cue more laughter! This may have been a digital marketing project involving product description and web content; but it felt a little bit more than that. We had to develop characters, personas and story situations to sell these products. It was almost like a creative brief, for a TV drama or something. Although taboo and often completely absurd, writing for the adult industry can actually be quite imaginative and artistic.
Having the ability to adapt to such a testing and distinctive brief shows great versatility as a writer. Content writing for several different clients can be difficult when juggling two or three projects simultaneously. Switching heads and transforming your content writing style to fit different clients can sometimes cause writer’s block. It’s how you get over this wall that will define you as a content marketer.
The adult industry was extremely testing but at the same time pushed us to broaden our horizons – in more ways than one! What can we say? We’re pure filth!
