What Clients Actually Want vs. What They Say They Want.

Learning to read between the lines is half the job.

“Can you make it more creative?”

I have heard this note more times than I can count. And every single time, it means something different.

Sometimes it means adding a metaphor. Sometimes it means making it shorter. Sometimes it means the person doesn’t know what they want, but they know this isn’t it.

Working in content marketing means learning to translate. Not just language, but intent. What someone says in a brief and what they actually need are often two very different things.

Here’s what I’ve figured out over time.

“Make it more creative” usually means “this feels too generic.”

When a client asks for creative, they’re rarely asking for something experimental or risky. They want something that doesn’t sound like it could have been written by anyone, about anything.

The fix is almost never about being clever. It’s about being specific. A concrete example, a real scenario, a sharper point of view. That’s what makes content feel alive.

“Keep it simple” means don’t make me think too hard.

This one sounds easy, but it isn’t.

Simple doesn’t mean shallow. It means every sentence earns its place. It means you cut the jargon, cut the throat-clearing introduction, cut the paragraph that says the same thing as the one before it.

Simple is actually harder to write than complex. It requires you to fully understand what you’re saying before you say it.

“We want something viral” means we want people to care.

Nobody can guarantee viral. Anyone who says they can is lying.

What they’re really asking for is content that resonates. Content that makes someone think, “yes, exactly that.” Content that’s worth sharing because it’s actually useful or interesting, not because it’s loud.

Focus on writing something genuinely good. The rest takes care of itself more often than you’d think.

“Can we do something data-driven?” means we want to sound credible.

Data is great. But a statistic dropped into a piece with no context or story around it doesn’t actually do much.

What clients want is content that feels authoritative. And authority comes from a clear point of view, backed by evidence, explained in plain language. The data supports the argument. It doesn’t replace it.

The real skill is asking better questions upfront.

Most client feedback is reactive. They see something and respond to it. Which means by the time they’re telling you what they didn’t want, you’ve already done the work twice.

The better move is to ask more questions before you start. What does success look like for this piece? Who is the one person reading this? What’s the one thing you want them to do or feel after?

It takes ten minutes at the start and saves hours at the end.

Clients usually know what they want. They just don’t always have the words for it yet. Your job is to help them find it.

Follow Letter to Marketing for more honest takes on what content work actually looks like.