Business articles are powerful tools that can help your business stand apart from the competition. Having a defined voice helps clients and colleagues feel more connected to you.
Communication is one of the management tools but it only works when it is effective. It has to be in a format and style that fits the target group. When done properly, it will contribute to a consistent brand or image.
Before you start writing any article, ask yourself what you want to talk about and who you want to talk to. For example, when you are writing political articles you may use one style, but for business articles you can vary your style to fit the target audience.
When you want to come up with a good business article, you need to follow these tips:
First you need to choose a style guide or hybrid. Once you do this stay consistent. Unlike other industries with style guides, the business industry has no specified guide. So you can choose or create one on your own. What matters here is consistency; once you choose a style, stick to it.
Next step is to specify what each of your business’s products, services or features should be called. For example, you may refer to the paid version of your service as “premium” or “white label”. Ensure that all your employees are aware of these terms and are applying them correctly for all of your products and services.
Your customers also need to be brought on the same page. The terms you use should be understandable to them or you need to clearly define them. This is important especially when the customers want to place orders, using a wrong term may lead to the delivery or a wrong product or service. This can be costly to your business as dealing with retuned goods would mean extra transport cost.
When you have chosen the style and you have defined your terms, you can now determine the appropriate tone for your writing. Decide how you should talk to your clients taking into consideration the type of brand you want to portray and the background of your clients.
“Are you looking for something more playful and casual or are you looking for something more formal and extremely professional? The Docstoc video asks. “This voice should extend across your marketing – customer service, email, and your website,” it adds.
Make the decisions about your style, audience and tone as early as possible. Then be sure to stay consistent and stay true to the voice you’ve chosen.
If you deliver a wrong message to an audience, you will not achieve your goal of writing the article, and using a wrong tone may also turn the audience off. The two are also connected to the style of your writing, different target groups require different styles of writing; study your target group very well before you settle on a particular style.
Finally, you need to remember that the opening paragraph is the most important part of a business article. It is the part that will determine whether the client will continue reading to end or will stop altogether. Make it perfect.
