If you answered "very important," you get a gold star. (If you answered "vital," I just might have to hire you to work at Storyhaven.)
Written content is a cornerstone of effective brand-building. Consider the elements of a brand made external through promotions and marketing - website/blog posts, social media, videos, ad campaigns, emails, interviews, articles, infographics and one-sheets, pitch decks and presentation slides, and even taglines on logos or captions on images. What do they all have in common? You guessed it: All of these items are written (or have had a major written aspect in their development).
A blog post is an easy example - it is very clearly an example of written content. But what about an ad campaign? You might think of the creative itself as having been designed, but the words on the creative unit resonate with you by telling the appropriate story; in other words, the design complements the story that had to be written first (whether it was as a tagline, a messaging document, a strategy chart, or a creative brief - it was written somewhere before it got designed). The words on the landing page capture you and entice you to learn more. The words selected as keywords or key phrases are strategized around and optimized carefully on the backend. The words matched on Google bring you the appropriate responses. The words. The words. The words.
We're social beings, and communication is at the heart of our existence and the driving force of civilization. Words don't always exist on their own - they are so much deeper than ink on a page - but they need to be given the spotlight in order for your content to shine.
Let's explore 10 tips for optimizing written content:
1. Stay true to the corporate identity/brand voice
Every piece of content that comes out of a marketing department should not sound like the individual who wrote it: They should all sound like the corporate identity - the brand. Understand the dos and don'ts of your brand voice, the appropriate tone to take, the strategy behind why you should say certain things (and not say others), and the objective behind the content asset.
2. Align with audience needs
Use your writing skills to put things in context for your audience. For example, most successful sales reps know that you don't sell products or features - you sell benefits, you sell lifestyles, you sell a vision of what your life is like after owning that product. Painting a clear picture of how life will be better after engaging with you is a great way to make your writing jump off the page and sink into the reader's heart.
3. Focus on the benefit/impact/value
Along those lines, don't just divulge the WHAT - share the WHY or show the HOW. Instead of simply stating what something is in descriptive terms ("This is a book. It talks about communication."), illustrate why someone would want it, or how it benefits their life as a result ("This book will improve your relationships by making you a better communicator AND listener." "After exploring the lessons on these pages, you will feel more confidence in every conversation and more empowerment in every presentation.").
4. Be concrete
Using concrete language rather than abstract concepts will help your reader understand your written content in clear terms. For example, a reader may not enjoy reading about the esoteric nature of data analysis, but they can understand what a report looks like. Don't assume your reader will jump with you from point A to point D; give them concrete steps A, B, and C along the way so they can experience your product within the context of their own senses, their own life, and their own schemas.
5. Use active voice
Of course you should first check with your brand guide / Head of Brand to learn whether this is a deliberate choice or not, but if you are sitting in front of a blank screen and are left to your own devices, write in active voice. The alternative, passive voice, is weak, unnecessary, and roundabout, and lead to confusion or misinterpretation: "Those data analyses were sent to you last week by our team." But active voice is strong, direct, clear, and concise: "Rachel sent you Report A on Friday."
Sub-tip - In copyediting thousands of written content assets, one of the tendencies I have seen arise most often is writing with uncertainty - can, could, should, etc. Try changing "can" to "will" or "could" to "does" or "should be" to "is" and see how much stronger your writing can be - nope - IS.
6. Adjust for the format
An email, sales slide, and blog post will all look very different. They have different goals, audience interactions, and best practices, and your writing for each should reflect that.
7. Research your (and your competitors') key phrases, words, and topics
Keep a tracker that lists the keywords you want to rank for, the one you currently rank for, and the ones your competitors rank for; similarly, track the topics you cover, the topics you're being asked for that you haven't covered yet, and the topics your competitors are covering successfully. This practice, which in business in sometimes called environmental scanning or market research, will help you fuel your writing with the appropriate data-driven strategy to yield positive results.
8. Read written content out loud
When I was working as a writing tutor in undergrad, I had every single student read every single assignment out loud. They would print two copies - one for them and one for me - and I would follow along as they read their copy aloud. I would mark notes on my copy, but they would find many errors themselves as they tripped over certain words, realized something didn't work grammatically, said the same word too many times in a paragraph, or sensed general misalignment with their syntax. When you are writing content, you often get boxed into your own head, and you are often too close to your work to notice certain things such as a missing article ("I went to store") or duplicated article ("I went to the the store"). But reading it aloud gives you a new perspective and will help you catch parts of your writing that felt different when consumed in your head.
9. Be consistent across all efforts
If you are in marketing, this is known as brand cohesion; your messaging must be consistent among all assets and promotions (a messaging document can help). Even if you are in any other vertical, consistency in your writing is important, as it drives home the most important points, depicts alignment to strategies or goals, and elicits trust. Inconsistent messages are among the most egregious errors managers make when communicating to subordinates; don't let your writing confuse your reader more than it enlightens. Can you imagine getting an email that said 30% off, but then you go on the website and it says 10%? Not all messages will be that obviously inconsistent, but pretend that they are and tackle them with confidence.
10. Maintain impeccable grammar
Who would I be if I didn't talk about grammar in an article about writing? Let me tell you a secret - I absolutely hate when I find a typo in content. My opinion of the brand plummets immediately. Maybe not everyone is as stringent as I am, but this post isn't necessarily about my personal opinions - it's about the best practices that will help you improve your written content for your brand. And I promise you, grammar will always matter. Wouldn't you hate to lose revenue because of a silly misplaced apostrophe or a misspelled word? It happens more than you would think; bad grammar causes some people to completely dismiss a brand, deeming it not credible or not careful or strategic enough to check their work before publishing it. It's not just about the apostrophe itself - it's about what it must mean about the company that wrote it. People do glean those deeper insights, so take the time to edit every piece of written communication carefully a few times over before hitting SEND.
Bonus:
11. Map the customer journey and test it
Identify how your audience is engaging with this written communication - how did they find it? Was it sent to them? What did they engage with before this? What happens afterward? Walk through the process yourself to ensure messaging makes sense at each stage and flows seamlessly from point A to point B. Putting yourself in your reader's shoes will give you the empathetic edge to your strategy that will differentiate you from your competitors.
