How to write content that people actually want to read
Do you write content for your organisation’s website, blog or social media channels? Is anyone actually reading it?
Everyone is a publisher these days. Whether it’s posts on social media or articles on organisations’ own blogs and websites, content is everywhere. And the vast majority of it doesn’t even reach its target audience let alone be read by it.
That’s partly because it’s not marketed well enough but mainly because too much company produced content is boring, preachy and inaccessible – particularly content intended for internal audiences.
It’s as if the publisher thinks that just because someone should read something, they will.
For company content to be successful, the target audience has to want to read it.
That means the editorial team has to create interesting and relevant content, written in a compelling and engaging way.
Company content has to be as good as – if not better than – the content its target audience is choosing to read.
Top tips for writing good content
Here are my top tips on how to write company content people actually want to read.
- Do find out what your target audience want from your content. Senior management might see it as a tool for communicating important company information but if it’s as dull as dishwater, no one will want to read it.
- Don’t be unrealistic. A simple, well written weekly emailer containing interesting, newsworthy and relevant information will be more effective than a 64-page whitepaper that takes so long to come out, and so long to read, that no one’s interested in the content.
- Do use your chosen medium to its best advantage. Not everything has to be online. Online is best for speed, tracking and linking to further information. Print is best for big features, great photos and important stories and events.
- Don’t feel you have to do everything yourself. Use contributors from other sites or departments to feed you news and (if they can) write stories. Even a badly written first draft (that you can re-work) is better than nothing.
- Do consider guest writers and editors. They bring a freshness to company content and demonstrate inclusivity in a company.
- Don’t spend too long on first drafts. Most content goes through several people and many changes before the delight of the final edit. Get the facts in the right order, write with sincerity and put most effort into a polished final edit.
- Do leave lots of time for editing and proofreading. Create and stick to a production schedule that is weighted towards time at the end, not the beginning. Use the early stages to gather photos, liaise with contributors and chase approvals.
- Don’t return edited copy to contributors, managers, clients, etc unless you absolutely must. People love to make changes and the copy they “signed off” last week suddenly needs a “few tweaks” once they see it again.
- Do ask people to attach approved copy to an email and not simply say “yes, it’s okay”.
- Don’t forget that the word ‘publish’ means ‘to make public”’. Even a document clearly titled ‘for internal use only’ can make its way out into the wider world. If you don’t want people to know something, don’t put it in writing.
Want to improve your newsletter writing skills? Sign up for my CIPR Writing Content for Company Media workshop on Thursday 19 September.
Lorraine Forrest-Turner is a personal communication skills specialist and trainer who runs CIPR training courses.