5 steps for writing killer business content

Every business blog and marketing expert will tell you content is the future of your digital marketing. 90% of B2B buyers say online content has had a moderate to major impact on their purchases, according to recent research. But if you’re not a professional writer, how do you begin producing the kind of content that will start driving a return on your marketing?

Steve Ash, content consultant at CommsBreakdown, believes the answer is to start with the basics, know your audience and to have a clear understanding of your business vision.

In this guest blog, Steve explores 5 key steps for writing killer business content for your company’s marketing channels.

Step 1: Know why you’re in business

Whether you want to create an amazing company website, write the coolest blog posts or start running content marketing campaigns, it all starts with knowing WHY you’re in business.

You might know what you do, but do you know why you’re in business? Having a clear company vision and values is important. If your key aims are to disrupt your sector, attract the most innovative talent and make your customers’ lives easier, that needs to come through in every piece of content you write.

Having your vision, values and personality wrapped up in a clearly defined brand identity is the first step in your content marketing journey. With your brand as the bedrock, you can then begin to build up your content and reach for the stars.

Step 2: Aim your content at the right audience

The more tailored and targeted your content is, the greater the chance of the content finding the right audience. And this means sitting down to think about who you’re selling to.

Without a clear idea of your ideal customer, you can’t write a blog post or landing page that effectively engages with their needs. So a big part of the content marketing journey is deciding what your perfect customer looks like, and then creating bespoke content that addresses their issues, challenges and product/service requirements.

Having these ‘ideal customer profiles’ also helps when it comes to using targeted advertising, making the most of social media and running highly targeted digital marketing campaigns.

Step 3: Learn to love writing

So, you’ve got your brand sorted and you know who your ideal audience is. Great! Now what?

Well, the only way to get the content marketing ball rolling is to start writing. And that needn’t be as daunting as it sounds. As a non-writer, the thought of sitting down to write a blog post can seem like a scary prospect. But, think about it; we all write things every day!

Every Facebook status update, every shopping list and every email reply you create requires you to write. It’s just putting one word after another, really – and hopefully making some sense along the way too. 

So don’t be scared of writing. Your first attempt at a blog post may not be worthy of comparison with the letters of Oscar Wilde, but it will be your content, your ideas and your opinions – and that’s what makes your content unique, genuine, honest and (hopefully) engaging. 

Step 4: Keep it simple stupid!

Short, simple, concise content is what works best. 

Being long-winded, wordy and using archaic language impresses no-one and most definitely won’t help your content find an audience.

What’s important, is getting your message across clearly. And the best way to do this is usually in the most straightforward terms. That doesn’t mean dumbing down or removing personality and individuality from your writing. It means understanding your topic, highlighting the most important elements and explaining them clearly. Makes sense really, doesn’t it?

So, the key to good writing is a simple one: 

Keep it simple, stupid! (making a handy acronym – KISS).

Step 5: Get writing and posting and content

One thing’s for certain when you’re a business owner – if no-one knows about your amazing products/services then the job of winning customers is going to be an uphill struggle.

If you’ve got the drive, ambition and motivation to found and run a business, then you owe it to yourself to put equal amounts of effort into marketing and promoting your company. So, put the same determination into your content marketing, and start getting your killer content out there and into the world.

You’ll make mistakes to begin with, but the most important step is the first one. So, get writing, share your own passion for your business and start telling your story.

About Steve and CommsBreakdown

Steve Ash is a freelance content consultant and writer at CommsBreakdown. He’s been crafting engaging content for over a decade, first with content writing roles at PwC and Xero, and for the past five years at CommsBreakdown.

He’s a published author and works with tech companies, accounting firms and small businesses to help them write the killer content their digital marketing demands. Find out more about Steve here