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Knowing the purpose of your writing

Content is part of your brand
 By Tash Hughes of Word Constructions

You may well have thought about the brand of your business as you planned a logo, web design and even the name of your business. But have you considered the words you use within your business as part of your brand?

Your brand is effectively the sum of many details that forms an image or perception of the business in the minds of your clients – and potential clients. So the words (content) you use in brochures, blogs, websites, articles, ads, manuals, packaging, fact sheets and so on all contribute to your brand.

Here are some key points about content to make sure your words enhance your brand rather than hindering it.

Complementary

Your content style needs to be part of your brand so that they work together and send the same message. So if you want a professional image, write clearly and use good grammar, avoiding slang and exaggerations. Likewise, if your brand is approachable and simple, don’t use long words a professor would need a dictionary to understand!

Accuracy

Part of the purpose of building a brand is to have people trust your business – and that can’t happen if your content isn’t always accurate and trustworthy. Obviously, that means don’t write lies or make promises you know you can’t keep, but it also means checking the details of what you write. For example, I recently saw some advertising listed as $1 a month or get 3 months for $4.50 – that sort of mathematical error cost the business any credibility with anyone who can do simple math.

Consistency

Everything within a brand needs to be consistent – with each other and across time. People are more comfortable with the familiar so keeping your writing style and details the same in different documents helps reinforce your underlying message as well as the ideas you are writing about.

Consistency isn’t always easy to maintain – it takes effort to remember exactly what you did last time – but it is important and the following tips may help you:

• Limit how people write content for your business – each person has a natural style so multiple writers sometimes shows up, especially if they do different parts of one document

• Prepare a style sheet or guide so it is easy to remember you always use website (not web site), database (not data base), email (not e-mail) and adviser (not advisor) for example. Include business specific details such as whether the business name is always capitalised (or not), whether it can be abbreviated (or not) and any product name spellings and conventions.

• When preparing something new, read existing writing first so that the style can follow on from the existing work. And if you can get someone to proof read for you, get them to reads some existing content first, too, so they know what to expect from the new piece

Clear communication is critical to the success of any business, but it is often left to care for itself in many businesses. Tash Hughes is a professional and skilled writer who makes technical and otherwise boring information accessible for everyone a business needs to communicate with. Next time you need webcopy, articles, newsletters, reports or any other business document, visit www.wordconstructions.com to see how Tash and her team can help your business succeed.