4 Common Writing Pitfalls

In my profession, I see recurring tripping hazards impacting the effectiveness of our clients’ communication efforts. Part of this stems from in-house staff being tasked to moonlight as writers. That can be tricky.

Not only is writing not part of their “day jobs,” but internal politics can create an unintentional blind spot that prevents clarity with content, from blog posts and byline articles to corporate messaging and customer communication.

Here are four common traps that are easy to avoid with the right approach and resources:  

Confusing the target audience

You know your company better than anyone on the outside. That knowledge is a great asset to demonstrate subject matter expertise when written through the lens of your customer. Know who your audience is and focus on what will inspire, educate, or entertain them. There is a difference between writing for an internal audience and an external audience, and there are differences within those macro groups. Spending time up front to understand your audiences’ motivations and pain points will help develop better content ideas and more effective writing. If you don’t know what they want and need, ask them. Primary research is a wonderful tool to help shape a content strategy.

Overusing marketing jargon

I recently read a LinkedIn post by a Chief Security Officer at a financial securities company who wrote “Can I please just have a security company talk in plain words without all the fluffy marketing buzzwords? It’s driving me up the wall. Just simply state what you do and what makes you special.” This is a purchaser of security products telling security companies to speak in direct language without a heavy sales pitch or overly flowery language. Yes, you must sell your products and services, but you have to be relevant to your audience to be seen as credible and authoritative in your space to even be considered in their purchase decision making process.

Trying to boil the ocean

It’s hard to resist the desire to share everything you want to say all at once in one piece of content. Too often stakeholders pressure writers to address too many priorities at the same time, leading to confused messages and unfocused CTAs. In those instances, determine a primary intent for the communication. Staying focused will make it easy for your audience to understand what you’re trying to say without them needing an abacus to count each potential “aha” moment.

Starting with a blank page

“It writes itself.” If anyone says that, run. Writing is both an art and a science, and effective writing balances inspiration with process. What is the goal of the piece? Who is the specific audience? Where will this be distributed? Is there supporting data needed to validate the POV? What is the CTA? If you can’t answer those questions before you put hands to keyboard, then you have some work to do. Answering those prompts can help avoid blank page syndrome and keep you focused, which will save time and money.

Words are powerful tools in helping shape your company’s identity with internal and external audiences. Having the right talent at the helm of your content strategy and execution is important. If you could use a tune-up in your approach, consider an outside-in perspective.