Writing Content that Reflects Your Company’s Values
We’ve talked about “tone” and “style” here on the blog before, but never in regards to writing content that reflects your company’s values. Every time you publish a piece of content on behalf of your company, whether it’s a blog post, social media post or email newsletter, you are furthering the business’s image. It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway): the image that you are furthering should reflect the values of your company. Use this quick checklist as a guide before you publish your next piece of content to confirm that what you’ve produced reflects the standards and ideals of the company you represent.
Writing Content that Reflects Your Company’s Values
Let’s start from the beginning. To set the stage: You’ve got a weekly blog that has to go out on Thursday. It should be scheduled and ready to go one week in advance, by the Thursday of the week before. (Using an editorial calendar makes it easy to stay on top of your blogging schedule – learn more here.) Before you even begin drafting, start by asking yourself these questions:
- What’s the goal of this blog post?
- How will my company’s mission be furthered by this blog post?
These are simple questions that shouldn’t take too long to answer, but they set the tone for the proceeding blog post. Once you’ve finished drafting, follow with these steps.
Consider Culture, Community and Communication
Culture is who you are as a business; it’s what you stand for and how you set yourself apart from the other companies in your field. Community is how you relate to your audience. Communication is the opportunity to start a true conversation with your audience.
Together, these three work together to reflect your company’s values. Thus, it’s important to take them into account when revising your written work.
- Does this blog post reveal who we are as a company and what we care about?
- How does this blog post help our audience to understand us?
- Will our audience feel more connected to our company after reading this blog post?
- Does this blog post keep the door open for further conversation with our audience?
Ask for Feedback
It’s always a good idea to have another set of eyes on your work, but not only to catch typos and grammatical errors. You can also use a second set of eyes to ensure the draft jives with your company’s values. Someone internal will be able to sense right away if something is “off” with the tone or style of the blog.
Compare This Post to Others
The tone of this blog should be relatively similar to the tone from previous posts. The style and tone and voice shouldn’t fluctuate wildly from post to post. So, if you’re confident that your post from last week reflects your company’s values, hold this current post up to it. How does it compare?
A note on tone of voice in differing platforms: your company’s tone of voice will likely differ on your blog versus your social media. That’s entirely OK and even desirable. Social media platforms allow your company to be a bit more laid-back than on your website’s blog. Use that difference to your advantage and produce content that is a) fitting for the medium and b) furthering your company’s values, no matter how “relaxed” the style.
Here, we’ve specifically talked about blog posts, but these same questions can be applied for a number of situations. For instance, it will be worthwhile to consult this post when creating a monthly editorial calendar for social media or when drafting an email newsletter. As you write content for your company – no matter what kind of content – make sure you’re taking the opportunity to further your company’s mission. Write content that reflects your company’s values and watch as more and more people genuinely connect with your brand.