Would you like to write more content for your business blog, newsletters or web pages? Are you stuck for inspiration in a marketing campaign and not sure where to start? Business writing prompts can be an excellent way to overcome writer’s block and help you find your muse again. With each prompt, there are tips on what to include in your writing to improve your marketing, reach the widest possible audience and run an efficient business.
Remember, write for your customers, not for yourself
When writing a business blog, you need to first understand your business goals and blog’s audience. It’s easy to forget this, especially when you’re writing a post that is purely informative. But remember that your audience isn’t just you-it is also your clients, plus anyone who might find your content through search engines or social media. Having great content creates a self-rewarding cycle. The more readers you have coming back to your site, the more traffic those posts will get from Google searches, and the higher Google will position you in the search results.
Check your competitors websites and write 3 FAQ’s
An FAQ (or “Frequently Asked Questions”) page is a great way to answer your customers questions. It reduces having to return calls or emails from confused potential buyers. But what you should you write about?
Choose three of your competitors most common questions and answer them for yourself. Answers should be as short as necessary to fully resolve the question – this might be a few words or a few sentences.
Describe 3 core features of your best-selling product
Which features would you like to highlight about your product or service?
If you’re a B2B business, the answer is probably “all of them.” The more features you highlight in your copy, the better.
However, this isn’t always true for B2C businesses; sometimes people want fewer options so they feel like they’re getting a personalised experience. In these cases, it’s okay to focus on just two or three features.
Ask yourself what sets it apart from competitors’ offerings, or why they should choose yours instead.
Write a bio highlighting one achievement
What is one of your proudest professional achievements? Why was it important to you, and how did it make a difference in the lives of others?
Bios often sound impersonal when you just describe your qualifications and experience. Using one or two special moments helps readers resonate with you as a human being.
Write about how you started your business and developed it
Many business owners are scared of writing about the struggles, the challenges, and the reasons they do what they do, yet this is a great way to engage readers in your story. This is particularly effective for creatives – authors, artists, musicians, and related services.
Why? It helps readers to trust you because they will know that you aren’t just trying to sell them something. They will also know that if they have a question about something, they can ask you and get an honest answer from someone who actually understands their situation.
Write about how you started your business or your role in the company and what inspires you. Be passionate and specific.
Create a client persona
A client persona is a fictional character that represents your ideal customer. It’s a tool used by marketers to help them write better copy, design better websites and make better decisions.
Client personas are created using information from market research and then fleshed out with anecdotal information from real customers. The final product is a description of an ideal customer that can be used for any marketing strategy.
Having more than one persona is useful if you want to tailor your marketing differently to two sets of people (e.g., teenagers or their parents). Start by describing an individual who is the average person making up your target audience. Ask yourself:
- How old are they?
- What gender are they?
- Where do they live?
- What’s important to them?
- What problem are they trying to solve?
If you have Google Analytics installed on your website, you can answer many of these questions concretely, rather than just speculating.
What’s a major misconception about your industry?
Having a controversial point of view is one way to stand out from the crowd in the business world. Ask yourself what common misconceptions people have and list some ways you can bust them. If you have enough, turn it into a blog post.
Every industry has some prevailing myths, here is an infographic with ten myths about writing English.
Identify popular posts on social media sites
It’s no secret that social media sites are an effective way to reach a broad audience. Search for a subject on Twitter that’s relevant to your business and see what the most popular posts are. See if you can figure out why they’re so popular.
These will contain information that people want to learn about or share with others—and that’s precisely why you should use this prompt.
Write a work diary
Many people write personal journals, however a work diary helps you to identify areas of opportunity from your business and learn from your mistakes. If you look back on the diary months or even years later, it can lead to great insights about which marketing campaigns were successful, what processes your business could implement to make things flow more smoothly, or other insights about your work habits.
Sketch a basic infographic
For this prompt first identify a topic that you’re passionate about, either at work or as a hobby. Then:
- Find a couple of statistics related to sales and marketing in your industry.
- Think about how this is relevant to your target audience.
- Draw out how this information is connected (use connecting lines, arrows, etc.).
What news has broken recently affecting your industry?
Consider writing about a recent news event that affects your industry. The best way to do this is to search on Google News for something that has just broken and write about it in the context of your business or profession.
You can also talk about what people are saying on social media by using Twitter’s search function. For example, let’s say you were a restaurant owner and wanted to write an article warning people of the dangers of eating too much fast food at lunch, since you’ve noticed a trend in customers ordering burgers every day during their lunch break. You could use Twitter as a source because there will probably be lots of tweets from people who care about their health.
Take an alternative stance, don’t just regurgitate content
Could you use a published article as inspiration to provide a counterpoint or alternative view, rather than just regurgitating what someone else has already said?
On the other hand, could you take a controversial topic and present it in a manner that is more palatable for readers who might be turned off by the subject at first glance?
Write a Tweet about a new product or service
Press releases are one way to announce a new product or service, but they’re time consuming to write and send. Much faster is a Tweet.
Write a Tweet informing potential customers about a new product or service you’re excited about.
Write a review about a movie you love
Write a review about a movie as if you were marketing that movie. Include a brief summary of the plot, why you love the movie so much and end with a call to action to encourage the reader to go and see it.
Write a marketing piece about a holiday destination
Could you promote your favourite holiday destination?
- Go back in time to when you first fell in love with this place and relive the moment.
- Describe the setting and how it made you feel.
- Tell us about the people or things that made this place special for you.
What is one thing that could change your industry forever?
What do you think is the biggest problem in your industry right now? What technological development might transform it? Are there any new laws or cultural changes that might impact it?
Write a blog post about it.
What are five helpful tips that would make a great guest post?
Google recently added ‘Helpful Content’ as a factor in where they rank websites. Now, a blog that provides tangible, useful advice will have better SEO than one that just provides information.
Whether you’re looking to expand your reach or build your SEO, guest posting can be a great way to promote your business and bring new traffic in. Work to make your posts compelling, provide useful and relevant information, and above all, drive traffic back to your site by including a link back in the author bio section of each post.
Think of five expert tips you have about your industry and turn it into a guest post.
What is one tangible thing that makes your business unique?
What is one unique selling point your business has? Describe it in a single sentence.
This can be more challenging than it sounds, however every successful business has something that makes them different than its competitors.
What are the top three benefits your company provides?
This is a great question to ask yourself because it’s one that most business owners think about, but don’t always answer. The key here is to find out what your potential clients want and need from you so that you can provide them with the best service possible. Asking this question also ensures that you are addressing their needs in a way that works for them (and not for you).
What takes for ever in your work?
What’s the one thing about your work, or running your own business that you wish could change forever? Choose something that’s particularly time consuming.
Now, ask yourself. Is there any way you could speed up the process?
If you said anything to do with spreadsheets, odds are there’s a way of doing it faster. Research pivot tables and the VLOOKUP command. This tip might not be writing related, but it will sure free up more time for you to spend on your business writing.
Describe how your business is environmentally friendly
What is your business doing to become more sustainable?
How can people and businesses become more environmentally friendly now and in the future?
If your company is particularly sustainable, include it in your marketing material. If it’s not, ask yourself if there are simple steps you can take to help the environment.
Describe a bad mistake a competitor has made
Everyone mistakes, even professional writers, howeverit’s not necessarily the easiest to research but can provide useful insights.
What were some of the worst mistakes made by brands or companies in your industry lately and what did they do to fix them?
If you can’t identify mistakes, write about what could go wrong and what steps you can take to prevent it from going wrong.
Conclusion
No matter what industry you’re in, clear and concise business writing should be at the top of your to-do list. All too often, businesses struggle with writing that needs to be succinct, persuasive, easy-to-read and targeted. It’s a challenging skill that takes months or even years to master. Use these prompts and apply the advice given to your own writing.
