How to Make Your Articles Matter

According to the Custom Publishing Council poll, 74% of consumers say getting information from an interesting collection of articles is more appealing than getting information from ads. Are your stories effectively communicating your most important messages?

Great articles invoke an emotional response from the audience, leading to insight and action. With strong writing, your stories will stay with the reader beyond the last sentence. Here are five ways in which better writing will help you reach your audience.

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1. Simplify the Complex

Make a complex message interesting and understandable. When your message is both complicated and tedious, communicating through an analogy can often breathe life into your topic. For example, in Realtime e-Magazine (readership: 20,000), I ghost-authored an article from an industry expert’s perspective. The article relays a personal anecdote that explains how constant technology repairs often cost more than replacements. This is a key message for a global hardware manufacturer.

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The Story: I was somewhere in the middle of Montana when it happened, on a bitterly cold November night, 20 miles from the nearest town. My decade-old, four-door hatchback began making a subtle whine that steadily grew into an angry cough. READ »

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2. Be Seen

Get your message in leading industry magazines. Targeting messages for a specific audience often has a higher impact than trying to please everyone at once. This is where industry magazines can play an important role. For example, with a global distribution, ArcNews Magazine (readership: 600,000) carries one of the largest readerships for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) users. My goal was to write an article that peaked this target audience’s interest in a national software company’s services.

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The Story: As the fastest growing town in the United States for the last five years, Gilbert, Arizona, has quickly become a municipal behemoth. The phrase “booming metropolis” does not quite capture the phenomenon taking place in the town. READ »

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3. Share Successes

Demonstrate return on investment through customer case studies. Sales teams typically say that customer case studies and videos are the top two marketing assets they need during a sales cycle. Strong writing can maximize the value of your customer success stories, helping your sales team in addition to your marketing initiatives. As an example, for Realtime Magazine (readership: 40,000), I wrote an article that demonstrated the real-world safety benefits of direct parts marking, as shown by the US Coast Guard. This article empowered the sales team of a global high-tech manufacturer to engage their target audience.

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The Story: Beyond the banks of the Albemarle Sound, over the deep waters of the Atlantic, somewhere west of Bermuda, an HH-60 Jayhawk surges through the midnight sky. In the night, the sea mist obscures the helicopter, save the long-range spotlight it aims into the tumultous waves. READ »

4. Relate through Relevance

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The Story: Beneath the brick, concrete, gravel and dirt of the arid southern California city of Fontana, an intricate network of piping spans 40 square miles, providing water and wastewater services to 177,352 residents. The piping includes 370 miles of sewer mainlines, 35,367 lateral lines and 8,364 manholes, all of which need regular maintenance to keep the network flowing smoothly. READ »

5. Justify the Need

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