Even the most experienced writers can struggle to write for someone else. It involves moving away from your usual writing style, adapting to a different technique and changing your tone. To make this easier, try out these five tips to nail writing on behalf of your client.
As with all well-written pieces, it is essential to understand who this news is destined for. Is it for your client’s newsletter? For the press? For your client’s website? Knowing where your target audience lies will help you identify your general tone of voice and allow you to be more or less formal. In addition, knowing your audience will give you an indication of how precise you have to be. For example, if your client is introducing a very tech-heavy product, you might need to simplify some of the more technical terms for the press, which is not the case for a trade launch.
Whether the piece you are writing is the fruit of a five-hour-long interview or a quick phone call, you need to be able to incorporate all of your client’s key messages into your writing. This keeps you working towards their business objectives, building their reputation and establishing a clear brand voice. To ensure you are communicating your client’s key messages, draft a list using your interview notes of key points. Always approve key messages with your client and make sure they are aligned to their business objectives and values.
To capture your client’s tone of voice and ensure it fits with their company brand, it is useful to read their social media posts or website news. This is important as it will help you capture how your client speaks to an audience, what tone of voice they use and what kind of piece they are expecting from you. More importantly, it will ensure the piece you write fits into your client’s existing media body and guarantees consistency in their branding.
When writing an article or blog, you will often have supporting materials such as interview notes or information from your client. It is crucial that you go over these documents a few times to integrate their tone of voice into your piece: your client will appreciate that you convey their message using their approach and keep an ‘organic’ feel to your writing. Additionally, it is always useful to incorporate quotes to capture the essence of your client’s message.
PingGo is a great tool for communicating your client’s message. Not only does it provide content templates to fit the format journalists need but it also automatically populates new content with approved client key messages. When working on a PingGo document, your client can collaborate with you, making feedback and sign off process easier and more transparent. In addition, PingGo allows personalised pitches at scale, which is always a plus when working with a tight deadline.
