The H.E.L.P. Method For Writing Business Content

Corporate blogging poses a wide spectrum of challenges to address, from editorial priorities all the way to business objectives, and supporting the audiences in between. As a former corporate blog editor, my personal priority was to ensure that the content supported our audience’s education and professional development, and offered information that would empower them to do their jobs better.

I’m of the belief that a corporate blog shouldn’t be all that corporate, meaning its primary functions should be to educate and engage. But all too often corporate blogs act as mere extensions of the public relations machine, where press content is reposted verbatim and the message goes to die.

To quote one of my favorite acts, Hall & Oates, let me just say, “I can’t go for that…No can do.”

Neither should you, or your company. Content should foster helpfulness and facilitate improvement. Your writing can support a stellar experience and your company’s growing demand imperative. Everybody wins.

Here’s an example:

Check out this blog post I wrote offering tips to enhance the value of social media intelligence. The promotional objective was to share Oracle Marketing Cloud’s positioning in a SiriusView Report. I thought to myself, "But *what about* the report is going to move the needle?" Of course buyers care about this content as it helps them benchmark their companies, as well as the solutions they’re considering implementing, but what good is a chest-beating blog post when it comes down to real business?

Let’s not foam finger point. Let’s be problem solvers.

Deliver universal insight that isn’t relegated to a specific platform or service, but rather focused on tangible information that anyone can reference, understand, and implement to strategically improve the way they do their jobs (in the case of this content, social marketing).

It doesn’t matter the theme; you can do it! Remember the “H.E.L.P” Method for blogging, and any business writing:

Ask yourself: Is this content…

Helpful? Does it offer readers valuable information beyond the story your brand desires to tell people? (FYI this message may differ from what’s actually pertinent to your audience).

Engaging? Does it use examples and entertaining references to hook and keep the reader’s attention?

Learning-oriented? Does it focus on providing information that’s fresh and forward thinking? Does it purge others’ pearls of wisdom?

Product spec-ulated? Don’t bore the audience with product specs; hone your writing on the information that paints the prettiest picture of your user benefitting from what you’re selling.

Writing well for your audience should be an imperative in your content strategy. By focusing on being helpful, you can refine your messaging objectives and deliver the value they really need and want.

After all, we get by “with a little help from our friends.”

For more on content marketing, be sure to download the Modern Marketing Essentials Guide to Content Marketing where you'll get tips from leading content marketers and thinkers, new content categories to consider and a whole lot more!