How to brief a business writer to write an article: the 7 essentials of a business article writing brief
I have been briefed hundreds of times for business article writing – yet these briefs have so often been lacking.
Whether the goal was to create a short item for a blog, a contributed article for a trade mag, or an opinion editorial destined for a major news outlet, I can remember only a handful of times when I was given a really solid idea at the start of what I was going to write or the real expectations of the decision-maker.
The quality of the brief you give your writer or freelancer significantly influences the quality of the end piece and, with it, your satisfaction level.
An insufficient brief can leave the writer feeling a little uneasy and under-informed. A confident, experienced or mature business writer or a freelance journalist may not let you get away with it, but many freelance writers and copywriters will do exactly that.
You’ll get your article, but…
It won’t be quite perfect.
It won’t be exactly what you had in mind.
It won’t perform in the way you hoped.
At worst, it will utterly diverge from what you wanted.
The 7 essentials of a business article writing brief
1: Who is it for?
You want and need your article to appeal to your business target audience. So, you must help the writer understand that audience. You may have a formal profile or avatar of the target individual or role – if so, send it to them. Otherwise, spend a little time helping the writer understand who the target is, what interests them, and what problems and worries they have. Point them in the direction of knowledge hubs such as industry or professional associations that can help them learn more. (NB: even if a main motivator is to gain website traffic through content SEO, it is still vital that your article is written for ‘real readers’ if you expect search engines to recognise it as quality content and gain you the search ranking boost you want).
2: What is the point?
Business articles are normally a variant on one of three themes. The purpose influences the shape, structure and flow. You may want the reader to gain knowledge of something. Or, to understand something and then think differently. Or, to do something. With thought-leadership pieces you want a reader to think you’re smart, have answers, are worth listening to. Tell the writer what they need to know. What’s most important to get over – do you have a specific main message? What other points are important? Be realistic! There are limits to what people can take in, and how much they will read. If you want the reader to take an action, then help the writer understand what the call to action (CTA) should be. The article must be shaped to make responding to the CTA a very natural and easy step.
3: Where will it end up?
The writer needs to know whether you will publish this business article yourself or, if not, who will. If it’s destined for your business blog, give them the URL and ask them to look at items you have published before. If it is for a print magazine, ask the writer to read a few issues. If it is for a digital outlet, give them the web address and ask them to review some articles to observe its style and assess what the editor likes. Editors and website owners always want articles that will speak to, and resonate with, their readers. If you’ve properly outlined the target audience as recommended in point 1, you’ve already helped that a lot. A good review of the publishing outlet or site you are writing for will do the rest.
4: Tone and style for business article writing
Tell your writer what style you want this piece to have by listing at least five adjectives to describe it. This will inform the writer about the approach to take throughout the article.
Think about the tone: is it to be formal or more relaxed and conversational?
Think about the intent: Is it to be hugely informative or more thought-provoking?
Think about the approach: do you want it written in the first person singular (I), plural (we) or in the third person (it/he/she)?
Sometimes the approach is not wholly up to you. If it is a guest blog or a contributed editorial item for the press, then the style of that outlet must influence what you put together. Your contributed article must match and complement their other content. You have more flexibility on your own blog or website, but you must still be clear on your expectations. If you are writing for a corporate blog, there may (or, there should) be a style guide, so make sure you obtain that for your writer. It may cover not just tone and style, but some of the details too.
5: Vocabulary and Terminology
With a professional audience there are always key terms, common acronyms and buzz-phrases. You will be the expert on this, not the writer. If there are essential things to incorporate, tell them. If there are acronyms or terms that the audience will automatically understand, say so. The best practice in writing is always to explain any term or acronym that could be otherwise misunderstood and assume a low level of knowledge. You may make assumptions about the audience’s understanding of something that the writer must explain in order to make the article fit for its purpose.
6: Contributions
Sometimes you may want others to contribute or to gather some direct quotes. Perhaps you have an expert, analyst, thought-leader or peer contact, or wish to reach out someone like this to get comment. This can add lots of depth and interest — but it also adds time, since the writer must secure time in their diary to interview them. It also adds complexity to the approval and finalisation process, since each contributor will need to approve the comments you have captured – and may need to see them again in the context of the full article, before giving the final go-ahead.
7: Details, details, details
Don’t neglect the discussion on the details of the article and of your agreement with the writer.
Length and shape: No matter the destination or type of article, writers need clear guidance on length and shape. Give them a word count, not the number of ‘pages’ you want.
Timeline: They need an absolute deadline for finalisation – and to agree with you the submission deadline for a full first draft. This must allow time for you to review it, to suggest or discuss changes, and for them to edit the changes in. Remember to build in reasonable approval window if you need to get sign off from a superior or from your communications team.
Revisions: Agree with your writer a reasonable number of revision rounds within the timeline. A very technical item may need more revisions than a think-piece. This detail depends on the target output, the pricing model of the writer, and your own approach.
Delivery format: agree with your writer the format in which they will deliver the article because you or your writer may otherwise make different assumptions. Discuss what you’ll receive: will it be in Word with track changes, or using Google Docs, or in HTML? Will it be popped in a Dropbox, made accessible on Google Drive, or emailed through?
SEO: are you expecting a fully optimised article with meta-data appended? Or is this something you or your content editor or webmaster will see to?
References: Do you want this business article to include any third-party statistics, quotes or references? Do you expect the writer to source and reference these items or will you provide them yourself?
Images: Do you need the writer to source stock images to support the article, or will you be arranging these? If you want to use quality stock images, you must allow for the cost of these in addition to business writing charges.
Copyright and usage: The copyright of any created item rests with its writer, by law – unless you alter that legally in writing. Most writers’ terms will have a clause on copyright transfer. In business writing they will usually assign copyright to their client, but you should confirm this. The writer may also have a clause which allows them to show the article as a piece of their work in their marketing, and if you are not happy with this you must make that clear.
Pay good attention to these seven areas and it can help ensure you will brief business article writing that is spot on target and meets your expectations.
Never assign business article writing without absolute clarity for both parties – not just on terms, but on expectations and needs.
The better your business writer understands what you want, what your reader needs from the article, and the role of any contributor, intermediary or publisher, the better they can deliver on your business writing requirements.