Best Written Communication Strategies for Your Small Business

Describing written communication in its grandest context is a no-brainer. It’s really just any form of message that uses written word. While it is easy to define, doing it is a different story. It is a skill you should master, most especially if you run or manage a small business.

Content Fuel is a team of professional writers that can help small businesses with their writing requirements. We can work on your blog posts, web content, and social media posts among many others. We have worked with various companies and this allowed us to hone our written communication style based on your specific needs. 

Importance of Written Communication 

While you can always outsource this service, you still need to further improve your written communication skills. The fact is, this is the most common form of business communication and you use it every day. We’ll talk about this in the next section.  

According to Inc. ⅓ of employees are not equipped to write properly. They have poor written communication skills and it can essentially impact your business. Their emails and proposals will reflect on your company. A poorly written material can definitely backfire.  

Where to Use Written Communication 

To prove our point, we listed situations where you need to use written communication in your business. At the same time, we have here some techniques on how to do it right. Bear in mind that your approach must change depending on your audience, your message, and the format you are using.    

Company Mission and Vision

Every business needs a mission and vision. It’s not just to comply with the norm but it actually gives your business a direction and purpose. And that is why good written communication is necessary. Your mission and vision must create an impact. You can see a lot of samples over the internet but we recommend that you work it on your own. By doing so, it will be more genuine, raw, and will give your mission and vision some personality.  

Email 

Some people spend a lot of time perfecting the email body. However, if you are doing cold-email, that’s not the best way to do it. Always consider your Subject Line first. It has to be brief, enticing enough, yet it should not be misleading. 

You should also watch out for the length of your email body. Keep in mind that professionals maximize their time. If yours has the structure and length of a novel, no one would dare read it. 

Memo 

Business memos are an effective way to let your clients and employees know a specific scenario, a solution to a problem, a price increase, or a change in policy. The objective of memos is to persuade your readers to do necessary actions. You have to be clear and direct. Make it short but don’t forget to attach pertinent documents if your readers would like to know more. 

Also, consider the tone of your memo. If you are writing for the next company outing, then a lighter approach should work well. But for more serious scenarios, your tone must be more respectful and professional. 

You need to be very careful when sending internal memos. If it goes outside of your company, you might be releasing confidential information and that can affect your business’ reputation. 

Minutes of the Meeting 

A lot of people are not fond of writing minutes of the meeting. But this is unavoidable. There will come a time wherein you’ll have to write the minutes and send it out to your team. This role is extremely crucial and must be done correctly. Below are the items to include in your minutes of the meeting. 

• Date and time of the meeting 
• Participants and their position 
• Agenda and the decisions made, task owners, status, and deadline 
• Next meeting date and time 

Table format can also be used when creating your minutes of the meeting. This makes it more organized and easy to understand. 

Contracts 

Did you know that there are a lot of templates you can find online? But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn how to draft a contract from scratch. Studying how to do it makes you more knowledgeable about your business and even legal terms. That way, you can further understand contracts in case the other party prepares it for you. 

If you are to write your contract, we recommend that you use simple terms. You have to make sure that you and the other party are on the same page. 

Instead of writing the terms and conditions in long paragraphs, you can use bullet-type. This proves to be easier to read and understand. It wouldn’t hurt if you seek professional or legal help just to review the contract. And also, make sure that you have indicated the right names in your document.  

Company Guidelines and Policies

Even if you are running a small firm, it is important that you establish your company guidelines. Mishaps happen along the way and you have to make sure everyone knows the necessary actions and sanctions.  

You might want to include the following when writing your company guideline. 

• Recruitment guidelines 
• Code of conduct 
• Email policy 
• Phone policy 
• Smoking, drug, alcohol policies
• Health policy
• Harassment policy
• Anti-discrimination policy 
• Termination policy 
• Social media policy 

Web Content 

What is written communication for web content, you might ask? Your strategy here must be different because it involves adding the right keywords. 

When you are writing for websites, SEO and keywords play a big role. Otherwise, your page will not be seen and every effort and time spent building your website will be wasted. The thing is, a lot of online writers are so focused on using keywords that it diminishes the overall quality of their content. The real challenge is to find a balance between quality content and the right keywords.   

Social Media Posts

Businesses should also consider their social media posts and responses. With social media, your company is more exposed than ever. When using written communication, you must be very careful with your words. But at the same time, don’t sound too rigid. Use a conversational tone yet be professional. 

You can also use your written communication skills for the following: 

• Brochures 
• Posters 
• Company Profile 
• Newsletter

Please note that this is just a partial list. Basically everything in your business is backed up by written communication. Even your board meetings and face-to-face discussions are recommended to be translated in writing.

Companies Using Effective Written Communication

We searched for various companies that used written communication to their advantage. Here are some of the best ones we found. 

MasterCard

“There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.” 

Apple 

“Think Different.”

L’Oreal Paris 

“Because You’re Worth It.” 

The above taglines are so effective that it put these businesses on the pedestal. That’s how powerful written communication is. You can win the competition or grow your operations even with a sentence. Now imagine what happens if you are consistent in practicing the best strategies for written communication. It can definitely take you miles. 

Conclusion

It isn’t enough that you know what is written communication. What matters most is that you practice it in all your business dealings. Even a simple email response can create an impact so you have to be careful. As a general rule of thumb, always empathize. Learn your audience and see if your message will sit well with them. This is one step to mastering the written word.  

As mentioned, improving written communication takes time. But we all know that your business will not stop while you are working on that specific skill. Thus, it would be better if you work with experts like Content Fuel. They have the best writing packages for startups and you can focus more on other income-generating activities, while they do the work for you.