What does bad business writing cost us, really? In business, we write every single day. Whether we have 100 employees or one, communication is key to our success.
Yet, an interesting statistic from The Daily Beast proposes that there’s a hefty $400 billion annual cost associated with bad business writing – and that’s just in the United States! Between the time people waste decoding confusing emails and the potential numbers of customers lost because of poorly phrased advertisements, that number isn’t too hard to believe.
From quick emails to annual reports, written communication is how we keep our businesses moving. And bad business writing can bring that momentum to a grinding halt.
Communications in Business
It’s easy to underestimate the importance of solid communication. Team members bring many different skills to our businesses, and their writing skills may not be preeminent among them. Yet, regardless of your business’s industry, age, or size, strong writing skills are an absolute asset. Consider all the situations that require communication to run your daily business operations:
- Emails
- Social Media
- Proposals
- Newsletters
- Blog posts
- Marketing Collateral
- Ads
We could go on and on. With each interaction, your business needs to present itself in the most polished and professional way possible. And without solid writing and digital content creation skills, this is almost impossible to do.
Symptoms of Bad Business Writing
Don’t rely entirely on the spellcheck in your word processing software. There are plenty of digital content creation mistakes that only a human eye will catch:
- Vague, ambiguous, or otherwise unclear messaging in blog posts, articles, or press releases that lack a call to action for the reader or otherwise confuses them
- Technical jargon that leaves your user scratching their head or causes confusion or frustration.
- Content not targeted to its audience that will miss its mark and render your marketing useless.
- Incorrect or outdated facts that mislead your audience and compromise their trust in your organization
- Trailing, long-winded, and unfocused writing that annoys the reader
The Consequences of Bad Business Writing
A typo isn’t as harmless as you might think. Unclear, unrefined communication could impact the reader in a pretty significant way:
- Decreased Efficiency
This is a big one. Have you ever received an email that took you minutes to decipher? Time spent clearing up miscommunications, both inside and outside your organization, reduces the overall productivity of your business.
A misunderstanding that leads to a missed meeting is time lost.
And, in worst-case scenarios, breakdowns in communication can lead to missed deadlines. Was it clear who was supposed to review the material? Who was ultimately going to hit the send button?
When communication isn’t second nature to your writers, details, and direction can fall through the cracks and drastically impact efficiency.
- Low-Quality Content
Then there’s this: when content does get out the door on time, is it material you are proud of? The quality of your digital content creation should constantly be front of mind.
Bad business writing leads to lackluster proposals and products. Whether it’s an application for funding or a monthly newsletter, the material released by your organization should be free of flaws to maximize your chances for success–whatever your goals may be.
Typos, poor transitions, redundant phrasing, incohesive phrasing… Snags like these make a published piece appear unpolished and unprofessional. And while you may not catch those mistakes on your second or even third read-through, you can be sure your reader will catch them on their first.
- Ineffective Marketing
Bad business writing isn’t always a matter of grammar. Tone is also crucial in online marketing; a tone-deaf ad can devastate your business.
A shocking 60% of consumers state that a lousy advertisement would steer them away from a brand–even if they’ve bought from them before. So not only can bad digital content creation prevent you from acquiring new customers, but it can also drive away existing clients.
- Loss of Reputation and Reliability
The last thing you want to do is misinform your audience because you have not fact-checked your communication. Not only will this leave the reader dissatisfied, but they will almost certainly question your credibility and wonder (consciously or subconsciously) whether they can trust you.
And what do these consequences have in common?
They all result in a loss in revenue. That $400 billion we mentioned earlier is spread across all these digital content creation sins, both immediately and after the fact.
How to Improve Digital Content Creation for Your Business
Luckily, no one is doomed to typos and off-tone posts. Consider a couple of remedies for your digital content creation woes:
Invest in Software Solutions
If all you need is a bit of proofreading or copyediting, a software solution could be perfect for your organization.
Products like Grammarly have browser add-ons that you can use in email and social media. It won’t, unfortunately, correct you when you start an email with “Good morning” in the afternoon, but that’s what a final proofread is for.
If your organization is constantly drafting proposals, reports, or longer material, a more sophisticated software like ProWritingAid may better suit your needs. It doesn’t feature the same user-friendly interface as Grammarly. But it is wholly focused on the user experience. It checks elements of writing like sentence variety, overused words, and paragraph length.
Invest in Employee Writing Skills
And then there are the problems that even Grammarly can’t fix. While software has the option to check the piece’s tone and delivery based on the intended purpose and audience, there is no “one size fits all” approach to writing for your target audience. No software will pick up on the nuances and vocabulary specific to your business.
In this case, you may consider investing in professional writing training for your staff. Not only will the business’ communications improve, but the writing skills of your employees will also improve, and they will appreciate the investment in their development – an appreciation reflected among 87% of the incoming workforce.
Invest in Professional Copywriting
While it’s hard to undervalue good writing skills in your own workplace, sometimes the best solution is to hire writing help for your external communications: website, newsletter, or blog. You may want to outsource your social media or other marketing materials to free up your time for other important business matters. And, if your organization depends on grants, a professional proposal writer is probably a good idea.
There are many additional benefits to outsourcing your digital content creation. A professional copywriter can worry about SEO optimization to increase your visibility, as well as the data analysis and tracking that goes along with optimizing your marketing.
Call in the Digital Content Creation Pros!
Push bad business writing into the past with professional content writing. The right copywriting services will maximize the potential of your online content, helping you define your brand and giving color to your organization’s voice. Whether it’s a quick Facebook post or content for your website, the writing will be more professional, polished, and purposeful.
The Allyson Group offers high-quality content writing help for your small business, social enterprise, or nonprofit. We are based near Washington DC, and our local range includes Montgomery County, Howard Country, and Baltimore County, Maryland. However, we offer content writing services to organizations worldwide. Let us build and execute your content calendar while you do what you do best.
Get started with an audit to pinpoint the gaps in your communication, and we’ll tell you how you can fill them in! We’ll help you create a content plan that serves your customers, enhances your brand credibility, and brings in more qualified leads!
