Writing is like exercise for the brain. Why bother, you ask? Here are some compelling benefits of writing (for anyone on your team):
- It improves overall communication skills.
- It reduces mental clutter, so you can reflect and organize your thoughts.
- It moves subjective, internal thoughts into a tangible, objective product.
- It refines your ideas and improves knowledge comprehension.
- It establishes connection and affinity with your audience.
Okay, it’s easy to see why blogs are a popular project idea for innovative teams. But why is it so intimidating to get started?
For many writers (especially ones already busy with their typical everyday work!), the biggest hurdle is that initial wave of uncertainty.
“What should I write about? What is the end goal? Do I really have anything valuable to say? How long should it be? And just how long will this take anyway? I’ve got work to do!”
To overcome this hurdle, we’ve compiled a list of 5 blog post types valuable for innovative teams:
For each, we answer some common questions with volunteer team writers in mind. At the end is a quick reference guide for the next time you or your team are trapped in over-analysis paralysis and indecision fatigue over where to start.
1. Position Paper
Position papers are one of the most important post types for marketing your organization. These are persuasive, strategic articles which thoughtfully introduce the reader to your position on a topic.
They offer a broad perspective on a big picture theme, coming at it from multiple angles and responding to common objections or inquiries. The reader should take away a sense of how to think about something — importantly, how to think about that something through the lens of your expertise.
Engage in meaningful discourse from multiple angles. Seek to anchor your brand in their memory. And don’t fret about sharing every detail you know. Communicate where you stand on the issue, and leave your reader interested to learn more. Yes, sometimes this means you’ll filter out customers that aren’t a fit for you. That isn’t a bad thing!
Position papers nurture leads. These could be folks poking around your site, who are seeking your unique take on a problem. Or, they could be referrals looking to decide if your services are for them.
Be sure to allot plenty of time for writing. A great position paper requires collecting and organizing plenty of facts about a topic, as well as laying out your perspective into a logical and convincing argument. You may also want to gather the opinions of other experts to make your case. This is no small undertaking! Give yourself at least a month to complete.
Examples of position papers include white papers or other long form descriptive articles about a theme. Expect to write at least 1500 words for an article, or 3000+ for a standalone white paper.
| Position Paper | |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Offers a broad perspective on a big picture theme. |
| Reader’s Takeaway | How to think about something. |
| Scope | Strategic, big picture. |
| Perspective | Multiple Angles. |
| End Goal | Engage your reader by creating content that generates the most reaction (therefore don’t write everything you know!) |
| Writing Style | Persuasion. |
| Customer Journey | Nurtures leads who are considering buying, or who have been referred to you by others. |
| Length | Mid – Long. |
| Time to Write | 4 weeks. |
| Examples | Whitepapers. Long form descriptive articles. |
2. Question & Answer
Question & Answers posts are perfect for delivering early educational value to your customers. They should directly and concisely answer a question the reader has. Exploring long-tail keywords (i.e. “What is the ideal size of a scrum team?”) is a great way to gather a list of questions to answer.
Where a position paper teaches your reader how to think about something, a question & answer post teaches readers how to do something, or supplies them with details they need to move their personal goals forward.
A well-written question & answer post should come from the perspective of the reader. Offer tactical, detailed info that gets right to the point and gives them everything they need to know. This will attract early customer interest and develop trust, as you become a resource readers learn to count on.
Question & answer posts can be any length, ranging from a brief answer to a simple question, to full blown guides on how to do something. The most important thing to remember: They should be only as long as necessary to succinctly answer the question as it pertains to the reader.
To take our example from above, “What is the ideal size of a scrum team?”, one might answer this in as few as 100 words for an audience who is seeking only to gain a quick awareness. On the other hand, if your audience is coming from a place where they’re debating if scrum is right for them, you might go into much more detail about the theory behind scrum team size and why it works. In short, write for your audience’s very specific needs.
| Question & Answer | |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Answers a specific known question from the reader. |
| Reader’s Takeaway | How to do something. |
| Scope | Tactical, detail-oriented. |
| Perspective | From the reader’s perspective. |
| End Goal | Concisely and directly answer a question of the reader. |
| Writing Style | Educational. |
| Customer Journey | Attracts interest by delivering upfront value to prospects seeking answers to their questions. |
| Length | Any, short – long (only as long as is necessary to answer the question). |
| Time to Write | 1-4 weeks, depending on the length and complexity of the question being answered. |
| Examples | Guides. Brief Q&A. |
3. Data Story
The data story offers an analytical perspective on a complex problem. This is an opportunity to shape the perspective of your reader. It should cover multiple angles of a problem — spanning both strategic, big picture themes, as well as tactical details in action.
That may sound similar to a position paper, however the focus here should be to form a compelling narrative through data analysis, rather than specifically to persuade. If your story is meaningful, with an organized narrative and sound data, a data story will speak for itself.
Expect to flex your technical skills. A data story requires acquiring, cleaning, analyzing, presenting, and ultimately guiding the reader through a complex, narrative backed by data and visualizations.
Each step takes time, so be sure to leave plenty of space in your schedule to do the work. Count on a compelling data story to take a month. And if it requires setting up an experiment to collect new data, you’ll need to account extra for that.
A novel and insightful data story may attract early customer interest if the story is compelling enough to be shared around. In general though, expect it to nurture existing leads and retain customers by inviting them on a journey through your knowledge and expertise. The reader will come away with in-depth analysis to consider and proof of your skills.
Examples of data stories include data journalism, infographics, and case studies.
| Data Story | |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Offers an analytical perspective on a complex problem. |
| Reader’s Takeaway | In-depth analysis to consider. |
| Scope | Strategic, big picture; and tactical, detail-oriented elements. |
| Perspective | Multiple Angles. |
| End Goal | Shape the perspective of your reader through compelling narrative with data analysis. |
| Writing Style | Data-driven. |
| Customer Journey | Nurtures leads and retains customers by sharing your knowledge and expertise. May attract interest if the story is compelling enough to be shared. |
| Length | Long. |
| Time to Write | 4 weeks. |
| Examples | Data journalism. Infographics. Case studies. |
4. Personal Story
In contrast to data stories, the personal story offers (you guessed it) your personal perspective, through trials, triumphs, and lessons learned.
Connect with your reader by being vulnerable. Build empathy by sharing the thoughts and feelings of you or your team. The reader should walk away with increased confidence — or at least a feeling of understanding — around a mutual personal or professional development pursuit.
If the story resonates enough to be shared around with other like-minded prospects, these also may attract early customer interest. But, in general, aim to demonstrate your values and culture through authentic storytelling, which will nurture leads and retain customers.
Personal stories need not be long. They could be a quick “lessons learned” anecdote you encountered during the week (you’ll see a lot of these posts on social media). These anecdotes are relatively quick and easy share each week, and can be a powerful way to stay in touch with your audience. Alternatively, you might aim to tell a longer tale, such as detailing the experience of a complex organizational change.
Whatever format you choose, remember the end goal is to connect with your reader, so don’t worry about getting too detailed. Be wary of boring your reader talking all about yourself for too long. Keep personal stories short to medium length, and balance them with post types that bring other types of value.
| Personal Story | |
|---|---|
| Content Type | Storytelling |
| End Goal | Connect with the reader by being vulnerable. |
| Customer Journey | May attract interest if the story is compelling enough to be shared around, but otherwise nurtures leads and retains customers by helping them learn about your values and culture. |
| Reader Takeaway | Lessons to consider. |
| General Purpose | Answers a personal or professional development question. |
| Length | Short – Mid. |
| Perspective | Personal |
| Scope | Strategic, big picture, and tactical, detail-oriented elements. |
| Time to Write | 2 weeks |
| Examples | Lessons learned. Success stories. |
6. Opinion Piece
Part persuasion (like the position paper) and part storytelling (like the personal story), an opinion piece connects with the reader by challenging assumptions and presenting insights. Think Seth Godin’s blog.
Offer your unique take on something. It could be a big hairy strategic problem or a repetitive daily tactical one. Generally, a great opinion piece will present a contrarian view on a common problem.
The important thing is that it’s a problem your audience can relate to. Whether they agree or not, the reader will develop empathy for you, their fellow human. It will deepen their perspective or broaden their horizon, and they will think of you the next time they encounter this problem again.
Unless you’re already well-known (like Mr. Godin), an opinion piece generally won’t attract fresh customers. But when it comes to nurturing leads and connecting with current customers, they offer a valuable opportunity to differentiate yourself from the crowd.
Keep it brief, nuanced, and insightful. An opinion piece generally won’t take long to write. It can take awhile to discover opinions which are worth sharing though. Try keeping a notebook to jot down insights or arguments as you stumble upon an “Ah ha!” during your day. And if you find sustained interest from your audience, perhaps it’s time to consider an advice column.
| Opinion Piece | |
|---|---|
| Content Type | Opinions, insights. |
| End Goal | Connect with the reader by challenging assumptions |
| Customer Journey | Nurtures leads and retains customers by helping them learn more about your unique value proposition. |
| Reader Takeaway | A unique take on something. |
| General Purpose | Offers a generally contrarian perspective on a common problem. |
| Length | Short. |
| Perspective | Personal |
| Scope | Strategic or tactical. |
| Time to Write | 1 week |
| Examples | Advice columns. Insights or arguments. |
Quick Reference Guide
Writing for the team innovation blog can be a daunting task for non-writers to initiate, but it doesn’t need to be.
Next time, quick reference this guide to speed up the topic selection and ideation phase. Choose a post type that fits your needs, schedule, and writing style.
| Position Paper | Question & Answer | Data Story | Personal Story | Opinion Piece | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing Style | Persuasion. | Educational. | Data-driven. | Storytelling. | Opinions, insights. |
| End Goal | Engage your reader by creating content that generates the most reaction (therefore don’t write everything you know). | Concisely and directly answer a question of the reader. | Shape the perspective of your reader through compelling narrative with data analysis. | Connect with the reader by being vulnerable. | Connect with the reader by challenging assumptions |
| Customer Journey | Nurtures leads who are considering buying or who have been referred to you by others. | Attracts interest by delivering upfront value to prospects seeking answers to their questions. | Nurtures leads and retains customers by sharing your knowledge and expertise. May attract interest if the story is compelling enough to be shared. | May attract interest if the story is compelling enough to be shared around, but otherwise nurtures leads and retains customers by helping them learn about your values and culture. | Nurtures leads and retains customers by helping them learn more about your unique value proposition. |
| Reader’s Takeaway | How to think about something. | How to do something. | In-depth analysis to consider. | Lessons to consider. | A unique take on something. |
| Purpose | Offers a broad perspective on a big picture theme. | Answers a specific known question from the reader | Offers an analytical perspective on a complex problem. | Answers a personal or professional development question. | Offers a generally contrarian perspective on a common problem. |
| Length | Mid – Long. | Any, short – long (only as long as is necessary to answer the question). | Long. | Short – Mid. | Short. |
| Perspective | Multiple Angles | From the reader’s perspective. | Multiple Angles. | Personal | Personal |
| Scope | Strategic, big picture. | Tactical, detail-oriented. | Strategic, big picture; and tactical, detail-oriented elements. | Strategic, big picture, and tactical, detail-oriented elements. | Strategic or tactical. |
| Time to Write | 4 weeks | 1-4 weeks, depending on the length and complexity of the question being answered. | 4 weeks. | 2 weeks | 1 week |
| Examples | Whitepapers. Long form descriptive articles. | Guides. Brief Q&A. | Data journalism. Infographics. Case studies. | Lessons learned. Success stories. | Advice columns. Insights or arguments. |