Writing articles for different types of media is a tried and tested marketing strategy. For example, writing guest blog posts not only introduce you and your services to a new audience, but can also help you get a great link for SEO purposes, give you opportunities to develop relationships with key portals that speak to your target market, and gives your online reputation a great boost.

While you know what you’re writing about, you might not be sure about the audience that will be reading your content. Who reads this site? What are they interested in? Will they find your article interesting?

We have a few tips to help you write about any topic with confidence, focus, and authority.

Do your research

Before you start writing, you need to know a bit about the area you’re writing for. Make sure you understand the key demographics of the audience you want to speak to. What are their interests? What activities do they do? Where are they based? What major points are being discussed right now?

You won’t get a knitting group interested in a comparison chart of JavaScript frameworks, and you won’t get a web development meet-up interested in yarn conversions. So you need to do that research before you write.

If you can tap into the things they care about, you’ll grab their attention and get them reading. And once you tap into what the audience cares about, it’s a lot easier to make the article good enough for the editor as well.

The basic formula is this: Take what you know about your own area of expertise, and apply it to what you have learned about your new audience. It’s simple, but if you stick with it, you won’t go too far wrong.

It’s the reason you’re targeting the new audience in the first place – you want to tell them what you can do for them.

Make it relate

Whatever you’re writing about, make sure there’s something in your piece that relates to what you do or the business you are in.

If all you’re doing is writing something that the audience will like, you’ve only got it half right. You need to link the two worlds together, demonstrating that your audience needs to think about you for something they need.

You want to show that you understand them, so they think of you the next time they need your services.

That knitting group might not think they’re interested in JavaScript frameworks, but showing them how a framework makes it easy to apply yarn conversions to a pattern lets them know what you have to offer them.

Give your audience real world examples of why they might need your services, showing off what you can do. Tell them what to look for when choosing a supplier.

But don’t turn your article into a sales pitch where you repeatedly tell everyone how wonderful you are. An article written like sales copy will stand a very slim chance of being published, and if it is, it’ll be ignored or slated by anyone who sees it.

Point out the advantages of your own unique selling points or areas you’re experts in, and keep it subtle. When your audience starts looking for someone, they’ll see for themselves that you’re exactly what they’re looking for.

Keep it fresh

Fresh and unique content isn’t just important from an SEO perspective, it’s also important for your article. Covering old ground or trying to get an article re-published on a different blog is a big mistake.

If the editor, journalist, or blog owner has seen the actual article before, they’ll send it right back to you, and you will have most likely burnt your bridges with them for trying to con them into taking an old article. Not to mention that if any readers have read the article before, they’ll make certain people know.

Everyone wants unique content – not hand-me-downs with no consideration for their audience. You can’t just copy/paste in your JavaScript framework article, replace “milk” with “wool”, and expect that an audience that cooks isn’t going to intersect with an audience that knits.

Be bold

If you’re confident about what you say and how you say it, you can easily persuade your target audience that you have the authority and they should listen to you.

Be firm in your arguments, and back it up with statistics, research, or examples, so that the reader doesn’t just have to take your word for it. If there’s any sign of weakness in your arguments, readers will spot it and highlight it for everyone else to see.

This doesn’t just include your arguments, but any evidence you provide for it. Accidentally add an extra stitch in a pattern, and the knitting group will start poking holes in all your work.

Stick to your original line of argument throughout your piece and reinforce it at every opportunity, especially if you’re going against the standard knowledge.

If people disagree, you might have just created a discussion. This gives your article longevity well beyond its original publication, and makes a single article a major PR win.

Consider the medium

Where will the article appear? Writing for online and offline media is very different, so tailoring your writing style and the content is crucial to getting it right and ensuring it will get published.

Online articles can potentially be published instantly, and as long as you’re writing about an ongoing issue, current topic, or a favourite debate, you can gain attention and relate to your readers.

However, online articles are more interactive than ever before, with social media integration and commenting. What you say and how you say it will be under intense scrutiny, and you will need to make certain you have everything correct.

And if you get comments on your article, consider replying to them to further engage with the people who have read it – not to mention the ideas you can come up with while working with them. That knitting group might have ideas about your JavaScript framework that could really make your work shine.

Most print, including magazines, are planned out months in advance, so writing about something that is in the news right now can have little or no relevancy when it goes to print. Rather than focusing on a single time-sensitive thing, open up a wider discussion on industry talking points, and only drop in references to recent events.

Don’t assume any knowledge

You shouldn’t claim to know everything about the audience you’re writing for, and you also shouldn’t take for granted that your audience will know who you are or what it is that you do.

When you write your article on your JavaScript framework, don’t alienate your knitting audience by talking about the technical aspects.

But also don’t make assumptions about your intended audience. Don’t stereotype or try to guess what they’re like – find out the facts. That knitting group might not be a bunch of grandmothers sitting around making baby blankets, and might pick holes in not just your knitting, but also your coding standards.

Ask around to see if there is someone you know who understands, or is part of, your target audience. They’ll give you a window into how to write for them, and you won’t be guessing.

Be resilient

You might think you’ve written a masterpiece, but getting it out there could be trickier than you’ve imagined.

Make a list of all the websites you’d like to appear on, and put them in order of importance. This could be by visitor popularity, domain authority, or personal preference.

Write an email pitch to sell your article to the desired website, detailing why you’ve written it and the main points within. Tailor each email to the individual website and approach them one at a time, as you don’t want to be seen as offering everyone the same content or spamming them.

And if a website rejects your piece, don’t be put off and don’t take it personally. Move on to the next, and hope for the best.

You can get your content out there, and with our tips, you can make sure it’s the best it can be.