How to Write a Technical or Business Article

Target Desired Readers To Achieve A Specific Objective

May 18, 2009 Thomas Kelly

Marketing promotional articles for print media work best if they are short and structured to attract a desired group of readers and achieve a precisely-defined objective

Planning is essential for a business or technical article as a marketing piece in a business, technical or trade magazine. Despite growth of on-line media, trade magazines are still powerful in reaching technical buyers, and these buyers are strongly influenced by vendor-generated articles, according to USA Strategies ("How Can Print Be Dead if Consumers Trust It So Much?") and a report (Marketing to a B2B Technical Buyer) from Enquiro Research.

Any marketing communication should be developed with two questions in mind:

1. Who is it for?

2. What is the objective?

A plan will help ensure that the article appeals to the intended readers and leaves them with the idea the writer intends to convey.

Business and technical magazines currently prefer articles that take up one or two pages only; about 700 to 1200 words. It is important to structure the article to achieve the objective in this short space.

Basic Structure

The classic structure is the simplest:

• The lead paragraph summarizes the article.
• The main body of the article elaborates on the summary.
• The final paragraph restates the summary.

The benefit is that the main point is repeated so that readers will remember it. A variation can address the two questions of who it's for and what is the objective:

• The lead should appeal to the intended reader. It is shaped by the answer to the question of who it's for.
• The closing paragraph is the one the writer hopes will stick in the reader's mind. It is shaped by the answer to the question of the objective.
• The lead can summarize the main fact that will appeal to the intended reader.
• The closing paragraph can summarize it in terms of its implications.

An Example Of An Article For Technology Innovators

Take, for example, an article that might have been written about gasoline-electric hybrid cars 15 to 20 years ago when they were first being developed. Intended readers would be the group that marketing professionals call "innovators"; i.e., people who buy new technology simply because it is new -- they see its potential and want to be leaders. The objective could be to inspire them to invest in a company developing the technology.

• The lead could summarize the technology of gasoline engine, generator/electric motor and battery. It could refer to reduced gasoline consumption. The technology itself would appeal to the innovators.
• The main body would elaborate on the technology, the performance of prototypes, a projection of fuel savings and speculation of popularity in the marketplace.
• The closing paragraph could serve the objective by stating potential sales and return on investment.

An Article For Early Potential Buyers

Another article could be written to appeal to people more interested in financial benefits of owning a car than in the technology. Its objective could be to instill confidence that the technology will work.

• The lead would emphasize gasoline savings.
• The main text would elaborate on the savings and reliability as demonstrated by prototypes, and on how the technology, based on well-established engineering principles, achieves the savings.
• The close could summarize by referring back to the prototype successes.

Why A Plan Works

Having planned the structure of the article, the writer knows how to start and how to finish. This helps composition of the main body of the text since the writer knows the final point to be made.

A more complex structure is needed to grab the attention of readers who might need to be convinced that they will benefit from learning about the subject of the article. Otherwise, for business and technical readers known to be interested in the subject, this simple structure works well.

The copyright of the article How to Write a Technical or Business Article in Marketing/PR is owned by Thomas Kelly. Permission to republish How to Write a Technical or Business Article in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Market Promotion Via B2B And Technical Media

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