Why Journalists Make the Best Blog Writers

In a piece about the difference between journalists and bloggers, Content Grip points out that the level of technique and skill of those with a background in journalism adds a level of quality to the content produced.

“You can expect them [journalists] to come equipped with certain skills, such as authoritative research, investigation know-how, and the ability to conduct interviews” 

When journalists write blogs, they create better content. They know that to make a piece of writing relevant, they need to find a different angle on the topic and hook their audience.

Challenging what is already out in the blogosphere starts with a different perspective that gets us thinking. Journalistic blog writers excel at taking a unique angle or perspective and using facts, statistics, and stories to support their arguments. If your company has a unique perspective or opinion, they can leverage that journalistic style to showcase it.

HONE IN ON THE FACTS

Too often, when marketers write blogs, the content easily falls into a sales pitch, or dare I say it, a bad infomercial. Adding journalists (especially ones trained also in marketing) to your writing mix prevents this.

Journalists know how to create trustworthy, relevant content because their goals are different. They're trying to create a story rather than rehashing old information or pushing a cheesy sales pitch. 

They'll ask the right questions to get the most valuable information from both internal and external experts in the field building credibility and trust with your audience. 

SHAPE AND PROTECT YOUR Brand VOICE

In 2017, Pepsi fell into negative PR after the release of a commercial starring Kendall Jenner, which depicted Kendall breaking from a group of protesters to hand a Pepsi to a police officer. Pepsi had been trying to create an ad that would speak to their target audience, but instead, they achieved the opposite and had inadvertently offended them. Just one day after the video released, digital content engagement mentioning Pepsi increased 366%, but 31% called the advertisement “tone-deaf,” and 10% labeled it “the worst ever,” according to data from Amobee Brand Intelligence.

So what can marketers learn from Pepsi as it relates to blogging? When you work for a company, frequently, you are drinking the Kool-Aid — or in this case, the Pepsi — and sometimes miss the mark on perception because you are too deep in the bubble. Too often, when companies think about their branding, they don’t pay enough attention to their tone and the public sentiment -- aspects of writing that journalists keep front and center.

This is where journalistic blog writers can really make a big and newsworthy impact. They can help your company define that tone of voice, or how you sound in your content so when you remove the label of your brand, people still know it’s you because of how it sounds.

Why? Because they have experience creating content that is impactful and prominent. Marketer and author Ann Hadley says it this way,

“Done right, your tone of voice is truly the secret sauce in your content BBQ.”

Think about your favorite news sources and blogs, if they didn’t have their name on an article, could you tell it was from them? I know I could.

FREE UP YOUR TEAM

You and your employees may know that it is beneficial to continually publish content on your website, but when you add the task of blogging to your employees' already busy schedules, that to-do quickly gets labeled as “low-priority.” Without having time, creativity suffers. One of the worst things a company can do for itself is to create bad or boring content, which can easily happen when writing a blog is rushed.

So do yourself, your employees, and your company a favor and consider using a journalistic blog writer to create newsworthy content for your site and get ready to see your credibility and following soar.