What is Digital Writing?
Digital writing is the most effective way for brands to build an identity, communicate value, and connect with customers online.
With the advent of digital marketing, markets across all industries are more saturated than ever. And digital marketing is one of the most important pillars of digital marketing - one that brands can’t live without.
In this article, we unpack what digital writing is, and the key elements of effective digital writing that helps organisations achieve their marketing objectives.
What is Digital Writing?
Digital writing is a catch-all term for all writing that forms part of a digital marketing strategy.
In practice, digital writing means writing marketing messages that appear on a computer, phone, tablet or any other device that connects to the internet.
Digital writing can take the form of:
Blogs
Articles
Website pages
Social media posts
Online ads
Emails
E-books
White papers
Technical writing
Public Relations and media statements
Is Digital Writing the Same as Copywriting and Content Writing?
Digital writing encompasses both copywriting (writing that aims to persuade the reader to buy or take action) and content writing (writing that aims to strengthen brand equity by informing, educating or entertaining the reader)
Why is Digital Writing Important?
Digital writing is crucial to a successful digital marketing strategy.
Consistent and engaging digital writing helps brands connect to their customers, stakeholders and the wider community.
High-quality digital writing is also an invaluable business asset. Digital writing that connects with customers will ensure a steady stream of interaction, engagement, and leads online - ultimately leading to sales. Effective digital writing is like having your best salesperson working around the clock!
What does Effective Digital Writing Look Like?
Effective digital writing is writing that supports or enables your business to achieve its objectives.
And for your digital writing to be as effective as possible, it must be strategic, targeted, engaging, and shareable.
Strategic: Your brand’s digital strategy ultimately guides your digital writing. Each piece of digital writing must link back to that strategy, be it a tweet or a long-form blog. Having a specific, measurable digital marketing strategy amplifies the success of any digital writing your brand does. With a solid strategic foundation, your digital writing will cut through the noise and impact your audience more.
Targeted: To maximise its impact, create each piece of digital writing with a specific target audience in mind. While this may seem like common sense advice, many brands make the mistake of being too general in their digital writing, thinking their content will reach more people. So before you start any digital writing, it pays to get clarity on exactly who you want to read your message, what they want to hear, and how your brand can help them.
Engaging: Gone are the days of writing for search engine algorithms. Best practice digital writing’s ultimate goal is to engage its audience - and keep them coming back for more. Whether your goal is to increase brand awareness or to get customers to take action, your digital writing has to add value to your target audience. Depending on your brand’s overall objective, your digital writing can engage your audience by either entertaining them, educating them or offering solutions to problems they are facing. Engaging digital writing also starts a conversation between you and your audience and amongst your audience.
Shareable: Effective digital writing will leave an impact on its audience. So much so that your audience shares your content with others. And it doesn’t mean just sharing content on social media, either. Highly engaging digital writing breaks digital barriers and starts offline conversations between your target audience and their social circle. “Shareable” content amplifies your brand message for a fraction of the cost of manually extending your reach through paid media.
How Do You Create a Digital Writing Strategy?
An effective digital writing strategy relies on your brand having a clear idea of its goals and objectives.
Underpinning a successful digital marketing strategy is clearly defining who you serve (your target audience) and how you help them (your value proposition).
Finally, your digital writing should establish your brand as an authority or thought leader within your industry so your audience trusts you to provide value to their lives.
