Page 57 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

46 How to Write Effective Business English

If you can write well, not only are you improving your career
prospects generally, you can also deal with any social media,
where the written word takes centre stage. What you need to write
depends on your personal and company story, the points you want
to make, the goals you need to achieve, and how you write to at-
tract and maintain readers’ interaction with you, as the story
evolves.
This chapter is about getting you involved in the social media
mindset.

Get your business message to anyone,

anywhere, anytime

It’s all about sharing information and collaborating online, bring-
ing the facility to enable everyone to get in touch with anyone,
anywhere, anytime. In business, although the biggest players have
the biggest budget, they can’t get complacent. Even the smallest
voice now has a megaphone to communicate globally, be part of
the conversation – and go viral.
Responsive companies of all sizes know the importance of effec-
tive online presence on social media where written content is king.
Even the very best visuals rarely work by themselves: it’s usually
the captions and descriptions that ultimately sell the messages.
Infographics can be immensely valuable, almost at a glance, via
thought-through visuals aided by writing that imparts key infor-
mation interestingly and concisely.
People constantly check their networks, so content needs to be
updated: they want to be kept posted on things such as helpful in-
formation, breaking news, innovation, events, offers, etc.
Written content also needs to be suitable for mobile devices and
smart watches. Users who are ‘on the go’, maybe waiting for a train
or between meetings, need easily highlighted messages and to know
at a glance where you’re leading. The original ‘click here’ has given
way to the (hopefully) more enticing ‘read more’.