Journalistic Skills vs. Brand Writing: What You Need to Know

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, the line between journalism and content marketing is becoming increasingly blurred. At first glance, they may seem like entirely different worlds, but if you dig a little deeper, surprising similarities emerge. How do traditional journalism skills fit into the modern landscape of brand writing? Get ready for a journey that will not only change your perception of these disciplines but could also redefine your approach to communication in the digital age.

The Content Marketing Mindset

Content marketing revolves around telling the brand story. This means that, unlike journalism, there is no need to be impartial. In some stories, you might directly promote the benefits of a product, while in others it may be less obvious. In any case, you are writing on behalf of the brand.

“Content marketing is storytelling with the goal of inspiring someone to take action“, says Anne Miller, senior managing editor at Visor. “Maybe that action is simply getting to know the company, or maybe the goal is to book a demo or make a sale“.

Moving away from impartiality and writing to promote a brand or product can be challenging. Here are a few quick tips:

• Include relevant proof of expertise, but avoid citing data or linking to competitor websites or research.
• Know how to end a story with an inviting call to action.
• Organically integrate SEO terms and brand names into the text.
• Include links to other brand content whenever possible.

The purpose of content marketing is to attract, engage, and retain an audience through relevant content. This approach builds trust, helps the brand reach more people, and ensures it becomes the first thing that comes to mind when someone is ready to buy.

Since every piece of content is designed to capture a reader and prompt them to act as quickly as possible, it isn’t the right place for a more literary style. “I hadn’t thought much about my journalistic writing style until I started doing content marketing,” says journalist Nell Walker. “It quickly became clear that my style was, in fact, too flowery and formal for content marketing. Adapting to a more concise and punchy writing style was a true learning process.”

The (Often Lengthy) Revision Process

One area where many journalists get stuck is the revision process. Many content marketing clients assume revisions are included in the fee, so it’s always good to be clear about the actual number: two rounds of revisions are pretty standard.

When writing for a newspaper or magazine, likely only your editor will make changes to the article or ask for revisions. In content marketing, many more people are involved. You still have an editor, but the piece may also go through the product team, the marketing manager, the legal team, and the social media team.

Dealing with so many touchpoints might mean it takes some time before you get revision requests, and when you do, there may be lots of comments from various people. In these cases, you need to be flexible with your text, especially if it won’t be published under your name—you might not agree with their changes. However, it’s best to meet such requests as much as possible and approach them with a customer-service mindset.

Some content marketing clients may see you as an extension of their full-time team and expect an immediate response. For this reason, it’s wise to set timing expectations at the project’s outset.

Useful Journalism Skills in Content Marketing

When working in content marketing, you may need to leave some journalism skills behind or adapt your approach. Research and interview skills will be valued but in different contexts.

“At first, it was hard for me to get used to content marketing work based solely on desk research, without interviews“, says freelance journalist Rachel Smith. “Coming from a magazine background where everything was based on interviews, it was a learning curve“.

If you are writing a thought leadership article, excellent interview skills will help you extract insights from experts who might author the content. In this case, the interview also gives you a sense of the expert’s voice and communication style, which can be applied to the story.

Interviews can also make a story more vivid and help it resonate with the audience. Whether you do this as part of a case study or to add extra depth to a data-rich ebook, it can help your content marketing work stand out. Content strategists often overlook the power of a third-party quote in content, often because they don’t think like journalists. So, consider pitching ideas that leverage your skill set.

Journalists also excel at setting the scene and helping the reader become invested in the story within a broader context. Freelance writer Kimmy Gustafson explains: “For me, journalistic articles include the who, what, when, where, why, how, and so what. I write longer-form journalism articles for magazines and I dedicate space to describing the setting and events“.

This is something content marketers can do to engage the reader. Often, readers can feel disconnected from something that seems too commercialized, so setting the scene in a more journalistic way can help draw them in.

Brands seek competent communicators

Even though content marketing and journalism may seem like two very different worlds, both offer opportunities to grow your freelance business. Brands are always looking for writers who can apply their skills within the context of content marketing, while still keeping a focus on the client. Showcasing these skills in your portfolio can help you expand your client list and diversify the types of assignments you receive.