Alyssa Fox, STC 2022 Conference Chair
The theme of this year’s Summit is “The Booming Business of Content: New Era, New Opportunities.” As organizations continue to evolve, content is increasingly being recognized as a vital business asset. Content communicates your story, educates your readers, and persuades them to purchase the product, service, or solution your organization is selling. Thoughtful, high-quality content is one of the strongest tools you have in your arsenal to attract and keep an audience, driving them to action that means more revenue for your business. Tying your daily work to that ultimate business goal—profit—exhibits how critical your role and outcomes are to an organization.
For as long as I can remember, technical communicators have tended to struggle with not being appreciated and valued. The theme and sessions the conference committee selected for the event convey that those who work in tech comm are valuable to the business in both qualitative and quantitative ways. Our primary goal in selecting the conference theme was to bring the business aspect of our roles to the forefront. These sessions will show attendees that through strategic application of an understanding of business goals, they can demonstrate how their work aligns with those goals and support that stance with examples and case studies.
STC’s mission statement includes a focus on “promoting the concept that technical communication training develops foundational skills and fosters in practitioners habits of analysis, discernment, and problem-solving that underpin their ability to successfully perform in many fields.” This notion resonates with me deeply, as I am one of those who has benefitted from my technical communication training and leveraged those skills as I moved into another discipline—marketing. We also want to show the vast array of the ways content is used in business today to demonstrate the many possibilities attendees might not have considered for career paths.
Knowing your audience is Tech Comm 101. Funnily enough, it’s also Marketing 101. And really also Presentations 101. Having people in your organization who understand this concept and apply it leads to more relevant content. Skilled technical communicators also know that coherent and accurate content in all forms saves the company from embarrassing situations and can affect the perception that prospects, customers, shareholders, and even employees have of the company. A poor perception of the company can directly impact the bottom line, preventing further exploration of the organization and its solutions and future sales.
Connecting our technical content to the buyer’s journey elevates the importance of our work. Traditionally, technical content was considered a post-sales deliverable. With digital transformation and sales cycles morphing, many prospective customers seek out and review technical documentation as part of their research before buying. The closer a prospect comes to a decision of which solution to buy, the more specific and clear content they need to help them differentiate between purchasing your solution over your competitors’ solutions. Technical content helps fill that gap.
It's clear from the research that technical content can help boost sales. Providing trustworthy information that describes how your service or solution helps people achieve their goals delivers a stronger buyer experience and boosts your visibility and worth.
Come learn more at the STC Summit in Chicago Rosemont, 15-18 May 2022. In boosting your business, you’ll boost your own brand.