Writing for channels

Highlight Northeastern’s unique strengths.

Showcase our areas of distinction: global experience, use-inspired research, partnerships, innovation, and lifelong learning. Include details and examples that emphasize these strengths. Show don’t tell. 

Let the personalities of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni shine through.

People like to read about people. Tell authentic stories about our community members, drawing from their wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

Know your audience.

Make sure whatever you write meets their needs, solves their problem, addresses their interests, or inspires immediately and concisely.

Focus on your goal.

All messaging should target a result, such as increased website engagement metrics; or an action, like requests for more information, event registration, newsletter subscription, etc. Make sure your language drives readers toward that goal.

Be relatable.

Use second-person language and active voice wherever possible to draw your audience in.

Use headlines effectively.

Stick to headlines of no more than eight words or 100 characters. For digital content, most is accessed via mobile phones, so the more informative and concise the headline, the better.

Make subheadings work hard.

Be sure your headings and subheads tell the story; if a user is scanning content, the headers will be their takeaways.

When creating websites, be sure to follow our digital experience guidelines.  

Here are some tips to optimize digital copy’s effectiveness. 

Use appropriate tagging.

Make sure to use H tags in decreasing order and use descriptive alt text and metadata for better SEO and reader accessibility. 

View our digital experience guidelines or contact ITS for more information on SEO best practices. 

Optimize your content for mobile.

Most people use their phones to view content, so make sure your whatever you create is optimized and compatible with the mobile format. Be concise and make sure that both the visuals and copy content appear properly and are easy to digest on any device.

Identify and use good keywords.

If you are targeting keyword phrases, incorporate them smoothly—don’t use awkward constructions to squeeze in keyword phrases. Don’t use misleading keywords to generate traffic; your content should deliver what it promises.

Use strong, prominent CTAs.

Make it as easy as possible for your users to take action. For CTAs that take the user to deeper information, use active, on-brand language, like “discover more” or “explore programs.”  Be as concise as possible, with a maximum length of 33 characters when using the CTA pill. See website experience guidelines for more details.

Provide useful information, authentically.

Good content always rises to the top. A clear topic, concise language, and meaningful information will be valued by your audience and prioritized by search engines.

Use infographics when you are compiling data visually. Whether a pdf or image, keep these tips in mind for the best user experience.

Simplify your message.

Identify the goal of your infographic and build the content around it. Too many themes or conflicting points can cause confusion.

Deliver clear, concise information.

Focus on the key points or data and use only short phrases to simplify your message.

Make the copy scannable.

Break up the content into visually pleasing sections that your eyes can easily follow. Use copy sparingly; your graphics, numbers, and short phrases should do most of the work.

Optimize your format.

Infographics work best when they are easily scanned by screen readers. Work with UX guidance to incorporate alt text or summaries, and to ensure that the graphic scales to the viewable screen area. See website experience guidelines for more details.

Cite sources.

Proper citations are important when conveying data points. Be sure to use links or footnotes to reference your sources. 

Use case studies to highlight positive outcomes of projects, partnerships, research, or other completed programs.

Keep it short.

Your goal is to quickly prove the outcome of a given program, so get right to the meat of your story.

Consider using a problem-solution-results format.

This approach is easily scannable, gets to the point, and communicates a brand message. Make sure to highlight key outcomes that will resonate with your audience.

Launching ads on social media platforms offers key opportunities to drive brand awareness and engage one or more target audience.

Adapt your copy to the platform.

Writing ad copy for LinkedIn may require using a different tone or language than Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Consider where people will see your ads, and understand the opportunities each platform presents. Then write and design to embrace this context.

Make the benefit clear.

The product or idea you’re advertising may be about Northeastern, but you need, first and foremost, to highlight the benefit to your audience.  

Use a strong call to action.

Be clear and specific about what action you want the audience to take. Use action oriented verbs, and match the CTA to the ad’s goal.  

Eliminate bias.

Marketing to multiple audiences means that language must be effective and amenable to all. Demographics include more than gender and race; other considerations are geography, socioeconomic status, relatable jobs, and academic paths, abilities, and sexuality. Avoid language and concepts that default to stereotypes or broad generalizations.

In long-form copy, you have the opportunity to tell a detailed story, whether via a blog, news article, report, or study. Stay on brand and on message with these tips. 

Consider your channel(s).

Web writing, for example, has less linear narrative than print, so use best practices for UX to achieve a seamless experience. See website experience guidelines for more help.

Structure your narrative.

With a lot of text, be sure to organize your content clearly and comprehensively, using a table of contents or anchors where necessary. Think of the classic essay format of intro, body, and conclusion to tell your story in a linear fashion.

Repurpose existing content.

Try to refresh, revive, and repurpose existing work wherever possible, rather than start from scratch. New content can often be created by approaching existing resources from a new angle. (See the Content Resources section for ready-to-use materials.) 

Don’t bury your point.

Start with what’s going to resonate with your audience and then provide the relevant backstory if needed.

One-pagers give you a place to deep dive into a discrete topic. Use our template as guidance. Here’s how to make it work.

Be mindful about your audience(s).

It’s best to tailor to one audience. However, if you’re writing an overview for multiple audiences, make sure it’s inclusive and the supporting points address audience-specific needs.

Have a clear objective.

Don’t stray from your topic at hand. Grab the audience’s attention early with compelling language that answers their question or interest immediately.

Keep it concise.

Write in scannable, bite-sized segments to keep your content digestible. Format using sufficient white space around columns and paragraphs to keep the text from being too heavy and overwhelming.

Call out key points.

Use bullets, sidebars, quotes, and other elements to highlight important information and break up the content.