Why Is Technical Writing So Hot Right Now?
By: Leigh Hartzman
Tags: Technical Writing, Careers, Documentation, Writing, Copywriting

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

“Technical writing is Copywriting’s old boring uncle.”

Someone once wrote that on Copyblogger.

I thought it was true.

I lusted over Copywriting for years.

At parties, Copywriting was always surrounded by beautiful people. He mesmerized them with his stories, and that perfect smile.

Meanwhile, Technical writing checked coats at the door. He wasn’t charismatic or flashy like Copywriting. But we got to talking and I discovered that:

He always says what he means (Bold)

He wants to help you reach your goals (Nurturing)

He isn’t pushy and never tries to convince you to do things you aren’t sure about (Sensitive)

I was in love. ❤️

Why you should love technical writing too

Tech is constantly evolving.

As it evolves, the products we use every day get more complex.

You can do almost anything now with an app,

that connects to a platform,

that integrates with more apps,

that offer your more features,

that let you save everything in a cloud,

that’s protected by a cyber security solution,

that you can monitor from your phone.

See where I’m rolling with this?

Tech is embedded in our lives like never before. As much as it’s supposed to make our lives easier, it actually comes with a new kind of hard.

80% of Americans experience some type of tech frustration on a daily basis. Tech companies are trying to alleviate this frustration by creating new forms of documentation for their customers. That’s why technical writing is so important right now.

So if the idea of writing a manual for a handful of developers bores you, check out these new age technical writing niches that give you the opportunity to write for everyday consumers, like you and me.

1. Product academies

As much as tech companies want their products to be intuitive for users, not every feature is self-explanatory. Companies are investing in creating product academies for their customers — online learning portals that teach them how to make the most out of their product.

Through structured tutorials, an academy can introduce customers to the basic features of a product, and then train them to become expert users. It’s a great way to improve customer onboarding and retention.

Academy examples

Wix Academy

Wix is not just a drag-and-drop website builder anymore. Their platform offers solutions for ecommerce, email marketing, promotions, performance tracking and so much more. They built an online portal where Wix users can learn how to make the most of all their solutions, and how to grow an online business in general. Here’s an example of one of the articles that explains how to get started with their newsletter feature, ShoutOut.

This is exactly what technical writing is. It provides the reader with instructions on how to carry out a technical process. Unlike traditional manual writing, the Wix Academy mixes technical how-to instructions with blog style content, a modern spin on technical writing that is gaining popularity in the consumer product space.

Hubspot Academy

HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales platform. It offers marketing, sales, service and website management products. Needless to say, if you’re new to Hubspot, you probably wouldn’t know where to start. That’s where their academy comes in. It offers a combination of business courses, like marketing, sales and web development, and courses on how to use Hubspot software.

The majority of the courses on Hubspot Academy are video courses. This one above teaches you how to set up teams in the Hubspot software. I know quite a few technical writers who would love to sink their teeth into a writing technical scripts for a project like this!

2. Knowledge bases

Struggling to understand how to use a product is a top reason why customers leave. A knowledge base is a collection of documentation that includes answers to frequently asked questions, how-to guides, and troubleshooting instructions. It offers customers an easy way to solve usability issues without having to contact customer support. As a result, it reduces the chances that they’ll leave for a competitor.

Knowledge base examples

Lyft

The Lyft app offers commuters 10 different ways to get where they need to go. Having a lot of options is great, but it also increases the chance that users will stumble as they try to use the app. They created an info-packed knowledge base to help commuters have an easy and enjoyable experience.

Technical writing is at the heart of creating a great knowledge base. People go to a knowledge base when they have very specific questions about how to use a product. You’ll find articles on the Lyft knowledge base that answer these questions like “How to request a ride” and “How to call your passengers”.

Fitbit

Fitbit sold 16 million of its fitness trackers in 2019 alone. Think about all those people encountering the same issues like “Why won’t my Fitbit sync?”. Self-service troubleshooting guides take the load off their customer support team and improve the user experience.

For example, this technical article can help millions of users learn how to restart their Fitbit device.

This stuff is fun to write. While most technical writers are writing for a handful of developers, you could be writing for millions of fitness fans!

3. Internal knowledge

Did you know that the average employee spends close to 20% of every workweek looking for information or chasing colleagues who can help them complete their tasks? Companies are recognizing that this an expensive waste of time and are putting more emphasis and resources into internal knowledge and communications.

Internal knowledge is the documentation of a company’s processes, which employees can use as a reference to get their work done. Although it’s never seen by customers, it’s one of the most important tools for any business.

For internal knowledge to be effective, it must be centralized, accessible and up-to-date. That’s why companies hire technical writers to write internal documentation like:

Onboarding training for new hires

Standard operating procedures

Internal wiki of company information

Customer support workflows for support agents

Operations playbooks

Process documentation

It can be really satisfying to know that your writing is helping a company be more productive and achieve their goals. Our technical writing team at Waze writes internal processes and workflows and we love to see how our documentation promotes organization, efficiency and drives the business forward.

4. Chatbots

“Hi! I’m here to help if you have any questions.”

Sound familiar?

Chatbots use artificial intelligence (AI) to understand and respond to written language. They are used in many service industries to answer customers’ questions and help them navigate through a company’s website, software or application.

Not only can chatbots answer questions from customers, they can also be used internally to communicate with employees and handle HR related tasks like the onboarding process. They can guide new employees through company protocols and address common IT service desk problems.

47% of organizations are expected to implement chatbots for customer support services in 2021. And as conversational technology evolves, chatbots will be able to provide customized answers unique to each customer.

This all sounds magical, but how do chatbots know how and what to communicate? Chatbots are fed conversational scripts, which they spit out according to a recognized keyword or phrase. And who do you think writes those conversations? A technical writer, of course! It’s one of the most fun types of technical content to write, and demand for it is high.

Get to know technical writing

If you’re flirting with the idea of getting into technical writing, these examples should be enough to convince you to give it a chance. Learn more about what technical writing is, the skills you need and how to apply for technical writing jobs. Get started by downloading my technical writing handbook. Who knows? Technical writing just my be your career match made in heaven.