# From technical writing to technical communication

## Definition

The goal of **technical communication** is to turn prospects into satisfied customers. The technical writer gives the market the information it needs to choose, evaluate, and use a high-tech product. Inside the company, they sit at the interface between R&D and marketing; outside it, they open a dialogue between the company and its many audiences. The [three levels of technical documentation](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/costs/three-levels-of-documentation/) offer a useful framework for understanding where a company's documentation stands today.

Technical communication is often reduced to **technical writing** — the product documentation produced once a sale is made. But technical communication starts earlier, before the sale, and stays with the product across its entire life cycle. Where technical writing speaks to users, technical communication also speaks to the general public, to journalists, and to prospects.

| | Technical writing | Technical communication |
|---|---|---|
| **When** | Once a sale is made | Before the sale, and across the product's entire life cycle |
| **Audience** | Users | Also the general public, journalists, and prospects |
| **Media** | Product documentation | A range of media, each tailored to the reader's level of expertise and role |

> **Diagram: Marketing and technical writing media by technical level and marketing value**
>
> Quadrant chart plotting six communication media by technical level and marketing value. Animation is low-technical and high-marketing. User guide is high-technical and low-marketing. White paper is high on both axes. Corporate magazine is low on both. Brochure and website sit near the middle.

*Technical communication supports both marketing and technical writing.*

## Key principles

### A marketing dimension in every medium

Its aim is to show that a product fits its audience. To do that, it draws on a range of media, each tailored to the reader's level of expertise and role — general public, journalists, prospects, customers. The technical writer adapts the message to each one, and whatever the medium — text, illustration, film, animation — a marketing dimension runs through all of it. To support sales, every piece of communication has to work as a marketing tool too.

### Logical and creative

But can the same person be both logical and creative? That duality is essential in musical composition, architecture, and software development — and it is just as essential for a technical writer. The work calls for:

- studying the fit between the audience's needs and the company's resources,
- strong creative and writing skills,
- rigorous [project management](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/tech-writing-process/project-definition/),
- an industrial process for producing and promoting content.

### Getting the most out of content

This blog looks at concrete examples of technical communication media: their marketing value, their fit with the target audience, and how to get the most out of them. Getting the most out of content means:

- producing quality content aligned with your audience,
- preserving existing content across its versions,
- reusing and recycling what you already have.

## Related articles

- [The three levels of technical documentation](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/costs/three-levels-of-documentation/)
- [KISS Principle of Simplicity](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/costs/kiss-principle/)
- [Formats and tools](https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/costs/formats-and-tools/)

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Source: https://docs.redaction-technique.org/en/costs/copywriting-to-technical-communication/