Wouldn’t it be nice if your company had a resume? Every time you needed to convince a consumer or investor to do business with you, you could just hand them a fact sheet outlining the benefits of your brand.
Company profiles (also known as corporate profiles or business profiles), describe everything people need to know about your business so they can form an informed opinion about you. When written well, they’re a powerful marketing tool for any company, highly advantageous for customer engagement, fundraising, and even just publicity.
If you have a new or small business, you probably want to know how to write a company profile before figuring out how to use it. In this guide, we explain the ins and outs, from how to make one yourself to what information you should include. But first, let’s start by explaining what a company profile is and why they’re so useful.
Table of Contents
- What is a Company Profile
- Company Profile Example: What Parts to Include
- How to Write a Company Profile in 7 Steps
- Writing Tips for Company Profiles
- Conclusion
What is a Company Profile
Company profiles, business profiles, and corporate profiles all refer to written descriptions of an individual company. They’re very flexible in format: a company profile could be a single sentence like a mission statement, or a 30-page document full of pictures, statistics, and graphs.
Depending on your own particular goals and needs, your company profile can reflect any number of styles. Some companies will want to emphasize their long and established history, whereas newer companies might prioritize sales reports or profits. Every company should write their company profile according to their unique brand.
So, what can you use your company profile for exactly? Again, depending on your needs, a company profile can fulfill a variety of duties:
- The About Us page on your website.
- Press releases
- Material in an investor packet
- Description for recruitment and job ads
- Onboarding material for new employees
- Social media profile biography
- Branding guidelines
- Advertisement brochures
- Industry publications or databases
- Materials for events, conferences, or conventions
Essentially, company profiles save you time whenever you need to describe your company to anyone. You can even pull out individual lines, paragraphs, or sections from your profile to address different needs — anything from a slogan, Tweet, or elevator pitch. Company profiles may not be necessary, but no one ever regrets having one around.
Company Profile Example: What Parts to Include
When writing a company profile, one of the biggest questions is what to include. The answer? Anything you want (though that ambiguity might not be the most satisfying). As mentioned, different companies will want to focus on different areas; you’ll want to include whatever makes a good impression and puts your best foot forward.
That said, if this is your first time writing a company profile, there are likely a lot of options you may not know about or haven’t considered. Below, I’ve outlined some of the most common areas covered in company profiles. If you want some inspiration or ideas, browse the lists and pick the ones that are relevant to you.
Contact Details
First and foremost, you want to open up the doors to readers if they want to know more about you or reach out to you directly. It’s also good to present your contact details clearly and upfront.
- Company name
- Business address
- Customer service phone number
- Business liaisons phone number
- Website URL
- Establishment date
- Contact email addresses
- Social media account links
Company Details
Here is the real meat of the company profile — where you actually describe your company. You can tailor this area to your company’s strengths or your target audience. If you don’t have some of these materials, i.e., you’ve never written a mission statement, this could be a good opportunity to take out two birds with one stone.
- Mission statement
- Vision statement
- Value proposition (what advantage your company brings to its particular market)
- Description of the business (what you actually do)
- Description of individual products or services
- Current state of your industry for context
- Unique methodology
- Company values (including health or safety policies)
- Environmentalism
- Charities or societal contributions (“Giving Back” programs)
- Software used
- Company history or timeline (emphasize expansion and growth)
- Public relations campaigns
- Advertising campaigns
- Core team biographies
- Client portfolio
- Final call-to-action (direct readers to a site, message window, email list, etc.)
Achievements
What resume would be complete without a little bragging? Here’s where you showcase your special achievements, like awards, news, or other recognitions. One of the central goals of a company profile is to show what separates you from your competition, so now’s not the time to be humble.
- Awards
- Certificates
- News clips
- Social media campaign highlights
- Successful internal programs or projects
- Business partnerships
- Endorsements
- Testimonials
Impressive Stats
Particularly for investors, data and figures can speak louder than words. If the numbers flatter your company, by all means include them. If you’re worried about being dull or hard-to-read, jazz it up with some graphs or other smart visuals.
- Annual or quarterly profits
- Sales statistics
- Upcoming financial targets
- Stock value over time
- Asset valuation
- Number of employees
- Worker turnover rate
- Times for delivery, manufacturing, or project completion
Flair
Longer company profiles will read like pamphlets or brochures, and can get tedious if they’re all text. It helps with reading and comprehension to add some visual flair and accompanying images. Not only do they make the reading experience better, they also show readers some exclusive insight into your company culture.
- Photos of your work space
- Photos of employees and teams
- Photos of products or finished services
- Logo variations
- Popular social media posts or other content.
How to Write a Company Profile in 7 Steps
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Knowing what to include in your company profile will only get you so far. Putting pen to paper and organizing everything is what causes first timers the most stress, especially if you’re the type that tries to avoid writing whenever possible.
If the thought of creating a company profile intimidates you, I’ve broken down the process into some easy-to-follow steps. Go at your own pace and take it one step at a time!
1. Figure out what you want to do with your company profile.
The first step of your journey is to pick a destination. What’s the end goal of your company profile? Do you already have plans to use it on a new website or promotional campaign, or are you looking for something more generic that you can fine-tune later?
You’ll want to pinpoint who will be reading it and what you want their takeaway to be. Knowing what to do with your company profile is an important first step because it dictates a lot of what follows:
- How long it will be
- Which sections to include
- What tone of voice to use
- Which strengths to highlight
You don’t have to worry about the technicalities just yet, like where you want your calls-to-action to go, but it doesn’t hurt to start coming up with ideas early.
2. List out all the best aspects of your company you want to include.
Once you know your goals and audience, you can decide what exactly you want to tell them. It’s best to consider what advantages to include early on because certain aspects might require adding new sections.
For example, if you’re an eco-friendly company and you’re targeting younger markets, you might want to include a section about your environmentalism. If you’re a neighborhood shop, you might want to mention your social outreach programs instead of your environmentalism.
Keep in mind your audience at all times. Maybe you love looking at your powerful business stats, but will they be as impressed as you are?
3. Outline your company profile in the ideal format.
Before diving into the actual writing, it helps to create an outline first. Make concrete decisions about which sections to include and in what order. Moreover, consider the document as a whole — how will the sections be linked, will it fit within its intended space, etc.
It’s also recommended to try to anticipate future visuals. For example, you might want to hire a photographer to take some candid pictures around the office, or maybe a designer to spruce up the page layouts or create a cover.
4. Write each section individually
Now comes the part with the most effort — digging in and writing it. The good news is that if you’ve been outlining and thinking critically about what to include the whole time, this part will be a breeze.
The next section lists some hands-on writing advice for beginners. If this part seems too intimidating for you, or you’re worried about your writing skill holding back your business, you can always hand over the project to a professional.
5. Write a thoughtful and focused introduction
No matter what you do with your company profile, it will almost always benefit from a strong introduction. Within a few seconds, people will make snap judgments about your company or decide whether to keep reading your profile — and that goes double for online readers.
So you need a strong introduction to both win them over and invoke their interest. Here are some quick tips for an effective introduction:
- Explain who you are and what you do as succinctly as possible
- Elicit an emotional connection with a personal anecdote, amusing story, or even a joke
- Generate curiosity by posing unanswered questions
What you don’t want to do with your introduction is sell. Most consumers are immediately wary of overly-promotional companies, especially if that’s their first impression. There’s a time and a place for everything, so save your sales pitch for the end.
6. Don’t forget your call-to-action.
What do you want your company profile to accomplish? More investments? Email signups? Publicity on social media? A decisive call-to-action at the end of your company profile helps direct readers where you want them to go.
Some people may be timid about calls-to-action, but they don’t have to be pushy or aggressive. A simple “Join our mailing list,” or “Click here to download our free ebook,” can be all you need. Again, think about your target readers and which style of call-to-action would work best for them.
7. Proofread and revise
That’s it; the hard part is over! All that’s left is to go back and get rid of any typos. It also provides one final opportunity to add, remove, or revise any problematic sections. Your company profile is supposed to give readers an idea of who you are, but spelling mistakes and jumbled words send the wrong message.
Writing Tips for Company Profiles
Writing is something everyone does… but not everyone does it well. Writing is an essential part of a company profile, and with the right tone and technique, you can persuade, interest, engage, and charm your readers.
If you’re worried about your writing skills, the good news is that you can always improve it with some quick-and-easy guidelines. Below are some simple writing tips that anyone can apply.
Use the Active Voice
The “active voice” is when the subject of a sentence performs the action, i.e., the company sold millions of units. The opposite of the active voice, where the subject does not perform the action, is the “passive voice,” i.e., millions were sold by the company. The active voice almost always reads better and comes across as stronger and more confident.
Short and Simple
You want your company profile to be as short as possible. Even if you have a lot to say and need a 30-page profile, those 30 pages should be filled with concise and deliberate content. No fluff, no fillers, no redundancies. It helps to go through one round of revisions where you cut out all unnecessary words or even entire sections.
No Jargon
You may know your industry inside and out, but chances are your readers do not. A lot of times, your clients and customers come to you because you understand something they don’t. Try to avoid business jargon and industry-specific terms — anything the layperson wouldn’t understand. If you have to explain something technical or complicated, imagine how you’d explain it to your mother.
Be Consistent
Adding stylistic flair can bring a lot to your company profile, but make sure everything is consistent. Use the same fonts, header styles, color schemes, and tone of voice throughout the entire document. Switching these up distracts the reader from the actual content and deviates from your core message.
Conclusion
Want help writing your company profile? Need some visual flair to make your profile stand out and leave a lasting impression? Click here to schedule a free consultation with Logo Coast!
