Measure Twice, Cut Once Applies to Article Writing Too

Article marketing research doesn't have to be complicated. It starts with a clear understanding of your target audience and what you want them to do after reading what you're writing. Next is the language and the context - which is to say that you must speak the way they speak and describe the problems they already want a solution for, in their terms not expert-speak. And always the call to action must be reasonable - so they will see it as the next most logical step to take.

http://www.waynemessick.com/marketing/article015