With over 78 million people in the US alone blocking ads, garnering the term “adlergic,” creating smart content that reaches our target consumers has gotten more critical than ever.
Content marketing is smart marketing in an age where our consumers are looking for what they want, when they want it.
Content marketing WORKS tremendously well.
But, it doesn’t hit those HUGE return numbers without a smart content strategy.
The best content marketers use a strong content strategy. It’s true – Content Marketing Institute’s benchmark study says the most successful content marketers are far more likely than their less successful peers to have a documented content marketing strategy (65% vs. 14%)!
So, you have to know your content strategy to achieve real content marketing success.
Not sure how to do that? You’re in luck! Learn how to put together an effective content strategy for powerful marketing, in my new video.
[bctt tweet=”Watch as @JuliaEMcCoy discusses the 6 cores involved in a high-performing content strategy for your #contentmarketing ” username=”ExpWriters”]
How to Create a Content Strategy for Your Content Marketing (Video)
Video Transcription: How to Build a Strong Content Strategy for Your Content Marketing
If you know me, you already know how much I LOVE content marketing. I’ve been preaching it, writing books about content strategy and marketing, and practicing it since 2011.
Heck, I’ve got ‘serial content marketer’ and ‘content hacker’ in all my social media bios.
I believe in content marketing and a smart content strategy because, simply put, it WORKS to build a real audience today. Content is one of the LOWEST-COST, highest-ROI marketing efforts you could be doing, especially if you focus on your onsite presence. SEO content leads have a 14.6% close rate, as opposed to outbound leads (1.7% close rate!)
Through a smart content strategy and content marketing, inside eight years, I’ve built a seven-figure digital agency. I haven’t had to show up to any office – at all – in those seven years. I haven’t had to cold call. I fired my commission sales rep over three years ago because content marketing works so well! Our story of growth through content has gone around town. Neil Patel has featured it on his site (this study is fairly old – we’re at 2,500 visitors/day organically now), and we were even interviewed and featured on Forbes.
BUT – before I got smart on my content marketing strategy, let me tell you, my content was a HOT MESS! I was publishing with no results, just hitting publish, publish, and in a hamster wheel of content efforts.
After figuring out our content strategy, I almost TRIPLED our agency’s monthly income!
Keep watching for the full story, and the lowdown on the six content strategy cores I still use today for powerful results.
Before we go any further, hit that subscribe button! I want you back here! Click on the banner below to visit my YouTube channel and subscribe.
The Backstory: Before I Put a Content Strategy In Place, Here’s What My Content Marketing Results Looked Like
Okay, so quick backstory before I go into the six content strategy cores you should be putting into practice for real content marketing results.
From my beginning year of 2011 all the way up until about 2015, I was a stressed-out, struggling marketer.
I was producing content in a whirlwind of deadlines, just to keep my “online presence” afloat.
My agency made money, and we got leads… but not enough. It always seemed we’d ride by with nothing to show for it each month.
Why can’t my marketing WORK? I’m creating content daily! I was thinking to myself.
Fast-forward to 2016. After working for five years in my agency, I decided a “spray-and-pray” approach just wasn’t good enough. I settled in, stood back, and taught myself how to be strategic. I tested, analyzed, and surveyed. Then, I applied a series of strategic moves to my content marketing, started publishing less, and focused on the right things.
And it paid off…
In less than 18 months, I reached 150% MONTHLY revenue growth.
Our team and client base grew by 25%, we now have almost 90 team members, and we have new clients coming in every week after finding us through our content.
Getting strategic with our content has truly paid off.
We don’t have to sell ourselves anymore — our content does the selling.
These six content strategy cores are the reason our marketing is so successful. Let’s get into them.
The 6 Cores of a Successful Content Strategy
At a birds-eye, here are all six:
Your Content Marketing Fundamentals
Your Audience and The Sales Cycle
Know Your SEO
Build Online Authority Consistently
Create Content that Actually Works to Build Your Audience, Presence, and Revenue
Budget, Promote, and Maintain for Consistent Success
Did I mention that these aren’t quick overnight hacks? They truly aren’t. Let’s get into a bit more detail.
First, fundamentals. Everything you create in content marketing is stronger with a good foundation. You should spend a minimum of one week just planning before you create.
Here are a few fundamentals to know. First, know your topic area to build content inside of. Or, if this is for a client, this is their topic area. Center this around your expertise, and then branch out to what your audience wants to hear from you about. So if you sell shoes, don’t talk about shoes. Talk about health and fitness apps, knee health maintenance, and warmup exercises for runners.
Secondly, get to know your audience and be able to connect them to the sales cycle. Build a real audience persona by conducting market research surveys. Get to know your audience like you would a friend. Then, find out what interests them at the three stages in the sales cycle, from awareness to intent, evaluation, purchase, and loyalty.
Thirdly, get to know your SEO. Know how to research for a great keyword. Know how to write well-optimized SEO content. This is the fundamental knowledge you have to have to build incredible onsite content that brings traffic and growth in your future months. Set up your tools and time to consistently research keywords. Look for long tail keywords instead of broad keywords.
Fourthly, build your online authority consistently by focusing on a strong content house, where everything you create will live. This is your website, not another publisher’s platform that can take away publishing rights or reach. Everything you create on your house is lasting and will domino to more results over time.
Fifthly, learn how to create content that works. Delegate and get support at this stage. My agency, Express Writers, writes for hundreds of marketers and agencies. Maybe you need a writing team to craft high-quality blogs and website pages. You need to get consistent to see results, and you need to create worthwhile, valuable content.
Sixth and finally, set a content budget, promote the content on your house to your email list and social media, and maintain (clean, take care of) your content for ongoing success.
Now, this was just a bird’s-eye view of all six cores. I do have a 60-minute training that goes over each one of these content strategy cores, which you can access immediately here. Just put in your email address and you’ll instantly receive an email with the video file to watch on demand. You don’t have to show up at a certain time or day.
P.S. Did you see our new intro in today’s video? My husband got that footage with me with a drone right here in Austin, Texas. The bridge is called the Pennybacker Bridge, over the Loop 360 highway. If you’re ever in Austin, give me a shout! And don’t forget to hit that subscribe button, and the little bell to get notified for my new videos. See you around!
Need Help in the Content Creation Side of Content Marketing, Without Quality Loss?
Our team of writing experts at Express Writers is here to support your content creation!
Content marketing is not an industry you can stand as an expert in without evolution, progress, and continual growth. I’m happy to say that this is in our line of vision at Express Writers: continual progress. It is a part of our mission at Express Writers to continually refine our services and offer the best in content creation.
This spring, we’ve made some changes at Express Writers to upgrade and increase the quality and uniqueness of the content services we provide for our clients.
In today’s blog, I’ve written a recap of these changes to keep you up-to-date with our changes and progress. Let’s dive in!
[bctt tweet=”Check out @JuliaEMcCoy’s recap of our Spring 2019 updates at Express Writers ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
Product Changes at Express Writers: Resurrecting Social Media Services: What’s New Today, & What’s on the Horizon
I’m really excited to share that our social media copy and plans got a major facelift in the Content Shop. Both internally, and externally.
Instead of the confusing buy-5-posts-with-variations, and Level 1, 2, and 3 pre-built without customization options, here are the changes that have applied to the social media services we offer at Express Writers.
Standalone social media posts: pick the platform, quantity, and optionally, images: we simply write the copy and create images. See standalone posts.
Social media plans have become build-your-own, instead of preset Levels: much more customizable! Just package up all the posts you need for a monthly total per-platform, per-piece quantity and price. See social media plans.
Social media images got a major re-haul: our designer will use your candid selfies or photographs and design them inside a 1:1 design (super hot these days on Facebook and Instagram), hand-made in Adobe Illustrator. (Examples below!)
Our social media experts will now include and suggest hashtags, the right amount and the right type per platforms, with the copy.
It’s a “buy one, get one now” for posts, clearly worded in the service. Or, you can package up into a monthly plan. No more confusing variations and choices.
Here’s the before and after of our Social Media Posts page. You can experience the revamped page right here.
And, here’s the new look for Social Media Plans:
The quality and what you get in our written and designed social posts has changed for the better. As mentioned, we’ll research and suggest the best hashtags to use in your Instagram posts, as well as on other platforms.
Plus, our social media image design got a full-on major facelift. We no longer work with stock images (unless absolutely necessary on behalf of the client). Instead, we’re asking that you provide images for us in the input forms, and our designer will take that image and inspiration from our social media copywriter to design a hot graphic for your social media profile inside our popular, researched and strategic 1:1 sized square graphic.
For this fairly massive service change, I did some beta testing. Chris Strub was our beta client for the new services, as well as my own social media profiles. I worked with our designer and social media experts as we went through changing the internal process.
Here’s what our new social media posts and image deliverables actually look like (content written by our social media specialist and designed by our in-house designer): Example social media post #1 Copy:
Social media tip: The front-facing camera is the perfect metaphor for putting yourself out there on social media. Tap the little icon for turning your camera into selfie mode, and hit ‘record’ or snap a photo and make that the next piece of content you post on social media. ? Your audience loves seeing the authentic YOU shine through! For more social media tips, follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisstrub/
Example social media post #2 Copy:
Are you writing emails and sending them regularly to your list? If not, you SHOULD be! It’s one of the most effective ways to grow and nurture your audience. Hand-in-hand with email marketing is great content: a little secret I’m going to let you in on is that email content gets SO much easier if you have comprehensive blogs hitting your site on the regular. If you need copy support, my content agency Express Writers can help. Our hand-picked email marketing copywriters have helped hundreds of B2Bs and B2Cs craft their message (and even helped me write the ones we send you!). Chat with us today to see how we can help you create great content! Link: https://expresswriters.com/content/email-copy/
Example social media post #3 Copy:
FAMILY TIME.
One of my favorite things about being an entrepreneur and content marketer is that I can, if I want to, take off a random Tuesday to hang out with my little. Or, get her early out of daycare for a special treat and some playground time on a beautiful, sunny day.
Do you get to break away for family time? It’s so important!
These improved social media offerings will definitely bring more ROI to our clients and what they get out of social media. We’re so excited about these improvements!
Also, we’ve added a new service to our social media copy. New: YouTube descriptions! I’ve found after optimizing and publishing consistent videos on my own YouTube channel, that the copy inside your YouTube description is extremely important to rankings and click-throughs from your videos to your site.
What’s On the Horizon: Improved Experience Coming for Our Clients at Express Writers
Also, PSA for our clients: We know our systems are somewhat messy, and we’re hard at work on a total solution to fix everything.
Navigation in the Content Shop, simply put, can sometimes be a bear. The products are too many, and confusing. The Client Account section needs more details, dates, and an easy reorder button.
We’ve got all these changes at heart, and for the past several years, we’ve been hard at work on what we call internally, EW 2.0: The Beast.
This is our brand new e-commerce system that is 100% customized and built from scratch, built for massive project management, speed, and seamless use by both team (internal) and client (external). It’s going to be good. That’s all we can say for now, and secondly, we can also say with confidence that we’re fairly close to a launch date, which will be revealed soon.
Management and Writing Team Additions: Timelines, Writing Quality, and our Mission Renewed
In January, you might have already been aware that our full-time content director of two years, Hannah, resigned and left our team. On average, we handle the creation of 200 pages in a given week, and handle dozens of full-scope, start-to-finish content projects — so as soon as I received her resignation letter via email on Saturday, I was under extreme pressure to rebuild the team, quickly.
The road to recovery began with finding a new, full-time business manager. One of our full-time writers since the early days, Korilynn, stepped up and offered her full-time assistance in my open call to fill the management role. I quickly found out in a preliminary call that this incredibly reliable writer, who I’d worked with for years, had all the expertise necessary to a management role. She’d ran her own businesses in multiple industries (cake/catering, office projects, and freelance writing), and handled all the administrative experiences for everything, for more than 12 years. As a full-time writer on the side for us, she handled a great deal of content writing with no quality loss. Along with that, she had a quiet home office in her four-story house, complete with multiple monitors, a full-speed customized computer system, and a treadmill desk! Great managers who work remotely need an optimized environment and great tech, and we soon found out that Korilynn uses her well-optimized home office to handle our content projects in smart, efficient ways.
Hannah sent her resignation letter in to me via email on Saturday, January 19. The very next day, on Sunday, January 20, I interviewed and hired Korilynn after sending out a “casting call” about an open management role. She was a perfect fit, and I’d known her for years, so I offered her the position. She started training on Monday, January 21. The long process of rebuilding everyone under our new management leader took a solid 45 days, minimum. Along the way, we improved and tightened up 100% of the processes, team rules, and policies, some of which had been left in the dust by prior management. Our editing process, which hadn’t been working for a while, was completely re-hauled, and Korilynn’s ideas for more effective editing were implemented slowly but surely.
Team rebuilding and recovery is not easy — I won’t lie. There were a couple of moments where I sat at my desk, ready to bang my head against the wall, in tears. It took a ton of hiring and firing to get everyone back on track with our renewed policies around maintaining quality and deadlines. We had to discover by trial-and-error who wasn’t fully on board our ship. I still remember when we hit day 45 of countless hours in improving our processes, hiring and firing, and rebuilding.
The improvements we’d made, after the initial growing pains, started showing in a big way. We were hitting 99.9% of our deadlines, early. We knew exactly which writers were going to be best fits for what projects, and we could guarantee quality within the intricate industries we were writing for. It was a big deal. Everything was finally, finally coming together.
Besides Korilynn, we have over 20 new writers that have joined us in the past two months. A few top profiles:
Cornelius M., our new technical writer with years of experience in crafting unique tech content, from policies, procedures, plans, work instructions for engineering, to design specifications, software, user acceptance specs, training material, and user material. With Korilynn and the editors’ help, he recently successfully handled a new content project for a huge new technical website client. It was a hit — they’ve been thrilled with the results!
Wendy T., a veteran freelancer with over 10 years of experience, digital marketing agency writer for medical marketing for 6 years, and lots of know-how in SEO writing (geolocals, etc.). She’s been successfully completing several top-tier content projects.
Al T., former employee in IT with Microsoft, and consultant. He’s written books, articles, training development documents and more. Al has a high standard when it comes to content and has been shining on our projects.
Special shoutouts to our veteran writers, who have been with us for many years:
Tami, our go-to press release copywriter, a gifted stay-at-home mom who uses her writing talents on the side with us.
Joshua S., veteran team member of Express Writers, who has recently been trained in Authority content and our content strategy services.
Mike S., technical writer extraordinaire and 1:1 dedicated project writer, who writes for one dedicated client.
Randi N., our talented copywriter, Content Strategist, and SEO/Google nerd, who runs her own enormously successful niche journalism website on the side.
John G., our on-call Content Strategist for client phone consultations, and full-time expert writer who handles every project with a high level of dedication.
Nikki W., talented veteran copywriter who teaches writing workshops and travels on the side.
Jillian P., our long-term copywriter who has taken on a dual role and has tons of experience and creativity in writing.
Cassie B., our reliable, efficient copywriter who has also taken on a dual in-team role and is amazing at quality content.
See more team faces on our About page.
I have renewed faith in my team, and I’m now confident we are close to 150% renewed, refreshed, and capable from where we were at the start of January post-management-changes. It’s a good feeling, and most of all, my heart is delighted to see what we are accomplishing for our clients with a renewed, fully-committed team of people.
Justin, a new client and the founder of local Austin agency JS Interactive, just gave us this testimonial a couple weeks ago in March about his experience with our new management and writing team:
As an entrepreneur in Austin with extensive knowledge and experience in SEO, I understand the value of having content that is unique & relevant to the customers I serve. Since my recent collaboration with Express Writers, I have felt extremely confident in the creativity & the quality of work produced by Julia and her team. I love how seamless their online operation is – from my initial request to the final deliverable. The nice balance of creativity with the technical writing has produced instant results for my business in search. The staff is super friendly and responsive. Express Writers is highly recommended for any businesses looking to ‘level up’ their content marketing strategy.
We’re increasing our focus for existing client accounts, and working on continually supporting their needs in an improved, on-time, high-quality manner. We’re also taking new clients on an individual basis going forward into the year. Sign up and request a client account.
Our Content Marketing is Being Refined, Almost Daily
Not that this directly affects our clients, but I wanted to share briefly that we’re working hard at spending 60% of our focus on resurrecting and updating old content on the Write Blog, while 40% of our focus is on producing the best (most epic) comprehensive guides and original, unique blogs that the Write Blog has ever published.
We have over 1,000 blogs live, and in the last month, we deleted more than 20 that weren’t serving any real purpose from 2012 and 2013. We’ll have a final report when the spring cleaning is officially over! In keeping an eye on our rankings, I noticed that this has only seemed to help our site overall in Google. We went up by 13k in overall domain authority!
So, you might see a lesser quantity of emails coming your way for new Write Blogs, but it will mean a heightened focus on quality.
That’s It for Now, Folks!
That’s a wrap on our Spring 2019 changes!
I’m so excited to share these with you — these are, overall, massive changes for our content writing agency that will result in serious improvements all around for our clients. And that’s not all. More are on the horizon that we’re really excited about. Can’t wait to share those with you, soon! Here’s to amazing content!
The March workshop was in Irvine, California, for a healthcare company called NextGen Healthcare. Sarah, Manager of the Marketing Content Strategy, asked me to come and teach a full half-day class on one of my favorite topics — strategic content writing techniques for web, blog, email, social media and downloadables (whitepapers, content upgrades, etc.) for a B2B audience.
The workshop was on March 26, and it went very well!
For several reasons.
First, the team of people that were there! (*cue Hallelujah chorus*) Teaching is easy when you have such a great crew as students. These people were simply amazing. Smarties, each and every one!
Secondly, it was great to have a live audience while teaching content — tunnel vision, farewell! I was able to see, hear and discover what people that work in a leading industry firm actually find difficult in content marketing, what they struggle with, and on the flip side, what they actually enjoy doing and are good at.
I think I walked out with as much new inspiration and knowledge as I (hopefully) left my attendees with. Here’s a recap of my workshop experience. First, what went into the workshop; and secondly, some key takeaways from the conversations I listened in to.
[bctt tweet=”Content marketing expert @JuliaEMcCoy gave a live content writing workshop to a healthcare firm in California. Read her top takeaways from the experience #strategy” username=”ExpWriters”]
What Went Into My 4-Hour Content Writing Workshop
It was fantastic to work with Sarah Andrade, who is the Manager of Marketing Content Strategy (that’s a mouthful) at NextGen Healthcare. She found me through our site at Express Writers, and sent me a warm, friendly email requesting my presence teaching the workshop and offering full payment.
Content creation is my jam, so when Sarah at NextGen Healthcare found me, despite a short timeline (in two weeks!), I said yes to taking on content creation for the half-day workshop.
It was an amazing experience. I can’t say enough good things about the content team themselves. Brilliant people, all of them! Sarah (the marketing manager who found and recruited me), Allison, Carrie, Michael, Holly, Eleen, Jaime, Cathryn, Michelle…and everyone else whose names my post-speaking mushy brain sadly didn’t hit save on. Seriously, it was a rockstar team.
They checked all the boxes:
Engaged, interested, and passionate about their jobs (the whole room was engaged and came alive when we paused for Q&A)
Already knowledgeable in a variety of areas (from SEO all the way to how to post content on Instagram with the paragraph breaks — Allison and Jaime had a finger on SEO, social and content trends)
Great at content (Michael, Carrie – rockstar content writers, serious OGs, I’d hire them — and I hire 1-2% of the writers I meet!)
Here’s what the final outline of my workshop looked like:
Sarah gave me full liberty to construct the whole half-day workshop. So, with Sarah’s help, I came up with 20-25 minute speaking sessions, broken up by Q&A content creation workshops. Here’s the final outline of workshop I constructed and gave. I was able to get through all the sessions between a time span of noon to 5 p.m. We ended up spending a great deal of time in Q&A, which I loved.
Session 1: Introduction to Modern Content Writing & Content Types
— Learn It! Q&A and Homework Share
Session 2: How to Craft Engaging, Optimized Blogs
— Learn It! Q&A and Blog Content Creation Workshop
Session 3: How to Write Engaging Web Content
— Learn It! Q&A and Web Content Creation Workshop
Session 4: How to Write Emails
— Learn It! Q&A and Email Writing Workshop
I spent a few back-to-back 10-hour days working on the content to get it all done, right after Sarah found me. In less than 10 days, I’d created 200+ slides, four PowerPoint presentations, four cheat-sheet PDF takeaways for each attendee, and two recorded videos for the class demo-ing how to use BuzzSumo for content analysis, and SEMrush for keyword research. If I had more time, I would have made the content even more tailored to their audience and conducted more research on their high-level audience – but, I was able to customize it fairly well.
Here are a few of my favorite slides from the session (and I think everyone’s favorite, from the joyful and positive feedback that erupted after I presented the ‘icky face’). I took an overly stuffy home page tagline from the website for NextGen Healthcare, and rewrote it for the class:
The ‘homework’ everyone was asked to do prior was a suggestion of Sarah, and I thought it was a great idea. We came up with three items (1. Bring your questions, 2. Bring a piece of content from NextGen to reform, 3. Bring a piece of content that makes you feel something – curious, inspired, joyful, etc.), and everyone that attended the workshop was all about it! Pretty much all of them had done their homework prior (again, so impressed with this team).
In the homework Q&A time, lead writer Michael shared how much he took inspiration from Andrew & Pete, two content marketers that recently made a Top 100 Marketer list. I love Andrew & Pete myself. They’re outside-the-box thinkers who boldly and creatively go where few marketers go.
Overall, it was an amazing group, and the experience of teaching a workshop was wonderful.
3 Takeaways & Inspirations Gained from Teaching My Workshop
I was inspired by the live conversations I listened to, during and after my live workshop. It was quite an experience to teach a group of (incredibly smart and talented!) people live, vs. teaching one of my courses online.
I was so inspired that when I visited the California beach the next day, I filmed this YouTube video: Is the Playbook to “Good Content” Dead? The Reality of Content Marketing Today (Video) I’d planned on filming my next bi-weekly scheduled video while in California, but had no script, talking points or outline prior to recording. I was thoroughly, 100% inspired.
It’s time to stop doing same old, same old — and that’s one of the biggest points of my video and my takeaway from teaching the workshop.
My three takeaways would be these:
1. THEM vs. US.
It’s time to stop making our marketing about us, and make it about our consumers, our people.
As I drove back to the L.A. airport from Irvine, I noticed and read billboard after billboard. 60% were worded with ‘OUR’ and ‘US,’ and only 40% were worded with ‘YOU,’ ‘YOURS’. And the ones with pro-consumer copy were so much more inviting and intriguing. A Porsche billboard, for example, offered an experience that was “your ticket to adventure.” You only knew it was Porsche from the logo. I wanted to be a part of that adventure! A bank offered “our talented solutions” for your needs, and their egotistical message overshadowed the ‘you’ part.
Authentic, audience-focused copy on our website, ads, etc. makes a huge difference in telling our audience that we truly care about them.
[bctt tweet=”It’s time to stop making our marketing about us, and make it about our consumers, our people. @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Seriously! I believe that level 10 has become our new Level 1. It is now the Basics.
So, this means we have no excuse to not know our content basics. Get strategic, and never guess when creating content – ever! Use data-backed insights on REAL searches they’re doing in Google and find the questions they’re already asking online, using tools like BuzzSumo (content discovery) and SEMrush (SEO analysis).
[bctt tweet=”What used to be Level 10 (content strategy knowledge) just a few years ago is now Level 1. This means we have no excuse to not know our content basics. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
3. Allow Room for Innovation
Once you have the basics down, and you know content strategy:
Throw out best practices and your content playbook.
I mean it.
This is your new level.
Innovation.
After you equip your people (agency staff) with the right skills, it’s critical to allow room for innovation. Take your marketing people on a trip outside the office to spark brand new thoughts and inspired action.
This is how we’re going to win today.
Not just by covering the basics, and ‘knowing’ the what.
After we know our basics (the WHAT and HOW of content), we need space to create content people desire. This comes when we leave room for inspiration and innovation. This only comes when we leave room for inspiration and innovation. And this is how to hit a true, tangible and real next-level, in a world full of mountains and mountains of content.
[bctt tweet=”Once you have the basics down, and you know content strategy: Throw out best practices and your content playbook. Your new next-level is innovation. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
Conclusion
Teaching a training workshop is no joke. I was dead tired after my four-hour workshop!
However, it was rewarding to be a part of an amazing content team (even if just for half a day). I thoroughly enjoyed helping them navigate the waters of creating great content! And, I feel like I walked away with just as much fresh, renewed inspiration as my students.
I had the honor of teaching a half-day content writing workshop for NextGen Healthcare in Irvine, California in March, 2019.
I walked in armed with principles, ‘how-tos,’ recommended tools, writing standards, custom techniques for their B2B marketing, and more…
And as I walked out to enjoy the sun and California beach for an extra day, I had a HUGE realization.
The playbook to ‘good content’ is dead.
In a world where 3.8 billion emails are sent daily, 5 million blogs are published daily, and 1.5 BILLION websites exist…
We’ve hit a content peak. ⛰The mountain of content we’ve created online (much of it, bad) is unbelievable.
And now is the time to stop creating the same old, same old.
We have no excuses anymore. We’ve got to stop fitting in ‘best practices’ boxes, and allow room for innovation.
In today’s video, I’m covering some of the most important takeaways after walking out of my workshop and conversations with the amazing team of content creators at NextGen. Watch, and then let me know in the comments on YouTube what your #1 action will be today to stop creating same old, same old. Let’s inspire each other!
[bctt tweet=”Is the playbook to ‘good content’ dead? More on this in @JuliaEMcCoy’s YouTube video: ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Is the Playbook to “Good Content” Dead? The Reality of Content Marketing Today: Video Recap
It’s time to stop doing same old, same old — and that’s one of the biggest points of my video.
My three most important takeaways for you would be these:
1. THEM vs. US.
We’ve got to stop making our marketing about us, and make it about our PEOPLE.
2. Never Guess with Content Creation: Level 10 is Now Level 1
Seriously! I believe that level 10 has become our new Level 1. It is now the Basics.
So, know your basics. Get strategic, and never guess when creating topics – ever! Use data-backed insights on REAL searches they’re doing in Google and questions they’re already asking online, using tools like BuzzSumo (content discovery) and SEMrush (SEO analysis).
Once you have the basics down, and you know content strategy – throw OUT ‘best practices’ and your content playbook.
Seriously. Allow room for innovation! Take a trip outside the office to spark brand new thoughts and inspired action.
This is how we’re going to win today. Not just by covering the basics and ‘knowing’ the ‘what’. Room for inspiration and innovation is what will help us hit next level.
Conclusion
In a world where 3.8 billion emails are sent daily, 5 million blogs are published daily, and 1.5 BILLION websites exist, we’ve hit a content peak.
And we’ve got to stop creating the same old, same old.
We’ve got to stop fitting in ‘best practices’ boxes and allow ROOM for INNOVATION.
Seriously, people, it’s time. If not, we might be lost by the wayside, in the bucket of 5+ million blogs going out every day.
Here’s a crazy statistic about the state of video:
More video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years. (Insivia)
And: 147 million Americans watch video on the internet, according to Nielsen.
Well, you might ask… But does this mean video content is being consumed by our audience?
Glad you asked.
Yes, yes it does.
46% of users take some sort of action after viewing a video ad (Online Publishers Association)
After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online (ComScore).
96% of B2B organizations use video in their marketing campaigns, and 73% of those organizations report positive results to their ROI (ReelSEO).
Real estate listings that include a video receive 403% more inquiries than those without.
1/3 of all online activity is spent watching video.
59% of executives would rather watch video than read text (Forbes).
Let’s be honest – if you’re ignoring video, you’re missing out.
Words are great and all, but in written form they can be a little overwhelming at times. Even if text is broken up by spaces and cool pictures, our consumers want a different way to digest information.
[bctt tweet=”Did you know… 1/3 of all online activity is spent watching video. And 59% of executives would rather watch video than read text. Learn how to plan and script your best video via @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
Videos are a trending content type because of a fundamentally human element that makes them much more relatable. Plus, it’s easy to consume them. Click play, sit back, enjoy.
It’s as easy as that – no wonder people enjoy video content. It’s why people flock to sites like YouTube, whether they want to be entertained, informed, or both. About 1.9 billion logged-in users visit YouTube each month.
Last September, I started focusing on growing my YouTube channel, and have remained committed to a minimum of publishing two new videos/monthly. (We publish 1-2 blogs per week, so those continue to take precedence.) I’ve seen incredibly great organic reach from it, solid traffic and even leads come our way – and even better returns after getting more strategic with my script and strategy. I’ll cover some of the strategies I use on a regular basis in today’s guide.
If you’re a writer, you’ve probably looked to master most of the popular content types out there. Blogs, news articles, and web pages are all important. However, knowing how to write a great video script is also valuable. Think of it this way – a video isn’t an alternative to a written content piece. Instead, it’s a creation based off a well-written video script.
Today we’ll go over how to write a great video script. Planning, creation, promotion – we’ll cover everything from beginning to end.
[bctt tweet=”Learn how to write a great video script for better marketing videos, from planning to creation and promotion, in @JuliaEMcCoy’s new guide. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Creating a Great Video Script: The Complete Guide
1. Defining Marketing Explainer Videos (and Their Benefits)
2. How to Ideate Your Video – Matching Ideas to Goals
3. How to Create Your Script – Drafting an Outline and Beyond
4. Producing and Publishing Your Video
5. Final Thoughts to Make Your Video a Success
What is a Marketing Explainer Video? Why Should You Make One?
“You want me to buy this? Well, why should I?”
“Uh, well, let me explain that…”
We’ve all been on one side of this dialogue at some point – maybe both. If you’re the person who is trying to explain how your good or service could benefit a potential buyer, hopefully your explanation is organized well enough so you don’t start the answer with “uh.”
Sometimes we’re told the answer to this question should be organic – and in a way, that’s right.
Yet, when we’re making a video, we want to sound like we’re reading from a script. The script is the key to a good video, especially one detailing a product or service.
A good explainer video uses time efficiently – saying exactly what the listener is looking to hear by tackling the important points in direct succession.
Consider these tips when you want to make an explainer video:
Be Concise: You can be descriptive, but try to start with a simple 1-2 sentence pitch that summarizes your product and what it does.
Know Your Audience: Focus on who you are writing to – but more importantly, focus on what problem you can solve. People watch explainer videos to find out how you can help them. Be specific, and cut to the chase quick.
Consider Consulting Outsiders: Sometimes it helps to have a fresh perspective when writing your script. When in doubt, ask previous customers for feedback.
When you’re looking to create a great script, you have a few options. You can look for a sample video script to fill in, or use it as inspiration for your own template.
But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before we start writing the script, let’s talk about the research portion.
Step One: Ideate Your Video – Matching Ideas to Goals
The great thing about writing a video script is that you start the same way you would if you were writing a blog, product description, social media post, or any other type of copy.
[bctt tweet=”Strategy should precede a #video, just as it should any other content type. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
Strategy is your foundation for any content piece. I’ve talked previously about my 3-bucket topic strategy. It’s a way of connecting your ideas to your goals.
This means your creativity will be geared to translate to ROI.
Here’s a preview of the strategy. I teach a detailed step-by-step usage of the 3-bucket strategy in its entirety in my comprehensive Content Strategy & Marketing Course.
Follow this format, and your script will always serve one of three purposes. The first is to help your video appear higher in search results – yes, SEO matters in videos, but more on that later.
The second is to make sales or build connections that can facilitate sales. The final one is to build awareness about your brand and what it can offer. If you’re really talented, you can translate your ideas into a script that accomplishing two or even all of these goals.
Your ideas should hit at least one of these goals. If it doesn’t, it may be time to rethink it. Luckily, if you’re going for an explainer video based on a product or service, you’re likely to hit one of these goals with relative ease.
As with any content you write, your goal is to coordinate your creative efforts in a way that drives real results:
You want your video to rank higher in search results
You want your video to increase sales and lead generation
You want your video to grow your brand’s reputation
Think about what someone searching for your video would type into YouTube or Google. Concentrate on how your video’s topic can solve the viewer’s problem. And last, but not least, make sure your brand’s values are represented when you’re scripting the video.
Speaking of which – let’s move on to tips for starting your killer video script.
Step Two: How to Write a Great Video Script for YouTube & Other Platforms Based Off an Outline
I did say that strategy should precede a video script just as it should any other content type. There’s another familiar tactic that translates as well to script writing as it does to blogging, social media marketing, and anything else – formatting and creating an outline.
Check out this opening to one of my own personal video scripts:
Here’s how the content translated to video. I don’t read an actual script, so I simply read and re-review and commit to memory before getting on camera.
This sample video script excerpt uses a simple but strong opening. As soon as you click play, you find out who I am, what I do, and how I can help you.
Then, directly after, you find out the seven specific content types you’ll be learning about. Viewers appreciate when you get things going quickly, and give them an overview of what they’ll be learning about if they continue watching.
Knowing how to write an explainer video script with a strong start is critical for keeping your viewers around. YouTube’s algorithm is smart – if it sees people are sticking around, you’ll have higher retention rates and thus your video will rank higher.
While we’re mentioning YouTube specifically, it’s good to mention why we’re optimizing the script for this platform. YouTube’s numbers speak for themselves – over 5 billion videos are watched on the site each day. There’s no danger of running out of original content either, as over 300 hours of videos are uploaded to the site every minute.
This is a double-edged stat, though. While it means you have a big audience to appeal to, they need to find you first. This brings us to the first sub-topic of discussion when you’re writing your script.
Question: Does SEO Matter for Video Scripts?
It’s easy to think that since your words will be spoken rather than written by the time they make it to YouTube that keywords don’t matter. But, think again – SEO matters in your script, your headline, your tags, and your video description.
Not sure how to find the right keywords for your YouTube video? You could always go with the tried and tested keyword research tools like KWFinder and SEMrush. However, there are more video-specific tools out there you can use.
I recommend VidIQ – there’s even a free version you can try.
VidIQ on my channel. The insights are amazing!
This tool works as an extension for Chrome, automatically giving you insights about the best keywords. While there is a free version, the lowest-priced paid plan is a great deal. Known as the Pro version, it offers more analytics and research tools for only $7.50/month. I pay for the Pro. The insights you get in keywords and YouTube SEO alone is worth it.
The video example in our template above shown ranking #4 in YouTube! The VidIQ insights are awesome.
While you still only have room for one user and one channel, you get double the competitor tracking (6) and additional features like a keyword research tool, historical analysis, and stats on trending videos.
SEO is important for video scripts for the same reason it is important in any other type of content. If you know what your audience members are inputting into the search engine, you make it easier for them to find your video.
Additional Tips for Fleshing Out Your Video and Script Pre-Publishing
You have your format, your intro, and your keywords – but that doesn’t mean you’re finished. When you’re fleshing out the script, there are a few critical things to remember.
For starters, consider length. You want to keep the length at around 8-10 minutes MAX. If you can say what you need to with less, feel free. Some companies like to keep their explainer marketing videos around 2 minutes. However, when you go up to the 6 minute mark, you gain more opportunities to connect with your audience.
If your video is creeping up to the high end of this frame, you want to make sure you have plenty of supporting graphics to keep things interesting.
Here’s an example of what my editing process looks like, before my video goes to my producer. I love Camtasia TechSmith for this process. So easy and simple to use!
You’ll notice the main track is peppered throughout with graphic overlays, which ensure the visuals are not changing too sporadically, but not remaining so constant the viewer becomes disengaged.
Use pictures and animations, as this is the fun of videos. Remember, you’re treating your viewer to a visual and auditory presentation. Get creative, and let your artistic side shine when it comes to choosing what graphics you’ll feature throughout the video.
Even something as simple as supporting images and charts can do the trick for making your video memorable and keeping your viewer engaged until the very end.
There’s even room to be creative with your soundtrack. Granted, knowing how to write a music video script requires a bit of a different skillset than when you’re writing an explainer script – but a good audio backing track or smartly placed sound-cues can still be great additions.
I leave
Reminder: Simplicity Over Flare, Benefits Over Features
The final point to cover for script writing involves the KISS method.
Keep it short and simple – we already talked about the value of being concise, but don’t get so focused on flare that your video’s effects overshadow its substance.
Simplicity isn’t just good for video scripts – it’s good for marketing in general. Over the past decade, publicly traded brands in the Global Brand Simplicity Index top 10 have outperformed major indexes by a whopping 433%. More consumers (62%) are prepared to pay more for a simple experience.
Images, effects, and any creative elements should be secondary to the message itself. The message should always be focused on benefits – not features. Viewers don’t want to hear you explain how many thing your product can do. They want to know how it can help them.
Ten fancy product features won’t be as impactful as one user-focused benefit as the focal point of your presentation.
[bctt tweet=”Simplicity over flare, benefits over features. This and more #video tips in @JuliaEMcCoy’s guide” username=”ExpWriters”]
Step Three: Production and Publishing Tips for Finalizing Your Video
Your marketing explainer video should be concise, punchy, and based off a well-researched format. This can greatly increase its chances of being successful.
We’ve got one more critical area to discuss – production and publishing. Let’s start with the importance of having the right people around you. I use the same producer, a wonderful video expert Renata Franco, for all my videos. She does an amazing job on my final production with music, on-screen text, an intro, and combining any B-roll that I have. And that’s why I recommend just as you may consider hiring a video script writer, you should put as much thought into hiring a producer.
Producing a video is a very involved task. The process has many steps, including:
Formatting: Formatting your video for production means setting the aspect ratio and FPS, as well as making sure all your audio tracks are leveled properly.
Effects: You can add effects during the mixing and export process – this is a great time to give the video that final polish, such as using a mastering toolkit to boost the audio, or adding captions during each of your main talking points.
Trimming: In some cases, you may need to eliminate small parts at the beginning or end of your clips. You may even have to get rid of some altogether if it means keeping the video within a specific time limit.
Even if you don’t hire a producer to do all these things for you, you can hire them for their oversight. You can be the one at the controls, and use their expert input as a guiding point. You can also do the opposite – have them do the production work with your input being the guiding force behind the decisions.
What about tools? We already discussed a great tool for finding keywords as part of the scripting process, but which tools are most helpful for producing the video itself? Let’s talk about three main tools you should consider:
Camtasia: TechSmith’s Camtasia is a video tool that can do almost everything. It’s an easy way to record your screen, and it can also be used for editing videos on both Windows and Mac. There’s a free trial available, and the software is intuitive enough that even newcomers can pick up on it quick. It’s also loaded with other features video creators will love.
YouTube Beta Studio: Touted as the new home for creators, this platform lets you manage your channel and observe insights all from one place. It replaces the long-running Creator Studio, and gives you plenty of features to use for both research and publishing.
Ahrefs: This handy SEO tool is great for writing video descriptions. Before you hit that publish button, make sure you have a stunning description. It may seem like a small amount of text, but it has a big impact on your video’s ranking potential.
These are just a few of the popular tools you can use for the publishing process. Publishing may not be exactly what you think of when you’re looking to learn how to write a great video script. However, it’s an integral part of the process for making your video a success.
Final Thoughts: Scripts Are the Foundation of a Winning Video
When you see those videos that pull in millions of views, tens of thousands of likes, and hundreds of shares each day, you know a lot of work went into them.
But it isn’t just about sitting in front of a camera and being great at improv. It’s about taking the time to write a script – one that speaks to your viewer and gives them valuable information.
Learning how to write an explainer video script takes time. You’ll also learn what works and what doesn’t as you go along, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself for the first time – or even the first few times.
Like any other content type, video scripts require research, formatting, a focus on SEO, and an ability to mix creativity with technical insight.
Knowing how to write a script for an explainer video that takes YouTube by storm takes study and practice. But when your video starts bringing in those views, likes, and subscriptions, you’ll know it was all worth it.
When it starts bringing in brand awareness, search engine rankings, and sales potential, you may feel like writing scripts for an entire series.
Need help writing an engaging video script? That’s a creative writing task our team of 90+ expert writers can handle. We’ve written video scripts for insurance companies and many more. See our pricing here!
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