Social media is your ticket to a broader following, more exposure, and improved online ROI for your brand.
Your content marketing strategy can really get a boost from a strong social presence, in particular.
In fact, BrandWatch calls social media + content marketing “the dynamic duo.”
For example, the more engaged and the bigger your social following, the more readers you can draw in with every new content piece you put out and promote.
That’s exactly what you want from this powerful combo.
You want social media to serve your content marketing, and your content marketing to enhance your social platform.
Of course, for the partnership of social + content to work this way, you have to build up each on their own.
That’s why we’re going to tackle how to build a strong social media presence today on the blog.
Ready? Grab a latte, coffee or tea and join me. Let’s start with the first steps.
The First Steps for Scoring on Social: Know Your Audience, Choose Platforms, Set Goals
Ready to get going with a content marketing strategy that includes a strong social presence? Ask yourself key questions and begin with these steps:
1. Go Where Your People Are
“Where does my audience live?” is the first question you should ask yourself when you’re ready to start building up your social media presence.
Of course, to answer it, you have to know your audience. You need to understand who they are, what they do, and where they hang out online. Thus, at this point, you should be relying on your audience personas, or those imaginary human beings who are composites of your target audience.
Here’s a sample persona from Hubspot:Based on what you know about them, which social network(s) do your personas use the most? Go there.
Have you signed up for my FREE course, Turbocharge Your Content Marketing in 5 Days? I teach the basics of persona building in this course.
2. Choose Your Platforms Judiciously
Maybe your personas are social media gurus who have accounts on nearly every channel. In this case, where should you go?
Do you create accounts for your brand on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest? Do you set up an account on that new network that hasn’t gained much traction yet (these come and go, but there’s always one out there)?
The answer is no, you shouldn’t. Instead, ask yourself this question:
“Where can I reach my audience effectively?”
If you sign up for every social media account you can, you’ll just spread yourself too thin. Instead, choose a select few, ones where you can have a demonstrable impact on your audience.
According to Inc., quality is better than quantity for social media, especially if you don’t have the funds for a dedicated social media manager. So, stick to one or two platforms, and get the hang of them before you add any more.
Choose platforms that will support the kind of posts you plan on doing, too. For instance, if your posts are going to be image-centric, Instagram could be better for you than Twitter.
Once you figure all this out, go ahead and secure your accounts (using your brand name as your handle) on your chosen platforms.
3. Set Goals to Stand Out
Here’s the final question you need to ask yourself on this quest for social media victory.
How can I stand out above everyone else while reaching them?
For one, plan the content you will post on each platform, and optimize that content for ultimate success.
Don’t just share links to your other content on the web. Create content just for social media, too. Think video, images, interactive content, and more.
Don’t just regurgitate links. Give your followers a little more reason to stay connected to your feed.
Finally, plan that content with a posting calendar, and set goals for yourself. Will you try to add X number of new followers per week? Will you aim for a base level of likes on each post? Will you try to engage with others X times a day?
Planning and setting goals can help push you toward success on social. It’s just that simple.
3 More Tips to Rock It Out on Social Media
So, you’ve got the basics of how to grow your social media presence on lock. Now you may be wondering: How can you go the extra mile?? (like Forrest Gump?)
1. Go Live
Going live means pushing “record” and rolling with it. It’s just you and your audience – no script, no text, just your face and your voice, talking to them.
It sounds scary because it is. I tried it myself for the FIRST time ever recently, and I’ve been in content marketing for six years!
To get myself comfortable, I went ahead and say “yes” to going live two days in a row in the middle of September. Once I got past the nerves of “going live,” I really enjoyed it.
I went live on Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang’s show, Classroom Without Walls, speaking SEO content tactics. She is a social media professor that holds a FB Live every Wednesday at 5 PM.
The NEXT day, I was live on Madalyn Sklar’s awesome #TwitterSmarter afterchat, sharing Twitter strategies to earn more business.
Each appearance racked up over 500 views, and, my Facebook page went from 600-odd page likes to over 800 that week. Wow! It was well worth it.
The fear, of course, is tied to the “live” part of the deal, and it understandably holds many people back.
However, it can be HUGELY valuable for your brand’s reach on social media, because platforms serve live content first – just like I found out!
Look at Facebook, for instance. They know that people are more likely to stop and watch a live video, or watch it longer, so they serve that content to you first. Crazy, right?
To get a taste of the difference between live and standard video posts, think about some stats. On average, people watch Facebook Live videos 3x longer than other types of video. Users also comment on them at a 10x higher rate.
Going live can be a powerful way to build a stronger presence on social media. You just have to work up the nerve to hit “record.”
2. Creatively Engage Your Followers
If you want to boost your presence, another strategy is to creatively engage your followers. Give them opportunities to interact with you and the community you’re targeting.
Here at Express Writers, we went the extra mile on Twitter to engage our followers and created a Twitter chat, #ContentWritingChat.
People have really taken this chat and run with it. I have been shocked at the amount of engagement each of our chats gets! (In a really, really good way.)
Along with running the chat itself, we also post weekly recaps that condense all of the great ideas shared, featuring fantastic community responses to the questions we throw out each week.
Engaging our followers through a Twitter chat has really been fun – for both us and them.
Why not try creatively engaging your own followers with a similar idea?
You could start your own chat around a topic relevant to your brand. You could create your own hashtag and encourage followers to post with it, hold contests and giveaways through your accounts, and more. The only limit is how far your imagination can go.
TDLR; – A “Worth It” Social Presence Requires Elbow Grease
If you want traction on social media, you can’t just post a couple of links once in a while and expect anything good to happen.
Instead, you need to plan, set goals, do your research, and implement it all.
Once you start growing your presence on social, your content promotion and marketing will grow, too. The relationship is symbiotic – content marketing and social media can help each other out, and that’s ideal.
It’s also so, so worth it.
If you’re looking to take your social media presence to the next level, Express Writers can help you rock it out with expertly crafted social media posts and visuals. Get yours right here.
A landing page is chock-full of marketing ROI potential.
If you do it right, a landing page has the power to work miracles.
It can pull your visitor toward your brand, continue to pique their interest, and, finally, accomplish the Big One.
It will convince them to hand over their personal contact details.
They’ll become a quantifiable lead.
….*abra-cadabra*….
You can’t get there, though, without knowing how to write good landing page copy.
This is basically copy that expertly guides the visitor, meets their expectations, persuades them, and builds trust with them –all at the same time.
Because this is quite a Task, with a capital “T,” we’re going to divulge some tips for writing landing page copy that can do it all.
First, there’s something you need to understand.
What a Landing Page Is (and What It Isn’t)
Some people use their homepage or contact page as landing pages. This is a huge mistake.
The most common use for a landing page is giving visitors a place to “land” after they click on one of your ads.
You’ve piqued their interest – they want to learn more. You got that click. But, if you take them to your homepage after telling them about an offer or deal in an ad, that’s confusing.
That’s like taking them to an ice cream shop with 100 flavors but abandoning them at the entrance. You’ve given them no reason to try the ice cream – no idea which flavor is the best and no motivation to go inside.
You’ve got to give guidance if you want them to convert.
Your landing page, therefore, is all about the call-to-action. Because you’re trying to get the reader to do something, every other piece of information on the page needs to line up with that CTA.
In short, every element on that page must work hard. No cop-outs or lazy writing, here. Every single sentence is important.
Landing Page Copy, Deconstructed: 5 Elements of a Razor-Sharp Page that Works
Landing page copy is composed of a variety of elements. Each will contribute toward urging your visitor to take you up on the CTA.
Before you begin, though, you must know the answers to the following questions, according to Kissmetrics.
They’ll give your page its direction and purpose:
What am I offering? – You’re directing traffic to this page because you have an offer they can’t refuse. What is it? This is your CTA. Whether it’s “Sign up now!” or “Get your free download!,” it’s the most important part of the page. You must know what it is before you can start writing, according to Copy Hackers.
How will the visitor benefit from the offer? – If you take too long to tell the visitor about the benefits, they’ll fail to care. They’ll leave, because they won’t know what’s in it for them. Tell them, and tell them quickly.
What do visitors need to know to accept the offer? – Make sure they understand the offer inside-out so they’ll have no hesitations about proceeding with the CTA.
Once you’ve got your answers, you can move on to writing the page. The most critical elements are the headline, the description, the benefits, the social proof, and the call-to-action.
1. The Headline
No matter what kind of copy you’re writing, a good headline is indispensable. It’s no different for landing page copy.
Make your headline echo your CTA. – Your visitors need to know exactly what you want them to do, and why they’re on the page, from the first few seconds. Make it abundantly clear and echo your CTA in your headline (and vice-versa). For example, if the offer is a discount on software, your headline should say something about that software. Tying into that, your CTA should be akin to “Get your discounted software today!”
Look at how HubSpot’s headline echoes their CTA on this landing page for one of their products:
Go bold. – If you can make a bold claim in your headline, do it. However, you must be able to back it up. If you can’t provide evidence, don’t say it.
Get to the point. – Avoid filler words and fluff. These deaden your copy and make it harder to read. For instance, here’s a clunky headline: “In Order to Go the Distance, You Can Get a Faster Car.” Omit the filler phrases “in order to” and “you can.” The slimmed-down, leaner headline is more impactful: “Go the Distance. Get a Faster Car.”
Be clear and simple. – Again, confusion is your worst enemy. The point of your entire page should be crystal-clear from the headline on.
Spend enough time on your headline. – Your headline sets the tone for the entire page. Spend enough time on this piece to make sure it’s really good, and the rest of the landing page should follow suit.
2. The Description
The next three elements – the description, the benefits, and the social proof – go hand-in-hand. Often, the description is composed of the latter two elements. The benefits show your prospective lead what’s in it for them. The social proof shows that it does what you say it will do.
Basically, this is the space where you tell the person why they should follow through with the offer. Here is where you can provide evidence for your claims. You can also list compelling statistics, or generally show why what you’re offering is so great for them.
The better your descriptive copy, the better it will lead visitors to the CTA.
Just remember there are some basic best practices to keep in mind: A) Shorter and simpler are always better. – No matter what, always remember you’re taking up the visitor’s time as long as you have them on your landing page. You must make it worth their while. Unbounce calls this ROTI – “return on time invested.” If visitors feel like you’re waffling, waxing poetic, droning on, or wasting their time, they’ll leave without converting. B) Break up information into chunks with bullets and sub-headers. – Just like elsewhere on the net, users are skimming and scanning your page, not reading in-depth. Optimize for this tendency and break it up. Use short paragraphs, bulleted lists, and bold sub-headers to both organize and enhance the readability of the page.
For inspiration, take a look at how Adobe Photoshop breaks up their landing page and describes their product: C) Make the most important facts noticeable. – Again, you’re dealing with short attention spans. If you want your visitors to read the most important facts about your offer (i.e. “Join thousands of people who have already signed up!” or “75% of customers said they saw improvement with XYZ”), you need to use them in sub-headers, highlight them, or some similar tactic. Don’t bury them in your copy, because those things are valuable information that will help a visitor convert.
Check out how Clue, a women’s health tracking app, highlighted one of their stats: D) Stay on topic. – All of your landing page copy elements must work together for the single purpose. They need to help you achieve that exchange between you and your potential lead: your offer for their contact details. If even one sentence has nothing to do with your CTA, get rid of it. You need to be on topic down to every line, word, and letter.
3. The Benefits
It’s not about you, your product, or your service. It’s about the benefits they can provide to your potential lead.
One big mistake you can make on the landing page is to go on and on about how great your solution is without relating it to the customer. Of course, you think your solution is great – it’s your business. Why should the customer agree? Why should they care?
The truth is, they won’t. Not until you can tell them how great your solution is for them.
This is why you need to be benefits-focused, always, on your landing page. Tell your potential leads exactly how and why your product/service/solution benefits them. Relate it to their lives, their work, their family, their goals – whatever it improves for them on a personal level.
4. The Social Proof
Social proof is arguably the most effective form of evidence you can provide. Social proof is the internet’s version of positive word-of-mouth. It works because people are more likely to trust their peers’ opinions rather than company claims.
Here’s a perfect example of social proof on Interior Define’s landing page for a 15% discount:
Note the inclusion of testimonials. The all-great-and-powerful testimonial is the epitome of social proof. You’ve got a mix that includes a satisfied customer, a glowing review, and a peer recommendation – all in one package.
If you have testimonials, they’re perfect to use on landing pages. This is proof that what you’re claiming is true.
Think of it this way: Your prospects don’t know you from Adam. They have no reason to trust you, unless you give them a reason. Testimonials show them people who do.
Frame a powerful testimonial with copy that highlights it. Make sure you note who the person is, and if you can, put a face to a name.
A good example is how CoSchedule used a testimonial from a trusted authority:
5. The Call-to-Action
We’ve come to the ultimate piece of your landing page.
This is what influences every other element. The CTA is the entire point, and if you don’t have a good one, you need to get back to the drawing board.
Here are some tips on how to craft a strong CTA for your page. Start with a strong verb. – A strong CTA starts with an equally strong verb. Good ones that inspire action include “try,” “download,” “start,” “get,” “begin,” or “subscribe.”
Starting your CTA with a strong verb is essentially a command, if an informal one.
For instance, for a CTA like “Download your free trial today!”, the “you” is implied – “[You] Download your free trial today!”
This is far harder to resist than saying, for instance, “Our free trial is available now!”
Notice that the first example is user-focused. The second, meanwhile, focuses on you, the brand (“our free trial”), which, again, is not what you want to do.
Photo service Shutterfly uses a line that starts with a sturdy verb: “Make My Book”.
It’s a good CTA because it’s simple, it uses that strong verb, and is in command form. Said verb leads off in no-nonsense fashion (handily, it’s also the name of their custom book-making service): Use numbers, if applicable. – If you can, make your CTA even sweeter with numbers. For instance, “Download your free trial today and make your workflow 2x as effective!”
This gives your visitors a great reason to follow through. Show enthusiasm. – An exclamation point after your CTA makes it pop out. That’s because, in general, you should be using this punctuation sparingly, if at all, in the rest of your copy.
Plus, an exclamation point evokes enthusiasm for this great deal you’re offering the prospect. That’s a positive emotion, which may make the person feel more positively about following through.
7. The Whole Picture
If you wrote your landing page copy the right way, you should have had the whole picture in mind while creating each piece.
This is the final big tip: Don’t write your headline, your CTA, your descriptive copy, or any other element in a vacuum.
Always be thinking about how each individual part fits into the whole, like a puzzle piece. Each does a lot of work to contribute to the effectiveness of the picture, but none of them work on their own.
Your great headline won’t convince anyone to convert if your CTA is confusing. Even if you have a fantastic CTA, poor or clunky writing in your descriptive copy will sink the ship.
To create a landing page that’s a useful tool, you have to make sure all the parts work.
Every Detail Contributes to Fantastic Landing Page Copy
Once you’ve got the basic elements of a landing page handled, you’re on track for success.
Your page will not just be a place for visitors to land after clicking an ad, it will be a lead-generating tool that will work overtime for you.
Keep in mind that your landing page is only as good as the time you put into it.
A page you slapped together in 20 minutes will rely on chance to garner leads – You’re probably only worried about how your product or service sounds.
A thoughtfully-constructed page relies on strategy. – You’re jumping into the potential lead’s headspace, trying to understand what matters to them.
You know which path is proven.
Do the work, write like you mean it, and you’ll see results. Writing landing page copy isn’t easy. If you need experts to take the reins and handle it, Express Writers is here for you. Try us on for size today for better copy.
99% of our sales here at Express Writers come through the content marketing we do.
I believe it’s possible, because I’ve done it.
Revenue-generating content marketing is not a myth, or some secret recipe that you have to be born into.
It’s what we do everyday, and I believe you can, too.
I’m Julia McCoy, and I’m a college dropout.
I’ve sold over $4 million dollars worth of content creation services to thousands of clients across the globe through the company I founded, Express Writers. Today I lead a team of 40 hand-picked writers, creators, and project managers.
More importantly, we have the best client satisfaction rates that we’ve ever had, and we just had our biggest month in sales. Just 6 years ago I started with nothing but $75, a hope, and a dream.
Here’s how I did it…
Because I’m on a mission to inspire you to achieve your dream even faster than I did.
The Story Behind Express Writers: Julia McCoy, Founder Shares “From College Dropout to $4 Million”
I was 19 years old and failing out of nursing school.
I didn’t have a safety net and nursing school was not going to work, so I asked myself: what do I love to do, and how can I make money doing it?
I love to write. By age 12, I’d written a 200-page medieval fiction novella. And at 13, I was teaching myself internet marketing, doing surveys for cash, learning basic computer skills. I walked around the neighborhood offering my services to the public. It worked out well, and I was earning $400 in a given month before I turned 16.
I jumped in.
In the next 3 months, I taught myself how to write, and I wrote over 250 articles for very cheap clients. But that was how I honed my early writing skills.
I also started learning a lot of SEO and content marketing back then.
More Work Than I Could Handle as a Freelancer
Two things happened:
I discovered an untapped need in the marketplace when I combined content marketing with search engine optimization (SEO). Most of my competitors were frustrating clients by being one or the other. I blended the two disciplines to write content that positioned my clients as an authority AND turned into real sales, which led to…
More work than I could handle.
And that’s when I started blogging regularly on my own site, expresswriters.com and found businesses willing to pay top dollar for lead generating content, and we grew.
I had one goal when I started my company back then: it was to find a group of writers who had passion in online writing, and who I could teach the elements of SEO and content marketing to, and we could learn and progress together, as a whole.
Getting Disowned by My Parents Led to a Better Future
You might say “oh sure, this was easy for you with your family’s support.”
The truth is, it wasn’t.
I didn’t have a safety net.
I grew up in a religiously suppressed home. My dad was the pastor of a church, and on my 21st birthday , my parents locked me in my bedroom with a letter telling me my life was worth nothing.
I shouldn’t have been born.
I was not allowed to lead a normal life, was told everything I did was wrong, and my business skills were looked down on.
Even though that was the only home I’d known, when I got that letter I knew that it wasn’t normal and I had to get out.
Six months later, my sister and I made the difficult decision to escape in the middle of the night. It was very heartbreaking, but it was the only shot I had to follow my dreams and chase my passions.
200% Growth for Express Writers in the Early Years
Completely bootstrapped, no outside funding, no family support, no safety net.. my content agency, Express Writers, grew 200% in the next few years.
The first year was $50,000, and in the next few years we hit $300,000, and last year we just surpassed $650,000.
Taught Through Failure = My Greatest Lessons for Success
As an entrepreneur, you often hear that failure precedes success.
Early in 2016, I discovered two trusted managers in my staff were embezzling. I fired them, rebuilt the team, over the next five months.
I learned that with a supportive environment, ongoing accountability for your staff, and most importantly, the right people, there is no limit to what you can do as a business. That experience taught me what it means to create a great company culture, and serve our clients with the best customer service.
The CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, said “the secret to successful hiring is this: find the people that want to change the world.”
For me, that was finding people that shared my goal, a gigantic goal, of creating the best copywriting agency on the planet, and giving our clients the best content that they’ve ever gotten.
One of my biggest lessons was that it’s not about the job descriptions in your company, it’s about the environment and how your staff support each other.
The next big lesson is to constantly evolve. What helped grow our company in the beginning might not work today. For example, we had a terrific commissioned sales rep but I wanted a culture of cultivating great client relationships rather than a culture chasing end of quarter sales quotas.
I replaced our commissioned sales rep with a real content marketing expert, to do consulting and selling at Express Writers. After she was working here for a week, I checked in with one of our clients, and asked: Could you rate the difference in experience between the commissioned sales rep and our content expert? And he said that the difference was 100x better. I knew we were on the right track.
I couldn’t be more proud of the team we have in place today. We are greater than the sum of our parts.
There are no limits to what we can do as a company, because we’re learning and progressing together.
Our team is large but nimble enough to adapt quickly, which gives our clients the best service. We’re seeing the highest writer retention rates, we’re able to provide full time jobs for the writers we have, and we’re seeing the highest client satisfaction rates that we’ve ever had as well.
What Is Your Biggest Success Secret in Entrepreneurism?
I think my biggest lesson as an entrepreneur and content marketer is that the right people, working next to you, make all the difference.
There’s also no I in SUCCESS.
There is an “US” in success, though.
You can’t move forward and hit your best success level by yourself. It’s just not possible.
I hope that this story inspired you! Follow me at “JuliaEMcCoy” on Facebook, Twitter, and Julia McCoy on YouTube.
I think it all started when “organic” reach on social media declined to scarily low ground.
A steep 50% + organic decline in Facebook page reach, identified across a short time span in 2014, was an eyeopener for a lot of marketers (benchmark study from social@Ogilvy):
Ogilvy said in the same study:
“Organic reach of the content brands publish in Facebook is destined to hit zero. It’s only a matter of time.
In 2012, Facebook famously restricted organic reach of content published from brand pages to about 16 percent. In December 2013, another round of changes reduced it even more.
By February 2014, according to a Social@Ogilvy analysis of more than 100 brand pages, organic reach hovered at 6 percent, a decline of 49 percent from peak levels in October. For large pages with more than 500,000 Likes, organic reach hit 2 percent in February.”
That’s rough.
So, what can marketers do?
The answer: pay a small sum and start doing ads on the platform. Facebook ads are, according to Wordstream, one of the most cost-effective advertising platforms. Check out their CPC (cost per click) study. $1.72 is an extremely lowadvertising cost – but that’s the “average” cost!
And there have been incredible, inspirational success stories from marketers making BIG income using Facebook ads:
It’s not a predictable, plodding cow. It’s a wily horse.
Meanwhile, Facebook ad copy is like a zebra in a herd of wild horses.
Don’t be fooled. It looks like a horse, but it’s not.
It’s something else, a totally unique task. To learn how to write Facebook ads that work, you have to know how to approach the zebra so you don’t make it shy away. You have to use a strategy separate from what you’d use for other types of ads.
Let’s start with a basic question…
How Important is Ad Copy on Facebook Ads?
Rule of thumb: ad copy is nothing without great visuals. (The same can be said vice versa: you need great ad copy for a great ad visual.)
The proof is in the stats.
Take this oft-cited BuzzSumo finding, for starters: Facebook posts with an image get 2.3 times the engagement as posts without an image.
On Facebook, ads show up in the news feed and look like posts. Ergo, if your ad has no image, not even a placeholder, we have an issue.
The image takes up the most real estate, and has the most impact, in a Facebook ad.
Facebook Ads Manager has a variety of ad formats to choose from, but note that all of them are image-centric.
Okay… So, What Role Does Ad Copy Play?
You may be wondering why we’re worrying about ad copy at all in the face of the facts.
Here’s why:
The ad copy supports the image. The two play off of each other.
The image is what draws the eye, but the ad copy is what seals the deal for the click.
Without the ad copy, your ad will be much more confusing. Users won’t know what to do with it. Users won’t have a reason why they should stop and pay full attention.
With the ad copy, you provide that reason. You provide the essential why. You answer the customer’s dearest question: “How does this benefit me?”
How to Write Facebook Ads, Step-by-Step
Knowing the rules is the first step to complete knowledge.
Picasso, for instance, didn’t begin his foray into abstract art without first intimately knowing the rules of drawing from life.
In the same way, to write great Facebook ads, you have to understand the basic rules first.
Know your limitations, then stretch them with your imaginative, creative, effective copy.
Step #1: Begin with the Image
Before we dig in, we need to qualify something. Steps one and two are interchangeable.
Sometimes, you’ll start with a great image and can pull inspiration for the copy from that. Other times, you start with a great idea. This means you flesh out a catchy concept and find the perfect image afterward.
If you’re beginning with the image, think about three things:
Use as little image text as possible, if at all. Facebook only allows text to occupy 20% or less of your image. Images with more text get less exposure.
The headline needs to match up with or echo the on-image text (if you’re including any).
If you use on-image text, make sure it’s a value proposition, according to SEMrush. In other words, what will viewers get out of the deal? (A discount? A freebie? A better life?)
Users will see your image first, your copy second. Make sure your image is relevant to your entire ad message.
Here’s an example of an Amazon ad that uses image text properly:
Step #2: Move to the Headline
In Facebook Ads Manager, you may notice that you’re presented with one text box to enter your ad copy. Don’t start there, though.
Instead, check the box underneath that says “Add a website URL” to access more options. You’ll see something like this:
The text box for entering your headline is further down the page. Don’t worry about doing things out of order – you’ll want to create your headline first to give your copy a general direction.
The headline is most likely what a user will see second, after the image. As such, this becomes a huge focus for your copy creation.
Here are some keys for a great headline on a Facebook ad:
Make it actionable – It should serve as an underscore to your actual call-to-action. To encourage action tenfold, start with a present-tense verb. I.e. get, do, go, look, save, shop, buy, etc.
Think about formulas for great headlines – You probably are aware of the different formulas and power words you can use to craft a great blog headline. The same principles work here, too. Two can’t-fail techniques are to use numbers or ask a question.
Keep it short and snappy – Kissmetrics recommends keeping your headlines down to five words or less. (That’s… not a lot of words.) If you’re struggling with this limit, you can give yourself a bit more wiggle-room as long as your message is still clear and concise.
Another tip from the Ad Copy Cheat Sheet.
Step #3: Add Supporting Text (the Body Copy)
Annnnd we’ve returned to that first text box. (“Text” on Facebook is essentially your body copy.)
Since you’re only saying one thing in your Facebook ad, use the body copy to reiterate your headline. That’s right: Echo your headline and image, but say it in a different, compelling way.
Need an example?
Let’s say your headline is “Shop for Groceries the Easy Way” for an online grocery service.
Your aim for the ad is to grow brand awareness. You want to tell people what you do succinctly.
Now what?
Think of the audience you’re targeting. In Facebook Ads, you have to choose this audience before you can get to the ad-writing part.
For instance, are you targeting midwestern moms in their late 30s? Think about the problems your service solves for them. Think about what they have to deal with while grocery shopping – rowdy kids, a long list to get through, not a lot of extra time, tiredness after a long work day, etc.
Boom.
There’s what your copy can address. It answers the question, “Why will this make my life easier?” It focuses on the benefits of using the service, not the features – a proven sales technique.
Here’s the resulting body copy:
“Skip the errand-running hassle. Shop for groceries from the comfort of your home.”
You can have as many as 90 characters in your body copy, but a 40-character limit is regularly touted as best-practice for good results. In general, shoot for short and sweet.
Step #4: Include a Call-to-Action
Always include a call-to-action with your ads. Always.
You need to tell the customer what to do with the information you’re giving them. You have to direct them, let them know where to go from here.
Just make sure your call-to-action is simple and direct. It should also match up with your headline.
For example, if my headline is “Shop for Groceries the Easy Way,” my call-to-action should be “Shop Now.” Too many directives, like if I used “Learn More” as a CTA in addition to “Shop” in my headline, is just confusing.
Facebook gives you the option to include a call-to-action button on your ad. You choose the appropriate text:
Definitely include this feature! People love the satisfaction of clicking a good button. Don’t deprive them of that on your ad.
Step #5: Write a Supporting Link Description
Don’t skip this next part in our lesson on how to write Facebook ads.
It’s the ominous box called “News Feed Link Description.”
You may be thinking, “What does that even mean?”
Really, you should think of it as more supporting copy for your ad. Here’s where it shows up when you choose to run news feed ads:
Think of it as secondary body copy that can lead your viewer to your CTA. As such, you need to use it to keep driving your message home.
For reference, our example ad so far has the headline “Shop for Groceries the Easy Way” with body copy that reads “Skip the errand-running hassle. Shop for groceries from the comfort of your home.”
What else can we say that supports the assertion that this will make life easier for moms in their 30s?
The best strategy is to continue espousing the benefits of your product/service/what-have-you.
The news feed link description line can be up to 200 characters long. But, for accommodating smaller screens, Facebook recommends keeping it to a brief 30 characters. However long you go, that’s valuable extra space to help sell your message.
For instance, we might write, “No need to hop in the car, schlep the kids, or waste gas. Shop from home and get everything you need – fast.”
If we wanted to keep it under 30 characters, we could go with, “Check off your list – fast.”
Step #6: Double-Check the Ad Preview
Nothing is worse than spending eons of time writing a great ad, only to realize you made a stupid error after hitting “publish.”
That’s why the ad preview feature is a lifesaver. You can check that everything is the right size, length, and category. (Like if you accidentally mixed up the “Text” section with the “News Feed Link Description.”)
If you’re blanking on character limits and what section goes where, bookmark or save a handy cheat sheet that breaks everything down at a glance. Facebook provides quick recommendations for image sizes and character limits. Refer to these so your ad looks good no matter where it appears on the site:
4 Extra Tips for How to Write Facebook Ads with Punch and Pizazz
The general gist of writing ad copy isn’t too hard. Once you know your boundaries, often that can spark more creativity than if you’re working without rules.
So, you get how to write Facebook ads. You’ve got the basics. Now you might want a few extra pieces of wisdom to help take your copy over the top.
1. Know Exactly Who You’re Writing For
We can’t stress this point enough. Once you’ve figured out exactly who you’re writing for, you’re halfway to a fantastic, conversion-generating, wow-worthy, absolute machine of an ad.
Let’s reiterate for good measure: It will make your life 100,000,000,000 times easier to have this specific person in your mind while writing the ad copy.
If you don’t know who they are, stop reading this and start researching.
2. Pretend You’re Writing to One Person in Your Audience
Targeting a specific audience helps keep your writing honed, focused, pointed, and deeply relevant for the reader.
When you pretend you’re speaking to one person, you increase all that. Their concerns, needs, hopes, and wants become immediate. You’re not talking to an auditorium full of people whose faces you can’t see; you’re sitting across from someone and making eye contact.
The difference is huge, and it matters for writing good ad copy.
3. Don’t Be Shy
You’re writing an ad. You have zero time to hedge. You have to say what you mean, and mean what you say.
Your length and space restraints will help you be more to-the-point, but you have to also figure out the best way to say what you need to say.
Don’t provide useless facts, don’t waste time bragging about features, and don’t get too descriptive and lose your audience. Simple and bold is better for memorable ads that stop a mindless scroller in their tracks.
4. Listen to Facebook!
Facebook provides recommendations and guidelines to help you create the best ads possible. It would be foolish to overlook them. Here are a couple more worthy tips from the Ad Copy Cheat Sheet for good measure:
How to Write Facebook Ads Like a Pro: Done
It’s a lot of information to take in, but, like we said, Facebook ads are in their own category for copywriting. They need a special approach.
Of course, the only way to get good at any task is to get in there and get your hands dirty. Jump onto Facebook Ads Manager and start playing around. Practice your approach for different campaign goals like brand awareness, conversions, or lead generation. You can always test out different ads to see what lands and what flops.
When you write your own Facebook ads, you may even come to relish the unique creative challenge they pose.
Hey, stranger things have happened!
If Facebook ad copy is still giving you grief, don’t despair. Our copywriting experts here at Express Writers can take the reins and make ad magic. See our ad copywriting services here.
I’ve always wanted to go to CMWorld.
Like, since I started out 6 years ago in the industry.
If you know anything about me, you know that I started Express Writers back in 2011, at 20 years old, with $75: and through consistent content creation, I’ve been able to reach clients and grow to a team of over 40 writers, serving over 5,000 clients over the last 6 years. The sole marketing we do is content marketing. We are a realization of our services: literally, we ARE a content creation agency marketed and fueled by the content we create for our brand. This is done through my content on the Write Blog, my guest blogs on Content Marketing Institute, Search Engine Journal, and SiteProNews, to name a few. By now, we have over 4,000 organic keyword spots in Google.
So this year, I finally went and gathered in a crowd of people that were my kind – over 4,600 content creators and marketers, at Content Marketing World in Cleveland, Ohio. I took one of my team leaders with me.
The verdict?
We experienced a dynamite week at CMWorld.
I walked away with four potential new clients, three (maybe four) sponsors for my new course, AND some key lessons learned that I’ll be implementing for the good of my company and the web (seriously – I’m about to get a lot realer and create even better content in the days ahead – I’ve been strategizing and mapping since the moment I left).
Here’s a recap. Keep reading for 9 main session takeaways – simple, favorite takeaways – and 3 critical lessons I learned as a content marketer attending #CMWorld, about the event in general and how to network effectively.
CMWorld 2017 In Pictures
How fun is this? Our designer took the 30+ pictures I shot at the event with some of my favorite content marketing people, and made an infographic collage! Enjoy. 🙂
[clickToTweet tweet=”Experience #CMWorld 2017 in pictures: #infographic of event pictures via @ExpWriters” quote=”Experience #CMWorld 2017 in pictures: #infographic of event pictures via @ExpWriters”]
Arriving in Cleveland September 5 for CMWorld 2017: Day 1
Tuesday, September 5, started off the event with an amazing networking night where each one of us 4,000+ marketers hung out together at the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. I’d never been, and it was incredible – a beautiful venue.
Hannah, my Content Director at Express Writers, and I landed right at 6:55 pm. Hannah came from Albany, Oregon, and I came from Austin, Texas. The networking party was from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. We dropped our bags off at our hotel and got ready to network and party! We ended up at the event around 8:15.
The trolley left our hotel, Crowne Plaza, every 30 minutes. Which was awesome. We didn’t have to call an Uber or a taxi for the CMWorld events that happened close to our hotel. Content Marketing World had all the details covered – even a printout of where you were going ready to hand out at the hotel front lobby. In fact, CMWorld signs were EVERYWHERE. We saw cars sporting magnetic roof signs, like pizza delivery cars, for the event. Content Marketing Institute did an outstanding job on event marketing. Everything was set up to be extremely helpful for attendees, especially the new ones that weren’t sure where to go (me).
At the networking event Tuesday night, we had an amazing time. I actually got to personally shake hands with and hug my industry hero, Joe Pulizzi! Funny story: Hannah and I ended up escorting Joe Pulizzi for the CMI staff up the escalator, both of us on each side of him! I also met the amazing CMI staff, who I’d emailed and tweeted with years prior to this week. It’s great to make a connection through email and/or Twitter, but there’s nothing like hugging in real life. I crossed paths with a lot more people I’d tweeted or emailed. The opening night party was loads of fun.
9 Session Takeaways from CMWorld 2017: Joe Pulizzi, Jay Acunzo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & More
The CMWorld event, true to awesome form, comes complete with a CMWorld app. CMWorld 2017 is downloadable through the iTunes store. It was an amazing way to manage the 150+ sessions that occurred from Tuesday – Friday during the week of the conference. You’re free to scroll through the sessions, pick the ones you want to attend, and add them to your agenda. Incredibly smart and useful.
Here are some one/two-liner (some are longer) takeaways from the sessions I attended. Keep reading for some hugely critical tips I learned on networking for great results, too.
1. Joe Pulizzi, Welcome to the Content Marketing Revolution (Opening Keynote)
Favorite takeaway:
“You need a loyal and trusting audience. Traffic and shares are good: but without a loyal audience, nothing is possible. 9/10 marketers that are successful at content marketing, say that they focus on building an audience.”
[clickToTweet tweet=”Without a loyal audience, nothing is possible. @joepulizzi #CMWorld” quote=”Without a loyal audience, nothing is possible. @joepulizzi #CMWorld”]
2. Linda Boff, GE, “Imagination at Work: Lessons in Storytelling from GE,” General Session Keynote
Key takeaway:
“Stories are right under our noses—we just might need to change the lens every now and then. Content that tries to sell, doesn’t.”
[clickToTweet tweet=”Content that tries to sell, doesn’t. @lindaboff” quote=”Content that tries to sell, doesn’t. @lindaboff”]
3. Jay Acunzo, “Be the Exception: How Brilliant Marketers Find and Follow What Makes Their Stories Different in a World Full of Average Content,” General Session Keynote
Key takeaway:
[clickToTweet tweet=”Pay more attention to your customer than your industry, and your customer will pay more attention to you. @jayacunzo ” quote=”Pay more attention to your customer than your industry, and your customer will pay more attention to you. @jayacunzo #CMWorld”]
“Be exceptional. Spend your time doing truly remarkable work and building something worth subscribing to. Pay more attention to your customer than your industry, and your customer will pay more attention to you. What is your aspirational anchor? What is your intent for the future? What kind of hunger do you feel about work today… and what is your unfair advantage? Use these as both a filter for endless advice and your differentiator in your content.”
4. Michele Linn of CMI, Creating the Ultimate Content Marketing Team (45-Minute Session)
Favorite takeaway:
[clickToTweet tweet=”‘Creatives with skills outside their specialty are highly marketable. Don’t just hire a ‘writer.’” @michelelinn ” quote=”‘Creatives with skills outside their specialty are highly marketable. Don’t just hire a ‘writer.’” @michelelinn #CMWorld”]
Michele mentioned that originally she’d thought about making the presentation about “roles,” then realized that every marketer she spoke to in researching her presentation topic had a different role title. Role titles didn’t matter as much as the skills and actual responsibilities. Michele also shared a great Cameron Conway quote: Behind every great content marketing effort, there’s always a driven, well-organized team.
5. Amanda Todorovich of Cleveland Clinic, The Inside Story of How Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials Drives Consistent Web Traffic and Builds an Audience (45-Minute Session)
Amanda, with the approval (and cheerleading) of the health clinic’s CMO, took the Cleveland Health Clinic’s online presence from zero traffic to an on-track goal of hitting 5 million hits per MONTH this October. They publish 15 blogs/day, and right now, the number one way they win new patients is through their content, with multiple blogs set up where they post content to. Way to go, Cleveland Health Clinic–and Amanda!
Amanda says: Look at your content AND your audience as an asset. She recommends dropping the stale monthly reports and reporting back when you see a change, improvement, follower movement–which could be a daily occurrence. Also, patience is key. It’s taken them years to build their tremendous presence and audience.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Look at your content AND your audience as an asset. -@amandatodo from Cleveland Health Clinic #CMWorld” quote=”Look at your content AND your audience as an asset. -@amandatodo from Cleveland Health Clinic #CMWorld”]
6. Garrett Moon of Coschedule, Going Beyond Content Marketing: Turning Traffic into Leads (45-Minute Session)
This session by Garrett from CoSchedule held some great tips.
“Drive profitable customer action. Attract an audience that is excited to discover your product. What do your customers really care about? To get leads, you must understand your customer.
Focus on having a content core. Have one clear CTA message in your content, never two. Place them in the top and bottom. Use the HelloBar and package your content with value. Instead of just asking your readers to subscribe, give them something for free that’s of value along the way.
Goal setting and tracking is important. Understand how to measure your lead generation, and remember that different phases of business mean different goals.”
[clickToTweet tweet=”Find a topic that your customers care about and map it to an angle that provides value. @garrett_moon #CMWorld” quote=”Find a topic that your customers care about and map it to an angle that provides value. @garrett_moon #CMWorld”]
7. #AMA – ASKMEANYTHING – How Marketers Can Deliver Better Speeches and Presentations, with Cathy McPhillips, Donna Moritz, Scott Stratten, and Tamsen Webster (Lunch & Learn)
Favorite takeaway:
“Speaking can be deeply uncomfortable. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Passion trumps polish EVERY TIME.”
[clickToTweet tweet=”Passion trumps polish EVERY TIME. @tamadear” quote=”Passion trumps polish EVERY TIME. @tamadear”]
8. Joseph Gordon-Levitt Keynote – Hollywood, Media and How to Collaborate to Build Something Truly Great
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, film star and director, built hitrecord.org from scratch, a community of collaborators and work together to get paid for their creative skills (over $2.5 million has been paid out to their creatives). Favorite takeaway:
Although Joseph’s speech was awesome, my favorite short-liner would have to be Joe Pulizzi clearing up what “content marketing” means to Joseph.
Joe Pulizzi (talking about what Joseph does): So what kind of marketing category does that fall into? Joseph: Brand marketing. Joe: Why not content marketing? Joseph: Well, what is the difference between brand and content marketing? Joe: Brand marketing is marketing that serves the brand. Content marketing is marketing that serves the audience. Joseph: Okay, then, I guess I do content marketing.
#audienceapplause
9. Jay Baer, How to Get Promoted by Creating Less Content, Not More (45-Minute Session)
I apologize – this one isn’t going to be a one-liner takeaway.
I was inspired by this particular session by Jay Baer so much, that I’ll be writing a standalone blog on a guest blog platform just around what I took away from listening. This was a powerful wake-up speech that every content marketer should know about. Stop doing crap volume content – it’ll kill you, eventually. Here are a few key notes from the session.
First, Jay shared core statistics that are pretty crazy:
76% of marketers plan to create more content than ever this year
Yet more than half of all content gets LESS THAN 4 social shares
And more than 75% earns no links
Being relevant to your audience is the hugest content need today. Content fails when it doesn’t matter enough to trade time for information.
Jay identified a wonderful solution by building multiple personas. He introduced a “5x5x5 topic archaeology:” determine 5 key questions that must be answered for your audience to progress through the sales funnel. Create a persona for each stage of the funnel. 125 questions (5×3 stages of the funnel) will net you 60 questions. Then, you can figure out the content type to create to answer their questions. FAQ, blog, etc.
Think of creating consistent content shows. On your site; and in other places. Thematic content is key. Stop creating content randomly. Jay’s Social Pros podcast has ran for 7 years. Whiteboard Friday. With shows, you stop random nature of creating content. Your audience will tune in. Easier to test and optimize. Repurposing content is easier this way, too.
The most persuasive content is created by real people, not brands. The more content customers and fans you create, the less you have to create. More trust, less work.
Robots that can write well, WILL happen – they are happening now. In just a few months they could replace your job. Add the secret sauce of humanity to keep your job as a content marketer. Have a laser focus on relevance, trustworthiness, memorability…not volume.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Add the secret sauce of humanity to keep your job as a content marketer and stand out against the robots. @jaybaer ” quote=”Add the secret sauce of humanity to keep your job as a content marketer and stand out against the robots. @jaybaer #CMWorld”]
3 Key Lessons I Learned From Successfully Networking and Attending CMWorld 2017
At CMWorld 2017, I walked away with several potential new clients and three, maybe four, course sponsors.
How did I make THAT happen?!
Let me be specific, so you don’t think these were just “leads:” we walked away with at least two new client relationships (brand new, direct emails and contact info exchanged, and “I will be hiring you” actually said to my staff member and I). We’re working on potentially two more of those, too.
With my course, I have meetings that I discussed and set from the conference floor with three executives that are definitely interested in sponsoring the course. Granted, when it comes to the course, these were people I have had connections with for years – yet I think meeting in person at CMWorld was a huge key to successful communication regarding it, and the trust factor just gets so much “realer” when you’re in person.
1. If You Want to Get a “Lead” That’s Worth Something, Don’t Pitch Cold. But, Look for Opportunities & Make Friends.
How interesting is this tip?
Dave, my client at Magnificent Marketing, who was at #CMWorld too, told me that pitching while at a party or doing dinner together just feels “slimey.”
I agree, but I think there’s a balance. The odds also seemed to be heavily in my favor to naturally find opportunities, since we were the lone content creation agency (everyone else was a consulting agency, marketer, SaaS creator, etc).
For example, I was standing in the middle of the Expo Hall (which is giant) and was talking to my friend, the Director of BuzzSumo, Steve Rayson. The minute I finished talking to him, two people came up to me. Turns out they led marketing at an agency, were looking for writers, and had read my badge while I was talking to Steve – “Express Writers.” They said they were in need of writers yesterday and we instantly exchanged information. This happened a couple times.
I think you should go prepared to pitch if you find someone that needs you, and you’re confident you can deliver. However, don’t just “pitch.” Look for the opportunity, make a friend, and then make the connection.
There was one booth there where the guy, an obviously seasoned and salty “salesperson,” walked up to me and tried to sell me on a webinar system I didn’t need. Within five minutes, he’d sent me a LinkedIn request with his calendar link to book a call.
That was a major, major turnoff. You’re at a content marketing event, where the theme was “audience comes first.” Never do what the overly-salesy sales guy did to me.
2. If You Have Prior Influencer Relationships Built Up, When You Finally Meet, It’s Dynamite & Big Things Can Happen.
This seriously applies to meeting influencers.
Seriously.
Don’t go expecting big things and try to meet influencers you’ve never, ever talked to before.
Why? First of all, they usually have a crowd around them. Second of all, the connection won’t be as amazing as a moment that goes… “aha! So good to meet you, finally!” It’ll be a much less impactful connection if you’re a complete stranger when you meet them at the event.
So I’ve been podcasting (the Write Podcast) since April 2016, and through that channel, I’ve been able to meet and build relationships with some amazing influencers in the industry. Same for a Twitter chat I run, #ContentWritingChat. Before my podcasting days, I’d already met a few of the influencers virtually through live events, tweeting, etc. Some of these connections went as far back as 2012. So, before I even planned on #CMWorld, I’d tweeted, emailed, and talked consistently with these amazing influencers.
When we met, it was DY-NA-MITE. Like, “let’s sit down and talk opportunities” dynamite. I had a sponsorship meeting booked and two in the works before I left the floor on Day 2. We hugged, took pictures, and the conversation flowed, too. It wasn’t one-sided with me “asking.” We were truly friends before I even got there. And the ask was easy–the influencer and I both knew it was in our favor.
3. CMWorld Is One of the “Easiest” Conferences With Short, Walk-In Sessions & Everything Set Up For You.
When I planned my trip to CMWorld, I was honestly worried how 150 sessions and 100 speakers would go. I thought I’d be completely drained – I’d been to another conference with 45-60 minute sessions back on back and was drained quickly.
The app made it extremely easy to pick my sessions. I didn’t even have to look for signs or go somewhere – I just looked at the app.
I found that CMWorld was structured so well that the sessions were short (some at 20 minutes long) and the longer sessions still allowed you to come and go very easily.
The come-and-go nature of the event, and the constantly open Main Expo Hall with a giant, comfortable lounge, was perfect. Seriously, desks and chairs were everywhere incase you needed to take a quick minute to catch up on work, and the entire convention center was rented out for us – AND the next-door hotel!
Over 4,000 attendees and you could still find a quiet corner to make or take a call. (Except for the Expo Hall when it was time for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s keynote. Forget even trying to walk through. It moved fast, though.)
In honesty, I attended less sessions than I thought I would, but the networking results were fantastic. I kept popping out early to go see who I could find at the Expo Hall, and then walking into other sessions.
The end result? I was engaged, happy, and the opposite of bored (what I would have felt if I was sitting in a session for more than an hour at a time).
Final Shoutout #1: Andy Crestodina Is An Influencer that Sets an Industry Example
One influencer that I made a new relationship with at CMWorld consistently stood out for his helpfulness, kindness, and all-around awesomeness – to me and everyone around me. Andy Crestodina.
There are a lot of amazing, helpful, kind people in content marketing, but Andy is hard to describe because of how much he goes above and beyond. I was thoroughly amazed and inspired by Andy’s above-average caring nature as a content marketing expert and influencer.
Here’s why.
We were standing in the expo hall. I had just met him face-to-face, and was telling him how much I enjoyed the book that he mailed me, at no cost, with a handwritten note – before I went to the event. (Seriously, wasn’t that nice?) I told him “so sorry I missed your session today! I ended up going to another.” Do you know what Andy said? “Skype me. Or catch me later. And I’ll give you the whole talk. It was short. I don’t want you to miss it. So I’ll give it personally to you if you want. Just let me know.”
Then, he texted me later on the second full day of the event, and got me into an amazing event hosted by Ivana of DIYMarketers.
Seriously! What influencer does that?! Content marketing has heroes. That’s all I’m going to say.
Final Shoutout #2: Thank You, Joe Pulizzi, Robert Rose, & the CMI Team!
I was honored to walk out with a handsigned copy of the newest book from Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose. This one will be on my bedstand table for a while.
Thank you, thank you Content Marketing Institute for a wonderful event!
For this content marketer, it was an incredible experience. I will be back!
Based on what you know about them, which social network(s) do your personas use the most? Go there.
Another tip from the Ad Copy Cheat Sheet.
