Around Thanksgiving of 2016, I launched a new content level after training my staff for a few months on how to deliver it and having Josh, our CTO, develop a matching product in the Content Shop. Authority Content.
Before then, we had two levels: general, and expert writing.
For my new Authority level, I trained a handful of my best expert writers and built a structure around it that kind of looked like this (my rough internal sketch):
It’s far more than what I can represent in one circle, though.
In one piece of Authority content, no less than five of my team members at Express Writers are involved in creation: our team content manager, a Content Strategist doing a tad of SEO research, an Authority Writer that I’d personally trained, our designer to create themed graphics for it, and a high level content marketing editor to review it all at every stage. I work with our content director to help train and pick the Authority writer, so you might as well say six.
Why did I launch this?
It wasn’t just to launch a content level with a high price tag (this is our highest cost service yet, ranging from $300-$900+ per piece).
It was after I spent a year studying, watching, and listening to the trends in content in online marketing.
I digested thousands of articles, analyzed even more headlines, and wrote hundreds of blogs myself. Some of which rose to the top, some of which didn’t.
I saw a formula starting to distinguish itself. I saw something repeat itself over, and over.
Those that were practitioners of this emerging formula were creating this level of content, and promoting it in their niches. Content tailored correctly, to the right audience.
But beyond just catching my eye, if the content was created right, at a true authority level, it held my gaze – and I subscribed for more. [Keep reading for the full story.]
Content Creators That Reach Authority Level Are the Ones that Win Online
Let me give you two examples of the content I came across last year that held my gaze.
Last year, there were a LOT of new bloggers coming on the scene.
I mean it when I say a lot.
For example, I’m in a Blogging Newbies group, with the member numbers in the 100,000+ range.
I saw day after day, sometimes moment after moment, an announcement from someone about their new blog going live. In my LinkedIn groups, I saw the phenomenon, group after group. I saw it across my connections online, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram. New blog up! New blog up! [MarketingProfs says that 2 million blogs are now created every day.]
It’s kind of scary, isn’t it?
Almost a doubt that can whisper in your ear: there’s no way to stand out.
But there is.
Out of all those new blogs from last year, quite literally millions, two bloggers still stick in my memory today.
TWO!
So yes, you can stand out, but you can’t be any less than an authority to do so. Let’s talk about who stood out.
The Two Bloggers that Stood Out in One Year, Grabbed My Eye, & Held My Gaze
1. Tor Refsland
This dude grabbed my eye early in the year. I invited him on the Write Podcast and published his guest episode in October last year. (Check it out here.)
In 2016, Tor was known as timemanagementchef.com, but now he’s over at torrefsland.com. Which is smart, because I mean, look at this list…he’s a celebrity with a known name by now:
Top personal development blog of 2016, Wisdom Times Award
Won Most Epic blog post from one of my favorite bloggers, Jon Morrow himself
Top 100 personal development blogs
Wrote a blog that generated 20,000+ page views in 6 days!
Public speaker on stages with gurus like Rand Fishkin
Featured everywhere…podcasts, guest blogs, just Google his name
These feats were accomplished by Tor within his first 12-18 months of blogging.
So he’s a pretty epic authority.
What caught my eye was one of the content pieces he published. One of many with a very similar structure.
Read it here.
Thousands of words, and Tor’s unique style: a TON of one-liners.
3,000-5,000 words on average and tons, tons, tons of scrolling – but it’s so easy to read, you don’t even notice.
(Don’t get any ideas that that’s the “emerging formula” I’m talking about, by the way. That’s just Tor’s epic style.)
Check out one more blog Tor did last year that I loved.
Does that grab your eye or what? The blog itself is very in-depth and there are some fantastic lessons for all bloggers (read here).
2. Michael Pozdnev
Michael caught my eye from an Inbound.org post mid-2016, and I’ve been following him since. His blog iwannabeablogger.com features incredibly long-form, intense blogging guides that are jam-packed with information.
The crazy part?
He’s been creating for 15 years, so this guy is by no means new. But something he created in 2016 and shared on Inbound.org made waves enough to catch and grab my attention. Here’s the title of that post:
Dude. This post ROCKED. I read a few of his other blogs, grabbed his free ebook, and I realized this guy was an authority to be reckoned with. I recommend following Michael on Twitter: @MPozdnev. And go check out his content.
Why We Remember, Learn, Use, and Share Content Online
Why do you share content?
I can bet you it falls in one of these categories:
Simply put, it’s the answer to a question you searched.
It’s the most thorough answer.
You learned something.
You’re going to put to use what you learned (create that garden, build that birdhouse, promote that blog, build that website).
Simple?
It sounds like it.
But creating content that triggers the “remember / share / use / love” button from a reader isn’t simple, by any means.
Content that is created at Tor’s level, at Michael’s level, and at the level of all the greats online (Copyblogger, Jon Morrow, Jeff Bullas, to name a few others), is authority content.
Several key traits make up the content that we consistently love, share, and use to enhance our daily lives.
I’ve identified several of those traits.
But don’t hold your breath. I’m not about to reveal something incredibly revealing so you can go and do exactly what the winners do. You’re not going to learn the “top 10 ways to write a blog that is magic when you publish it.”
No.
It doesn’t work like that.
Sadly, creating content that will rise to the stars is 100% like the path to success.
It all comes down to the amount of work you’re willing to put in, the amount of resources you’re willing to invest in, and several skillsets.
7 Traits that Constitute the Authoritative Online Creator
1. They’re so good, you don’t even realize it. (This means many things: they’ve been blogging for years and years, they have search optimization and amazing writing skills down pat, they have incredible resources at their fingertips – from a designer, editor, to someone to help them behind the scenes.) 2. They know their space and they own it. They talk to their audience as naturally as speaking to a friend over coffee. Also, directly. You don’t want that friend getting into trouble on your watch, if you care. 3. They are beyond an expert. What they write about, what they teach, is so second-nature, well-researched, and well-done that it’s, quite simply, an authority. 4. Brian Dean’s Skyscraper technique theory is happening. Brian Dean expounds on that here. By the way, that blog came out in 2013, and everyone still talks about it. Hashtag authority. So the Skyscraper technique is where you go look at a city skyline and the tallest building stands out – that’s the type of content you need to be creating, because no tourist is going to visit second-best when they can tour the best. No Google reader is going to read second-best when they’re looking for a guide. 5. They know that strangers searching Google are looking for the best guide. See above. They create the best, deepest, most thorough answer to a Google searcher’s question. 6. They never stop learning. Big one here. Being an early adapter is key to maintaining a killer authority level. You can’t not know the trends. And authority content creators never stop learning. The biggest, baddest, most guru-est of them all will tell you that continual learning is a progression, a path, to help make their best content happen. Especially in content marketing. Where Google’s algorithm is continually being updated, and you never know what SEO changes are ahead. 7. Consistency is happening. They never not publish. It’s really terrible – bloggers don’t vacation — but it’s the truth. You see their name, over and over again, in more places, week after week. You read incredible blogs on their site every Monday. You look forward to the next one coming out.
Warning: Authority Goes Against the Grain, So Stay Inspired
You’re going to have to go against the grain if you want to be an authority creator. This content creation level isn’t for everyone. By any means. It isn’t for the faint of heart. The average blogger. Or the “I think I’m doing okay” content marketer. It’s for those who:
Want to dominate Google and be the tallest building on the block for their long tail keyword with a long-form guide.
Can see the whole vision of why it’s vastly critical to create our best content, in an era when way, way too much non-performing content is going out.
Are a Rey in the middle of a million stormtroopers. (See below.)
There’s a reason 2 million blogs were posted per day in 2016 and only two bloggers stood out in the end to me.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Being an authority online isn’t easy. It’s a commitment not many people will want to take. @JuliaEMcCoy” quote=”Being an authority online isn’t easy. It’s grueling. It’s a commitment not many people will want to take. – @JuliaEMcCoy”]
I leave you with this inspiration on that topic:
In the middle of a bazillion of Stormtroopers,
Strive to be a Rey.
[clickToTweet tweet=”On being an online authority: in the middle of Stormtroopers, strive to be a Rey. – @JuliaEMcCoy #nerd” quote=”On being an online authority: in the middle of Stormtroopers, strive to be a Rey. – @JuliaEMcCoy #nerd”]
Finishing the Story: How I Launched Authority Content As a Service
I hope I’ve impacted you in some ways as to the standard you need to be at if you want to make serious waves online.
Be an authority. Put in the hours, the work, to stay ahead of trends.
And by all means, don’t hesitate to invest in a resource to help you, you know, not drown.
Remember why I launched Authority content here at Express Writers.
When I launched Authority Content, it was when we were ready to create the best content we’ve ever created. That means I spent a month prior to pick three of my most epic copywriters, and personally train them myself with a guide that I wrote another month prior. The guide I wrote revealed major traits of authority content and how to create this level for our clients. Our writers would have to do a ton of research per piece. I made sure they’d get great pay, for the time and blood / sweat / tears involved. Our Content Strategists are involved in picking out the best long-tail keyword for the content piece. We’ll either confirm the keywords the client has (using top SEO software and my internal team training) or find one from scratch. Lastly, our designer puts together themed graphics for the Authority piece.
So far, we’ve created Authority content with 100% success ratio. Everyone that received this level is happy with it.
A few guides we’ve written:
Dental video marketing guide
How to build a website
How to grow your best Instagram presence ever
I can’t give you client names because we’re ghostwriters, but you might find one of them on Google some day. 😉 Image credits
Stormtroopers, theforce.net
Rey, theindependent.co.uk
All other visuals by Express Writers
Today, being a great copywriter also means being a great editor.
Gone are the days of simply tapping out a piece and sending it off to an editor somewhere, who will clean it up, polish it, and make it ready for publication.
Not only will this approach make your editors want to pull their hair out, but it also won’t do anything to help you grow your skills!
Instead, it’s critical for today’s working copywriters to hone their editing skills, so they can improve and strengthen their content as they write it, rather than simply doing a post-mortem when it comes back covered in red ink.
25 Editing Must-Dos for Smart Copywriters
To overhaul your editing game and write the best content of your life in 2017, follow these 25 smart editing tips:
1. Pay Attention While You Write
Great editing has its foundation in great writing. The more tuned-in and attentive you are as you write a piece, the easier it will be to edit later. With that in mind, start your editing process as you’re writing. Instead of writing with the television on, or in a loud area where you’re distracted by neighboring conversations, do yourself the courtesy of focusing entirely on the task at hand.
If you can work in a quiet office, that’s your best bet. If not, put on some headphones with some instrumental music that won’t damage your focus. Pay attention to every sentence you type and write like you’re going to go back and edit later. While you can’t expect your first draft to be Harvard Business Review-ready, you also aren’t doing anyone any favors by phoning it in.
2. Walk Away From All Your Content Before You Edit It
Want a recipe for terrible editing? Edit your content immediately after you’ve written it.
Writing is hard work, and forcing yourself to dive back into something with a fine-tooth comb after you’ve just wrapped up the writing process isn’t smart. Instead, write your piece and then walk away for a few hours (at least), or a day.
This serves two important purposes:
It gives your brain a chance to let go of the content and view it with a fresh perspective later.
Secondly, it allows you to think about what you’ve written, and catch your own typos, misspellings, and grammar mistakes, which can be tough to identify when you dive right back in.
3. Read for Flow
“Flow” is an intangible thing that all great writing has to have. If you read through your content and find that it’s jolty, confusing, or broken, you’ve got a problem. One great way to identify flow issues is to read your content out loud.
Since you’re the person who wrote the material, and thus the one who is most familiar with it, reading it out loud should be a piece of cake for you. If you stumble over words or get stuck, though, you can bet the flow needs some adjustment.
Read all your material for flow, before you even evaluate it for grammar or structure.
4. Strive for Powerful Intros
Content without a powerful intro is like a cake without frosting: boring, dry, and unappealing. To make your content exciting for both your editors and your readers, it’s essential to pay some additional attention to your intro. Ideally, your introduction should “grab” the reader, and make him or her intensely interested in what comes next.
Again, this is a component of editing that requires you to walk away from your content for a while. When you come back to it and read the first line, are you interested? Do you feel compelled? If you have a hard time making this judgement call yourself, ask a friend to read the material for you and give you their opinion.
Since strong intros are so essential to the overall readability of your material, putting in the time and effort to get them right will help overhaul your material, in the long run.
5. Use Tools to Grade Your Headlines
Today, crafting a great headline doesn’t require you to rely solely on your own creativity.
Tools like the Advanced Marketing Institute headline analyzer can evaluate your headline and “grade” it according to its concentration of intellectual, empathetic, and spiritual words, as well as metrics like length and keyword inclusion. 40%+ is a great grade to aim for.
Instead of just rattling off a headline and calling it good, plug your next title into one of these machines and see what comes up. If your headline isn’t as strong as it should be, spend the time to fix it.
Remember: 80% of people read your headline, while only 20% read body copy, so investing in your headline is a smart decision.
6. Use Several Grammar Checkers
In the modern world, Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar checker won’t cut it. To make sure your content is web ready, run it through a few different checkers, such as Grammarly and the one on your word processor, to catch any mistakes you didn’t see with the naked eye.
7. Use Hemingway to Simplify Your Content
Hemingway is an app that helps make your writing “bold and clear.”
When you plug a content segment into the app, it highlights sentences that are difficult to read, proposes simpler words, and highlights passive voice. Ideal for anyone who writes for the web on a regular basis, this app is a great way to lower the reading level of your content and make it more appealing for multiple audiences.
8. Clean Up Your Language
As a copywriter, it pays to know the difference between casual voice and being unprofessional. While it’s one thing to seem warm and approachable, it’s another to alienate readers or editors with sloppy language.
What’s more, the latter can actually cost your clients business. With this in mind, read through your content for any language that can be enhanced and made more professional.
9. Avoid Self-Aware Statements
Editors hate reading statements like this one:
“Today, we’re going to give you ten tips to clean your gutters faster. Read on to find out more.”
Why, you ask? In addition to being annoying and interruptive, these statements aren’t necessary. (See my post on refining for gold, for more on this.)
If you’re writing well, your title and meta description will tell your reader what they’ll learn from the content, so you don’t need to reiterate it again in the body copy. What’s more, the assumption is that, if you’ve crafted a compelling introduction, your reader will want to read on, so you won’t have to tell them to do it.
When you avoid self-aware statements like this, you keep the flow of your content intact and provide a more enjoyable experience for your readers.
10. Don’t get Attached
To be a successful editor, you have to release attachment to your work. If you’re editing correctly, you’re going to hack away a good deal of the content you wrote in your first draft, and that’s okay. If you can stay un-attached to your material, you can see it for what it really is rather than what you wish it would be, which also allows you to adjust it as needed.
11. Save the Things You Chop
As you remove content from your first draft, open another document and drop it in there, instead. Editing is a fluid process, and you may find later that the piece you removed from the first paragraph fits well in the fifth. By saving your edited-out material until you’re sure that you no longer need it, you can create cohesive content that reads and flows well.
12. Edit In Small Bursts
Unless you’re editing a very small piece of content, you’ll want to edit in several short bursts. In addition to preventing overwhelm, this will also allow you to maintain a clear eye for the content and support the flow throughout the piece.
13. Anticipate Your Readers’ Questions
The worst thing you can create for a reader is confusion, so it’s essential to anticipate your readers’ questions as you edit your material. If, at any point, it seems like your information or thesis may not be clear for your reader, re-evaluate and correct it. The simpler your content, the better.
14. Shorten Everything
Concise content is readable content. This is as true for a 6,000-word monster post as it is a 500-word micro blog. To make your content more readable and user-friendly, shorten your sentences and paragraphs. Look for places you can eliminate unneeded words and phrases and simplify your language. When you make it easy for your reader, they’re more willing to want to engage.
15. Be Consistent
Inconsistency confuses readers in blog posts. With this in mind, keep your voice, references, terms, and phrases consistent throughout your content. The more reliable you are, the more trustworthy you’ll appear to readers and clients. Simple things, like inconsistent capitalization or punctuation can ruin an otherwise good piece.
16. Develop a Process
Everyone edits differently, but maintaining a process is essential for a flawless execution. No matter how you prefer to edit your material, hone it into a process you can rely on an execute every time you sit down to evaluate a piece. This will standardize your editing and make for more consistent finished products.
17. Check for Spelling and Grammar
Yes, great editing still requires that you check your spelling and grammar. Be particularly aware of simple word mix-ups that word processors don’t always catch (such as “compliment” and “complement”), or words that you’ve added to your personal dictionary that may be incorrect.
18. Break Your Sentences into Individual Words
As you read through your content, ask yourself if that word fits where you put it. Is there a better option? Would an alternative word communicate your point more effectively? If the answer is yes, change it. This kind of micro-focus will serve you well as you progress in your career as a writer.
19. Write Yourself Notes
As you move through your content, use your word processor’s “track changes” feature to leave notes in your material. The next time you make a pass through the content, refer to these notes and ensure you’ve resolved any issues of quality, clarity, or flow.
20. Make it Specific
Vague pronoun reference will sink great writing every time. With this in mind, replace vague words like “it,” “they,” “them,” and “stuff,” with more specific alternatives.
21. Take Multiple Passes
Edit your finished piece two or three times before you turn it in. While this may seem like overkill, being as thorough as possible will decrease the legwork you leave for your editors and make your finished material more enjoyable.
22. Take a Walk in Your Reader’s Shoes
Before you submit your material, think about it from your reader’s perspective. Does it answer their questions, provide value, and come off as relatable? Make any last-minute changes you might need to check all the boxes.
23. Format it Beautifully
Great content is formatted well. Use a readable font, standard font size, H2 and H3 tags, and bulleted and numbered lists to make your material reader-friendly and simple to skim.
24. Do the Skim Test
If you had to read your material fast, could you? Today, many readers skim content rather than reading it in its entirety. If your material doesn’t pass the “skim test,” it might need to be re-worked.
25. Be Ready for Feedback
Once you’ve passed the content along to your editors, be receptive of feedback. Cruel editors are few and far between, and everyone benefits when editors and writers work together to create better content.
Better Editing Starts Here
While most writers believe that editing isn’t their responsibility, these 25 steps can make you a better writer, a better team member, and, yes, a better editor! All writing benefits from great editing, and honing your own skills is a fantastic way to become a more in-demand copywriter.
The average cost of an ad is around $5 million. Marketing for one commercial spot can cost as much as $1.25 million.
That comes out to about $41,600 dollars / second.
$5 million for one short spot?
Could it be wasted money?
The truth, according to a Stanford study, is that commercials by soda and beer companies have an insignificant effect on revenue. And 80% of commercials do nothing to boost sales or purchase intent, according to Bloomberg experts.
Here’s my next question.
Could content marketing outperform a Super Bowl ad?
I think so.
In today’s post, I’m making the argument that it can, by comparing a two-year investment in content marketing ($37k) vs. a 1-second Super Bowl ad investment ($41k). Read on.
The High Cost of Being in the Super Bowl Ad Game
Companies justify the cost of advertising in order to keep pace with the competition, to give their brand greater visibility, and to keep consumers talking long after the winning touchdown is made.
To add to the mix, the rise of social media and advanced technology means we can share, YouTube, and tweet these commercials over and over again after companies have rushed to take the first place in line when commercial previews are unveiled in January.
Fun fact: the steep $5 million price tag is double what a Super Bowl ad cost ten years ago.
Can you afford to spend that much on content marketing?
The best of content creators could come up with a variety of efficient ways to spend $41,000 dollars in their efforts aside from a 30-second television spot.
Content marketing doesn’t have to be crazy expensive. And there are many ways a brand can spread a message that are both cost-effective and impactful.
Check out these incredible content marketing statistics:
61% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog. (BlogHer)
70% of consumers say they prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads. (SlideShare)
Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing. (Demand Metric)
See the pattern? Content marketing costs are less expensive and the preferred method for consumers to get to know a brand. This frees us up to explore other avenues in our quest to deliver authoritative and authentic copy.
Thankfully, those methods are cost-effective, allowing us to market a brand without a hefty price tag; we’ve gathered three effective tools and some powerful stats to show you how.
Ready to jump in?
The Math: Content Marketing Costs vs. Super Bowl Ad Costs
(Content costs based on our agency services at Express Writers. Keep reading for the breakdown.)
Why High-Quality Content Marketing Plays a Vital Role in a Brand’s Life (& 3 Winners)
Content marketers have proven time and again that they don’t need to spend thousands of dollars per second on flashy advertising in order to be successful. Reasonably-priced content marketing has the potential to make a difference to a brand’s online life.
High-quality tools like e-books, blogging packages, and social media can do wonders for a marketer’s efforts and bring a new vitality to a brand’s online presence for a non-millionaire price.
Here are three cost-effective, lead-generating content tactics you can use when you don’t have millions to invest in a Super Bowl ad.
1. Ebooks
With the right promotion and the support of a collaborative team, an e-book can not only generate leads, but also be the tool that converts. An e-book can set you apart as an authority in your field and can serve as a powerful source of information for your audience for years to come.
Another benefit of ebooks is the opportunity to deconstruct the content into smaller pieces, which could include:
a series of newsletters
blog posts
podcast series
a list of do’s and don’ts
Barry Feldman over at Convince and Convert calls this the “e-book equation.” He notes that while planning for your ebook, it should be formed in such a way to “cast a wide net over a fertile area that traces to one of your strengths,” then outlined, researched, and written with the knowledge that it will “foster offspring.”
2. Blogging
In the 2017 Content Marketing Institute Benchmarks report, 75% of B2C marketers noted that blogging was one of an average of seven marketing tactics used in their efforts; this fell just under the top answer of social media content
Just over half of those surveyed said blogging will be most critical to their content marketing success.
In their most basic form, blogs are easy to use and can cost almost nothing to maintain. As a converting tool, blogs can be the fuel that moves readers to your social media channels and sales pages. Blogs are the place where SEO is maximized.
Successful blogging in today’s world of content development is easier than ever. The accessibility of quality tools for content marketers leaves us with little excuse for delivering subpar content on an inconsistent basis.
Quora is a question-and-answer site that will help content creators with new ideas for topics. (link)
BuzzSumo allows you to enter a topic or website into the search box and find the key influencers to help promote your content. (link)
Canva lets users express creativity through custom-made images, and many of the elements are free. (link)
If used consistently and creatively, blogs can be a powerful tool in your arsenal. Why does consistent blogging win? Read more here.
3. Social Media
The rise of social media over the past several years has had both a direct and indirect impact on content marketing and search engine optimization. Having a social media presence is not only one way to build brand awareness, it also connects us more closely with our audience with opportunity for engagement.
In the CMI research mentioned above, social media channels followed email as the top for distribution of content, which means marketers are becoming more aware of how important it is to be linked to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Why invest in social media?
Nearly 70% of Americans use social media to connect with others and engage with content. (Source)
Vision trumps our other senses. We remember 10% of what we hear and 65% of what we see. (Source)
Tweets with images received 18% more clicks than those without. (Source)
81% of marketers found that increased traffic occurred with as little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing. (Source)
Social media continues to be an important and affordable component of an overall content strategy, and with the right approach, it’s reach can be wide.
What A 2 Year Investment in Content Services Can Bring You
The services available from our own agency offer a higher value for the cost, and our clients receive much more than they would with other avenues. Our team is made up of trained and committed writers, designers, and social media experts who combine their trained approach with industry knowledge to deliver top-notch content for your needs.
Here are just a few of the high ROI services available from our specialists at Express Writers.
Ongoing blogging plan: Choose this plan and we will provide your website with 16 blogs per month with up to 1000 words each. Includes branded imagery, meta descriptions, and publishing. Every blog is SEO optimized, written by our engaging blog writers, and includes high-quality links and reader-friendly formatting (H2s / H3s). Proofreading by our editorial staff is included. Price: $980 per month. Additional services include content planning and expert writing. (See it here)
Authority blogs: Receive up to 4500 words backed with keyword strategy and research by our trained Content Strategists who will find a low competition, high opportunity long-tail keyword to include and optimize for in your content. Your content is then assigned to an industry-fit Authority Writer, and written from scratch. Original illustrations will be created by our designer and you will receive a feature graphic to use on social media. Price: $900 per month. (See it here)
Web pages: Custom Expert copy services begin at 500 words and include content written by a handpicked writing expert who specializes in your chosen subject. Select your word count, send us the details, and we will take care of the rest! Price: $90 per piece. (See it here)
E-book/whitepapers: These two products serve as the perfect lead magnet for content marketing. A ten-page e-book is created with expert copywriting and original illustrative designs crafted from scratch. Price: $750 (See it here). Our creative and experienced marketing team writers produce whitepapers for a variety of services and businesses that can be delivered as copy only or beautifully designed for your need. Price: $100 (See it here)
Social media plan: The social media Enterprise Plan offers you the maximum mileage for your content. You will receive custom-designed text images added to your posts, which will be posted multiple times daily to various platforms. Five custom premium branded images are designed and posted on a weekly basis, including to Pinterest. Price: $1025 per month. (See it here)
A Content Success Story
Here at Express Writers, we remain committed to delivering custom content that works for our clients. Check out what happened when a marketing agency connected with us for their content needs.
Marketing Labs is a digital marketing agency located in Worksop, England that is dedicated to helping online businesses increase their website traffic and improve conversion rates. Their team of professionals includes many individuals who possess more than a decade of experience in the area of online growth and customer service. Based on thei expertise, they were set to become a premier digital marketing agency in their area.
In their search for a copywriting agency that would bring a certain level of competency to the table, they realized they needed not only quality writing, but the speed and knowledge necessary to deliver authoritative content for their digital marketing efforts.
After connecting with Express Writers, our team began creating and implementing a content plan for the Marketing Labs blog, as well as cleaning up and optimizing the product description copy for one of their clients. The results were amazing.
The Marketing Labs team is now in place to become a leading digital marketing agency throughout all of England. As their CEO Matt says, “Being able to add the kind of quality writing (EW provides) to our services makes us an extremely attractive proposition to those seeking to optimize their digital exposure.”
Recapping the Challenges to Content Marketing
We can’t end without recapping some of the top challenges facing content marketers.
Only 40% of those surveyed claim to have a documented strategy; 42% plan to increase their content marketing spending over the next year.
If we want to enhance our efforts, we need both a documented strategy and a marketing budget. Those are two tangible steps we can start working on today, right where we are.
Once a strategy is documented (what you want to accomplish and when), and a budget is set (how much you can spend and on what), the next challenge comes with researching, writing, and scheduling all of that awesome content.
That is, if you have the time.
If not, there are some options out there.
Delegating a team member: If you are part of a larger team, there is a good chance someone is a skilled writer or social media guru who can take over the responsibility of content creation. Maybe that means hiring someone to join the team with the specific task of writing and managing your e-books, social media, and blogs.
Hiring a freelancer: A freelance writer may charge by the hour or the piece, and rates may be negotiable. Quality of the work may not be guaranteed, and you should remember that you get what you pay for. A freelancer may or may not be well-versed in the topics you are focusing on, so there needs to be clear communication so that the right message is delivered.
Working with an outside agency: A well-qualified agency with a reputation for excellence and a commitment to quality will have a team of trained writers who are prepared to fulfill your content creation needs. Beyond a single, pay-by-the-page blog post, a team of writers can be invaluable for e-book creation, ongoing blog plans, and social media management that will increase the visibility of your brand and put authority behind your message.
Is Your Brand Creating Content That Makes for an Extremely Attractive Proposition?
It can be a tough business, this content marketing gig. Almost half of us feel like we are only somewhat more effective when compared with a year ago, and that’s understandable.
We face deadlines and budgets and client expectations every day, and we all know time stops for no marketer. And that’s saying nothing for our life outside of work (hopefully you have one. If not, that’s a topic for another post).
While some things are out of our hands, there some things we content marketers can control.
We can do things like:
document a strategy
set goals for our content
develop a vision for our own brand that we strive to live out in our daily schedule
These are the basic parts of effective planning, and should be the basis for every piece of content we create. The strategy, goals, and vision for our brand need to be woven into the message we convey.
There are other things that are out of our control. Contrary to what we may believe, we can’t do it all, and we need the support of a collaborative team and guidance from industry experts.
We can’t perform miracles like:
put more hours in the day
accomplish all our goals without support
make $41,000 suddenly appear in our budgets for advertising (unless you can, in which case, give us a call)
For all that we cannot control, there are cost-effective, time-saving options that can work wonders for our marketing efforts and make us an extremely attractive proposition. The tools at our disposal like automated scheduling and the use of repurposed content are designed to make content creation easier and are a good place to start.
Consider a partnership with an agency of well-qualified writers, designers, and social media managers who can take your good ideas and turn them into a conversion masterpiece.
Keep Moving Forward
We can’t all afford Super Bowl ads. But we can all take steps forward in the journey of creating high-quality, authoritative content that will engage our audience and keep them coming back for more. All without breaking the bank.
If you’re like most marketers, you’ve probably considered hiring a custom writing service at one point or another.
But if you’re like most marketers that are new to delegating their online writing, there’s another side to that: you’re also probably not sure what to expect from working with a custom writing service.
We’re here to shine a light on the topic!
If you’ve ever wondered what a custom writing service is and what you can expect when you hire one, this post is for you. Read on to learn more.
Let’s Define a Custom Writing Service
A custom writing service is any company, individual, or firm that writes custom web content for customers.
Seem simple? It is, but it’s also very varied.
A custom writing service can write anything from blog content to print books, depending on what the customer wants and needs. Custom writing services are run by expert copywriters, marketers, and SEOs, and are designed to help busy marketers get the custom content they require, without the hassle of stressing over producing it in-house.
Check out a short list of what we do, from our pricing page (over 40 products in our Content Shop!):
To see a full list of what our copywriters can handle, check out my guide: How Copywriting Works.
5 Standard Expectations to Have with a Quality-Oriented Custom Writing Service
If you choose to hire a custom writing service, you’ll be in for a unique experience. Because custom writing services are highly individualized by definition, the service you receive from the company or individual you hire won’t necessarily be comparable to anyone else’s experience.
The custom writing service is there to define, understand, and exceed your unique needs – that’s the whole point!
You can, however, count on a few standard protocols and methods from any custom writing service you hire. These are as follows:
1. A custom writing service will take time to consult with you about your needs
To serve you effectively, a custom writing service needs to understand what you hope to get out of the partnership.
For example, are you looking to populate a new site with content? Do you want to improve your leads and enjoy more conversions? Are you publishing an ebook and looking for someone to help you write or organize the copy? Maybe you’re looking to start a blog, but you don’t have time to manage it.
Whatever your needs may be, the first thing any reputable custom writing service will do is seek to understand them. This information is critical for the writing company because it allows them to do the following things:
Gain a deeper understanding of your company
Develop a plan to meet and exceed your goals
Craft custom content that caters to your corporate aspirations
Adjust existing content to support your business’s trajectory
When you first hire a custom writing service, you’ll want to be prepared to be as open as possible about your goals. This will help the company better serve you.
2. A great custom writing service will evaluate your current content
They won’t just throw a quote at you – a good writing service will actually evaluate where you stand and go from there.
If you’ve already got content on your site or blog, or if you’ve provided a layout for a bigger project, like an ebook, the custom writing service will evaluate it and reach out with suggestions, questions, or observations.
This helps the writing team you select get an idea of how long you want your content to be, which topics you’d like covered, what voice you’re looking for, and what goals you’d like the content to achieve.
For best results, be sure to maintain an open line of communication with the custom writing service. Remember: great writing flows easier when both of you communicate freely about the direction of the project. More tips on that in our guide on outsourcing your writing.
3. They will develop a content plan
Depending on the goals you set out earlier in the process, the custom writing service will now help you develop a content plan designed to meet the objective. For example, if your primary goal was to increase your social media following, the custom writing service may design a social content plan that includes several posts each week on all of your platforms. This plan would likely include a mix of curated, original, visual, and textual content to intrigue and inspire your readers.
This is a point at which you can expect to work very closely with the company. Does the plan adhere to what you had in mind? Is there anything you need clarification on? Do you want more detail about why a particular keyword is being targeted or why the use of infographics, for example, is so smart? All you have to do is ask! Any custom writing service worth its keyboards will be happy to help shine a light on these things for you.
4. Your custom writing service will optimize content for SEO
If you’re publishing web-based content for the purpose of marketing or lead generation, you can expect your custom writing service to optimize it for search engines and readers. Remember, your readers come first, but SEO is vital too.
Today, 81% of consumers research online before they decide to buy a product, and having content that is optimized for SEO is one of the best ways to ensure that your content appears when and where readers need it.
If you’re not familiar with SEO, a good custom writing service can help you understand it more deeply. Essentially, SEO is the process of optimizing content for search engine visibility and a positive user experience. This often entails methods like keyword inclusion and meta content optimization, to name just a couple.
The fact that so many custom writing services now optimize for SEO is one thing consumers love. Because today’s most visible content has all been optimized for SEO, hiring a quality custom writing service can help you remove the middleman and get professional, expert-level, properly optimized content from a single source.
5. They will publish content for you, upon request
If you’re looking to be as hands-off as possible with your content, it’s easy to find a custom writing service that will handle everything from the topic mining to the distribution for you. This is particularly the case when it comes to web content like social media posts and blogs. Dozens of custom writing services handle all of the publishing and distribution for their clients, and this is one simple thing that many marketers love about hiring a custom writing service.
Expect to pay more for this – if it’s done right, you’ll get a meta description, writing, and post optimization along with publishing.
5 Reasons Hiring a Custom Writing Service Is a (Very) Smart Idea
There are tremendous time savings and ROI benefits to hiring an outside writing service.
Now that you know what custom writing services do, let’s talk about why hiring one is such a good idea. Don’t be the marketer that underestimates the importance of custom content.
As it stands right now, 90% of shoppers find the presence of custom content helpful, and 61% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a company that delivers custom content. With that in mind, it’s clear that creating custom content is not just important, but critical, for any business that wants to build success in the world of online marketing.
If you’re still in doubt that hiring a custom writing service is a smart move, consider the following points:
1. A custom writing service will make you more competitive
Today, more than 86% of B2B marketers and upwards of 77% of B2C marketers take advantage of content marketing, and while many of them have in-house content creation teams, many hire their content creation out to custom content companies. If you’ve not yet jumped on the custom content bandwagon, the chances that you’re missing out on traffic are high.
Today, consumers don’t just want custom content – they expect it. And if you’re the only company in your industry that’s not giving it to them, you’re missing out on business. By hiring a custom writing service, you can populate your site and social profiles with high-quality, original content that caters to your individual consumers and helps to boost your conversion rates across the board.
2. A great writing service will diversify your content voice
Maybe you’ve been creating content in-house for quite some time now. And maybe it’s been going well. Perhaps you’ve noticed a drop-off in reads and shares, though, and you’re wondering why. Even if you have an established reader base, keeping your content fresh is difficult, and even the most loyal customers will begin to drift off if your content becomes stale or uninspired. Because of this, it’s essential to keep things fresh and do whatever it takes to ensure quality content at all times.
Hiring a custom writing service is a great way to do this. Because a good custom writing service has a team of skilled writers rather than just one or two individuals, you get the benefit of many people putting their heads together to create unique topics and write inspired content for your company. This benefits your readers just as much as it does your brand, and can go a long way toward improving your content’s performance on all of your distribution channels.
3. An excellent custom writing service will help you stay on track
If you’re running a business or trying to get a company off the ground, you’re busy, and it can be tough to hold yourself accountable to create a few blogs or social posts each week. Unfortunately, letting these things fall by the wayside doesn’t do anything but hurt your company in the long run. Today, custom content is more important than it’s ever been before, and if you neglect its creation because you’re trying to build a functional website or fix bugs in the system, you’re going to see a drastic drop-off in your visitors and readers.
When you hire a custom writing service, though, these problems cease to exist. While running a company is still hard, having the professional help of a custom writing service can make it much, much easier.
Because a custom writing service can take over your content creation efforts and free you up to focus on things like building your product, it’s the perfect tool for busy founders who need a break. When you hire a custom writing service, nothing has to suffer for everything to come into place down the line. Instead, you get the benefit of a successful company and quality content to reflect it.
4. Learn best practices from your up-to-date writing team
If you’re a little out of touch on best practices in content marketing, a good custom writing service can help bring you up to speed. Because the writers at a custom writing company write marketing and promotional copy for a living, they’re highly knowledgeable about the current best practices and industry standards.
While it may seem tempting to throw these things to the wind under the assumption that they don’t matter, best practices are more important today than they’ve ever been before, and finding a team that understands them and knows how to adhere to them is critical.
5. A custom writing service can offer technical know-how, as well
While good writing skills are essential, technical expertise is, as well, and a custom writing service can pick up on all of the picky aspects of SEO that you don’t understand (or simply don’t care to understand). By doing things like optimizing your meta content, adding alt. text to your images, and ensuring that your targeted keywords are utilized properly throughout your content, a custom writing service can deliver quality content that’s as functional for search engines as it is for people.
A Good Custom Writing Service: Your Secret Weapon for Success
A skilled, reputable, professional custom writing service is exactly what you need to build a successful online presence and ensure that you’re providing the content your customers and would-be customers need from your company.
While it’s tempting to think you can go it all on your own, a custom writing service can take the burden of content creation and distribution off of your shoulders and help you build a solid online company with a reputation for authority, leadership, and intelligence across the board.
Most copywriters know exactly what this conversation feels like:
“What do you do?”
“I’m an SEO copywriter!”
“Oh…great! So, what do you do?”
When you say you’re a writer, most people assume you’re an aspiring Hemingway, tapping away at your typewriter in pursuit of the next great American novel.
Unless someone has experience in the digital marketing, content marketing, or online world, few people know what a copywriter does. (Not a copyright-er. I have another post on that.)
That said, though, everyone is familiar with the work of copywriters, whether they know it or not. In a world as marketing-dense as ours, copywriters essentially make the digital web spin. They write the scripts for television commercials, radio ads, mail and email marketing materials, and articles that help people find answers to problems and learn new things.
In other words, copywriters are everywhere!
As such, it’s never been more critical than it is right now to understand how copywriting works, and what a massive role it plays in our modern world.
What Copywriters Are (and What We Aren’t)
First things first: not all copywriters are clones of Don Draper.
Although romantic to imagine, that was way back when. Today, it’s 2017. There’s much less drama, smoking, and drinking in the office in this industry than what you see in the Mad Men series. 😉
That said, however, copywriters today fulfill a vast selection of positions.
Here are just a few of the things that define what copywriters are:
1. Copywriters Write Copy for Various Industries and Specialties
Depending on a copywriter’s unique job description, he or she might create marketing copy for a website or work one-on-one with an SEO company to write their website or create their Facebook posts. In other cases, copywriters write physical text material, like books, pamphlets, and educational sheets. No matter what industry they work in, copywriters work with words daily.
2. Copywriters Work with Other Teams to Create Marketing Copy
In most cases, copywriters work with other specialists, like SEOs and sales teams, to create well-rounded marketing copy that fulfills a broad series of goals.
3. Copywriters Wear Many Hats
A great copywriter is also a part-time marketer, editor, and publisher. While copywriters typically work with teams of editors, these skills are indispensable, and the best copywriters must know how to evaluate their content for quality and figure out what will and will not work for a client.
What today’s copywriters are NOT:
1. Novelists. While copywriters do sometimes create text copy, they’re not developing books that sell as novels. Those are typically ghostwriters or other forms of writers. Instead, copywriters may create ebooks, articles, or white papers.
2. Machines. Good copywriters pay a lot of attention to each piece they create. They don’t just churn out work in a one-size-fits-all manner. Instead, they collaborate closely with teams and managers to build customized material for each client.
3. Outbound Marketers. The wheelhouse of copywriters is to create material that makes people want to connect with a company. They don’t typically push themselves or their content on other people. Instead, they work hard to create content that delights readers and makes them want to interact with a brand.
The following graphic applies very much. 😉
What’s Under the Hood at a Copywriting Agency: What Express Writers Does
Here at Express Writers, we know a thing or two about copywriters. Not only do we hire them – we are them! Before I founded my company, I worked as a copywriter on various freelancing platforms. I landed hundreds of gigs and dozens of clients, and within three months of self-teaching as an online copywriter, I went on to start my agency. (Check out my full story here.)
Today, my agency has a full-service Content Shop with over 40 products:
ALL this content is created by our handpicked copywriters, strategists, and editors, who specialize in different industries, content types, and services.
This gives you a pretty good idea of exactly how diverse copy offerings can get!
What Qualifications do Good Copywriters Have?
The field of copywriters is a very diverse one. While some copywriters attended school for degrees in English or Journalism, others have spent their pre-copywriting lives working as attorneys, cooks, or dog mushers! Copywriters come in all shapes and sizes, and this unique assortment of backgrounds allows copywriters to bring their experiences into the field, creating more diverse and interesting copy.
As it stands today, there is no one-size-fits-all educational program for copywriters. Instead, a copywriter that’s going to succeed in the industry just needs to possess a few key traits. These are as follows:
1. Creativity
First off, copywriters need to be creative. While many people assume creativity is only necessary for people writing novels and short stories, and not people writing marketing copy, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Since copywriters write for such a diverse selection of clients, they need to be agile enough to think on their feet. Storytelling is central to great copywriting, and the best experts out there know how to access their creativity to weave compelling, unique copy that will engage an audience and help a brand meet its goals.
2. Strong Writing Skills
While copywriters don’t need a college degree to excel in the field, they do need strong writing skills. While it’s true that copywriters write about everything from firearm safety to SEO, the center of all that work is writing, and it’s essential that those skills are rock-solid. Copywriters need to be comfortable with the written word and know how to bend and command it to do what they want.
3. An Ability to Work with Others
While many copywriters work remotely, they are not lone wolves. Instead, copywriters work with teams of SEOs, advertisers, designers, and sales professionals. As such, the successful copywriter has strong teamwork skills and knows how to work collaboratively with other people to create a comprehensive product.
4. Strong Research Skills
One of the questions I frequently get as a copywriter is “what do you do if you don’t know the industry?”
Although some copywriters specialize in certain sectors, such as the financial or medical industry, many copywriters write on all topics for their clients. Because of this, it’s critical to have strong research skills. For example, if a customer asks you to write about choosing an engine lubricant for your sports car, and you’re not an expert on sports cars or their engines, you need to know how to use the web to find quality information that can help you write the article.
If you didn’t receive any formal training as a copywriter (and even if you did), criticism is a central part of the job. You can’t always “nail it,” and great copywriters expect to get the occasional negative feedback from editors and clients. In these cases, excellent copywriters take the feedback and learn from it, while people that won’t make it in the industry crumble beneath it.
6. A Hunger for Knowledge
Copywriting intersects with other industries, like SEO and digital marketing, and copywriters who will rise to the top of their industry are continually seeking to learn about these things. In addition to strengthening your writing, these simple tricks will also allow a copywriter to stay on the bleeding edge of his or her industry.
7. A Willingness to Learn
Copywriters who aren’t familiar with the industry before they start need only to want to learn it. Things like social media, proper blog formatting, and good SEO practices can all be learned, and dominating them is what sets one copywriter apart from the next.
The answer to this question varies depending on how much a copywriter works, who he or she works for, whether they’re employed by a company or by themselves, and where the copywriter is.
According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for copywriters is $55,000 annually.
That said, though, it’s not uncommon for copywriters to earnfar more – as in five figures per project when they work for large corporations or run a successful self-employed business. Joanna Wiebe, famous conversion copywriter, doesn’t work for less than $60,000 per project.
As the world of digital marketing changes, copywriters who also learn relevant and in-demand skills, like video script copywriting and some graphic design, can supplement their offerings, provide more value for their clients, and make more money. Copywriters can also boost their worth by creating a longstanding history of quality content for a variety of customers. When companies see that a copywriter has successfully increased conversions, helped companies draw new customers, or overhauled a company’s online presence, that copywriter becomes more in-demand in the industry.
Public speaking (especially at TEDx stages) can also significantly boost a copywriter’s rep and net them far higher-earning projects and prospects.
How to Find Copywriting Jobs
If you’re a copywriter looking for work, your options are virtually limitless. You can work for almost any major company, on your own, or with a dedicated content creation agency, like Express Writers! Here are just a few places to start looking for work:
Express Writers. We’re almost always hiring! Send in a resume as a writer and an editor. You must have at least 2 years of writing or editing experience for either open position area.
The ProBlogger Job Board. The premier copywriting work resource, the ProBlogger Job Board features thousands of writing jobs refreshed daily. It’s a wonderful filter for high-quality writing jobs. This job board features many major, well-known accounts, such as Canva and Thrive Market. Targeted directly at copywriters. The brainchild of one of the best copywriters out there, Darren Rowse, this is a job board made by writers for writers.
Private Companies. Content marketing is growing at an astonishing rate and, as such, virtually everyone needs copywriters for their businesses. As such, you’ll find that many private companies need copywriters to help them develop their online material. If there’s a company you admire, look at their job board to see if they’re hiring copywriters. If they’re not, you can always reach out and pitch your services according to best pitch practices.
Local Companies. Local companies in your area may need copywriting services to grow their online presence. Keep your eyes peeled for companies in your area in need of copywriting services and offer your expertise when you find them!
How to Hire Copywriters
We put a guide together on how to work with your copywriter! Check it out here.
One of the tips our Content Development Specialist, Tara, had to share is a great key of working with writers.
Our content creation agency works hard to staff the very best copywriters on the web. What’s more, we offer some benefits that individual freelancers don’t, namely the ability to take on far more content and the assurance that your content will always get finished, even if a freelancer falls ill or has a family emergency. As if that weren’t enough, we also staff a selection of industry-specific copywriters so that you can find a professional financial, marketing, or medical copywriter for all your online needs.
5 Things That Make Online Copywriting Great
Now that you know a little bit about how copywriting works at the foundational level – who copywriters are, what they do, how to be one, and how to find one – let’s talk about what separates the wheat from the chaff regarding the actual writing that goes into copywriting.
If you’ve ever read a batch of college essays, you know that not all writing is created equal and that ten different people writing about the same topic can create a series of ten very different results. With this in mind, how do you tell what’s great copywriting and what falls short?
The answer is simple: great copywriting possesses the following things:
1. Detail
Copywriting is nothing without extensive detail. Today’s readers are more discerning than ever, and they’re not easily placated by fluffy, low-hanging content that doesn’t do much to appease their needs or help them find solutions to their problems. As such, great copywriting digs deep.
Here’s an example: if two copywriters had an assignment to write about coal mining in America, the sub-par copywriter would give a definition of coal mining, talk about where and how people do it, and then be done. A great copywriter, on the other hand, will do some research, provide in-depth statistics about how coal mining has grown and changed over the year, discuss the challenges facing modern coal miners, and provide a realistic outlook for the future of coal miners.
The more detailed online copy is, the more useful it is for your readers. This, in turn, helps you create material that ranks well and allows you to stand out as an authority in your industry.
2. Quality
No copy ever rose to the top of the web for being riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes. Today, quality is more essential than ever in online copywriting. In fact, Google itself even made this explicitly clear back in 2015, when they released their Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. Their “Characteristics of High-Quality Pages” section stated explicitly that pages that were to rank as high-quality must possess “a satisfying amount of high-quality main content.”
Today, it’s easy to create low-quality content that doesn’t take user experience, SEO, or flow into account, and writers who do that are a dime a dozen. To truly stand out, though, copywriting needs to be high-quality, free of spelling and grammar mistakes, and tailored specifically to a company’s unique audience. When all these things are in place, content can not only do its job of educating and entertaining audience, but it can also claim and maintain a prominent spot on the web.
3. A Focus on SEO
Neil Patel has said that SEO and content go together like peanut butter and jelly, and he’s right! Without content, search engine optimization (or SEO) can’t function, and without SEO, content would just drift around the web, homeless and hungry for an audience and a place.
To succeed in today’s digital world, online content needs to marry SEO best practices with quality writing. This means including relevant keyword phrases naturally throughout the material, utilizing strong internal and external links, keeping sentences short and the reading level low enough to appeal to various audiences, and using headers and subheaders to break up text and make it accessible for readers on all devices – from mobile phones to desktop computers.
If copywriting doesn’t focus on SEO, it’s simply not worth investing in!
4. The Right Voice
While a brand like Poo-Pourri can get away with writing in a lippy, off-the-cuff fashion, the ACLU can’t. The difference is the culture of these two organizations. While Poo-Pourri, a “spray before you go” toilet product, is sassy to its core, the ACLU is a serious legal organization where people expect to find professional, informative information. As such, the voice for these two platforms is very different, and great copywriting takes this into account.
Today, a large part of what makes copy successful is its voice. Even if content is well-written and compelling, it won’t perform well unless it’s speaking directly to a platform’s audience and readers. As such, great copywriters must know how to adapt and adjust their voices depending on publication and platform.
5. A Willingness to Play the Long Game
There’s a distinct difference between outbound marketing and inbound marketing. Outbound marketing goes out, from the organization it begins with, to capture and engage customers. Think purchased email lists, unsolicited phone calls, and door-to-door sales.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, seeks to provide material that’s good enough to bring customers in. Think blogging, social media, and video marketing.
While copywriting can be used for outbound marketing (copywriters create most of the material you find in your mailbox), most copywriting jobs today are in the inbound marketing sphere. And this is for a good reason. Today, content is much more effective when it doesn’t shove readers. For evidence of this, all you need to do is look at the rise in ad-blocking software (which Seth Godin wrote about back in 2015) and the fact that the majority of direct mail is never opened.
Today, people want content that builds relationships, rather than trying to jump right into their pockets. As such, the most successful copywriting currently on the web is the stuff that builds trust, explains difficult concepts, offers solutions, and doesn’t try to sell anything at all. While it may be tough for companies to understand why they would invest in a copywriter who won’t try to sell things to their clients, the truth is that, in 2017, the best sales pitch is no sales pitch at all.
Great Digital Copywriting: The Stuff That Makes the Web Go Around!
Today, the web runs on great copywriting. It’s everywhere you look!
From the banner ads that pop up as you cruise a website to the social media posts that make you laugh and the blogs you turn to when you need to learn how to change a bike chain or navigate your newly updated Instagram feed, copywriting is what makes it all work.
To find out more about the ins and outs of online copywriting, check in with us at Express Writers and follow The Write Blog. As one of the premier copywriting agencies on the web, we know a thing or two about hiring writers, connecting writers with companies, and keeping you up to date on all the great news, happenings, and events in the world of online copy!
