If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, you’ve probably noticed that some pieces of content are, well, hotter than others.
Two content types have really stood out as winners.
Specifically, the how-to and the list style, also known as listicle:
Websites like BuzzFeed and Elite Daily use them as the virtual bread and butter of their marketing strategy. Even high-level industry leaders have started publishing more and more list-focused posts.
While this may seem like a mere coincidence, it’s a trend that’s been sweeping the content industry for the last several years.
The reason for this trend is that these list/how-to styled content pieces are intensely readable, which makes them perfect for an audience with a rapidly decreasing attention span, and an increasing focus on finding the material they want now.
Read on to learn more.
[bctt tweet=”What’s the trendiest content styles nowadays and should your posts follow these? @JuliaEMcCoy shares us the top 3 readable content types you should be publishing right now.” username=”ExpWriters”]
Content That Cuts It: Lists, How-to’s, & Videos
While the consumers of 2000 were looking for simple information, today’s consumers want a more comprehensive experience.
Not only are they looking for information, but they’re also in the market for unique, high-quality content that entertains them and makes them feel special.
If this sounds like a tall order, you’re not wrong.
Creating content that works for consumers is more challenging now than ever before, and brands need to invest time and energy into learning to do it properly.
One great way to get started with this, however, is to learn what customers expect from content.
In the 2018 Adobe Consumer Content Survey, the 3 most important content characteristics are informative (89%), accurate (89%), and simple (66%).
However, among millennials, 41% still prefer entertaining content and 25% ranked “beautiful” as an important characteristic to see in quality content.
With these things in mind, it’s easy to see why content has morphed the way it has.
[bctt tweet=”‘In the 2018 Adobe Consumer Content Survey, the 3 most important content characteristics are informative (89%), accurate (89%), and simple (66%).’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on the most readable content types today.” username=”ExpWriters”]
Which 3 Content Types Are the Most Readable?
While the customers of yesteryear may have wanted simple, direct content, today’s customers expect brands to get to know them, figure out what their primary concerns are and then concoct content that addresses those things (“how not to mess up your lentils,” for example).
By keeping this in mind, you can craft highly readable content types that your readers will enjoy.
1. How-to Articles
Despite the fact that the how-to article has morphed in recent years, it’s still incredibly valuable.
People are as hungry for information today as they were 16 years ago, and the only difference is that today’s how-to’s need to be much more specific and targeted than they were way back when.
While these headlines don’t resemble the straight-up, verbatim “how-to” headlines of yesteryear, the message is still there.
If you dig a little deeper, it’s clear the first article is really, “How to get more use out of your wardrobe,” the second is “How to get rid of clutter,” and the third is “How to keep your kitchen clean.”
While the headlines may have been made more creative, the message is the same.
To make your how-to articles more exciting than they’ve ever been before, it’s important to think differently.
Because there is such a wealth of information available online right now, people are the most likely to interact with content that shows them how to do something differently. This is the key to making your how-to articles exciting, readable, and unique.
Each of the BuzzFeed articles mentioned above does this, and it’s part of what makes them so popular.
While how-to articles are already some of the most readable articles around, making them interesting, unique, and informative is a fantastic way to ensure that they provide as much value for your readers as possible.
How-to’s and listicles can easily cross paths: simply because adding numbers to your headline gives it a higher psychological engagement factor.
Unlike the how-to, however, listicles are broader-reaching and not necessarily designed to teach people a skill. Because of this, listicles are a fantastic form of content for any brand that wants to build traffic and promote engagement.
Fun fact: numbers in a headline are like “brain candy.”
Featured on the BuzzFeed website, this article is promoted by Sabra, a prominent hummus company).
While this article could easily just say “14 Vegan Recipes,” it would never get as much traffic if that was how the headline was structured.
Because this article quantifies the recipes as delicious by using the word “mouthwatering” and expands its audience by stating that even non-vegans will love the content within, it succeeds at creating diverse value that appeals to many readers.
Lists are beneficial because they appear as simple, straightforward piece of content that says, “Hey, this is brief and to-the-point. Read it now.”
[bctt tweet=”‘How-to’s and listicles can easily cross paths: simply because adding numbers to your headline gives it a higher psychological engagement factor.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on the most readable content types today.” username=”ExpWriters”]
3. Videos
While videos aren’t literally “readable” content types, they are a powerful form of media content that can help you get views and create traffic.
As it stands now, 65% of marketing executives call visual assets, including video, infographics, and photos, the center point of their brand story strategy.
What’s more, 51.9% of marketers say videos have the best ROI of any marketing content and shoppers who watch a brand’s video content are 1.81x as likely to make a purchase than people who only read text.
With this in mind, it’s clear that creating video is one of the most important things marketing professionals can do to expand their reach and connect successfully with customers.
To make your marketing videos stand out, follow these tips:
Ensure good production value. A shoddy online video isn’t worth much, and if you’re going to create video content, you need to be sure it’s high-quality. While you don’t have to be a video expert to turn out a good product, refusing to cut corners on the production ensures you’ll wind up with a product you’re proud to show off.
Understand your audience. If you don’t know who you’re trying to reach with your video, take a step back and don’t do anything until you do. Video isn’t something you can just toss out at random, and you need to understand who you’re talking to before you drop in.
Implement storytelling. To make your videos as effective as possible, use storytelling to create a compelling story arc. This makes your videos unique and ensures that they will capture the attention of your customers.
Even if you’ve never experimented with video content before, introducing it into your marketing strategy can help make your content as accessible as possible for your readers.
[bctt tweet=”‘51.9% of marketers say videos have the best ROI of any marketing content and shoppers who watch a brand’s video content are 1.81x as likely to make a purchase than people who only read text.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on video.” username=”ExpWriters”]
The “How-to” Revolution: A Brief Backstory
To understand what has made lists and how-to’s the gold standard in informational content types, you need to look back at the evolution of content and, in fact, the internet, as a whole.
A mere 15 or 16 years ago, learning how to do something was a lot harder than it is now. YouTube wasn’t yet the go-to hub that it is today, and there were far fewer online articles that would tell you how to write a cover letter or how to cook lentils. Because of this, how-to articles soared in popularity.
Since then, however, information about virtually everything has become much easier to find. Not only can you find thousands of articles telling you how to write a cover letter, but you can also find tutorials, videos, and even complete courses designed to help you master the skill. Because of this, the way people write content has changed.
While the how-to article and the list both remain popular, the way people write them has gotten much more specific.
For example, instead of a simple “how to cook lentils,” today’s articles are titled “5 Mistakes People Make When Cooking Lentils.” Instead of “how to write a cover letter,” you get “5 Ways Your Cover Letter Lost You the Job.”
While these articles may teach the same skills, they’re geared toward providing a more interesting, unique, and valuable experience for readers.
And knowing what it takes, down to the style and format of your article, to create interesting, informative content in today’s content-saturated and information-dense world will help you win online.
Readable Content = Effective Content
While content has morphed significantly in the last several years, the mission today is the same as it’s always been: to create valuable content that helps readers learn something.
Today, however, writers need to go deeper than they ever have before and work harder to create valuable, customized content that speaks directly to consumers. This ensures a great user experience and helps both the customer and the brand thrive.
To get help creating content you’re proud of, check out our expert Content Services today!
You sit down at your computer one fine morning, coffee cup in hand, and begin to make your online rounds.
You check all the usual things: social media, analytics, blogs, and email – until you gasp in horror and stop in your tracks.
Someone has left you a negative online review!
While this is a shocking and upsetting experience, you’re not alone.
Ever heard the saying… Haters Gon’ Hate?
The truth is that any business that works with customers on a regular basis is bound to get a bad online review or two, and while it’s never a fun situation to be in the middle of, a negative online review doesn’t have to be a catastrophe.
HelpScout reports that for every one customer who lodges a complaint, 26 customers stay silent.
Kind of sucky: but a fact.
Although it feels bad when it happens, you won’t be (anything close to) scarred for life.
By the end of today’s post, you’ll actually learn that it could be a good thing! And negative online reviews have happened to us too: so I can tell you, personally, that you’ll come out of the fire refined.
5 Key Tips You Can Put to Immediate Use in Handling A Negative Online Review
In five steps, here’s a simple breakdown of what to do post-apocalypse (after you’ve received that yucky online review).
You’re a business owner: you work hard for your company, and it’s understandable that finding a negative online review would make you feel hurt, sad, and even angry. If this happens, though, the first thing to do is to stay calm. Nothing good ever came from blowing up at a negative online review, and you’re liable to do irreparable damage to your company if this is the path you choose.
As a general rule, it takes 12 good experiences with a company to make up for one negative experience, so you could be digging yourself a big hole with your customers if you fly off the handle before thinking through things.
Instead of being reactionary, take a step back from the review and give yourself a bit of time to consider the situation.
Begin by sizing up the content of the review.
Is it factually correct? Is there a way to address or resolve the problem for the customer? Does the review offer insight into something your company could do well to fix, anyway?
For example, if a customer at your restaurant complains that it took 30 minutes to get a glass of water after sitting down, and you were indeed tragically understaffed that night, there’s a simple solution. In this case, the correct path would be to apologize to the customer and offer a comped or discounted meal the next time they return. Once you’ve addressed the complaint, you could even consider hiring more staff or implementing different protocols to prevent that type of situation from happening again.
If the report is factually inaccurate, however, your approach will be different. While malicious reviews don’t happen very often, they do happen. Luckily, there’s a way to deal with them. If someone is making dishonest or defamatory statements about your company, it’s within your rights to ask the third-party review site to remove the comment.
This is true regardless of whether the review is on Yelp, Facebook, or Google. Keep in mind that getting reviews removed can be an extensive and arduous process, so it’s one to undertake carefully. First of all, you’ll need to provide proof that shows the review is factually inaccurate. If you can’t do this or can’t wait for the third-party site to decide on the review, set the record straight in the comments section below the review.
Just remember to be neutral and professional to avoid making the situation worse.
Take it from Amy’s Baking Company – which won catastrophic web-wide recognition when the owners repeatedly and aggressively lashed out at a displeased reviewers on Yelp.
As if the above wasn’t bad enough…
So, there you go on a brief rundown of what not to do.
Now, let’s look at best next action steps.
2. Take Action/Offer a Solution
Customers don’t often go out of their way to write negative reviews for no reason, so it’s in your best interest to heed the review and do everything in your power to rectify the situation.
Your first case of action here is to determine if this is a legitimate customer – because you can only service the legit negativity. We hate to say it, but yes, there are people out there who will leave fake negative reviewers (are either paid by competitors, are the competitor themselves, are are acting out of personal angst).
If you know this is a stranger, and not a legitimate complainer: well, here’s one scenario you could take inspiration from.
I’m going to tell you a little story.
The Story of Jane, Bill, & Will: (Or, the Art of Handling the Fake Negative Review)
Let me run you through a story about what we’ll call Bill the Fake Reviewer Writer.
Bill heard of a made-up negative story about a company, word-of-mouth, from Jane. Jane was fired from her company just that week. At Jane’s very frequent pushing, Bill went and published a fake review on Jane’s company. He was amped up by Jane and wrote a lot of angry words, calling the company names and even going as far as to put libel on the company owner.
It was a weekend and late in the evening. Still, the company social manager was online and saw the angry posts being left by Bill; he alerted the company CEO within minutes of it happening. Let’s call that CEO Will.
Will took a breather (see #1). After ten minutes, he immediately replied to Bill, cordially starting with hello. Then he stated facts: 1) we’ve never served you and 2) please provide proof on and who is spreading information about the things you’re currently stating.
Bill couldn’t, told by Jane to not mention her name of course, and wouldn’t. Instigated by anger, he continued writing back angry comments.
Some of Will’s other employees jumped online and posted good reviews when they saw what was going on in their Facebook feed; Bill jumped on all their reviews and attacked them all.
Will took another breather (and maybe a cup of cold water). He came back and assessed the situation.
Bill was:
not a current, past (and definitely not future) client of Will’s company
not an employee of Will’s company
was stating everything based on hearsay, without factual information
was using names and saying phrases that were by now, most definitely, reputation-harming libel
Will had a good lawyer, and at this point, Bill was just posting like crazy on the company Facebook page, in the amounts of several hateful comments per few minutes.
Will decided to:
leave a final post to Bill stating Bill’s angry posts were becoming libel, an admissible tort in court, and that Bill would be hearing from Will’s lawyer
ban Bill from the company page
Within ten minutes after acting on this decision, Bill withdrew and deleted every comment he posted, and Will had the peace of mind knowing Bill couldn’t post again (banned) and that had he continued acting out, Will could have most definitely put his lawyer in touch.
What if It’s a Legit Customer?
If you’re not in Will’s situation, and if it’s a legitimate customer you know has a complaint about a real purchase, offer a rectification immediately.
Personally reach out and make a solution that you know they can’t refuse (free XYZ next time they come in, free mailed replacement, etc.). Just the outreach alone will mean a lot–not every company does that anymore.
Keep in mind that most customers complain because they truly had a disappointing experience with your company. While this is difficult to swallow, working together with the client to fix the situation can mend the bridges that were in danger of being burned. While it won’t necessarily erase the customer’s initial experience, it can shift their impression of your company and encourage them to come back and do business with you once more.
3. Your Business Will Keep Thriving
Let’s go back to the stat I shared early on:
HelpScout reports that for every one customer who lodges a complaint, 26 customers stay silent.
That means this is probably one out of 27 happy customers who is unhappy.
So, good going! Your business is thriving!
React to the complaint (if it’s a legit one: see #2) as if it’s a lesson from your worst critic. If a customer complains about something in your company, the best thing you can do is consider whether the review is shining a light on cracks in your business model–and learn from it.
To put this another way, it’s wise actually to be grateful for clients who complain. If they’re highlighting something specific – like slow turnaround times or poor work – it’s critical to use this feedback to improve your company and ensure that your relationships with other customers don’t suffer for it.
Negative reviews don’t always have to be a negative experience. Instead, you can use the information you gain from them to make your business stronger and more resilient in the long term.
Keep your head up–you have other happy customers out there, and your services are valuable. Don’t let this one get you down!
4. Take Your Reviews Offline
If you encounter a negative online review, and it passed our step #2 and is a legitimate complaint, one of the best things you can consider doing is to move the conversation to a more private venue.
This is important for two reasons: first of all, conducting a conversation in the public forum of a third-party review site isn’t always great for business – especially if your customer is angry or the conversation is strained. Even if your intention is not to fight viciously with your customer (and it shouldn’t be), you’re still wise to take the conversation offline.
By offering a personal email or contact number where the customer can reach out to you, you make the experience more personal and show that you genuinely do care about your company and the service you offer your clients.
Nine times out of ten, providing a customer with a personal email to reach you by shifts the tone of the conversation hugely. In addition to taking the exchange out of the public eye, it also demonstrates to the customer that you’re engaged and will take the needed steps to fix the issue.
5. Embrace Your Bad Reviews & Learn From Them
Sound like a funny fifth step? Stay with me.
There are more than 6 billion people on the planet, and if you did business with every single one of them, it’s virtually guaranteed that at least a few of them wouldn’t like your company, for one reason or another.
To put this another way, a negative online review doesn’t mean you suck. It just means there was a misstep or that there’s a weak spot in your business strategy.
Because of this, I advocate embracing your negative online reviews. The fact that a customer took the time to write a review of your company can be a boon if you let it and the feedback gained from customer reviews can be invaluable if you use it correctly.
With this in mind, respond quickly, comprehensively, and compassionately to your online reviews. While it’s not uncommon for a customer to be displeased, very few customers stay that way when met with a company that responds openly to negative reviews.
By reaching out directly to the customer, offering a resolution, and ensuring that you’ve done everything in your power to smooth things over, it’s easy to take negative online reviews and turn them into loyal customers.
Andrew’s Success Story: Bad Reviews Can Be a Business Opportunity
He saw a bunch of one-star reviews on his company, read them, and summarized from them that prices were too high and portions too small.
Andrew went and rehashed his menu, changed his prices, and invited his one-star reviewers back.
After they saw the improvements, they changed most of their ratings into five-stars.
Andrew’s business is now thriving!
Be like Andrew–learn from the negativity your customers share with you, change structures based on criticism, and think of them as your biggest “new” customer base! It’s an awesome, honest tactic.
Responding Well to Your Negative Online Review: A Critical Business Move
Negative online reviews are bound to happen, but they don’t have to ruin your company. By responding fully and compassionately to online reviews, you can secure a spot for yourself as a reputable, compassionate, attentive business that puts customer service first.
While it’s never enjoyable to find a negative online review about your company, you can use these reviews to grow your business if you approach them correctly.
Customers that complain are offering valuable insight into your company, practices, and service, and listening to them is the best and most efficient way to boost your reputation and serve all of your customers better – from beginning to end.
So while it’s natural to recoil at negative online reviews, the moral of the story is that you do not want to be like Amy’s Baking Company.
By treating negative online reviews and reviewers with respect, reverence, and concern, you can smooth out small flare-ups before they become full-fledged wildfires.
This, in turn, helps you keep your company’s reputation intact for years to come.
Need help creating content that keeps your online reputation in stellar shape? Check out our content shop today.
As a writing team, we’re constantly hired to fill in for a missing talent: the art of writing.
We put our unique writing ability and style to good use to help companies grow organically.
Good copy enables them to improve their communication with their targeted audiences, sell faster and better, and achieve bold marketing goals – that they didn’t even know they had in mind.
Yes: written content can do all of that.
What’s your superpower?
Need a Writer? Two Solutions: Become an Overnight Creative Superhero, or Find One
Maybe you consider yourself fairly decent with words.
Let’s go further. Maybe you’re among the few wonders of the world who can solve a Rubix cube in the blink of an eye. You feel like you can count on your above-average analytical skills to deliver the best answers to your customers’ questions, challenges and concerns.
But what if you can’t string one sentence together that can convert a reader?
Turn someone visiting your site into a buyer? Activate their brain as they scan your content, so they automatically (and instantly) want to know more about you and buy whatever you’re selling?
Those “activation” words, my friend, are the product of a true artist – a writer with the compound power of creative thinking and creative writing, at their disposal.
I’ll be honest here: as a writer, you can’t just “be creative.”
You have to be able to turn your creativity into a flow of words. A well-developed vocabulary helps. Online writing skills are a big help if you want Google to read your words, too. But you can’t try too hard, because it must come naturally.
Thus, the best content is written.
Easy as pie–if you have a natural, talented expert writer at your disposal.
10 Clear-Cut Reasons Why You (And Everyone Else) Truly Does Need a Writer
Intrigued on what makes a writer so hire-able?
Here are some of the biggest reasons we’re hired daily (and why you need a writer).
1. You Need Better-Than-Average Copy to Win with Google Today
It’s funny my first point references a “robotic algorithm,” right?
Well, they’ve actually come to a point of reading content like a real human–so they look for great writing in the copy. Useful stuff, that people will actually want to click on and read. (I’m serious. Google’s that advanced these days.)
And they recently released their rulebook, aka Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, which I’ve already discussed (read: dissected) in a previous blog here.
In a nutshell, E.A.T is Google’s new name listing all the three key components that a page needs to meet its standards: A High Level of Expertise (E), Authoritativeness (A), and Trustworthiness (T). And then there’s Y.M.Y.L., which refers to the expert level content required for those high level industries (your money or your life – great rapper style, Google).
If you think that your writing isn’t focused on expertise, authoritativeness, or trust: stop right now and rewrite everything until you come up with Google (and people)-friendlier versions, or put the pen down and let an experienced writer take charge.
2. You Don’t Want that Typo To Bring You Down
OK: let’s say you have copy already written and you like it. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt here.
No matter what your content is about, a professional writer or copyeditor is your best bet to ensure your copy is error-free and solid. You don’t want to be the unintentional butt of that one humorous grammatical joke. I’m a professional copywriter, and I’ve been there: now, I always involve multiple people from our team in my own copy creation.
Your answer: Nah, I’ve got this. I can proofread.
#1: We’re all human, even the best of us. You’re going to miss an error at some point.
#2: And have you ever proofread a ton of content? Because as your business and needs grow and you create more and more content, being your own editor gets a little…tedious. Refer to the below.
Also, another short note on this point.
An expert copywriter or is the best person to consult if you’re considering launching a tagline, slogan, or some other small bit of copy that will bring serious exposure. A writer can help you bring even more direct ROI from that little conversion phrase if they catch something, or perhaps save your business a ton of dough you’d lose if it wasn’t as good as it could be.
Example: let’s say you’re starting a hashtag campaign. A professional writer can tell you if you’re falling in the danger of #SusAnalBumParty (a hashtag fail at trying to create a hashtag for Susan’s Album Party, for Susan Boyle, a few years ago).
3. Your Brand Needs Great Content to Stay Relevant & Maintain A Competitive Edge
Very few business owners have the creativity and analytical skills required to craft different types of web content that a brand requires to maintain an active presence both online and offline in today’s market.
I’m not putting anyone down–there’s actually a lot of content types now you need to be creating to succeed online.
And various types of content demand differing writing skills and knowledge.
For instance, social media content is friendly, warm, and requires some marketing and conversational skills. On the other hand, web copy revolves around content SEO optimization knowledge, the ability to write targeted taglines and engage/direct your reader to ROI.
For great blog content you have to know how to research certain topic well, and put it all together in a highly useful, informative, storified piece.
Take an infographic–you have to know how to research, dig deep, and present it in an actionable, short, useful way.
In all honesty, knowing how to mold your writing voice to each isn’t easy! You will need various writers for each type of web content that you’re planning on delivering. We have a social media manager, web copywriters, and blog copywriters who create our EW content. Our company counts on a team of specialized writers with experts in the most prominent categories of web content that any business requires to preserve its competitive advantage on its market.
Inside tip: You can’t just hire one guy who is “good at SEO” or “knows a thing or two about business blogging.” You need to rely on a team of writers who have what it takes to work with different content fields and types, and yield the best results.
Hand-in-hand with this is an overall aspect of creating content that is special enough to give you that competitive edge.
Businesses with an online presence usually don’t know where to start in terms of creating content. Simple problem, but a real one. Some companies don’t have what it takes to fuel their connection with their audiences, while others spend too much time focusing on the core of their business, and end up losing track of the customer journey and the progress of their main competitors.
In this context, stellar content delivered by creative writers who are familiar with your industry can reignite the lost spark in your relationship with your clients, prospects and partners, making it easier for you to redefine yourself as an industry expert.
An experienced web copywriter can really bridge the gap between your brand and your segment of public, preventing any further communication problems, and turning your ineffective monologue into successful dialogue marketing.
4. Writing Creatively Just Isn’t Your Thing
Trying to summon the art of writing and end up feeling like Jack Nicholson? Crickets, crickets…
That’s okay.
Because creative writing is harder than it looks.
It doesn’t just refer to well-adorned content where you flagrantly write with a bunch of misdirected adjectives.
As a matter of fact, unnecessary embellishments can cause reader fatigue, giving your readers another good reason to bounce off your page and land on websites featuring articles and blog posts that are easier to read.
In reality, creative writing depends a great deal on the substance of the story that you create around your product or service.
(Maybe that’s why the hardest words are the fewest–that 5-word tagline that’ll sell your business?)
Your creativity also reflects your ability to rock the world, by humanizing your content and the brand that you’re representing, and making it convey emotion-rich messages that will reach your audience and trigger an immediate response.
Your ability to speak the language of your targeted audience.
The voice that you create and maintain to express your individuality and personal wit, while also stirring emotions, building trust and credibility, and prompting action.
A good flow that isn’t disrupted by any errors, asymmetries or divagations, which may bore your readers to death or kill their focus.
If you find it difficult to achieve a balance between your voice, flow and the tactics that you are currently employing to involve and engage your audience, consider hiring a team of creative writers who could lift this weight off your shoulders and show you how it’s done.
5. You’re Not Good at Telling Stories
Maybe, just maybe you have a few creative ideas that you could apply to raise the curiosity and interest of your readers.
How about this: you’re even funny, intriguing or interesting enough to create a positive, long-lasting impression through your content, and give your public something to talk about for a few days?
But–then what?
What happens after you finish your first story, get hit by a terrible case of writer’s block, and realize that you don’t really have anything else to say/write?
Maybe your readers are still waiting for a sequel, but the curtain has already fallen, and you don’t feel quite ready to get back into the spotlight.
In this situation, maybe your so-called stage fright is fueled by your inability to tell a good story from start to finish.
If that’s the case, don’t hesitate to work closely with someone who understands your brand, mission, purpose in business and vision, knows everything about your market, audience and competition, and has the skills and experience required to craft a good story.
Keep in mind that you don’t need someone who is chatty.
You need a storyteller who respects and follows the structure of a good story-including the presence of common reference points, personal connections, and a clear moral or purpose- and isn’t afraid to give it a personal touch to highlight your uniqueness.
6. You Need to Craft A Variety of Content Types
Assuming that you are fortunate enough to count on a team of writers who deliver all the articles, web page copy, press releases and blog posts that you need to stay visible and active on your market and maintain a solid connection with your audiences, maybe you should ask yourself the following question: who’s taking care of the rest?
Long gone are the days when quality content was a mere string of paragraphs that your readers had to skim and scan to get the information that you have so generously provided. In the era of TV, web, print and mobile convergence, brands feel compelled to invest more and more money, time and energy in multimedia content.
As Hubspot points out, the visual content landscape is extremely diverse and alluring in 2016. According to this source, colored visuals boost your visitors’ willingness to read your entire content piece by up to 80%, while the tactic of incorporating the term “’video” in the subject line of your emails can increase their open rates by almost 20%.
Under these particular circumstances, it becomes obvious that you need the full support of a team of savvy writers who know how to craft and deliver impressive multimedia content, and wouldn’t shy away from transcribing your conversations and recorded presentations, extract the essence from your podcasts, repurpose different types of content, and help you explore different channels to reach your audiences in their own natural habitats, get them to listen to what you have to say, and keep them engaged around the clock.
7. You Need to Form a Solid Community around Your Product or Service
Guess what? Creative writers could be your biggest resource for this one.
Building a massive community around your product or service isn’t exactly easy, especially when:
You’re a newcomer in your industry
You’re unable to interact with your public
You don’t really know how to make your products sell themselves
The good news is that you could also grow from zero to a few million users, just like Hootsuite and several other successful startups, even when you count on an almost nonexistent advertising budget.
Yes, you could actually achieve similar goals by developing and implementing a cohesive content strategy gravitating around:
Authentic stories based on customer testimonials and reviews that let your prospects know just how amazing your product is, how it has helped them improve their lives/business, how they value it more than the air they breathe, and how they would gladly recommend it to their friends, family and neighbors.
Tactics meant to help the brand grow locally, such as local community-oriented events allowing businesses to interact with local influencers and expand their reach, one step at a time.
New ways to build relationships online and offline, by turning employees and past clients into brand ambassadors to consolidate the image and reputation of your brand and expand the community that you have started to grow around your company.
8. Delivering First-Class Specialty Pieces
If you’re about to tell the world about how you created an entire network of fans and followers around your company through quality, consistent content, then maybe you could share your secrets with the wannabe crowd and let them know who’s behind your tutorials, SEO copywriting and infographics.
Are these some of the few elements that you’ve deliberately omitted from your content strategy?
If that’s the case, now would be a good time to reconsider.
Here’s why: as an industry expert, you actually need these specialty pieces to reinforce your status, leadership and authority.
These specialty pieces may very well consolidate your competitive advantage, encouraging others-including your main competitors-to share your content, reference you and your brand, and implicitly, support your marketing goals.
9. You Need to Boost Your Online Visibility
Perhaps you know someone who knows someone who could put pen to paper and give you a few blog posts and articles each week, but is this really all you need to stay on top of industry trends, dominate the first pages of Google, and make your rivals bite the dust? In realty, you’ll need the full support of a great writer specialized in SEO copywriting, who knows how to create content that could please both human eyes and search engine. By all means, hire an expert who knows how to write meta data, title tags and headlines to help you stay updated with the latest SEO rules and guidelines, and enhance your online visibility with less effort.
10. You Need to Write Consistently
Let’s go back to #5 for a second, shall we?
How often do you post on your blog?
How often do you satisfy your readers’ need for quality content by delivering well-researched, fun, informative articles?
How often do you interact with your fans and followers on social media?
If you can’t remember the last time you smiled while reading meaningful comments from your audience, then you’re probably posting too seldom.
This means that you’re missing out on valuable opportunities to get in touch with different categories of users who could become your devoted partners or clients.
Avoid this drawback by staying active on the social media platform where you could plant hooks for your targeted audience, and don’t hesitate to find a team of writers who could cover all your needs in terms of web content-including specialty pieces, big pieces, and the small bits and pieces that you could tailor and repurpose to share through a great variety of social networks and affiliate websites to achieve your marketing objectives.
Conclusion: There’s No Excuse for Not Delivering Stellar Online Content
My final tips: be inspired by the best in your industry.
Learn from those who attract the right people through their words.
Then, either write or go hire with guidelines in place to create rockstar content.
For our clients, their best bet is investing in a team of real experts who are familiar with every content field and types and can create and write your best content, so you have the opportunity to make a difference online. That’s us! Go visit our Content Shop or learn more about us.
Great online content is a powerful marketing tool.
You know that, and I know that: but your clients might not.
If you’ve had the experience of picking up a client with no knowledge of web marketing, you understand how frustrating it can be to try to sell someone who knows nothing about online content on the actual benefits and investment of content.
Even though you’re certain that online content is an effective way to market a business, your client might not be. Luckily, you (and they) don’t have to be stuck in content limbo forever.
These simple tactics will give you the edge you need to convince a non-content marketer about the value of content.
Read on to learn more.
Converting Them to Online Content: What Makes it Difficult?
While many marketers are more than willing to embrace content marketing as a whole, some haven’t turned the corner just yet. These clients may be unfamiliar with the world of web marketing or simply wary about the expense and effort associated with developing a content marketing strategy. For some people, content just seems unnecessary (even though you know it’s not). While dealing with these clients can be frustrating (especially when you’re well aware of how useful content could be to them), it’s critical to understand where they’re coming from.
So much of building a successful client-agency relationship is compassion. By being compassionate about how your customer feels and understanding why they hold the beliefs that they do, you can tailor your approach to suit their needs better. This, in turn, helps you go the extra step and make them into content believers not only because you told them they should be, but because they’ve seen and understood the benefits of content on their own. This creates longer-lasting relationships and a more productive client-agency partnership.
5 Practical Tips to Create Content Evangelists
1. Create a comfortable environment
Imagine walking into a room and sitting down with a total stranger. Before you’ve had a chance to so much as sip your water, said stranger starts pitching you on the value of including space rock dust in your marketing strategy. You’ve never heard of such a thing before, but the stranger keeps pushing and pushing. “You need this!” they insist. Before long, you’re running from the room, screaming as you go.
Sound dramatic? Maybe. But this experience isn’t all that different from how a new client will feel if you fail to create a comfortable environment based on mutual trust before you start pitching. People tend to be resistant to new ideas. According to the Harvard Business Review, this can be due to factors ranging from uncertainty to a perceived loss of control. Regardless of where your client’s resistance is coming from, the only way to overcome it is to build a foundation of comfort and trust right off the bat.
To make your client comfortable, be respectful of their time and don’t get overly complicated with your solution. While content is a large and multi-faceted thing, simplifying it for your client is the best way to help them warm up to the idea without feeling like you’re trying to sell them snake oil.
2. Back yourself up with some serious stats
If you can’t provide data to back up your claims about why your client should be using online content, you’re sunk in the water. In addition to helping you come off as knowledgeable and authoritative, good data can give your client the objective proof they need to take the dive into content.
For examples of great statistics, consider the following:
In 2015, 67% of all B2B companies reported that content marketing was within their top three priorities
Implementing an inbound marketing strategy (that includes content) can double a website’s overall conversion rates – taking them from 6% to 12%
41% of all marketers say that content marketing has a positive ROI
44% of B2B marketers have developed a documented content strategy
When it comes to reach and engagement, blogs and social media platforms reach 80% of U.S. internet users and account for approximately 23% of the time users spend online
61% of customers are more willing to make a purchase from a company that creates custom content for them
Marketers who blog are 13x as likely to earn a positive ROI than those who don’t
70% of customers report that they’d prefer to become acquainted with a company via helpful articles and blogs rather than ads
The good thing about trying to convince someone of the power of content is that there is a ton of online material out there to back you up. Great stats roll in every year, and it’s easy to find solid data to back up virtually any claim you’re making about the power of content marketing.
Two top sources that keep track of the real ROI of online content, perfect to help your case for convincing are Hubspot and Content Marketing Institute.
3. Show your client where content has worked in the past
If you’ve got a customer who is notably reticent about the idea of adopting content, you might need to demonstrate to them that other companies have had success with content.
One great way to do this is through case studies. For an example of a compelling case study, consider one that Content Marketing Institute recently released.
The case study focuses on Eloqua, a marketing automation company. Before implementing a content marketing strategy, Eloqua had been in business for ten years and had built a good reputation. As the popularity of marketing automation blew up, however, the company started to feel pressured to keep up with their competitors, so they opted to implement content marketing to meet their goals. Specifically, the company wanted to create a new branch and build hype around the launch of a new product.
They planned to do this by developing content and building relationships with their customers. They worked to develop a distribution schedule for their content, utilize cross-platform functionality, and reach out to their audiences more effectively.
Soon after they launched their new marketing program, they had 20 new staffers managing Twitter accounts and 3 people writing the Eloquablog. (That’s serious content investment!)
Thanks to these efforts, they earned:
12,000 new blog visitors
35,000 new downloads
A 21% increase in views of their demo
And a bounce rate that decreased by 14%
How’s that for real ROI from online content?
While this is just one case study of many, it’s an excellent way to demonstrate to a customer that content is effective and capable of producing great returns.
4. Appeal to your client’s emotions
Remember Don Draper from Mad Men? You want to be Don Draper when it comes to selling your customer on content. While it’s helpful and necessary to help your client understand why and how content works, it’s also important to show them how it can work for them, which can only be done through effective storytelling. Instead of merely pitching your client, focus on telling them a story that helps them see how content can relate to their particular brand.
Maybe your story revolves around the potential experience a client could have on their website or maybe it involves the power of targeted, customized marketing emails. Regardless of the story you want to tell, appealing to your client’s emotions is one of the best ways to ensure their business.
5. Simplify the process
Again, you could drown your client in complex marketing stats and flood them with data that doesn’t pertain to their company, product, or mission. You could, but you won’t. While there’s no denying that content marketing as a whole is a complicated and involved industry, your job is to make it as simple as possible for your client.
This means paring down your message to include only what the client truly needs to hear, focusing on what pertains to your client’s specific goals or missions, and doing away with jargon and complex language to ensure that your customer actually understands what you’re saying. By simplifying the benefits, process, and payoff of content for your client, you make it easier than ever for him or her to say “yes.”
The Case for Content
Regardless of what industry your client works in, content can do something for him or her. Whether the customer wants to generate more leads, become more visible online, build a community, or establish authority in a particular niche or industry, content is the answer. Unfortunately, your client may be slower to come to this conclusion than you are.
Many times, a client needs a fair deal of coercing and support to understand exactly how content can serve them and why they should be focusing on it. Your job, of course, is to help them get there.
By building a comfortable relationship with your client, using data and case studies to back up your arguments, using storytelling elements to appeal to your customer’s emotions, and simplifying the experience of content for your client, it’s easy to help even the most reticent clients understand how content can benefit and support their brands.
Need great content from talented copywriters? Check out our Content Shop. We hire 1 out of 50 applicants on average–our writers are the best of the best!
If you work in online marketing or even set foot near the industry, you’ve likely heard the term “copywriting.”
It’s everywhere right now. Copywriting this, copywriting that. There’s no escaping it.
As popular as the term is, though, many people still don’t know the answer to the question, “what is copywriting?”
When strangers meet someone who introduces herself as a copywriter, they often nod enthusiastically and then say without a hint of comprehension, “And what does that mean?”
Or, they think it means you copyright legal songs for pay. Some people still conjure up images of journalists on a typewriter, or a reporter — while others think of tech or IT specialists.
Unfortunately, none of these hit the nail on the head.
So what is copywriting? And why is it such a big deal today?
Read on to learn more.
What is Copywriting?
Copywriting is the art and science of strategically crafting and publishing targeted, reader-focused words (“copy”) online that get people to take some form of action.
We took some inspiration from the classic copywriting resource, CopyBlogger, for this.
“Copywriting” is a hard thing to pin down. Obviously – or everyone would understand it right off the bat!
Luckily, it doesn’t have to be this obscure forever.
Brands that work with copywriters hire these skilled professionals to create everything from blog and article copy to social media content and product descriptions — depending upon what they need at a given moment.
Right now, the field of copywriting is exploding as more and more brands migrate to e-commerce and the development of an online presence. Because having a website also creates an immediate and pressing need for quality content, brands around the country and the world are hiring professional copywriters at shocking rates.
[bctt tweet=”According to CopyBlogger, ‘Copywriting is the art and science of strategically delivering words (whether written or spoken) that get people to take some form of action.’ Read more on @JuliaEMcCoy’s post about #copywriting ✍️” username=”ExpWriters”]
Why Does Copywriting Matter?
Now that we’ve answered the question of “what is copywriting?”, let’s focus on why companies are flocking to it in droves.
That’s a big number, and it’s clear that it’s difficult to stand out when so much content is present at all times. Because of this, brands are increasingly turning to professionals to help them rank well in Google, attract more customers, and develop a stronger and unique brand voice.
At its core, copywriting is a form of inbound marketing. Instead of going out and pursuing readers (although it’s not unheard of for copywriters to write PPC advertisements and similar outbound content), copywriting generally focuses on creating things like blogs, articles, and infographics, which are designed to pull readers in and provide relevant and valuable content.
[bctt tweet=”Why does ‘copywriting’ matter? Today, 61% of internet users around the world head to search engines to research on products they want to buy before buying! ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
Why is this important, you ask?
Great question.
Today, 61% of the internet users around the world head to search engines to research products they want to buy, before they take the financial leap and make a purchasing decision. Internet users currently conduct more than 12 billion searches each month – despite this, though, the click-through rate of paid advertisements is only about 2%.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why brands have been turning to copywriting. In addition to populating a site with quality content, copywriting efforts are also more effective than outbound advertising methods. By creating unique, relevant, and high-quality content on a webpage, blog, or social media account, a company with an on-staff copywriter can easily build an audience and develop a solid reputation quickly and easily.
Copywriting Statistics You Need to Know
By now, you know that copywriting is important, but do you know just how important? These statistics prove just how relevant copywriting is to brands. These can help you understand the big push for copywriters that have sprung up in recent years.
1. The top 3 results in Google earn 60% of all organic clicks.
The top few places on Google’s SERPs are coveted. Ranking here ensures visibility for a brand and can significantly increase the number of leads and the amount of traffic that a brand receives in a given month. Unfortunately, many brands don’t understand how to get here.
Luckily, professional copywriting can help. Through high-quality content creation, SEO optimization, unique topics, and a bulletproof content strategy, a professional copywriter can develop a plan for ranking well for a given set of keywords or topics – a skill that many companies need to grow their followings.
[bctt tweet=”Do you know? The top 3 results in Google earn 60% of all organic clicks. ?️ Know more about the importance of #copywriting in @JuliaEMcCoy’s blog post.” username=”ExpWriters”]
2. 50% of all mobile searches are local.
For brands with a local presence, copywriting may be a life-or-death matter. While the majority of mobile users are searching for local brands, most local brands don’t understand how to reach mobile users. This, in turn, results in a confusing and stressful experience for mobile searchers and lost revenue for local companies.
Enter a professional copywriter.
Professional copywriters are well-versed in local SEO and can help businesses make the changes they need to ensure that their content ranks well for and meets the needs of local searchers.
This, in turn, can result in more traffic for the local business, and a more satisfying search experience for mobile users.
[bctt tweet=”Do you know? 50% of all mobile searches are local. ? Know more about the importance of #copywriting in @JuliaEMcCoy’s blog post.” username=”ExpWriters”]
3. Leads gained from SEO have a 14.6% close rate.
Leads that come to a company via means of SEO close at a much higher rate than those obtained through outbound methods like direct mail. This is one of the main incentives for businesses to hire copywriters. In addition to the fact that copywriting efforts are much more affordable than outbound advertising methods, they’re also more effective and result in a bigger bottom line for the company in question.
[bctt tweet=”Do you know? Leads gained from SEO have a 14.6% close rate. ?️ Know more about the importance of #copywriting in @JuliaEMcCoy’s blog post.” username=”ExpWriters”]
4. Marketers that prioritize blogging are 13x as likely to earn a positive ROI than non-bloggers.
Blogging is a fantastic way to reach out and connect with would-be customers, and it’s often all a company needs to revolutionize its content strategy. Unfortunately, many businesses are too busy or just lack the skill to create blog content in-house. This is why the skills of professional copywriters are so needed. By developing and populating a blog with reputable, high-quality content, a good copywriter can help a company strengthen its brand voice and provide additional value to customers.
[bctt tweet=”Do you know? Marketers that prioritize blogging are 13x as likely to earn a positive ROI than non-bloggers. ?? Know more about the importance of #copywriting in @JuliaEMcCoy’s blog post.” username=”ExpWriters”]
5. When marketers blogged daily, 82% of them earned new customers.
Blogging daily is a smart business strategy, but it’s also difficult to keep up with. Left to their own devices, many companies fall behind their blogging schedule and fail to provide real and dependable content for their readers. By hiring a copywriting professional, a company has a better chance of keeping up with its blogging goals and enjoying the positive returns of doing so offers.
[bctt tweet=”Do you know? When marketers blogged daily, 82% of them earned new customers. ? Know more about the importance of #copywriting in @JuliaEMcCoy’s blog post.” username=”ExpWriters”]
The (Huge) Benefits of Copywriting For Companies
A copywriting professional can offer a LOT to a company. A few of those (not limited to) are:
1. SEO Optimization
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s one of the most common responsibilities of professional copywriting firms. By optimizing posts and pages for long-tail keywords and search engine visibility, copywriting firms can help companies rank well in Google and earn more user attention.
2. Human Content Creation
You can’t automate this process. Content creation is by far the primary responsibility of copywriting companies. Depending on what a company needs, the copywriting firm may write a blog, social media post, article, or even white paper content.
3. Content Distribution
Some copywriting companies distribute content on behalf of their clients. By scheduling and managing posts on social media and blog platforms, a copywriting firm can remove some of the stress from a customer’s shoulders and ensure that the editorial calendar is functioning at all times.
4. Idea Mining
If a company needs help coming up with unique blog ideas, a copywriting company may offer to conduct keyword research or develop an editorial calendar that will help guide the company’s editorial efforts. A valuable service that marries the benefits of SEO and content creation, this idea mining offer is popular among companies looking to build larger followings.
5. Social Media Management
Social media is a time-consuming thing for many companies, and a professional copywriting firm can take some of the pressure off. By managing and posting content to a company’s social media account, a copywriting company can help a business grow a following without stressing over time management.
[bctt tweet=”Some of the benefits of having a copywriter include SEO optimization, better blog ideas, and high-quality human content creation. ? @JuliaEMcCoy shares the rest of the benefits and importance of copywriting in this blog post. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
What is Copywriting? Now You Know!
So what is copywriting? It’s a critical service that many companies turn to to produce traffic, followers, leads, and conversions. It’s becoming increasingly popular with businesses in all industries and all locations, and it’s a great way to enjoy a positive ROI and an effective marketing strategy.
If you’re interested in learning more about copywriting, or finding copywriting professionals to help you boost your brand, contact Express Writers today!
The case study focuses on Eloqua, a marketing automation company. Before implementing a content marketing strategy, Eloqua had been in business for ten years and had built a good reputation. As the popularity of marketing automation blew up, however, the company started to feel pressured to keep up with their competitors, so they opted to implement content marketing to meet their goals. Specifically, the company wanted to create a new branch and build hype around the launch of a new product.
