Content Marketing Archives

8 Top Cities Where Copywriting Jobs Are A Booming Career

December 31, 2020November 2, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Today, the online marketing industry is booming. 40% of the world’s population has an online presence. In total, over 3 billion people use the internet; a number that went up from 738 million to 3.2 billion in the last 15 years. With a visitor presence as strong as that, today’s marketing is best done online. Add onto that the fact that many states have increased their tech-sector hiring; startups are popping up all over the virtual landscape. As startup agencies launch, and the need to have a powerful presence online increases, so does something else: Copywriting jobs and opportunities. The meat of a great online presence is content marketing, and more of it: so, copywriters are in demand today. And that demand is only growing. Copywriters, You’re Needed As copywriters, we’ve gone from suffering jokes at the hands of our doctorate or lawyer friends (“what are you ever going to do with that English degree?”) to being an in-demand, highly employable class of professionals in a highly dynamic climate. As the market continues to shift, grow and change, one thing is clear: copywriters will continue to play an important part in creating and distributing the content that makes people sit up and take notice of new technologies. In addition to being knowledgeable about good marketing practices, copywriters can also help new and established companies beef up their SEO game, create intriguing content and help birth campaigns that go viral. Fortunately, there are dozens of cities right now that are a virtual gold mine for copywriters. These cities offer exciting, diverse jobs in the tech industry through hundreds of well-known companies, some of which (LinkedIn, for example) are current in the inbound marketing and content marketing worlds. According to Study.com, the need for copywriters is projected to go up 6% between 2012-2022 and according to GlassDoor.com, the national average salary for copywriters is over $58k annually. Because of this and because of the increasing demand the field is experiencing, being a copywriter is a hot gig right now. The 8 Best Cities for Copywriting Opportunities & Jobs We sat down to research the best cities for copywriters to find job opportunities in, and here’s what we found! (Updated December 2015.) 1. San Jose, California It should come as no surprise that Silicon Valley is booming for talented writers. In San Jose, out of every 1,000 jobs, 126 are in the tech industry, which means plenty of jobs for copywriters and content marketers. Additionally, San Jose has one of the highest tech-related salaries in the country right now – an average of $130K each year. As home to big-name tech companies like Apple, Adobe and eBay, Silicon Valley is currently one of the best places in the country for copywriters who want to work in a fast-paced, tech-focused environment. 2. Minneapolis, Minnesota If you’re a talented writer looking for work in the tech, advertising or PR industries right now, there’s no place like Minneapolis. In fact, the city is so rich with high-paying, unique jobs that some major media outlets are referring to the phenomena as “The Miracle of Minneapolis.” This is due in large part to the fact that the city combines affordable housing, great jobs and high salaries to create a highly livable market for skilled writers, editors and marketers. Minneapolis is home to several dozen huge company headquarters, including Novu, Target, Best Buy and C.H. Robinson, which have increased hiring in the tech sectors by 8.36% in the last six months. Companies like this are growing quickly and all of them need copywriters. 3. Seattle, Washington The Seattle metro area has always been a writer’s paradise and today is no different. Home to tech colossuses like Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing, the city also boasts outposts of companies like Expedia, Zillow, Google, Facebook and Twitter. Within the Seattle area, 77 out of 1,000 jobs are tech-focused and those involved in the area’s tech industry make about $108K annually. In addition to the ample jobs in the area, the city also has a high quality of life and provides access to some of the best art, cultural events and food in the country. 4. San Francisco, California Don’t jump to rope it in with Silicone Valley too quickly – San Francisco is home to plenty tech companies of its own and boasts a totally different environment than its neighbor to the South. Copywriters here can choose to work for companies like Google, Twitter, Pinterest, Yelp, Dropbox, Yahoo, Oracle, LinkedIn and Salesforce, among others. There are literally hundreds of copywriting jobs in this city and the lucky ones who get them will enjoy views of the bay and never-ending clam chowder with a side of job satisfaction. 5. Washington, DC In the metro area that surrounds the country’s capital, copywriters can expect to find ample jobs. The area has a strong tech scene and over 79 out of every 1,000 jobs are tech-focused. The area also has over 1,000 startups, including companies like Urgent.ly and Soundtracker, which makes it a vibrant and dynamic place for copywriters and marketers alike. 6. Austin, Texas In addition to boasting one of the best music scenes in the country, Austin is a formidable player in the tech and startup circles. Home to companies like Dell, RetailMeNot, Main street Hub and Yodle, 58 out of every 1,000 jobs in Austin are in the tech industry and copywriters won’t have any trouble finding a job they love. Additionally, the city is home to the South by Southwest festival, which debuts new technologies and provides one of the best possible networking and educational opportunities for copywriters, SEOs and marketers. FYI: Our own Express Writers is located here! 7. Boston, Massachusetts Unlike many areas in the country, which are startup-dense and mainstay-sparse, Boston offers a healthy mix of both. Ideal for the copywriter who wants to work for companies like HubSpot, Wayfair, TripAdvisor, WordStream, Constant Contact or HourlyNerd, copywriters in Boston can expect to find that roughly 57 out of every 1,000 jobs are tech-focused. The area does have high rental prices but the … Read more

The Top 60 Content Marketers You Should Be Following on Twitter

January 1, 2021October 27, 2015 by Adam Oakley

For any kind of marketer, Twitter is a hugely powerful tool. This social media platform has more than 304 million monthly active users: it’s a way for information to travel faster and broader than almost any other platform on the web. That said, within those 304 million users, who are the ones worth following as content marketing leaders? That have similar interests to us as marketers, and are leaders within the content marketing space? Let’s take a look! 60 Top Content Marketers You Should Follow (Today) On Twitter My list of these top 60 content marketers is made up of the crème de la crème of the industry. These content marketers specialize in everything from Content Marketing 101, SEO and how content fits into that, all the way to advanced branding techniques. I follow these guys and have engaged with them regularly. Good stuff will follow if you start following them today – you’ll probably learn a few things as you consistently see and read their content. Here you go (all their names are linked to their Twitter handles), in no particular order: 1. Rand Fishkin. Rand Fishkin is an author, blogger and founder of SEO Giant Moz. People who follow his tweets can look forward to ample marketing, SEO, technology and startup information. 2. Jay Baer. Author of the New York Times bestselling book Youtility, Jay Baer is a global keynote speaker, and digital media entrepreneur as well as being president the strategy consulting firm @Convince. 3. Brian Clark. CEO of Rainmaker Digital, Brain Clark is also the curator of several successful content marketing websites. 4. David Burn. David Burn is a content strategist, writer and brand specialist who assists content marketers in learning to distribute content effectively and write pieces that will draw readers in. 5. Michael Brenner. Michael Brenner is a renowned speaker, author and blogger with @MKTGInsiders as well as being Head of Strategy @Newscred. Brenner is also the former VP of Content Marketing with @SAP. 6. Mitch Joel. President of Mirum, Mitch Joel is a marketer, speaker, author and self-proclaimed “media hacker.” Additionally, Joel is a blogger at Six Pixels of Separation. People that can’t get enough of Joel via Twitter can check out his new book Ctrl Alt Delete. 7. Brian Fanzo. I enjoy catching Brian on Periscope as well as watching all of his keynote speeches. He’s an energetic social media advocate, going by the title “Change Evangelist”, has a huge following, and is behind the iSocialFanz site. Follow him for great insights on how to run your social media. 8. Sue B. Zimmerman. She’s the “Instagram Expert”, a successful entrepreneur, speaker, and Instagram coach. This lady is the go-to expert when it comes to Instagram, and she’s hot on Periscope too. 9. Neil Patel. Neil Patel is a renowned entrepreneur and blogger who has started two analytics companies: @CrazyEgg and KISSmetrics. He’s a top followed content marketer (I read and enjoy all his stuff). 10. Pamela I Wilson. Pamela I. Wilson is the owner of Big Brand System. She also manages the CopyBlogger blog and produces educational products for the company. 11. Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt. Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt is an attorney-turned-content marketer who was named one of the Top 50 Rich Media Influencers to follow. 12. Paul Roetzer. Paul Roetzer is the Founder of The Marketing Performance Blueprint & The Marketing Agency Blueprint as well as being the Creator of Marketing Score (@MKTScore). 13. Aaron Orendorff. Aaron Orendorff’s mission is to “save the world from bad content.” He is also a contributor for publications like @EntMagazine, @FastCompany, @BusinessInsider, @SuccessMagazine, @CopyBlogger and @Unbounce. 14. Lee Odden. Lee Odden is the CEO of @TopRank, where he specializes in online marketing. He is also a B2B Content Marketing consultant and a social media and PR specialist. 15. Bob Geller. Bob Geller is a PR and content specialist as well as being the president of Fusion PR. 16. Joanna Wiebe. She is the genius copywriter and Internet marketer we all aspire to be. CEO of Copyhackers and top-notch wordsmith, Joanna has been featured in numerous places and sites. 17. Jeff Deutsch. Jeff Deutsch is the VP of Marketing for @ptengine. He also contributes content to @HubSpot. 18. Ryan Hanley. Ryan is the host of the popular Content Warfare podcast and author of the book by the same name. 19. Amanda Subler. Amanda Subler is a former journalist turned public relations, content marketing and video production specialist. She is also a PR and Media Manager for @CMIContent. 20. Tim Ash. Tim Ash is the CEO of Site Tuners and author of the bestselling book Landing Page Optimization. 21. Meryl K. Evans. Meryl K. Evans is a writer, editor, social media specialist and content marketer. Her tweets are aimed at helping content marketers adapt to web standards and boost site traffic. 22. Doug Kessler. Doug Kessler is a content marketing, B2B copywriting, social media and tech marketing specialist who focuses on helping content marketers learn to promote their brand and write better content. 23. Matt Heinz. Matt Heinz focuses on helping B2B companies produce more revenue via focused marketing strategies. He also helps companies produce more demand from customers and hone their sales process. 24. Bernie Borges. Bernie Borges is the host of The Social Business Engine Digital TV Show & Podcast as well as being the CEO of popular B2B digital marketing firm Find and Convert. 25. Neal Schaffer. Neal Schaffer is an author at @MaxYourSocial as well as being the founder of @msocialbusiness and @socialtoolssmmt. 26. Bryan Eisenberg. Bryan Eisenberg is the founder and CMO of Ideal Spot. He is also a keynote speaker and author. 27. Rebekah Radice. She’s an award-winning social media author, speaker and strategist. She works at the uber-cool PostPlanner and is behind #InfluencerChat, as well as a co-host for #ViralChat from Post Planner on Thursdays. 28. Jay Acunzo. Jay Acunzo works on content at @NextViewVC, and is the host and producer of the Traction podcast, where he discusses and features super cool entrepreneurial stories. 29. Lisa Petrilli. Named one of the Top 20 CMO’s by Forbes, Lisa Petrilli is dedicated to empowering women in positions of business & leadership in the world of digital communication. 30. Andrew Davis. The founder of Monumental Shift, Andrew Davis teaches marketers how to find and target a niche in order to grow business and produce great work. 31. Heidi Cohen, Heidi Cohen is a speaker, professor and journalist. He shares tweets on social media, content marketing and how to create successful small businesses. 32. Henneke Duistermaat. She calls herself someone who’s on a … Read more

Content Serialization: How to Turn One Idea into Months of Content Marketing

December 31, 2020October 14, 2015 by Adam Oakley

What if you could take one great idea and turn it into dozens of even better blogs? You actually can—with a process called serialization. Content serialization, once a tool in the belt of novel-writers worldwide, has become a popular blogging tactic today that can help writers dig deeper and provide an astounding amount of value to their readers. Content serialization is more than just drawing out an idea; it’s a particularly effective way to become an expert in your niche, draw more readers, promote your site and gain visibility. What is Content Serialization? Content serialization is essentially one large idea broken down into installments for easier readability and a higher level of mastery. “Content marketing”, for example, is a large topic. It would be impossible to cover everything that content marketing is and offers in one blog post and, as such, it’s an ideal topic for serialization. A serialized run of blog posts with a focus on content marketing might look something like “12 Weeks to Outstanding Content Marketing” and would offer periodic blog posts diving deeper into progressively more challenging areas of the topic. Serialization offers bloggers a way to get out of the habit of thinking of their content marketing strategy in terms of individual posts, which can inhibit creativity and contribute to poor content and very little site cohesion. Good short-term serialization can help content marketers shake up their strategy and dig deeper into topics their audience wants to know more about. Why Serialize Content? In the days of olde, bibliophiles used to hang out on shipping docks, anxiously awaiting the next serialized installment of a favorite book to arrive. Things have modernized since then, but serialization still has the power to create anticipation and keep people coming back for more. By serializing content that is of interest to readers, content marketers can easily reap the following benefits: More Readers: Like we said, serialization promotes anticipation and people will soon be looking out for the next post in the series. Additionally, since each post builds off of the post before it, serialization is an amazingly effective internal linking strategy that drives users to other portions of the blog. More Creativity: Serializing your content forces you to dig into the cracks, so to speak, and can help your writing become much more creative. Additionally, since serialization requires you to plan each post ahead of time and come up with a considerable amount of content, it is likely that the process will also drive you to employ social media formats, such as video, podcasts or infographics, that you do not typically use. For this reason, serialization is a great way for bloggers that are “stuck” to get the creative juices flowing. Increased Productivity: Since you’ll have to come up with regular and substantial posts, you’ll be forced to make the best possible use of each day’s writing time. This, in turn, promotes better writing and more effective communication. Mastery of Knowledge: By far the most valuable benefit of serialization is that it allows bloggers to become niche experts. By digging into the nooks and crannies of a subject, writers can learn new things and disseminate information effectively without overloading their audience or saturating a single post with so much information that it’s virtually useless. Additionally, serialization allows you to build your online authority. More Conversions: Serialized content provides value for people interested in learning more about a topic. When you provide value to readers, they reward you with increased interaction, subscriptions and purchases. Because of this, serialized content often results in increased conversions for your site. Regardless of what your site’s goal is – be it subscriptions, purchases, or shares – serialized content can definitely help you get there. In addition to the above benefits, serialization can be a great option for bloggers who have not yet developed a content marketing strategy and are looking for ways to provide regular, high-quality content to their readers. Choosing Which Content to Serialize As a general rule, the content you serialized should be made up of your most high-potential topics. In other words, serialized topics should be those too broad, involved, detailed or important to be covered in a single post. The genesis topic for serialized posts should be of great interest to your readers and broad enough to explore for a number of weeks without writing duplicate content or creating filler. Before you choose to serialize a topic, ask yourself these questions: Will this information provide value to my readers? Can I explore this topic in a unique way? Could I write a book about this? If the answer is “yes” to all of those questions, it’s likely that you’ve got a good candidate for serialization. Keep in mind that it is not enough, however, to simply choose a topic that you find interesting. The topic also needs to serve a purpose and will be most successful if it meets an unmet need, offers a solution and is easy to structure. As with any type of marketing, finding a gap in the market is one of the most important factors for success. If you choose to serialize a topic that’s been serialized hundreds of times before, it’s going to be difficult to be truly competitive in that market. Therefore, it’s important to choose a topic that addresses old questions in a new way or approaches a question that many people have an nobody is answering. By meeting an unmet need and providing unique solutions, you can ensure your content will stand out from the crowd. How to Serialize Content By far the easiest way to serialize content is to create a series of blog posts that spans no more than 12 weeks. This is enough time to adequately explore a topic but not so much that your readers begin to get bored. Regardless of what your topic is, the general structure of your serialized content should resemble the following: Week 1 (First Post) Week 1 will be the touch-point for … Read more

How to Create an Endless Stream of Unforgettable Content

December 31, 2020September 28, 2015 by Sarah Shade

Sarah Shade is a Content Specialist at Express Writers. Regardless of niche, vision, profit margins and aspirations, you and all business owners have one thing in common. You give your best on different fronts to stand out from the crowd. Quite often, you might engage your efforts in a battle with competitors, and also with your own limitations. During this process, you might rely on premium content to highlight your uniqueness, make your products more desirable and form solid communities around your brands. However, achieving consistency in content creation is more difficult than you may think, especially when you are faced with multiple work-related challenges on a daily basis. Truth be told, every once in a while, we all get distracted. Sometimes, we are overwhelmed by all the tasks that require our full attention and prompt intervention. We run out of fresh, creative ideas and we lose our motivation for a second or two. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t let these temporary impediments stand in the way of our success. Why Does Your Business Require a Steady Content Flow? Nowadays, content is still a powerful game-changer that could represent the perfect liaison between businesses and their clients. Robust, consistent, unique content is an invaluable asset that can separate you from your main competitors, boost your revenues, maximize your online visibility, tighten your bond with prospects and existing customers and give you hope for the future. According to Brad Friedman from Social Media Today, by posting content regularly and keeping your website updated you could improve your search engine rankings and implement more effective link building strategies. After all, it’s always easier to find and use links that are relevant to your pages when you’re running a blog that counts hundreds of quality posts reflecting your grand vision, mission and purpose in business. 8 Ways to Stay Consistent with Your Web Content at All Times A steady content flow can help you make a name for yourself in any field of activity, while managing to impress both human visitors and search engines with your commitment and consistency. But churning out dozens of first-hand articles and blog posts is no easy task, especially when you’re writing with your audience in mind. A stream of unforgettable content requires a mix of inspiration, creativity, talent, motivation and hours of research. If you want to be able to take pride in a flawless, uninterrupted content flow in the long term, here are a few key steps that you should follow to achieve your goal. 1. Stick to an Editorial Calendar That Makes Sense to You We will let you in on a well-kept secret: even the most experienced bloggers, journalists and business owners count on an editorial calendar to control content publication across a great variety of channels, such as newspapers, blogs, social media platforms and email newsletters. An article published by CrazyEgg reveals that a good editorial calendar adapted to your goals can improve your current content strategy. Using this handy little helper you can manage and schedule social media posts, gather new ideas for inspiring articles and posts, track events that could become your most generous sources of inspiration, and schedule your own blog posts, as well as the ones signed by guest authors. Now you can make the most of three great editor calendar plugins for WordPress (CoSchedule, Editorial Calendar and EditFlow) to plan your every move in advance and make sure that deadlines will no longer catch you by surprise. 2. Explore Key Themes That Could Never Get Boring Instead of creating dull, perishable content that essentially puts your products and services into the spotlight and praises the uniqueness of your brand, opt for a different approach. Tackle the real-world problems and concerns expressed by your audience. Humanize and personalize your brand. Be helpful. Be engaging. For once, put your skills, expert insight and experience to good use to explore a series of interesting themes and convey information-rich messages that will raise the interest of your audience. 3. Create, Publish and Distribute Evergreen Content No matter how active you are in your field of activity, you may get hit by a serious case of writer’s block at some point. Does this mean that you should lay down your weapons, while praying for the return of your inspiration? Of course not! Instead of opting for a passive approach towards content creation, you should explore a series of evergreen content ideas that are long-lasting and sustainable and can continue to stay relevant long after their materialization. How-to tutorials, videos, list posts and product reviews match this description and can help you satisfy your readers’ hunger for premium content even when you don’t really have anything new and groundbreaking to write about. Choose high-interest evergreen topics (romance, pet care, weight loss, finance, parenting and so on) that are fully compatible with your business and find the most creative methods to add new meanings to old stories. 4. When Your Content Ideas Are Drying Up, Improvise! At some point, you may get tired of crafting list posts and how-to articles. While these types of content will always return the desirable results as long as you keep your quality standards high, simply because they stress out the problems experienced by your readers and promise miraculously effective solutions to these issues, it is always recommended to play the diversity card to keep your readers engaged. By improvising every once in a while you could break the monotony and avoid dull topics that you may be tempted to use as a last resort. Here’s an idea worth exploring: talk to influent people in your industry and turn your dialogue into the essence of your new article or blog posts. Make a list of interview subjects and unleash your creativity. If everything goes according to plan, consider turning interviews into a prominent, regular feature of your content flow. 5. Unleash the Power of Multimedia Content Your content shouldn’t be limited to chunks of text, especially today, when multimedia elements … Read more

25 Tips To Get You Started In Successful Content Marketing

December 31, 2020September 25, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Are you a business marketer new to content marketing? If so, you probably already know that your best audience is found online, and now you’re trying to find out the best ways to attract them. Content marketing is where it’s at today. Gone are the days of traditional advertising and outbound marketing. Paying for click ads is no longer a good idea either, the market is too thin and lean in PPC nowadays: you’ll likely overpay for a click and drive a great deal of traffic that ultimately doesn’t matter for your site. So what’s the solution? The answer is simple: content marketing. In order to stand out in the field of content marketing, however, it’s important to develop an “expert voice.” What is an expert voice, you ask? It’s the tone and style of writing that comes from having a deep knowledge of the field and being very aware of what’s going on in your niche. It means staying on top of niche-related current events, technological shifts and important trends in your market. Because today’s content marketing environment is so filled with great writers, being an expert voice is the only way to stand out. Not to worry, though, it’s easier than you think. Let’s Define Good Content Marketing According to Joe Pulizzi at Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is the “strategic marketing approach of creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience.” Content marketing is called by many the “marketing tactic of the future” due to the fact that it’s significantly less obtrusive and more efficient than outbound marketing, which relies on tactics like cold calling, email blasting and traditional advertising to gain customers. Content marketing, on the other hand, relies on creating useful, educational, helpful content that assists would-be customers in learning new things and solving problems. The theory behind content marketing is that customers appreciate great content and, if a company can establish itself as an authority in the field by creating helpful, useful, high-quality content, that company will be rewarded by more business and loyal customers. What’s more, it seems to be working: 57% of businesses have acquired customers through their company blog and 42% have gained readers through Twitter. This just goes to show that, in addition to being a more evolved way to market, content marketing is also a very effective way to market. What’s so Great About Content Marketing? Traditional forms of marketing, like advertising and direct mail, are becoming less and less effective. It’s been obvious for a long time that people don’t like aggressive advertising and, when you take into account that 84% of 25-34 year olds have left a website because of an “irrelevant or intrusive ad”, it becomes clear just how ineffective outbound marketing is. The reason for that is simple: outbound marketing seeks to push things on customers while content marketing seeks only to provide value. That said, outbound marketing casts a broad net while content marketing simply means creating great content and attracting already-interested customers through web searches, search engine optimization (SEO) and word-of-mouth. How Can I Start? Although content marketing may seem involved and difficult, it’s relatively easy to break into the field and begin creating your own killer content. I’m saying this because I was able to get into it, leave a med school career, and teach myself content writing—then start a writing agency where 95% of our marketing is through content! So, here are my top 25 tips to help you get started in content marketing: 1) Define Your Goals If you’re new to content marketing, the first thing you need to do is clearly define your content marketing goals. Are you seeking to build brand awareness? Gain email subscribers? Increase conversions? Increase purchases across the board? Regardless of what you’re setting out to do, you need to know where you’re going in order to ultimately get there. As you get started in content marketing, ask yourself if the content you’re creating will help support your defined goals. If it won’t, focus your energies on content that will. 2) Start a Blog—Now (And Stay On It) If you’ve already got a website, link it to a blog that will feature a great deal of your company’s content. Blogs provide 126% more leads for small businesses than pages without one so it’s well worth your time. 3) Define Your Metrics In content marketing, it’s important to be able to track the performance of your content. That said, you’ll need to establish some metrics to track things like the traffic your content garners, who is referring followers to your site, how long people are spending on your site and how many pages they’re visiting, what your bounce rate is and how many social shares your content is gaining. Implementing a set of metrics helps you better target your content and cater to customer wishes. 4) Calculate Resources Resources, in this context, mean more than just money. Do you have several great writers in your company? Would it behoove you to hire a content marketing agency? Who will be responsible for each piece of the content marketing burden? Deciding these things now helps you have a clear plan going forward. 5) Write a Mission Statement Every good company should have a mission statement. Like a road map, a mission statement defines where you are, where you’re going and why you’re going there. Each mission statement should answer one of these 4 questions: What do you do? How do you do it? Who does it benefit? Why is it valuable? Although a mission statement may seem unrelated to content marketing, writing one can help you clarify your direction and become an expert voice on the web. 6) Develop a Target Persona A target persona is incredibly important when it comes to knowing whom you’re marketing to. It’s tough to create great content without having a specific customer in mind and creating a target persona is a helpful way to … Read more

How Airbnb Wins At Content Marketing

November 16, 2020September 23, 2015 by Adam Oakley

If you’ve ever heard of popular worldwide accommodations broker Airbnb, it’s likely that you’re familiar with the company’s beautiful, sleek marketing materials. Did you know, however, that Airbnb is currently standing out as one of the top content leaders in the industry? In addition to writing a beautiful, image-dense blog, Airbnb also wows audiences with their commercials and involvement in today’s big, global issues. Read on to learn more. The 6 Pillars of Quality Content That Airbnb Relies On In today’s content-saturated world, a company doesn’t stand a chance if it can’t produce content that stands out and provides real value to audiences. Although there are dozens of schools of thought on how to “win at content marketing“, it’s generally accepted that great content possesses the following 6 traits (each of which Airbnb incorporates into their marketing strategy, although we’ll talk about this in a moment): 1. Great Content is Engaging Nobody is going to sit through an ad or read a blog post if it’s boring and uninspired. For this reason, great content also needs to be engaging content. Although it goes without saying that not every post needs to answer life’s persistent questions or delve into the biggest challenges the human species is currently facing, great content should, at the very least, be funny and interesting – both of which are traits that will promote more audience engagement and ensure that your customers don’t forget you as soon as the article or commercial ends. 2. Great Content is Valuable Nobody wants to read or watch or otherwise engage with content that is surface-level and shallow. Because of this, content that is bound for success needs to be valuable to its readers. In order to provide value, great content should discuss things your readers find interesting or should help answer their questions and solve their problems. In order to create this content, marketers need to think about what matters to their customers and how, exactly, content can cater to that. In addition to being interesting right now, content like this is also typically evergreen, which means it will be valuable into the foreseeable future, as well. 3. Great Content Creates a Community People got sick of hard-sell, product-focused content a very long time ago and, today, consumers want content that is valuable and engaging but that also caters to their unique belief systems and helps them feel like they are a part of a community. This is an incredibly deep marketing tactic that involves creating a company point of viewand considering client values and concerns as gleaned by research, surveys and analytics data. Essentially, however, it boils down to one simple concept: great content should make your customers feel like they’re a part of something. Or, better yet, it should make them feel like you’re leading something they want to be a part of. 4. Great Content Builds Authority When it comes to great content, building authority doesn’t always mean flexing your intellectual muscles in order to make your competition cower and run (although it can certainly serve this purpose). Instead, building authority through great content means providing your readers with things that promote your brand as being well rounded, aware and intelligent. You should also seem like you know quite a bit about your specialty. For example, if you ran a company that produced cooking products, you would write content about everything from the best food destinations in Italy to the pros and cons of copper skillets. Authoritative content doesn’t mean narrowing yourself down to focus on only one aspect of your specialty but rather opening up and encompassing specific and related topics in an intelligent and thought-provoking way. 5. Great Content is Passionate If you don’t care about what you’re writing about, you can bet that your readers won’t care about it either. Because of this, memorable content needs to be passionate. One of the best ways to create great content is to develop and display a genuine interest for the topic – this helps you get to the heart of the matter and makes your content more engaging and valuable for readers. 6. Great Content Strengthens Bonds When you write great content, you produce bonds. You produce bonds between your customers and your brand as well as between your customers as individuals. The catch here, however, is that in order to be worthy of promoting bonds, content needs to address your subject in a real and compelling way. Nobody bonds with Geico’s “It’s What You Do” commercials quite so well as they do Subaru’s “Dream Weekend” commercial and this is specifically because one is more successful at promoting bonds than the other. We will see an example of how Airbnb does this in just a moment. How Airbnb Consistently Creates Great Content When you take into account that Airbnb is a global accommodations company, it’s obvious that the company needs to fully embrace the 6 pillars of great content in order to appeal to customers around the world (the company has an estimated 6 million users). Not to fear, though, because Airbnb does this in spades. Let’s look at how. 3 Ways Airbnb is Delivering Great Content 1. The Power of Airbnb’s Blog When you go to Airbnb’s blog, you’re immediately confronted by a truly beautiful interface. Blog posts cover topics like “Airbnb’s Positive Impact in Chicago”, “Navigating Seasonal Demand: A Q&A” and “Living Amongst Legends: A Night at Fenway Park.” At once, these topics embrace every single one of the 6 pillars of great content. They are beautiful, useful, engaging, passionate and dedicated to promoting and educating the entire Airbnb community of renters and rentees. 2. Airbnb’s Dedication to Human Issues Recently, Airbnb made a big, bold move that won it favor with a huge host of customers. In advance of Caitlyn Jenner’s much-anticipated ESPY award speech, Airbnb took to its Twitter account to release a statement about its new commercial, which also premiered that night. The tweet read as follows: “It takes courage to make a difference in the world, It also takes kindness. Tonight we honor both.” What followed was a truly moving … Read more

Repurposing Content: Is It Still Working Today?

June 19, 2024September 9, 2015 by Josh McCoy

Annie is the Content Manager here at Express Writers, has managed multiple teams in the past, and has been a journalist and expert copywriter for years. You want to create great content for your readers but you’re short on time, right? If you haven’t considered repurposing content, it may be time to give recycling your old work a second thought. Be advised, though, that repurposing work doesn’t simply mean copying and pasting or rewriting an old article word by word. In addition to being a waste of time, repurposing content in this fashion will end up being ineffective and frustrating. As the wonderful Mary puts it: Responsible and effective repurposing entails careful reformatting, updating and repackaging in order to reach new audiences or simply revive great content. In addition to stretching your hard-won content further than ever before, carefully repurposing content has the potential to give your site an SEO boost among other things. Here is everything you need to know about repurposing content: Why Repurpose Content? Repurposing content can be a great way to drive more traffic to your site and produce increased reader engagement. Unless a piece of old content has been adequately back-linked by high-traffic sites, there is a definite chance that it isn’t getting as much traffic as it deserves. Repurposing that piece of content can fill it with new life and serve the purpose of simply getting it out in front of your readers again. Additionally, repurposing content in order to develop several pieces of high-quality material around a certain topic can produce an SEO boost. By targeting a specific keyword and producing a high level of quality backlinks from other reputable sites, repurposed content can easily prolong the lifespan of your original post. Additionally, repurposing content can help you extend your site’s reach in order to connect with new audiences who either didn’t see your original work or don’t frequent the media formats in which your original work was published. For example, if you typically write blogs but you take one of your blogs and turn it into a carefully crafted podcast, you have the potential to reach an entire audience of podcast listeners who don’t read blogs but may be very interested in what you have to say. By making sure you are utilizing a multi-channel marketing approach, you stand a better chance of engaging various types of audiences from around the web. Finally, skillfully repurposing old content can help you underline and reinforce your message. Marketing experts have known for decades that, in order for a customer to convert, click or make a purchase, the customer needs to know you and your message well enough to feel as if he or she has a solid sense of what is being promoted through your work. Repurposing content can help reformat and underline your message in order to facilitate better customer understanding and increased conversion rates. How to Determine Which Pieces of Content Should be Repurposed Generally, the content that deserves to rise from the ashes of your collection is evergreen content. Evergreen content is content that is perpetually relevant, regardless of when or where it was published. Repurposing an old post about the then-current happenings of the Clinton administration, for example, will not do much good, unless you are committed to seriously re-working the piece in order to make it relevant to today’s population. Evergreen content, on the other hand, will require little or no heavy-duty re-working in order to be relevant to current audiences. After you’ve determined which content is evergreen, spend some time looking at your analytics software in order to determine which of your evergreen posts have been the most popular. More likely than not, each of these posts will share a common trait that has increased its popularity and made it more readable among your followers. Do your best to identify this this common thread so that you can incorporate it into future blogs. Finally, determine which, if any, materials within these posts need updating. Regardless of how evergreen or popular a post was, chances are it will still be somewhat outdated and will require a bit of work to update the post. The Repurposing Process There are many ways to repurpose content. Contrary to popular belief, however, repurposing content absolutely does not mean that you get to simply copy and paste an old post into a new platform. One of the best ways to repurpose your high-quality content and ensure it stays popular in the future is to transform previously published content by plugging it into a new format. For example, a webinar can become a video tutorial and a blog can be reformatted and dissected in order to become a podcast. By repurposing popular content into new formats, you can ensure that you reach new audiences, drive more traffic and extend your best content to all of your readers through multi-channel marketing. Here are some of the most popular ways to repurpose old content in new formats: Blog Post to How-To Guide If you’ve written a blog post that got a great reader response, consider transforming that blog post into a how-to guide. For example, if your topic of choice is cloud-based marketing tools and you’ve written extensively on the subject of cloud computing, you could create a short how-to guide for companies just getting started with the cloud. Keep in mind that an effective how-to guide should include more pictures and step-by-step information than most blog posts. For maximum visibility, consider uploading your repackaged content to Pinterest or a niche-focused forum for increased reach and more reader engagement. Podcast to Quora Content Quora is a popular online platform for Q & A’s, and it serves as an ideal place to repurpose old Podcast content. Simply take the transcript from the podcast and use pieces of it to ask or answer Quora questions. Doing so can help drive new readers to your site and further establish you as an authority in your area of expertise. PowerPoint … Read more

A Guide To Decentralized Content Marketing

December 31, 2020September 1, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Content comes in a number of different forms: each of these forms is designed to appeal to a different demographic of user. However, when we create content, we do it not just for users that follow us—but for all users. The aim in creating content and getting our content seen Google is to drive more traffic to our sites. We want to show off our content: and the best way to do so is to make ourselves known. There are a couple ways that we can become known and build up awareness of users. Google is the most obvious option since with a potential forty-thousand searches per second, it is by far the largest source of new viewers. That’s the basis behind our fixation on SEO and conforming to Google’s rules as to what we can and cannot do with our content. The entire idea of making our content available to more people hinges on developing high quality content that can be shared and encourages users to visit our site. Ready to learn about decentralized content marketing? If we want to make inroads into uncharted territory, however, we’re going to have to go adventuring into new realms of social sharing. Decentralized Content Marketing: Defining Centralized Content & Its Audience There hasn’t ever been a post written about marketing your content that doesn’t mention knowing your audience. It is probably the most important part of building your content. You need to know who you are trying to appeal to so you can better streamline your content development. The content you develop is then held on your personal website or social media account and from there it attracts users. The downside of centralized content is the fact that its outreach is limited. When you look at the people that centralized content reaches, you realize that it’s all users that have already opted in to follow you. Centralized content draws eyes to your work in a few primary ways, namely: Direct URL’s: Usually if you have your URL on a business card or some other piece of content, then you can get users entering that URL into their browsers to directly access your site. Email: Opt-in email lists allow you to reach out to a target demographic easily. Although it has its detractors, we do know that a well-run email campaign gets users to visit your site. Social Links: Social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook allow you to share links with your subscribed users, getting them to view your owned content easily. Search: The big daddy of getting new views. Searches that target particular keywords that are important to your site help people to find you even if they haven’t heard of you before. These channels are where centralized content shines, but as is obvious, these channels usually require a time commitment in order to make the site function to such an extent that it’s viable. Building an audience does take time, but as any fisherman will be able to tell you, the larger the net you have, the more likely you are to get a big catch. Decentralizing Content & Increasing Outreach Centralized content is fine if you already have a substantial core audience. But what if you’ve just gotten into the game and are trying to get together a set of users that fit the niche you’re writing for? Going viral is one way to do it, but anyone who has done Internet marketing for any length of time can easily tell you how difficult it is to go viral. So what other ways are there to attract eyes to your content and ensure that they come back to see more? Decentralizing your content, known as decentralized content marketing, is one of the most effective ways to get more people to see your content. It acts as a vehicle for driving traffic to your primary page or blog and is relatively simple. Marketing blogs are masters at developing short-form content out of long-form content. Give them an article and in a few days you will have a well-designed infographic that captures the heart of the discussion while leaving out the fluff. Decentralization of your content capitalizes on your ability to précis and to develop more concise content that still keeps the feeling and spirit of long form content. The Scatter Effect Any student of biology can easily tell you why plants have become such a successful part of the terrestrial biome. It’s because they get their seeds everywhere. Plants have mastered the art of seed dispersion and you can find seeds from plants that use wind, water and even animals as medium for transport. That’s why you can have plants crossing oceans and taking root on deserted islands, floating on the currents of the ocean till they find a suitable spot to put down roots. This scattering effect, the ability to spread to distant shores, is at the heart of why you should consider decentralized content. Decentralizing content gives you access to a wider area than your traditional marketing channels. What you’re trying to do is to spread high quality content far and wide so that other people who fall into your niche but don’t necessarily use your chosen social media channel can know that you exist. You’re trying to raise awareness and spread the word that you are an entity that they should be aware of. From a marketing perspective, it can be considered a rudimentary form of branding, where the brand is actually your page or website. The more you share content that directs people to your site, the wider your reach and the further the spread of your content. Creating Decentralized Content We already know how to create good content. Any content that enhances the lives of our users in some way can be considered good. Now we have to combine this with our idea of decentralized content and the different media we will be using to spread these content. Some of the most common … Read more

Why You Should Create Business Case Studies For Your Brand

December 31, 2020August 24, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Case studies make for effective promotional material for any brand or business: the benefits of business case studies are many, with multiple ways to use and re-purpose. In short, looking at how your company has helped a client can bring you valuable media coverage and turn leads in paying customers. Here’s the video: scroll down for the full blog post with more insights on creating valuable case studies. Why Create? The Major Benefits of Business Case Studies A case study is a story describing how someone has benefitted from using a product or service. Aside from reaching out to potential customers, case studies are the ideal way to showcase what your business does well and keeps customers coming back. You can use case studies on websites, in newsletters, included with brochures, as part of press releases, in magazines and newspapers as ways of building brand awareness and generating leads. Here are the top benefits of creating a case study: Showcase past successes to your new leads Present your worth and client testimonies to the public Grow brand awareness and reputation 5 Ways to Repurpose & Get The Most From Your Business Case Studies 1. Recreate it into a presentation for SlideShare. Then, share this on all your social networks, mention @SlideShare on Twitter for some extra juice! 2. Upload it to your website and share on social media. You can re-share the website page with your case study multiple times on your social media accounts, as long as you space the time out – once bi-weekly is a great idea. Unless you have 3 followers, it won’t be the same old Bob viewing your update. New traffic and potential leads will see it every time. 3. Make a live, published blog on your site. This will add SEO value to your website, increase your chance of rankings, and even boost your reputation when people search your brand name. Be sure to include all images and lay out the blog post well. One thing you’d want to do, though, is make sure you have clients’ permission to post if you’re including them in the case study. (See an example blog post Case Study we did on our own rankings. This isn’t probably what yours would look like, since you would be posting more about your clients and overall business success: we just focused on our rankings, with analytical proof.) 4. Social media engagement tool (share in updates or link to it in your social bios). Again, space it out: don’t share daily, but at least bi-weekly. It’s also a great tool to link to in a company bio – everyone’s interested in the success stories of who they’re about to hire. 5. A marketing tool for your sales team (send via email to new leads). This is a GREAT sales tool! Your potential leads might buy a lot faster if they see you’ve helped someone just like them succeed. Express Writers Now Offers Custom-Created Business Case Studies Express Writers realizes just how much of a hot ticket item case studies are for content marketers. We now offer professionally written and presented case studies to our clients. Our team of talented marketing writers will create as many pages as you need to ensure your case study is thorough and ready to be published. What to Expect When You Order a Case Study Our team will gather detailed information from every client who needs a case study. You will be required to fill in an input form and answer questions such as “what challenges does your industry face?” and more specific questions about the actual case study, including analytics, data, measurements of success and formatting guidelines. We also offer clients the option to add an hour long interview with their dedicated case study writer to discuss additional information. Once your case study has been artistically written, you have the option of having the final product formatted or left as copy only if you prefer to use your in-house designers. To order your case studies today, visit the case study product in our Content Shop.

How To Start A Great Podcast That Goes Hand in Hand With Your Content Marketing

June 19, 2024August 21, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Multiple content formats – you’ve heard this bandied about as something that you need to do for all of your content. Videos, images, and the intimidating podcast are all forms people suggest. But how to start a podcast might be something you’re not sure about yet; or, how to start one that successfully ties into your content marketing. You have great text content, and you might even be well on your way to great videos, but audio? “That’s not something I think will work for me.” Let me tell you, I think a podcast is absolutely perfect for you, and I want to look at just how podcasting can go hand in hand with your content marketing strategy. How To Start A Podcast 101: Let’s Discuss The Podcast Podcasts are great content forms that give your clients the ability to consume content in an easier manner. They aren’t video or written content but purely just audio content. (Though podcasts can have a video element if necessary.) This isn’t exactly like a radio show, but there are a few similarities. Don’t worry; you don’t have to have a radio voice when you do a podcast. Recording a podcast gives you the chance to record audio content based off of your written content, and give clients something easy to access. They can subscribe to the feed and get updated each time you upload a new recording. It is easy for clients just to click and listen while on a commute or at work, giving you the opportunity to market to people who are just too busy to read content or watch videos. Can You Do a Podcast? Yes, you sure can! Even if you aren’t a radio superstar. In fact, most podcasters are just regular people who aren’t radio or video experts. The great thing with podcasts is that they can be on any topic, and they give you the chance to discuss in depth about certain areas of your industry. There are many benefits to podcasts, and I want to take a look at how one can work well with your existing content. 5 Reasons Why You Should Include a Podcast in Your Content Marketing Why should you create and share podcasts as part of your content marketing strategy? Here are some awesome reasons to consider. 1. Podcasting Helps You Stand Out and Make New Connections. Podcasts are unique to the individual hosting the podcast and the guests you invite. Because of this, a podcast can help you stand out from competitors, providing customers with excellent content. You can talk about anything you want, and can even take client suggestions for an upcoming podcast. This can help you create something that is truly one-of-a-kind. In addition, Carol Trice at ProBlogger says that podcasts can also help you make new friends and connections within your industry. You can bring on guest speakers to your podcast, which can help you network. You can even send your podcast out to others in your industry, inviting them to join in and become a guest, or promote your show. No matter what, a podcast can really help when it comes to networking. 2. Podcasts are an Easier Content Medium Than You Think. A podcast does seem a bit intimidating doesn’t it? But don’t let that scary perception keep you away. When you start to add a podcast to your content strategy, you will notice that it isn’t quite as difficult as it came across. Sure, you’ll need to do edits to help with flow, especially if you have more than one speaker, but there are many programs out there that can help. 3. You Get Audio Plus Text Content With Podcast Transcripts. Did you know that you can get more than one content form when you do a podcast? After you record the podcast, you should write up a transcript for readers. Yes, this can mean a bit more work, but in the end, you will realize it is well worth it. Writing a simple transcription means that you can give your clients simple written content, as well as getting the added SEO benefit. Brendan Cournoyer from Content Marketing Institute says that the individual questions you ask in your podcast are absolutely excellent for mini-blog posts. When you create a podcast, you create the ability to have quite a bit of excellent repurposed content. 4. The Amount of People Listening to Podcasts is Growing. Podcasts have been part of content marketing for about ten or so years now but are only recently becoming more popular. According to Edison Research, about 39 million people listened to podcasts in 2014, with 15% of Americans listened to one podcast each month. And it’s growing fast. Photo courtesy edison research They also show that the way people listened to podcasts shifted immensely. Photo courtesy edison research In 2013, 34% of listeners listened to podcasts on their smartphones or tablets with 64% listening on their computers. As of 2014, 51% listen on their smartphones or tablets with only 46% listening on the computer. This goes hand-in-hand with mobile marketing and adding a podcast to your mobile content marketing strategy can really help you drive more traffic to your site. 5. It’s a Content Medium People Can Easily Consume While Doing Various Tasks. This point is absolutely amazing and shows just how important this content medium is. When you make a podcast, you are giving clients content that is easy to consume while doing regular life tasks. These tasks can include working, mowing the lawn, doing housework, brushing our teeth, cooking dinner, and more. People can listen to podcasts when they’re driving to work, if they are traveling for family vacation, or if they are sitting on their front porches sipping lemonade. Podcasts move with the person; they are available at all times and are easy to consume. Videos and text are awesome, of course, but that chains people to their phones and desks. A podcast gives them the freedom to hit play, put their … Read more