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2017 Expert Predictions Roundup: More Than 15 Experts Predict the State of Content Marketing & Social Media

December 30, 2016/0 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

Before Christmas, I was lucky enough to sit down with more than a dozen experts in our online marketing industry for some insider predictions into the state of content marketing and social media in 2017.

From entrepreneurs to leading consultants, speakers and authors, these experts each had something unique to add to the roundup below that offers us content creators serious guidance on how to create content in the New Year, and what to expect of the content marketing landscape as a whole.

Our design team did a fabulous job taking the predictions and putting it into an infographic. Read below the image for the full expert quotes – the infographic is an abridged version. Quotes and experts are placed in no particular order. Feel free to link to and share our post with credit back to Express Writers and this link.

2017 Expert Content Marketing & Social Predictions Roundup: The Full Story

“2016 was the year of BIG. Many content creators came out of the woodwork creating HUGE posts à la 715 and one third reasons why you don’t have enough time to write more content.

But the majority of the posts lacked high quality content.

So let’s say that in 2017 your competitors will do this too (if they aren’t already). But this time they will add the high quality part. How the heck do you stand out with your content?

The businesses that will get the biggest ROI from content marketing in 2017, will be those who are able to:

Produce content in their own voice (this is your #1 unique value proposition that your competitors can’t copy)
Create high-quality content that actually solves the readers’ problem
Focus on cooperating with influencers within your industry

If you take the three bullet points above and add dominating Facebook Live, it´s like pouring rocket fuel on a bonfire. It will go BOOM! (in a good way).”

– Tor Refsland

Follow on Twitter: @TorRefsland

Award-winning Blogger, Digital Marketing Strategist & Business Coach, timemanagementchef.com

“Leading content marketers will be delivering 3 key things in 2017: 1) personalized, 2) visual, and relevant content in a 3) specialized niche that they can own. Visualization, personalization and specialization!

“The marketing leadership mandate for 2017 is transforming the entire company culture. Consumers and buyers are tuning out (or blocking completely) self-serving promotion and ads. Leading marketers in 2017 will strive to create a culture focused on delivering value to their customers that translates into better marketing results. This is content marketing! The tip: focus on being human. Tap into your employees, customers and partners to tell THEIR stories.

– Michael Brenner

Follow on Twitter: @BrennerMichael

Speaker, Best-Selling Author of The Content Formula, CEO of Marketing Insider Group

“I definitely see a huge shift to visual storytelling over the last year and expect that to continue in 2017. Not only have visual social media sites like Snapchat and Instagram continued to grow, but we are seeing a clear shift in the way people prefer to tell their day to day stories, which is more visual. There is definitely a challenge for companies to see how their traditional marketing efforts will fit into a purely visual medium, but I think companies are going to have to get creative and get engaged, because I don’t see that trend going away anytime soon!”

– Brent Csutoras

Follow on Twitter: @brentcsutoras

Founder, CEO at Pixel Road Designs, Speaker, Content Marketer, Managing Partner at Search Engine Journal

“I predict there will be a backlash against safe, mediocre content. Five percent of all branded content attracts 90 percent of the engagement. That’s not only a sign that you can leave your competitors in the shadows if you create something great, but also a clear indication that mediocre, safe content doesn’t do much for you. If you’re not adding anything new to the world and telling a great story in 2017, it’s just not worth pressing publish.

Also, distribution will be a much bigger focus. At many companies, content is silo’d away from social and paid media. As a result, there are a lot of brands creating content and just praying that people will magically discover it. That’s not how media works. Paid distribution will increasingly become a big buzzword this year.

Tip: Don’t hire a career marketer to run your content program. Hire an editor or producer who’s built and sustained a large audience before. That’s the common theme I see across 99 percent of all successful content marketing programs.”

– Joe Lazauskas

Follow on Twitter: @JoeLazauskas

Editor-In-Chief at Contently

“My prediction is actually the exact same as last year’s.

More companies then ever are investing into content marketing and it’s making it incredibly difficult to stand out from the crowd. The only way to do this is by creating high quality content. I call it epic content but it also goes by the name 10x content.

In 2017 people are going to catch on and flock towards epic content.”

– Sujan Patel

Follow on Twitter: @SujanPatel

Growth Marketer, GM at Web Profits, Entrepreneur

“Business leaders are beginning to understand the necessity of holistic content marketing practices. They get that it’s not just about the perfect press release, but the entire approach. I credit this largely to the omnipresence of HubSpot’s inbound marketing principles and 2016’s push towards storytelling. As a result, I predict digital marketing spend will diversify in 2017, and we’re already starting to see that in sales at Express Writers.”

– Tara Clapper

Follow on Twitter: @irishtara

Content Development Specialist, Express Writers

Speaker, Writer, Editor

“More and more data is collected through a brand’s digital marketing efforts. Brands and agencies will further personalize and customize offerings to their customers. With the trends of major e-commerce sites opening physical stores (Amazon, Warby Parker, Birchbox, etc.), brands need to accelerate the integration of the online digital experience with that of the offline physical experience. The challenge is to seamlessly integrate the online and offline experience by leveraging and hiding complicated technologies from your customers. It will be important to understand the metrics of your company’s “outbound channels” and work with your marketing peers to co-own some of these goals.”

– Pam Didner

Follow on Twitter: @pamdidner

Content Marketing Expert | Author | Speaker | Adjunct Professor www.pamdidner.com

“The biggest content marketing trend I see is influencer promotion…but not as we know it. I believe more brands will begin ‘buying’ influencers so they are exclusive to them over a period of time…the power of that? Priceless!

Digital marketing is becoming more difficult each year…there’s so much noise, and always more competition. To rise above that, it’s the influencers who hold the targeted, engaged audiences, and loyal followers listen to their inspirations infinitely more than they do a Google or Facebook ad.”

– Sam Hurley

Follow on Twitter: @ Sam___Hurley

Social Influencer, #1 Digital Marketer, Founder https://optim-eyez.co.uk

“For 2016 I urged my audience to concentrate on quality of content over quantity in order to differentiate themselves in the increasingly overcrowded content marketing space. For 2017 I stick by that priority, but based on my experience in the past year I now temper it by saying, “Never sacrifice quality for quantity, but still strive for a consistent quantity of content.” By “consistent” I mean regular. The cold, hard truth of content marketing is that no matter how mind-blowing your last piece of content was, if you go silent for too long, you become forgotten. At Stone Temple we’ve adopted a strategy of planning for one “blockbuster” piece of content per month, while filling the in-between times with content that is still quality and useful, but easier to produce, such as content repurposed from our blockbusters (for example, a short video covering one aspect of a lengthy data study).”

– Mark Traphagen

Follow on Twitter: @marktraphagen

Senior Director of Brand Evangelism for Stone Temple, Speaker & Author

“In 2017, brands will build or buy their own media properties to disintermediate the giants of search and social.

What Joe Pulizzi calls ‘rented land’ is getting too expensive. Own your own audience!

Live video and interactive, data-gathering content will go big. The first because it’s cool and easy; the second because it will drive far better targeting (which always boosts ROI).

2017 tip for B2B marketers: double your efforts in bringing marketing automation, web analytics and CRM together so you can track content success.

Integrating marketing silos at the data layer will become a major imperative — brands need to own their own data and manage it like the strategic asset that it is.”

– Doug Kessler

Follow on Twitter: @dougkessler

Creative Director & Co-Founder of Velocity

“I foresee 2017 being a year where more content marketers stop wasting so much time and money on things that aren’t working. A ton of companies get little or no traction from certain tactics and channels—even some of the most popular ones, such as blogs and Facebook. I’m not suggesting you stop creating content, but I am suggesting to try new and different approaches when the ones you currently use aren’t producing traffic, leads, sales or whatever type of results mean something to your business.

It’s so much harder to stand out when you focus strictly on doing the same things as your competitors. It’s time to get creative. When everyone’s zigging, you need to zag.”

– Barry Feldman

Follow on Twitter: @FeldmanCreative

Digital Marketer, Author, Marketing Consultant at feldmancreative.com

“Today, marketers know they should do content marketing, but still not how to do it best. I think that 2017 will be the year of problem-solution growth and development in content marketing, as well as the growth of unique content types and outstanding writing with SEO as an afterthought, the reader as a forethought.

Solutions (unique tools, creative companies, brilliant thinkers behind them) will rise to the need of solving the ever-growing problem of too much content, not enough strategy.

Content will rise to the occasion, as well. We have a ton of platforms. Noise is growing. Content is multiplying. Rise above the noise by standing out with unique content types (try commissioning a hand-drawn, Adobe illustrated custom art piece for your next blog!), and creating your best content. Take a stand. Be yourself. Do insider research for your stance that takes you weeks to complete. Marketers will start thinking of SEO less, readers, more, and invest in content that truly stands out.”

– Julia McCoy

Follow on Twitter: @JuliaEMcCoy

CEO at Express Writers, Best-selling Author of So You Think You Can Write?, Content Marketer

“I believe artificial intelligence will start to have a significant impact on content marketing in 2017. Content marketing is becoming more and more complex. Creating great relevant content is still a major challenge but the sad news is that it’s not enough. Not only do you need more and more content but you also need to optimize its lifecycle across multiple channels like the various social networks, email and SEO. Trying to do everything manually is overwhelming at best and impossible for many under-resourced marketers. Smart marketers will leverage AI not just to automate various tasks but also to have insights on what content to create, how and when to distribute it and how to optimize its impact.”

– Guillaume Decugis

Follow on Twitter: @gdecugis

Co-Founder & CEO at Scoopit, Entrepreneur

“I predict that Instagram will continue to grow as a preferred broadcasting channel.

Every business, brand and entrepreneur has the opportunity to use Instagram to amplify & promote authentic, entertaining, fun, creative content. Focus on the person who you are trying to do business and think about what they need. Not what you want to create. It’s all about connecting on an intimate level and this can now be done through Instagram direct messaging, Instagram Stories and Instagram Live.”

— Sue Zimmerman

Follow on Twitter: @SueBZimmerman

#TheInstagramExpert Speaker, Consultant, Top @CreativeLive Instructor

“In 2017, I think accompanying media and visuals with content will continue to be extremely popular. Think explainer videos, gifs, infographics, social media images. People are raising their expectations when it comes to the way content looks, and it’s up to us as marketers to continue experimenting with how to present content that gets our audience’s attention.

In the New Year, I think video will continue to blow up. I see more and more people using Boomerang to create looping mini videos for Instagram, and live video on Facebook and YouTube (and now Instagram) will continue to be popular. Being live brings a whole new set of exciting challenges and content marketers should be thinking about how to best use live video, as well as thinking about how they repurpose it or tie it into their other efforts.

Continue to look for new apps and services to try, in 2017. There are new things popping up every day. For instance, I just heard about Ripl a few months ago and can’t wait to start using it. In addition, while you are learning and trying new things, don’t forget about your old content. Most website traffic comes from evergreen content pieces that could be months or years old. Set up a strategy to continuously improve these pieces and re-share them regularly on social media.

Kelsey: Please link back to MoxieDot.com (you can mention SEJ too, but I’d love a link to MoxieDot instead of SEJ :))

– Kelsey Jones

Follow on Twitter: @wonderwall7

Executive Editor at Search Engine Journal, #MarketingNerds Host, Founder at MoxieDot

“Predictions are difficult but we can be sure more content will be produced in 2017 than in any previous year. I suspect we will see more content in every format but particularly video. I believe marketers will act more like publishers and hence increase content volumes. Michael Brenner has recently made a great contribution to this debate.

Content marketers have to reach people, which means you have to be where they hang out. Pew Research have shown that this is primarily Facebook and their data shows Facebook’s dominance is continuing to grow. The data also shows that over 89% of people that use LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter also use Facebook and they use it more frequently. Thus I think we will see an increased focus on Facebook as the most important distribution and engagement platform, and increasingly see it used by B2B marketers.

Content marketing is about building an audience. Thus understanding your audience, the questions they ask and the issues they face is critical if you are to produce valuable and helpful content for them. Personally to break through the noise I think you need a strategy which combines producing regular helpful content with more infrequent blockbuster or ten times content. This might be a major research study or comprehensive guide which moves the needle. Something that has longevity and attracts links as well as shares.”

– Steve Rayson

Follow on Twitter: @steverayson

Director at BuzzSumo, Content Marketer, Entrepreneur

A Day in the Life of a Content Writer: Masters of the Written Online Word (Infographic)

September 15, 2016/2 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

If writing copy was a super power, the content writer is certainly the superhero of the online realm. They use their creativity and killer communication skills to earn a fruitful living. They’re highly motivational and they can literally convince consumers to buy products… right from their computer screens.

What goes on in their day? What motivates the content writer, and how hard do they work? Check out the infographic we wrote and put together below for the answer!

Feel free to share! Have something you’d add to a “day in the life?” Let us know in the comments!

Infographic: A Day in the Life of a Content Writer: Masters of the Written Online Word

The day in the life of a content writer is dynamic, fast-paced, filled with research, and honing their natural writing talents. Here’s an inside glimpse into their lives!

3 Facts About Content Writers

FACT: 24% of full-time freelancer writers work at least 25 hours per week. Content writers work morning, noon, and night. They have very flexible schedules as long as they meet deadlines.

FACT: 65% of people start their day with a cup of coffee. If you’re a content writer, you’re probably reaching for that cup of Joe right from the time that you wake up.

FACT: A content writer practically lives in their email inbox. 205 billion emails are sent per day, and some days it feels like 203 billion emails hit your inbox. Then you’ll have days where you receive no emails at all.

The Content Writer’s Workload: An Inside Look

What is their workload like?

The most skilled content writers are booked months in advance—and some even have a waiting list.

Content writers can be assigned specific topics by clients, or they’re left to strategize topic ideas on their own. A savvy content writer will use many resources to discover useful and interesting topic ideas. A content calendar helps keep many professional content writers on track. The content calendar includes client names, blog topics, due dates, publishing dates, and more.

When it’s time to write, a content writer can write very high or very low word counts per day. An ad copywriter may only write 100 words for a commercial, while a blogger can write 2,000 words to whip up a blog post.

Productivity tip #1: Content writing assignments should be tackled by order of due date. The highest priority items are worked on first.
Productivity tip #2: If due dates aren’t looming, a content writer may choose to tackle the toughest task first. This will help easier tasks fly by the rest of the day.

Different content writing styles will activate different parts of the writer’s brain.

A technical writer who covers engineering topics will use their left brain during the most of the day. The left brain controls tasks that are related to logic, such as science and mathematics.

A creative blog writer will primarily use the right side of their brain, which is responsible for creative and artistic tasks.

Editing: Once content is complete, a content writer will likely edit their own work or pass it along to a trusted professional editor.

The average content writer can expect to make around $240 for an 8-hour work day, or roughly $30 per hour.

The career of a content writer might not be for everyone, but those who master it will find plenty of work and make a lucrative living.

References

Get your best-fit content writer at Express Writers!

How to Make An Infographic That Matters (Infographic)

August 9, 2016/0 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

A picture may say a thousand words, but infographics can tell a whole story. The problem is, do you know how to make an infographic that truly works?

Here’s why infographics are vital today.

Written content is great: a well-researched, in-depth blog can make a big impact on your audience.

But when a visual infographic is used instead of, or to augment a written post, the effect it can have on your viewers is huge.

Simply put, visually-stunning content, like infographics, are more effective at captivating an audience.

According to Hubspot, 65% of senior marketers believe that image-rich content like infographics are at the center of how their brand’s story is told.

Not only that, the effect they can have on your SEO is huge – a well-crafted infographic can be a massive draw for backlinks.

In a study conducted by MDG Advertising, content with visuals (like infographics) receive 94% more views than text-based content. This means bloggers and marketers looking to share content will want to share yours – giving it a nice SEO boost.

However, some people feel infographics have grown less impactful over the years – and with decent reasoning. With all the amazing visual content out there, it is growing increasingly difficult to have your infographic noticed.

Even though infographics can be extremely effective at engaging audiences, if they don’t stand out, no one will care. Knowing how to make an infographic that wins is key.

So how can your business’ visual content distinguish itself? Let’s discuss.

How To Make An Infographic That Matters: 4 Key Ways

Here’s four key ways to ensure your infographics will matter. (Scroll down to #4 for the full infographic.)

1. Know Your Target Audience

Let’s face it – not everyone is going to be interested in your content.

Infographics are no different. The people who will tune in are your target audience, and they’ll be very engaged with what you have to say – as long as it’s relevant to their interests.

Most people think an infographic should appeal to as many people as possible and end up creating something overly generic.

In fact, this is a problem people have with all types of content. It’s super tempting to create content for an audience as broad as possible. But in an attempt to reach more people, your content will engage less.

People want to read what’s relevant to them, not something watered down to appeal to many.

Narrow your focus to a specific demographic you think the infographic is relevant to. Is it for current customers? Potential ones? Is it to generate backlinks for your SEO? Defining exactly who will see your infographic is an essential first step.

2. Keep it Simple, Concise, and Focused

One of the main problems infographics suffer from is too much.

What makes infographics such an effective form of content is their visual appeal and their easily digestible information. Cluttering them with images, overloading them with information, or simply making dauntingly enormous can put off your readers.

Your infographic should be visually appealing and not too busy, leaving enough white space so as not to distract the viewer.

Keep your theme very focused – don’t be afraid to create a series of infographics if your idea is too big to reasonably cover in one.

For the written portion, remember the reason people are tuning into an infographic isn’t for reading lengthy text – it’s likely what they’re trying to avoid altogether.

Keep your written portions concise and to-the-point, so your audience will get the gist of the information immediately without having to dig.

3. Infographics are For Education, Not Just Entertainment

Just because they look great doesn’t mean an infographic shouldn’t inform and educate their audience.

When you make an infographic ensure that it’s well researched, with clear, cited sources.

Not only will this show commitment and dedication to your content, your audience will have the chance to engage with your content deeply, building trust while they do so.

Plus, when people are looking to share content (providing those ever-useful backlinks) they want graphics that provide value. Ensuring your infographic is well-researched will benefit your SEO in the end.

“All flash and no dash” just won’t work for infographics any more. Yours will need to define itself through its value to the audience in addition to its aesthetics.

4. Leave it to the Professionals

As infographics have grown in popularity, so has the difficulty to distinguish them and increase their engagement.

Many businesses are designing them without the proper wherewithal and filling the already cluttered infographic-sphere.

It seems cheap and easy to simply have the young person with a bit of design experience whip up a catchy infographic in a day or two, and reap the benefits. But without the professional touch, infographics designed in this way can come across as rushed and hackneyed.

There are many unfortunate examples of unprofessional infographics on the internet. Generally, it’s very easy to tell the difference between one created by someone who knows what they’re doing and one made by someone who may only know basic design.

The worst thing you can do is waste time and money on an infographic that won’t have a positive effect on your audience.

A poorly crafted graphic may have the opposite effect you intended, putting off a viewer who might see your brand as unprofessional.

The solution is easy and foolproof – leave it to the pros. Specifically, a content agency who brings the knowhow to create an infographic with proper research, written text and graphic design.

Going to a reputable content agency will save you time, while guaranteeing a high-caliber product.

It’s a safe bet, and a good way to ensure your infographic will stand out from more amateur-looking examples.

Conclusion

Do infographics still matter?

Yes – at least, the good ones do.

It’s knowing how to make an infographic that resonates with your audience that’s the tricky part. With so much visual content out there, it can be difficult for yours to stand out.

However, if the information it provides is targeted at a specific audience, then you can guarantee invested readers. If the infographic is presented in a clear, simple and focused way, then your viewer can easily absorb the information.

Most importantly, ensure your infographics are professionally done. Find an agency with a good reputation, and you can rest your mind at ease knowing all best practices will be followed.

Sloppy, confusing infographics can do more harm than good to your brand’s image. A professional touch will make a good impression every time.

For great infographics, choose our team! We have trained writers to research and create the copy, and an expert team of designers to craft.

A Look Inside The Brain & Habits of a Modern Copywriter (Infographic)

April 5, 2016/2 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

For today’s infographic, we put our “brains” together and put an infographic about the copywriter’s brain, lifestyle, habits, and thought process (pun intended 😉). We’ve taken a look at most common demographics that make up the database of online copywriters today, what goes on in their head (most of the time), important skill sets all copywriters maintain, and much more. Enjoy!

See inside the brain, lifestyle and habits of a modern #copywriter in this #infographic Click To Tweet

Inside The Brain & Life of a Copywriter (Infographic)

Why Is The Online Writer So Essential Today?

Did you know? There are over 2 million blog posts posted online every day. And there are more than 900,000,000 websites online, and dozens more launching per minute; the web is estimated to house 1 billion websites somewhere in 2016. With content marketing becoming the foundation of two-thirds of all B2B marketers’ marketing, and a priority investment in all their marketing, it’s more important than it’s ever been to hire your best-fit writer to create content that makes your brand stand out online.

The Everyday Copywriter

Writers are the behind-the-scenes superheroes who make the web go around, but who are they in real life?

Stay-at-home moms: Since many writing jobs offer the benefit of working from home, many copywriters are busy parents who want a fulfilling job that allows them to spend time with their families and still exercise their creativity and talents.
Out-of-work professionals: Many copywriters are past professionals who have had a career or job where they were laid off. They’ve turned their career around and found writing opportunities that allow them to use their expertise. Many of them work remotely and telecommute.
Millennials: Many copywriters are millennials hired to make large companies more relevant and exciting to customers. 70% of companies are creating more content than they did a year ago and millennials are filling much of this demand.
Quick Learners: Copywriters are organized, creative, and quick to learn new things. The average marketer uses between 12-16 different types of content and copywriters must be familiar with all of them.
Storyteller: Many of the best creative writers grew up telling and writing natural stories. These early skills kindled a passion that later flourished into a writing career, with online writing as an open field for job opportunities.

Left Brain of the Copywriter: Practicality

Copywriters are in charge of creating compelling, valuable content for a variety of industries. This requires organization and plenty of practicality. Here’s how they use their left brains to do it:

Organization: Copywriters often work on several projects at once, so they need to be organized, detail-oriented, and able to balance deadlines efficiently.
Research: Copywriters generally specialize in a few different areas and may write about dozens of different topics each day. Because of this, they are masters at research and learn new things quickly.
Synthesis: In order to write content that stands out in today’s content-saturated environment, copywriters need to be able to synthesize new information quickly and turn it into something valuable that readers will love.
Structure: Structure is the foundation of great writing. Copywriters know how to break a document down to make it easy and fun to read.
Perfectionism: Copywriters strive to make everything they write as good as possible. This often means reading and revising a piece several times!

Right Brain of the Copywriter: Creativity

Being a copywriter isn’t all about analytics. Copywriters also have to be creative, intuitive, and innovative. Here’s what the right brain brings to the table:

Uniqueness: What sets one copywriter’s work apart from another’s’? The answer is unique perspective. Each copywriter needs to be able to harness creativity enough to write from a unique voice and POV.
Innovation: There are thousands of articles on SEO out there but copywriters make theirs interesting and relevant by finding innovative ways to approach broad topics.
Visualization: Copywriters know how to pull in different media formats – like video and images – to add depth and value to their writing.
Humor: Great writing is relatable. Copywriters often use humor to make their writing more approachable to readers.
Anticipation: In order to stay abreast of their industries, copywriters use their knowledge of the niche in order to anticipate what topics, developments, or conversations are coming next. This helps them stay on the cutting edge!

Common Thoughts of a Copywriter

Copywriters are the chameleons of the marketing world – constantly transforming themselves to offer different voices, viewpoints, and positions. Here are some of the things copywriters think about in order to create great content.

“How do I write a great headline?” Copywriters know that a headline is the single most important piece of an article. 80% of people read the headline of an article while only 20% read body copy, so copywriters are experts at crafting quality headlines that get people to click.

“What does my reader need?” A great copywriter knows that readers come to content for one thing: to answer questions. In order to cater to readers as well as possible, copywriters think about how to provide the maximum amount of value to a reader all throughout an article. This is an empathetic skill that involves placing themselves in the readers’ shoes.

“Where’s the gap?” Right now, 27 million pieces of content are shared across the web on a daily basis. Despite that, there are still people who aren’t getting their questions answered and can’t find content that caters to them. A copywriter’s job is to fix that. They do this by seeking out gaps in niches or topics and then filling them with quality writing.

“How do I entertain and educate?” If you wanted dry, boring writing, you’d head to the phone book, right? Copywriters know that their job is to entertain their readers while also providing value, so they seek to entertain and educate in everything they write.

“Is there real value in this content piece?” Regardless of whether a copywriter is writing an article about how to start your first blog or expand your already-advanced SEO strategy, they seek to add as much value as possible to everything they write. This involves finding great statistics, referencing industry leaders, taking relevant screenshots, and linking to other relevant content.

5 Key Copywriting Techniques

Great online writing is a learned skill and, in order to be good at it, copywriters need to master these five techniques.

Embrace Storytelling: Every great copywriter is an old-time storyteller as well as a marketer. In order to engage audiences, they must know how to make any topic relatable and exciting.

Write to One Person: Rather than writing to a “Target audience,” copywriters know how to write to a single person within an audience. This makes all web copy more personal, valuable, and enticing.

Back it Up: Copywriters know that a piece of writing is only as good as the statistics within it. Because of this, they know how to harness facts and statistics to back up every claim they make.

Keep it Organized: Copywriters are experts at organizing content in a way that makes it flow logically – giving the reader information in a logical and relevant order in order to enhance understanding.

Make it Actionable: Nobody wants to read content that doesn’t offer true tips, tricks, or hacks. Because of this, copywriters know that, in order to write great content, it all needs to be actionable and easy to execute.

It’s true…copywriters rule the online writing world and provide awesome content for readers everywhere!

References

Internet Live Stats: http://buff.ly/1R7kUo9
MarketingProfs: http://buff.ly/1QibgTw
Kapost: http://buff.ly/1QkPCus
Pay Scale: http://buff.ly/1Q65sce
Content Marketing Institute: http://buff.ly/1OqqVdD
Copyblogger: http://buff.ly/1QtUT1Y

Everything You Need to Know About Online Content Word Count (Infographic)

February 25, 2016/0 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

Have you ever stopped in the middle of creating your online content, whether it be a social media post, blog, or other piece of online content, not sure what the proper word count should be? We’ve studied, analyzed, and researched–and put an infographic together to guide you. Here’s every correct content length for any piece of online content on the web. Feel we missed anything, or do you have something to add? Let us know in the comments! Full infographic transcription below.

An Infographic Guide to Online Content Length

Curious how long your content should be? You’re not alone. With dozens of conflicting opinions about word count flying around the web, it can be difficult to determine how much is enough on various platforms like blogs and social media. Fortunately, we have the answers.

Let’s explore the word count question here.

The Rise of Social Media: Why Your Content Matters

Social media is booming and one of the best ways to engage with the huge numbers on each platform is to ensure that the content you share there is as user-friendly as possible. Take a look at the user numbers for some of today’s hottest platforms:

There are currently more than 2 billion active social media users in the world
Content on Facebook earns 5 billion likes each day
Twitter has more than 284 million users and the platform sees 500 million tweets daily
Google+ has more than 363 million users

Online Content Lengths for All Web Platforms

Now that you know how big social media truly is, let’s take a look at what the ideal content length for all distribution channels really is.

Twitter

Is Twitter really increasing its character limit from 140 to 10,000? The CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, started the rumor:

pic.twitter.com/bc5RwqPcAX

— Jack (@jack) January 5, 2016

But, best practices currently state that it’s more fruitful to keep Tweets limited to 100 characters. Here’s why:

Tweets that are 100 characters or shorter enjoy 17% more engagement than longer Tweets
So-called “medium length” tweets (between 71-100 characters) are re-tweeted more often than large (101-characters or longer) or small (41-70 character) tweets
Twitter is built on brevity, and 100-character tweets are easy for users to consume

Facebook

While Facebook is often thought of a long-form content platform in comparison to Twitter, it may surprise you to know that the ideal character limit for a Facebook post is actually shorter than a tweet. Here’s what you need to know:

The ideal Facebook post is 40-characters or fewer
Facebook posts with 40-characters earn 86% more engagement than longer posts
According to Facebook best practices, the second-best length of a Facebook post is 80 characters or less. These posts receive 66% more engagement than longer posts

Google+

Google+ is all about readability and accessibility of content, so it’s important to keep content easily digestible. Here’s what you need to know about Google+ headlines and content:

The highest-performing Google+ headlines are 60 characters or less
Readers only absorb the first and last three words of a headline, so headlines that are 6 words or less have the most impact
The ideal length of Google+ body content is 200-440 characters

LinkedIn

LinkedIn posts are designed to be short and sweet. According to BufferApp, the ideal length for a post on the platform is 25 words.

LinkedIn posts that are around 25 words encourage the highest number of click-throughs.
For B2B companies, the ideal word length for a LinkedIn post can vary between 16-25 words.
For B2C companies on LinkedIn, the ideal word length for a post is between 21-25 words.

Instagram

Since Instagram isn’t focused on text-based content, but rather great visuals: there are currently no solid “best practices” for word count. You can, however, follow these tips for best results from your Instagram posts.

Use creative #hashtags to promote interaction with your established network. Consider using the Instagram Explorer page to learn more about trending hashtags that can enhance your brand. Up to 15 hashtags per post is an average amount. Always be relatable with your hashtags to what your visual topic is about.
If you’re sharing an Instagram photo on Twitter or Facebook, be sure to lessen and streamline your hashtags. Photos with too many hashtags will look out of place on these networks. Some brands drop the hashtags in an Instagram follow-up comment if they’re streamlining.
Tell your brand story through captions. This offers context for your image and helps followers connect with your content.

Pinterest

When it comes to Pinterest descriptions, keeping them within the correct character-count range can enhance their performance hugely.

200-character descriptions earn the most re-pins
Pins that feature CTAs earn 80% more engagement than those that don’t
Research has found that pins with an image height 800 pixels or greater earn significantly more re-pins than those with smaller images

Blog Posts

Rule of thumb: blog posts are the place where informative, guide-style, long-form content can shine.

Buffer found that the ideal reading length of a blog post is 7 minutes. This translates to roughly 1,600 words
As a general rule, longer blogs are more likely to provide quality markers for search engines, which allows them to rank higher
Blog posts that are longer than 1,500 words receive an average of 68% more tweets and 23% more Facebook likes than shorter posts.
Most web pages that sit in the top 10 SERP positions for any given keyword have at least 2,000 words
Eight-word or longer search queries have risen by 34,000%, which means that content targeting long-tail keywords will perform better today.

5 Key Best Practices for Social Media Posts

No matter where you’re posting content, there are several rules you should always follow:

1. Be helpful. Readers want helpful content. It matters less if your content is 80 or 800 characters and much, much more that it’s helpful and well-written.

2. Don’t blab. As a general rule, concise is better. If you can get a point across in 1,000 words, you shouldn’t be stuffing a 2,000-word post with empty fillers just to meet word count. This will cost you readers and damage the quality of your content.

3. Add visuals. Posts with visuals earn 94% more views than text-only posts. By including high-quality infographics, memes, stock photos, or screenshots in your content, you can increase engagement hugely.

4. Craft compelling CTAs. Something as simple as adding CTAs to your social media content can create a huge shift in your conversions and rankings. By telling your readers exactly what you want them to do, you stand a better chance of them actually doing it.

5. Engage. A social media post is only as valuable as the level to which you engage with it. This means responding to comments, speaking directly with followers, and posting additional content as needed to keep the conversation going.

Reference List

QuickSprout: http://buff.ly/23IRoP8

Buffer: http://buff.ly/1SsSpHv

Qunitly: http://buff.ly/23ISYQX

Dan Zarella: http://buff.ly/1QcuTIq

Buffer: http://buff.ly/2096rgo

HubSpot: http://buff.ly/1PhhDlV

Jeff Bullas: http://buff.ly/1PhigvY

A Guide To Writing & Optimizing Great SEO Content (Gifographic)

November 19, 2015/9 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

How can an infographic get better? Add moving parts. Our fantastic design team created and designed this first gifographic from Express Writers. In it, we’re showing you the major tricks of the trade when it comes to writing and optimizing great SEO content. Tell us how you liked our first gifographic, and for a limited time, we’re taking gifographic orders! Full transcript below.

Transcript

A Guide To Writing & Optimizing Great SEO Content (Gifographic)

Here’s Why Creating Great SEO Content Is So Crucial To Your Marketing

Web traffic drives content marketing. The largest portion of content marketing success, 63%, is derived from website traffic. A big reason why you should focus on having correctly SEO optimized content on your site.
2/3 of B2B Marketers say content fuels their marketing. And if your content is well-written, answers questions, and is optimized for your buyers to find it, buyers are willing to finish 57% of your buying process without even talking to a sales rep.
Google loves it! Google has said that quality content is key to rankings.
Google Panda is the gatekeeper. The Google panda update has been launched primarily to ensure only high quality content ranks the best. This Panda algorithm looks into factors specifically that include how expertly the content is written, the quality of the source and author, if it is original and not duplicate, authoritative, complete, well-researched, and not-over populated with ads.
Optimized blogs are powerful. 8 out of 10 Internet users are reading blogs and social media, which accounts for a whole 23% of time spent on the Internet.

3 Major Types of SEO Content & Tips on Correctly Optimizing Them

Content is the fuel for what you publish on the web. Here are a few of the most common web content types:

Web pages. Web pages are one of the most commonly optimized forms of SEO content. Boost your web page ranking through the inclusion of related, well-researched keywords, well written title tags, meta descriptions, awesome headers, and high quality writing. Never skimp on the quality of the writing if you want the best results from your web pages.
Blogs. There are approximately 152,000,000 blogs on the web and with that kind of competition it’s obvious that optimizing your blog for SEO is an important way to get it to stand out. Include high quality citations (links) that reference any statistics you include and shoot for 2,000 words of high quality, well-researched SEO content per blog or more.
Product Descriptions. When it comes to writing product descriptions, you want people to be able to locate them online quickly and easily. Don’t skimp on copy here either. Include keywords in your product descriptions and write descriptive headlines and meta content for each one.
Social Media. Did you know that social media can be optimized, too? Except with social media, you optimize your content so that it can be located and shared by people rather than search engines. So don’t write around your keywords; write your social content around your audience.

3 Rules of Thumb in SEO Writing

1. Keyword Amount: Stay under a 3% keyword density in your content (web pages, blogs, etc.) Using them naturally is your #1 rule. Headers, subheaders, and throughout the copy are key areas to use them.

How to Calculate:

Keyword Density = (How many times you used the keyword / Total words in the text) x 100

Example: (20 / 800) x 100 = 2.5%

2. Don’t count your keywords. We mean it! Think of your audience, the quality of your content, how well you’re researching the content, and if the copy addresses every question the topic could raise. This is far more important than counting keyword density every time. Simply optimize naturally with keywords.

3. Find original sources when you’re stating a claim, and citate (link to it). See our sources at the bottom of this infographic? Those are our citations. You’ll want to actually hyperlink inside your blogs or other content where you’re making a statement or claim that you’ve read online. Make sure you use the original source when you hyperlink.

3 SEO Tools for the Web Content Creator

SEMrush is a powerful keyword tool that allows users to optimize their sites for SEO, create intuitive pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and conduct social media and video advertising research. When it comes to using SEMrush to find keywords for your ad campaign, you’ll want to look into niche-specific long-tail keywords that apply specifically to your industry. While it’s all well and good to target a high-volume search keyword, it’s also harder to rank for these keywords, which means you may be better off focusing on a less competitive, more specific keyword phrase that allows you to rank strongly from the get-go.
Wordtracker is another keyword research tool that allows users to search multiple sources for effective keywords. This tool can help you find keywords that nobody is competing on and will be an essential tool for SEO success.
BuzzSumo is an effective tool for finding the key influencers that can help you promote your content and get it noticed by a wide audience base. It can also help you find trending content topics and take inspiration for audience related content. Although it’s not specifically SEO, developing great topic ideas and feeding off of industry leaders is every bit as important as SEO optimization.

10 Key Factors of Great SEO Content

1. Write great headers! Aside from your body content, the most important piece of content for SEO is your header. A header tells people what the piece is about, grabs reader attention and gives a general overview of the topic. To make your header as interesting as possible, include your keyword and focus on writing a header that asks a question or addresses your readers’ fears. Create headers that are irresistible and make your readers want to click; include the keyword naturally.

2. Stay away from “stuffing.” Keyword stuffing is a dangerous practice that will get you in trouble with the search engines, decreasing your site’s rank and making it harder for users to find you. Plus, it just looks spammy. So when writing your content, shoot to use keywords naturally. They should be in your header (if it’s possible to include them while still feeling organic) and they should appear a few times throughout the body content. You want your keyword density under 3% for everything you write.

3. Optimize your keywords for many channels. Keywords are important for your website, but they’re also important for social media and email. To optimize for multi-channel visibility in places like blogs, web pages and social media sites, be consistent with your keyword phrases across all the platforms you use.

4. Write good meta content. That little bit called your meta description might be more important than you realize. Think of them as your organic PPC copy; what users will see if your content ranks high enough. 2-3 sentence is all you need there, and be sure to include your main keyword. Treat your title tags like a 4-8-word advertisement for best results.

5. Be unique. All of the content you create should be unique, so you’ll want to strike a balance between curated content and original content. This is one of the best ways to optimize your site for SEO.

6. Include citations. Find and mention industry leaders throughout your content to back up your content. Google cares about your sources and to rank well you’ll want to link to industry leaders. Moz’s MozBar can help you make sure you’re using good sites; the DA (Domain Authority) score should ideally be 50 or more. However, the DA metric isn’t set in stone, so use it with judgment. Additionally, in web content you’ll want to link strategically throughout your own text back to the most important pages of your site.

7. Have high word counts. Did you know that word count can play an important part of SEO ranking? To provide the most value for your audience and rank as well as possible in SERPs, write long-form content between 1,500-2,000 words. Seek to address every question that could be raised on your topic.

8. Make sure all of your content is well- Sounds simple, but it’s crucial. Content that is filled with typos, misspellings, poor-quality links, or too many keywords will harm your SEO ranking and drive readers away. Proofread everything (or hire a proofreader).

9. Earn great links. In addition to using good links in your content, you’ll want to earn high-quality links from the outside as well. The best way to do this is to create and publish useful content that includes your keyword terms and draws social shares. Over time, the links will come.

10. Post often and consistently: Content is the #1 ranking factor for SEO and when you post often, your content gets shared more, viewed more, linked to more and helps you earn better rankings. For best results, post to your various channels several times a week and never let a blog sit unattended for long.

Sources:

Content Marketing Institute: http://buff.ly/1OoJd4Z

Kapost: http://buff.ly/1OoJzIW

Executive Board: http://buff.ly/1OoJHbu

Brafton: http://buff.ly/1LQ5Co6

Google Webmaster Central: http://buff.ly/1PmBzXs

SalesForce: http://buff.ly/1LQ5W68

Search Engine Watch: http://buff.ly/1WzDB7f

WordStream: http://buff.ly/1WzEIUc

Search Engine Land: http://buff.ly/1WzGe8V

WPVirtuoso: http://buff.ly/1MCf3ok

25 Web Content Creation ROI Tips: Copy That Sells (Infographic)

November 3, 2015/1 Comment/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

Creating great web content online is the best way to help push site conversions and bring in awesome new clients. But, how can you create content that sells? In other words, have content ROI? Content that is crafted well has the ability to return on investment, or ROI, for your brand. In this infographic, we take a look at the top reasons you need great content, with 25 useful, fundamental tips to help you get knee-deep in the creation of copy that sells. Full transcript below. Enjoy! And if you like this, we’d love a share and comment!

Transcript

Why is Awesome Web Content Vital?

You have approximately 8 seconds to convince someone to stay – after that, you could lose them.
Around 96% of site visitors are not ready to buy yet, and content keeps them coming back until they do.
If you create and publish around 31-40 landing pages, you’re likely to generate 7 times the amount of leads than those who don’t. And 40+ generates 12 times more.
Visual content like product videos can increase purchases by 144%.
Research shows that Google consistently ranks posts over 2,500 words.

25 Surefire Ways to Create Web Content that Sells (Content ROI)

Here are some great ways to create wonderful content that can help boost your sales and bring you ROI.

Emotions Help Motivate. Emotions are an incredible way to motivate clients to act. Peer pressure, self-improvement tips, and more are excellent motivators. Weave these in your copy.

Create a Sense of Urgency. When writing your content, make sure you create a sense of urgency. Show that there is a demand for your product. Tie in brevity to urgency to compel your reader.

Create a Case Study. 63% of UK marketers think that case studies are excellent marketing tactics. You can use them to show customers information about your company and product, convincing them to choose you.

Create Evergreen Content. Well-researched, in-depth, long-form blogs that answer timeless questions are considered evergreen. These pieces can convert readers and rank you high in Google if done right. And, they’ll always stay relevant.

Have Excellent Headlines. Half of your content creation time should be spent coming up with a persuasive headline. Make it useful, have urgency, be unique, and specific. Plug in power words and adjectives to transform an otherwise typical headline.

Don’t Be Afraid to Have a Conversational Voice. Think of this like how you’d talk to a client who is also a friend over coffee. Enrich your content with a lively, fun, conversational tone. This can help immensely with building connections that will convert.

Find Your One “Thing.” Each company has a “thing” that sets them apart – yours included. Find your “thing” and focus on it with your content.

Research Audience Needs. Content that sells needs one crucial element – audience research. Know what your audience needs and create content they can use.

Stay Authentic. Marketing now requires authenticity, especially if you plan to market to millennials. Be unique, for example showcasing pictures of your office on Instagram, and your daily grind—and have fun while you’re doing it. Your brand fans will love it!

Create a Plan for Content. Plan out your content through various tools such as editorial calendars. You will find it easier to maintain a consistent content plan with one.

Make Important Info A Focus. Simple tip, but a vital reminder. This goes for pricing, calls to action, and any other pertinent info. Don’t let it get lost on site or else you’ll lose visitors.

Refine Your Approach. Compile a full list, or “brain dump,” of your ideas for content pieces. Next, narrow down and refine your approach. Create content on just a few of your narrowed-down, hot topics for impactful results.

Make Vital Points Standout. People only read about 20% of all of the content on your page – make what you want them to see stand out from the rest.

Remove Distractions. Too many choices can create higher levels of anxiety for visitors, which can negatively impact conversion rates. Focus on your highest seller or main pain point and dwindle down anything else.

Make Your Content Easy to Scan. Only 16% of readers will read all of your blog content, but 79% of visitors will scan. Writing easy-to-scan content will help you reach out to every visitor and reader. Break your content up with sub-headers.

Use the Power of One. The “power of one” helps you establish one big idea that you can focus on. This can often be your one “thing,” as well. Focus on one thought for every page or post.

Know Which Content Types Work Well. Multiple content formats are excellent, but before you jump into each, make sure you know which ones will work the best. Test, analyze, and check the engagement of your content types; and tweak or change your habits accordingly.

Utilize Visual Content. When an image is used, tweets see more engagement with 18% more tweets, 89% favorites, and 150% re-tweets. And Facebook saw a growth of 3.6x in the amount of videos used on the channel.

Write Long-Form Content. Long content gives the perception of added value, making people more likely to trust and read. Posts over 2,500 words also do very well in the rankings.

Create Relevant Content. You don’t want content that is outdated or doesn’t make sense to your audience. Instead, write content on trending topics within your industry as well as content you know your audience wants and needs to see.

Bloggers, Include a Subscription Box. Email subscription boxes are a great way to give visitors access to content, eventually converting them into leads. (For every $1 spent on email marketing, average revenue is $44.25.)

Test Different Calls to Action. Just by changing and testing the copy on their calls to action, Mozilla saw higher download rates for Firefox. They went from “Try Firefox” to “Download Firefox – Free”, and saw more clicks. Try and test actionable verbs and adjectives to convince people to click, purchase, and share your products and content.

Define Your Conversion Metrics. Define your conversion metrics by taking a look at the patterns and amount of people interacting with your content. This can help you know which content pieces work best.

Create Co-Branded Content. Working with an industry partner can bring your content to a wider audience. Consider getting together with even a competitor company to co-brand content like e-books to expand your reach.

Be Assertive In Your Writing. No one knows your product and services like you, which means you shouldn’t write hesitantly. Write with assertiveness once you know you’ve researched your facts and are presenting knowledge, and you’ll be able to convert more people.

References

SiteProNews | http://bit.ly/1KYeeJ1

serpIQ l http://bit.ly/1i5F1Fo

Hubspot | http://bit.ly/1K0eKoX

Allison Enright | http://bit.ly/1pnKlrK

James Scherer | http://bit.ly/SepDNT

Caroline Malamut | http://bit.ly/Y8pIp6

Alan Harris | http://bit.ly/1FmyTW6

Zach Bulygo | http://bit.ly/1mdXXqr

Copyblogger | http://bit.ly/1nJod98

Jay Baer | http://bit.ly/ZL7zi6

Mark Evans | http://onforb.es/1jbEaYt

Jason Nelson | http://bit.ly/1jMEMnF

Nischala Murthy Kaushik | http://bit.ly/1RXqv6D

Neilson Norman Group | http://bit.ly/1h6NlCV

Marketing Experiments | http://bit.ly/1Lwc1rD

Neil Patel | http://bit.ly/1KuDNSS

Christian Gillick | http://bit.ly/1ju2qgt

Michael Masterson | http://bit.ly/1CTzHMj

Michael Karp | http://bit.ly/1I6OgBi

Victoria Hoffman | http://bit.ly/1OjLKNI

Laura Brown | http://bit.ly/1ejn3AR

Why & How To Publish a Book on Amazon Kindle (Infographic)

October 16, 2015/10 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

Do you know just how powerful the Amazon Kindle e-book marketplace is today? How do you get started when it comes to being published in this powerful arena? Learn amazing stats about the Amazon Kindle world and how you can get started publishing a great Kindle e-book in our infographic. Full transcript below. Don’t forget – if you found this useful, we love shares, comments, and spreading the love!

Transcript

Why & How To Publish a Book on Amazon Kindle (Infographic)

Did You Know? Crazy Stats About The Popularity of Kindle eBooks

30% of American adults read an eBook last year.
Over 50% of American adults own a Kindle.
5% of the books sold in the U.S. are Kindle eBooks.
Kindle is the most popular e-reader, beating both the iPad and the Nook.
Amazon has a 65% share in the eBook industry.
At least one quarter of the top 100 Kindle eBooks available on Amazon are published by Indie authors.
3% of Amazon’s 90 million unique users spend time shopping for a Kindle each month.
The Kindle Fire monopolizes a 14% share of the global tablet market.
Kindle is Amazon’s top selling product.
Users who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited spend more on books than those who do not.

The State of Amazon eBook Publishing

Let’s take a specific look at how Amazon dominates the eBook market.

Amazon is the largest paid search engine in the world.
Between 2008-2013, the number of indie published books went up 437%.
Women write twice as many indie best-selling eBooks than men.
Amazon now pays writer per page their readers turn.
Only 16% of Amazon’s best selling eBooks were published by large publishing houses.
Indie authors account for 40% of the income being paid to e-book authors.
31% of the books in Amazon’s Kindle store are self-published.
Non-fiction readers pay more for books than fiction readers.

4 Top Benefits of Publishing A Kindle eBook on Amazon

Traditional publishers offer a 15-20% royalty on net revenues. Amazon Kindle publishing offers a 35-70% royalty.
In the Kindle store, the shelf life of a book is forever. Put that in contrast to a shelf life of 30-60 days in a traditional store.
The Kindle store features more than 810,000 books.
Amazon does some of the promotion for you: the site will automatically refer your book to people searching for books in similar genres.

6 Major Tips For How To Publish a Book on Amazon Kindle

Invest in Kindle-ready, high-quality formatting. If you don’t know how to do this yourself, hire a professional or use a program like Calibre.
Don’t undersell (or oversell) yourself. The best-selling books on Kindle are priced from $2.99-$3.99.
Consider your genre. Self-published authors consistently outsell big publishing house authors in sci-fi/fantasy/mystery/thriller and romance genres.
Pay attention to word count. Bestselling eBooks typically weigh in at 100,000 words or higher.
Invest in a great cover. Even though this is an eBook, the cover is still one of the most important things customers are impressed by when deciding to purchase your eBook. Sites like 99 Designs or Crowdspring are great crowd-sourcing cover options. No matter what you chose, make sure you wind up with a .JPEG file of at least 200 pixels and a height/weight ratio of 1.6.
Promote Your eBook! Sites like AddictedToeBooks.com, AuthorMarketingClub.com and BooksOnTheKnob.org all offer free promotional platforms to help you get your book to the top.

Reference List

Pew Research Center: http://buff.ly/1hoJLca

The Guardian: http://buff.ly/1Q5gqPX

Forbes: http://buff.ly/1Q5gJKS

Forbes: http://buff.ly/1Lg8knW

Forbes: http://buff.ly/1VBVaYY

Forbes: http://buff.ly/1Q5hUtE

TechCrunch: http://buff.ly/1VBVXt7

CNN Money: http://buff.ly/1Lw2JvF

TechCrunch: http://buff.ly/1Lw2K2G

Publisher’s Weekly: http://buff.ly/1jbP28P

WiseInk Blog: http://buff.ly/1jbP5l4

Author Earnings: http://buff.ly/1jbP8gA

MPR News : http://buff.ly/1hp6G7l

eBook Editor: http://buff.ly/1jbPbJi

Search Engine Journal: http://buff.ly/1hp6LI9

Michael Hyatt: http://buff.ly/1VCd6mr

The Science Behind the Most Successful Social Media Sharers (Infographic)

August 28, 2015/2 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

In today’s infographic from Express Writers, we’re taking a look at the hottest social media posts in history – and how you can be inspired to run a more successful social media campaign yourself! Enjoy, and don’t forget to share and leave us a comment! Full transcript is below.

Transcript

The Science Behind the Most Successful Social Media Campaigns & Sharers

Social Media Shares: Why Do They Matter So Much?

53% of Americans who engage with brands in social media become more loyal to those brands
Interesting content is among the top 3 motives for consumers to follow brands on social media
The majority of brands measure content success by social shares
47% of B2B marketers cite creating engaging content as their top marketing challenge

The 3 Most Re-Tweeted Tweets in History

What’s the secret to the sharing power of the top tweets? Let’s take a look at which tweets made it to the most re-tweeted list.

Ellen de Generis. 3.3 Million Re-tweets.

If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014

Ellen de Generis breaks Twitter with this iconic tweet. Leverages the “buzz” around the Oscars, making this tweet the most shared in history.

Louis Tomlinson. 1.4 Million Re-tweets

Always in my heart @Harry_Styles . Yours sincerely, Louis — Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) October 2, 2011

Louis Tomlinson shows just how a simple, sincere tweet can capture the heart of millions, especially thanks to their passionate fandom.

Barack Obama. 700,000 re-tweets

Four more years. pic.twitter.com/bAJE6Vom

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 7, 2012

Barack Obama’s social media team captured a moment of human emotion and celebration that followers can relate to: and, keep in mind, it’s also news to share.

Facebook Posts That Had the Most Shares in History

What’s the magic formula for the most shared Facebook posts? Here’s who and what really hit it out of the park on Facebook.

PerezHilton.com. “This would have legit traumatized me as a kid! Heck, even now!” 4.4 Million Shares.

Post by PerezHilton.com.

We love to share videos that make us laugh. Perez Hilton shares this stunt video promoting a horror movie, proving that humor is always a good idea.

AMC Theatres. Minions Preview Video. 3.1 Million Shares

Post by AMC Theatres.

AMC Theatre demonstrated the power of video for Facebook sharing, particularly when tapping into a community of fans who love the brand.

WomenWorking.com. “Why We Need Best Friends” Image. 1.7 Million Shares

Post by Womenworking.com.

Facebook users share posts they relate to, and they think their Facebook friends can relate to. The posts they share are also social currency: to show their friends what they care about and who they are.

5 Techniques For Successful Social Media Campaigns: Inspiration From the Best Brands on Social

Here’s how businesses succeed in increasing engagement and promoting shares. include the company logos with the mentions (Autodesk, Whole foods, etc.)

Genuine Value. Autodesk shares social content that offers genuine value to its niche target market.
Be Personal. Whole Foods Market makes their customer service personal leveraging their local profiles.
Authentic Conversation. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants gets personal, engaging with its guests through real, authentic conversation.
Contests. Intuit rolls out a year-long contest that their target market loves to engage with.
Transparency. Mars shows a behind the scenes peek of its businesses, offering greater transparency of its business practices and ethics to their intrigued followers.

5 Steps to More Engagement & Shares for Your Content

Follow these simple steps to gain a successful social media campaign and inspire more shares for your content.

1. Listen to Your Fans. One of the best ways to increase your engagement is to look at what your fans already like to engage with and duplicate their efforts with your own, unique spin.

2. Post More Photos. 87% of a Facebook page engagement occurs on photo posts.

3. Take Your Own Photos. People engage with authentic, human social media brands. Take your own “candid” photos to show your followers into your world. Don’t be afraid to be personal.

4. Get Your Own Custom URL. When a URL is shortened, it looks less cluttered, making your post more appealing and easier to read.

5. Post Evergreen Content. Evergreen content is timeless. Focus on creating posts that can be shared over a long period of time and still remain relevant. A great way to do this is to create evergreen blogs that can be shared, and re-shared, on social media.

References

James A. Martin, CIO | http://buff.ly/1NywMSa

Amy Porterfield, Social Media Examiner | http://buff.ly/1NywRVY

Kevin Lee, Buffer Social | http://buff.ly/1TWDHcU

Chanelle Bessette, Fortune | http://buff.ly/1HYEgXq

Shea Bennett, Ad Week | http://buff.ly/1LnruJV

Jonathan Anker, HLN TV | http://buff.ly/1LnvOsz

Business 2 Community | http://buff.ly/1E8sleY

The Big Content Spend: How & Where Are Brands Placing Their Content Budgets (Infographic)

August 17, 2015/3 Comments/in Infographics /by Julia McCoy

In today’s infographic, we’re taking a look at just how big of an investment companies are putting into content marketing this year. What kind of brands believe in content, and invest in it as a major form of marketing? What kind of investments are being made? With numbers in the billions, the findings may (or may not) surprise you. Read, enjoy, share, comment!

Transcript – Revised to Reflect Accurate Budget Statistics 9/1/15

Content Budgets: Why Content Marketing Is A Main Marketing Focus in 2015 And Beyond

Just where are brands putting their money? Content marketing (content budgets exist!). Here are some crazy statistics about the importance of content in the marketing sphere for 2015.

The average per company content marketing budget is more than $1.8 million (annual).
60% of those who have a documented strategy rate themselves highly in terms of content
marketing effectiveness.
27 million pieces of content are shared every day
59% of marketers expect their organization’s content marketing budget to increase spending in the next 12 months for 2015
Marketers invest over 25% of their marketing budget on content marketing
9 out of 10 organizations currently market with content

What Types of Businesses Are Investing in Content Marketing?

Both B2B and B2C are spending a content budget. Here’s more about that.

55% of B2B organizations and 59% of B2C organizations will increase their content marketing budget this year
91% of B2B marketers use content marketing and 70% are increasing the amount of content they create since last year

How Are Big Brands Spending on Content Marketing?

If you don’t think content marketing is important, check out these major brands and the value they place on content.

Coca-Cola now spends more money creating content than on television advertising.
Red Bull employs roughly 135 people for its content marketing & media strategy.
20 community managers and designers create content everyday as part of Nestlé’s digital editorial team.

Why Are We Seeing Such an Increase in Content Marketing Investments?

Because people finally realize it’s vital to a great online marketing strategy. Content budgets (and big spends) are happening. Also, see below.

61% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that shares custom content.
35% of Fortune 500 CMOs claim that creating fresh content was their biggest challenge in 2014.
B2B companies find a 67% increase in leads per month when they create content
Content creation is considered the most effective SEO practice.
64% of people say the customer experience is more important than price in their choice of a brand.

4 Signs You May Need to Increase Your Content Marketing Budget

Your content marketing is not effective. B2B marketers who feel they are least effective only allocate 16% of their budget to content. Marketers who rate themselves to be most effective assign 37% of their budget to content.
You don’t focus on hiring talent. In the next year, 56% of leading business bloggers plan to hire additional resources.
You’re not frequently and consistently producing fresh content. 77% of marketers report that they plan to increase content production in the next year.
The quality of your content is damaging your ROI. 31% of marketers claim that they need to improve the quality of their content.

And…

7 Steps To Guide You To Invest in Effective Content Marketing

Hire writers first. Most marketers, when initially entering into content marketing, invest first in a writer.
Work with talented writers. The top 3 reason people choose to follow brands on social media is that they share content that is interesting to the reader.
Outsource qualified writers. 62% of companies outsource their content marketing to create consistent, quality content.
Invest in an effective strategy. 48% of B2B marketers use at least one content marketing strategy. B2C marketers use 12 content marketing tactics on average. A further 35% percent document their strategy and results.
Focus on blogs. Blogs help to give websites on average a whopping 434% more indexed pages, highly effective for SEO.
Become more effective. Only 32 % of all B2C marketers are effective at content marketing.
Invest in visual content. 82% of companies are prioritizing visual content in their content marketing budget (like infographics).