Content Marketing - Express Writers

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

Using A Content Combination Strategy To Maximize Your Content Marketing

December 31, 2020August 11, 2015 by Josh McCoy

Alecs is a Client Accounts Manager at Express Writers. Peanut butter would never be the same without jelly. In like sense, combined strategies make for a much richer experience. In your daily life, I’m sure you can come up with at least five things without even thinking too hard about them that work well together. The same goes for content marketing. Some things just function better together and work towards accomplishing an overall goal. The strengths of one particular type of marketing covers the weaknesses of another. Just like a well-prepared team, using content marketing methods that overlap make for a much better overall experience. The Power & Synergy of A Content Combination Strategy Content combination strategy is the plan by which you make these individual content management strategies work as a team. What the strategy does is figure out which individual strategies cover the most amount of exposure for your target demographic. From there you can develop distribution plans for each of those vehicles of exposure. Thus, if your initial exposure medium was blogging but you saw a need for outreach on social media and print media, then you would incorporate those types of marketing into your overall marketing plan. Using a content combination strategy allows you to adjust your content to suit. Blogs are great for long-form content but if you operate on social media, for example, those users tend to favor images over long form narrative content. Combining the content you produce and matching it to the relevant medium for distribution allows you to increase your outreach and develop more high quality content that will encourage users to come visit your page. Understanding Content Synergy Dynamics Some things just work very well together. Take, for example, email marketing alongside offering a free e-book to readers. Email marketing by itself can be a hit and miss affair. Some users actively avoid ending up on mailing lists. However, when combined with the prospect of a free e-book, email subscriptions soar. People always enjoy the thought of something for nothing and that’s why free e-book marketing tends to net far more email subscriptions than any other type of strategy. The combination of these strategies sees the utilization of the email address as the object you need to obtain. With an active email address you can add the user to your email list and send them good content and information that they can use to better their lives, interspersing it with offers for products they may be interested in. In order to ensure that the email is active, you send them a copy of your e-book that they want, opting in to your mailing list to get it. It’s a novel idea that balances the user’s greed with an entry point for marketing to the customer at a later date. Not all content pairs are as synergistic as that one. Modern methods of social media make it easy for interaction to take place and utilizing it in tandem with a product that a company offers in order to win free merchandise is something many small businesses have adopted. This sees the use of a widespread media outlet and user generated content alongside free marketing in terms of the product being visible on the user’s picture which is then shared and liked in order for them to win the prize. Extending Effectiveness and Outreach Most content marketers run blogs. It’s their major source of production and distribution of content. The problem with blogs is that they are usually limited to a particular location in the hierarchy of modern media. Blogs are considered places where people go to share ideas and discuss things at length. On the opposite end of the perception spectrum is social media. Social media serves as the place where people go to interact with their friends and close acquaintances. It’s here that the majority of consumers exist. The numbers show that worldwide, there are over two billion users on social media. How many of those do you think take time to visit a blog? The answer is quite a lot, depending on it shows up on their feed. Blogs and websites have realized that utilizing social media in tandem with their regular posts can lead to an increase in their popularity and overall positive KPI’s. Social media networks like Facebook make it easy to create pages that are linked officially to blogs so that users can benefit from their massive user base when creating content. Sometimes, it works the other way around. Some Facebook pages have become so popular that they’ve forced their owners to build blogs around them in order to capitalize on their success. A good example of this is SciBabe on Facebook. Originally a page made to rant against the anti-science point of view of the popular Food Babe page, the owner eventually expanded it into an entire website dedicated to fighting misinformation on social media (a noble pursuit, but ultimately futile). Research in Multiple Formats: How to Appeal to a Wider Audience Content marketers already know the power of infographics. They are among the most popular ways of spreading information to people in a single, easy to share image. Infographics themselves sometimes represents a compilation of work from various research outlets. Statistics and facts are gathered and put into cool, flashy graphical representations to make the facts fun to read and easy to internalize for later use. The infographic is the modern successor to an older type of research distribution material, the white paper. Although infographics are the new kid on the block, white papers still have quite a bit of a following. Older copywriters have told me about the days when they would be tasked with creating white papers that were a couple dozen pages long from information given to them by a particular company. What a white paper is, for those of us who grew up in the digital age, is a report that is written to offer factual information on a … Read more

How to Create A Strategy for Deploying Content to Improve Your Site’s Ranking & Visibility

December 31, 2020August 6, 2015 by Josh McCoy

Annie is a Content Manager at Express Writers. Developing a content strategy can easily seem like it can be a futile exercise. Many people don’t have a clue about where to start when it comes to putting together a detailed plan for what their content should do and what sort of demographic it should be aimed at. The truth of the matter is that overthinking content marketing can be dangerous. Instead of focusing on the minor details, what you should be aiming for is to see the big picture. It’s only through that you will actually be able to experience the true power of content marketing the way it was meant to be used. The Blank Slate Theory & Your Content Strategy As artist Joe Madureira says, a blank slate is as exciting as it is daunting. What we propose to do through a blank slate comparison is to see how a company starting from no website or content marketing strategy can utilize the tools of developing a content strategy to be successful. In this fictionalized case study we will be utilizing a two-phase plan for the creation of a detailed content strategy that can be used to improve a website’s ranking and visibility. Methodology Behind Our Experiment Utilizing a free tool like Google Analytics allows us to easily track the key performance indicators (KPI’s) that we’re interested in. Indicators such as number of visitors and unique visitors over time allow us to gauge the success of our content marketing strategy. If we want to be more specific we can set up funnels in Google Analytics in order to track clicks from what content leads to which page to determine the most popular content for attracting users. The numbers from Google Analytics will be our guide to how well our content strategy is doing, just like in real life. Content Strategy Phase One: The Basics There are a handful of things that a basic content strategy should have in place as a jumping off point. These form the framework for your future content production and also aids in your SEO compatibility and your search rank score. These things are the very basics but even though they seem to be unnecessary at the start, they are a powerful means of attracting traffic and formulating leads. The basic start for a website’s content strategy comes from incorporating these key elements: 1. META tags: META tags aid in helping to describe a page’s content to a search engine. Including META tags in your site setup ensures that you are able to include the most important elements that you would expect to get your page noticed. The more relevant information you include in your META data the better your search relevancy will be. This translates into increased traffic from search engines, as relevancy is extremely important to users. No one wants to click a page and end up somewhere they didn’t expect to be. 2. Keywords: These are words that describe the content on your page and allow a user to be aware of what the site they are visiting is about. Used in combination with META description tags, your keywords form the backbone of your content strategy in the realm of SEO. You don’t want too much of your keywords cluttering up your page since search engines are usually wary of too high a keyword density. Ideally, your keyword density should lie between 3% and 5% for any particular keyword set. 3. Product Descriptions: These give your site the look and feel of a professional company and also gives Google something to reference. Your product descriptions should also have keywords considered and should conform to the limit of 3% to 5% as well. Keeping this figure is enough to satisfy the search engine that you’re not keyword stuffing just to make your content more popular. The descriptions should be meaningful as far as possible and written for the user. It’s a true test of balancing your content writing in order to appeal to both search engine robots and the average user. 4. Basic Content: Basic content gives your site a barebones for further development of content as time goes by. Through your basic content you are trying to attract users and at the same time get them to do something. Whether it’s subscribing to an email list or clicking over to a product page, your basic content should be original and should appeal to the customer. It should bring value to the customer’s life in some way. That is the hallmark of good content. Content Strategy Phase Two: Advanced Operations After setting up the initial barebones on the blank slate website, we can now proceed to monitor it for a period of time to see how it evolves and develops in terms of traffic. This sets a benchmark from where we can go on to the advanced part of the exploration and the key motivator for developing a content strategy. Does content really make a difference in generating leads and increasing visits? Let’s find out by utilizing the major vehicles of content marketing: 1. Blogs: Blogging has long been accepted as one of the ways to generate traffic and to keep your website fresh to attract new visitors. Search engines enjoy blogs because they tend to deal with a particular niche and once the search engine determines the niche the blog is in it’s easy to direct relevant traffic to the site. Blogs allow for a company or website to focus on creating high-quality content that appeals to their target demographic. Through this content the company can generate new leads or conversions, or develop customer loyalty by focusing on providing useful content to their users. Blogs need to be updated regularly in order to remain relevant. Updating too much can cause useful information to be lost. There’s a fine balance to walk here, but doing it well is worth the effort. 2. Social Media: The newest way for websites to interact with customers directly … Read more

Marketing Lessons From Taylor Swift: What We Can Learn From The Pop Star-Turned Media Mogul

December 31, 2020August 4, 2015 by Josh McCoy

When you think of Taylor Swift, it’s likely that the image of a marketing guru doesn’t come to mind. As it turns out, though, Taylor Swift is more than just a pretty voice and an Instagram feed full of kittens: this 25 year old pop-star is also a winning force in the marketing world. Taylor Swift’s Marketing Lessons: Is It Natural Prowess? Taylor Swift is probably best known for her bevy of Number 1 hits. Throughout the duration of her career, the blonde bombshell has seen the top of the Billboard Charts four times. “Bad Blood”, her most recent chart-topping hit and the third from her ultra-popular 1989 album, took less than two weeks to scale the mountain of new music, which begs the question: what’s her secret? Is it just great song writing and a direct, T-Swift-only line into the hearts of millions of music-lovers worldwide or is it something else? The answer, as it turns out, is that Miss Swift is just really, really good at marketing. And no, she didn’t take marketing lessons.. Part of her marketing prowess comes down to knowing exactly who to partner with at exactly the right time. Although “Bad Blood” has been bumping around since the release of 1989 in October of 2014, Swift managed to propel it to the top of the charts recently by re-mixing it with Kendrick Lamar, who happens to be one of the hottest names in today’s hip-hop scene. By doing this, Swift utilized one of the oldest and most effective marketing games in the book: combining forces for better results. There is something distinctly omni-channel-esque about Swift’s decision to pair with Lamar and it is obvious that by joining forces with the hip-hop legend, she made an amazingly intelligent marketing move that allowed her to tap into a different stream of listeners. While Kendrick Lamar’s listeners may not have chosen to purchase a Taylor Swift album before the re-mix of “Bad Blood” dropped, it is likely that they will now, which allows Swift to broaden her already massive fan base. Additionally, the strategic addition of Lamar means that Taylor’s typically pop/country songs now stand a very real chance of being played on Hip-Hop radio and streaming stations, which provides a new and exciting platform and serves to further her apparent plan for total global domination. Endearing Videos for Maximum Fan Engagement One of the foremost things that have garnered Taylor Swift global affection is the fact that she’s always seemed utterly reachable. All you need to do to produce evidence of this is scan the YouTube comments that accompany her “Shake it Off” or “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” videos for ample fan gushing and statements of identification. In the past, Swift’s funny, sweet music videos have given her a mainline catheter into the hearts of many but, now that she has reached epic levels of popularity, she’s begun to change it up. Unlike her previous videos, “Bad Blood” takes its plot line from a Bond-esque action film, complete with plenty roundhouse kicks, high-tech scenes and pop-culture references to Kill Bill and LeeLoo’s famous strappy costume from The Fifth Element. In addition the fact that “Bad Blood” is visually shocking and a complete foil to anything Swift has done before, the video is chock-full of powerful female names. Everyone from Paramore’s Hayley Williams to supermodel Cindy Crawford and actress Jessica Alba are featured in the video, which means that it will show up across their respective fan bases, as well, allowing Swift to expand her already massive reach. More effective than the inclusion of big names, however, is the way that Swift and her marketing team chose to tease viewers during the lead-up to the video’s release. For the weeks preceding its launch, each of the famous faces featured in the “Bad Blood” video released a vintage-looking shot of her respective costume and character on Instagram, giving audiences an exclusive sneak peek and the added fun of a distinctly movie-poster feel. Every time a new image dropped, the media went wild and Swift’s social media follower count gained a few zeros. Although 1989 was already a chart-topping album (it never left the top ten) Swift timed her “Bad Blood” launch with the moment when the album began to lose some of its death-grip on the industry. In order to drum up more enthusiasm for the video’s release, Swift seized one of the biggest events in the industry: The Billboard Music Awards. One Release to Rule Them All This year’s Billboard Music Awards opened with a clip from “Bad Blood” and the rest was history. An estimated 11.1 million people watched this year’s Billboard Music Awards and every single one of them bore witness to Swift’s newest brain-child. It doesn’t hurt that Swift went on to win eight trophies that night, furthering her reputation as a top dog in the music industry. The fact that Swift and her team chose the Billboard Music Awards to launch “Bad Blood” was no accident. By choosing such an important, media-riddled and highly-televised event, Swift and her team ensured that the video would not only set the stage for the awards, thus creating a sort of aura that would hang over the event all night, but also that it would be highly televised, tweeted about and reported on. In the end, it wasn’t so much the unique genius of “Bad Blood” that rocketed the track to the top of the charts as it was the dedicated, calculated and painstakingly specific utilization of advanced marketing efforts combined with brilliant launch times and media release tactics. How Swift Does Classical Marketing With a New Twist Swift’s launch of 1989 is akin to a master class in marketing and, if she keeps going, she’s going to usurp MBAs everywhere. Even before Kendrick Lamar entered the scene, Swift was enjoying partnerships with the likes of Diet Coke, with whom she produced an adorable commercial resplendent with kittens and plenty of whimsy. As … Read more

How a Poorly Executed Content Strategy Can Eliminate Your Full Potential

March 24, 2022July 29, 2015 by Sarah Shade

Sarah Shade is one of our Content Specialists at Express Writers. Content strategy. You and I both (as good Internet marketers) know all about these by now. Without one, it’s like trying to find a black cat in a dark room without a light bulb. But did you know that a poorly executed content strategy can be even more harmful than not having one at all? Even Harvard Business Review notes that most management professionals agree that a mediocre strategy that is executed well trumps a great strategy that is executed poorly. In the realm of content strategy this is usually the case, although some exceptions to the rule do stand out. The How-To’s of Content Strategy Development In order for a content strategy to be successful, it must first be properly defined. Far too often, marketing professionals underestimate how important it is to undertake the basic steps of content strategy development. Like any good plan, a well-developed content strategy takes time and effort and no small amount of consideration. Even Forbes notes that even though content marketing can be complicated, it’s not in your best interests to put it on the back burner or ignore it altogether. Getting to Success – When Your Content Strategy Comes Together It’s a wonderful feeling to realize that your content strategy is coming together. All your key performance indicators are pointing towards a steady increase in traffic and your company’s name is on the public’s tongue. They know who you are and what you stand for. You’ve even managed to convince users to evangelize for you and things could not be better. In a perfect world, this would be what you’d come to expect from content marketing strategies. The truth of the matter is that this is the exception, rather than the rule. There are so many things that could possibly go wrong with a content strategy that ends up with it performing far worse than it set out to do, or even doing the opposite and driving consumers away from your site. How Content Strategies Fail If a content strategy is not delivering to its fullest potential the fault may lie in one of two places. Firstly, in the initial setup of the content marketing strategy there could have been a number of problems with how you approached the problem. On the other side of the coin are the problems that occur with the strategy that happen after its implementation. Both planning-level snafus and implementation level mistakes can lead to a content strategy failing. Let’s take a closer look at where the process seems to break down in these two key areas. 4 Major Planning Level Failures In planning level failure, a content strategy is doomed from the time it’s conceptualized. Although this seems like a bleak prospect, it is usually the case when an unskilled content strategy team tries to develop a strategy plan without having a proper grasp of planning principles. There are a number of key areas where this problem can persist and lead to failure for the strategy, such as: 1. Wrong Target Demographic While you would expect companies to know their own target demographic, you would be shocked to see how many of them aim their content strategy at a demographic that it doesn’t work for, while ignoring the demographic that it would appeal to best. 2. Not Budgeting Enough Having a budget is a good thing in a corporate setting because it gives you a figure to work with regarding what you’re allowed for purchasing new content. However, budgeting too little can make you sacrifice quality in order to meet your quota. 3. No Clear Distribution Channels Defining your distribution channels enables your content strategy to perform the way it was designed to. The distribution channels you choose should be the ones where your target demographic exists in large numbers. 4. Being Out Touch with your Audience Content marketing has a marked focus on the audience you are creating content for. If you don’t know what drives your audience, what motivates them and what makes them take action, then you need to find out before embarking on a content marketing campaign. Planning level failure isn’t the end of the world for a content strategy, however. Even though these things can limit the success (or even reverse it) for a content strategy, it is likely that the content management team will realize what’s going on and correct themselves before they get too far into content production. Four Implementation Level Failures This is where things get kind of complicated. At planning level failure it is a simple matter of fixing the behind-the-scenes work and redirecting resources where they have to go. When it comes to implementation level failure, things that go wrong here can severely damage the business image in the public eye. Depending on what goes wrong the impact could range from minor to catastrophic. Implementation level failure can include problems such as: 1. Failure to Streamline Content Although not a capital sin, failing to streamline your already produced content can lead to users leaving your site as they get there. Things such as consistent typography, working external links and relevant topics of discussion all fall under this broad heading. Properly vetting your content through an audit is a great way to deal with this problem, although it can be time consuming. 2. Not Engaging your Audience Properly The aim of content when developed in tandem with a strategy is to engage the audience so that they build a bond of loyalty with your brand or company. In order to engage your audience properly, you need to develop content that highlights hot-button topics and then discuss these over your comment section or on social media. Remember when discussing these things with your audience, it is recommended that you have a non-aggressive tone, even if members of the audience disagrees with your point of view. 3. Poor Quality Content Probably the number one problem that strategists have when … Read more

5 Ways to Making Your Web Content More about ‘You’ and Less about ‘Me’

January 1, 2021July 28, 2015 by Josh McCoy

How much do you think about the needs, expectations and opinions expressed by your past clients while churning out new web content pieces created to support your promotional goals? If it took you more than a couple of seconds to provide an accurate answer to this question, then perhaps you’re doing something wrong. Maybe you’re boring your audiences to death with mundane “who-we-are” type of speeches, fluff talk, and empty promises. If that is the case, now would be the best time to rethink your strategy and kick your selfishness to the curb, for your own good. Today, it is less about you, and more about them- your clients, the ones who keep you in business. Companies that are currently working on a unique web content creation plan tailored to their short and long-term goals plan have to maintain a fine balance between crafting branded content and elaborating user-oriented content with no brand affiliation whatsoever. Why Your Branded Web Content Shouldn’t Be Only about You Let’s face it: no matter how well-researched and informative branded content may be, it can still fail to reach its target, simply because it is promotional by nature. Savvy online visitors can read between the lines and separate a truly useful, reader-oriented piece created to entertain, educate or inform an audience, from a shameless sales pitch. Branded content can serve your best interest, as long as you put the needs of your potential clients first. How do you do that? We invite you to try not one, but five awesome tactics designed to boost the value and overall effectiveness of your content, make it resonate with your public and make your company seem a less self-centered and more inclined towards the happiness and fulfillment of its clients. 1. Try to Become Less Egocentric and More Empathetic First of all, check out your website and analyze your content. What kind of feeling do you get after taking a closer look at your landing pages? If you are egocentric by definition, chances are that you have stumbled across many “we do this and that”-kind of sentences. In this case, you may want to consider investing in a complete rewrite. Frankly speaking, your prospects don’t care about your products until you give them a reason to do so. In other words, they won’t try your goods until you come up with a combination of incentives (better quality, smaller price tag, freebies, special promotions and so on) that could raise their interest. You don’t have to offer substantial cash rewards to keep your readers on your website. Even the tiniest perks triggering negligible costs (free eBook or white paper download or a discount code) can cultivate the loyalty of your future and existing customers. 2. Write with Your Prospects in Mind and Avoid Promotional, Heavily Brand-Focused Web Content Promotional content can backfire, especially if it puts your interests above the ones expressed by your prospects. This threat is real, judging by the fact that one year ago, even Facebook considered tweaking the News Feed to reduce the amount of overly promotional content that was being served to its users on a daily basis. Web content, and especially the one meant to be distributed on social media platforms, should become the epitome of interactivity. Engaging posts usually comprise a plethora of elements that catch the reader’s eye and make him click on links over and over again. For instance, according to KissMetrics, photo posts get up to 104% more comments and 53% more likes than the rest. Question posts also receive up to 100% more comments. Furthermore, the length of your content appears to be another matter of great importance, considering that posts under 80 characters obtain 66% more engagement than longer ones. Therefore, write with these numbers in mind and tailor the substance and appearance of your posts based on the particularities of your audience. 3. When It Comes to Rolling out Branded Web Content, Make Sure It’s 100% Unique and Catchy We totally get it: well-rounded, promotional web content can help you increase brand awareness, reinvigorate sales and attract new prospects. If you are planning on turning your branded content into one of the main pillars of your marketing strategy, at least do your best to individualize your writing and make it reflect your vision, expertise, tradition, relationship with clients and the uniqueness of your brand. As Content Marketing Institute suggests, any business owner should start to think like everyday people, rather than striving to act like a CTA-oriented, old-school marketer. Self-appreciating content is anything but shareable, so work harder to get in touch with your buyer persona and gain insight into your public’s needs, demands and preferences, instead of trying to shove your products down your buyers’ throats. 4. Create a Community around Your Brand Through Engaging Content Here’s another idea worth developing and implementing: start thinking like a customer. Yes, you’ve got that right. If you were to shop around for a new detergent, what kind of selection criteria would you set up to make a great buying decision? Maybe you want to discover a formula that eliminates stains faster and more effectively than any other, or wish to spend less money on cleaning products. Or perhaps you want the best of both worlds and feel determined to go for a brand that fulfills your request. At the same time, as a Forbes article points out, in order to craft engaging content, you should spend a lot of time talking to some of your customers. Any feedback is much appreciated because it helps you make smarter changes when needed. Once you complete this phase, you should strive to catalyze connections. Socializing with your fans and followers is a relatively straightforward process; the real challenge is to stimulate them to bond with each other. The Red Bull’s success story revolving around a solid community of enthusiastic adrenaline junkies is only one example that may catch your attention. An article signed by James O’Brien and published by … Read more

The Power of Copywriting & Content Marketing Today (Case Study)

June 19, 2024July 13, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Understanding how powerful copywriting, and in a bigger picture, all of content marketing is doesn’t require you to look any further than the sheer amount of content that is produced on a daily basis. Content marketing has long been considered a mainstay of digital marketing and marketers. Considered a cornerstone of the industry, content marketing allows businesses to attract and keep a customer base. And a fundamental part of content marketing is copywriting. It’s like the ham to the eggs. Think about it: if your content marketing is a good blog, than your ham to that egg is the written blog. Design, SEO optimization with your plugins, correct categorization, etc. all tie in. Let’s think back to the overall picture. Now as most marketers can tell you, saying something without showing what it looks like in cold, hard facts is simply spouting hot air. The statistics of the matter bear out our original hypothesis: content marketing makes a major impact in the world today. Content Marketing by the Numbers There has been a constant reminder by content marketers that content is king, but only until you realize the statistics that exist behind the statement do you realize how powerful a king content really is. On average per minute— Nearly 2.5 million pieces of content are shared by users on Facebook Instagram has 220,000 new photos posted to its servers YouTube gets over 72 hours of new video uploaded Twitter is used around 300,000 times Over 200 million emails are sent Over $80,000 worth of sales is generated by Amazon And that is only PER MINUTE. Every sixty seconds for the whole day this kind of change happens. And it’s appreciating these massive movements of data that make us realize exactly how powerful social media is to the production and distribution of content. How Has Copywriting & Content Marketing Contributed to These Numbers? It is estimated, according to Content Marketing Institute, that nine out of every ten businesses today utilize content marketing in tandem with their sales force to generate awareness and increase their profits. And you know what the foundation of content marketing is? Good copywriting. Based on what we understand about the interplay between marketing and sales it’s not a stretch to see why these companies have adopted digital content marketing as an aid to raising their sales. The expenditure in advertising compared to the return on investment makes it a no-brainer to use content marketing. Case Study: Express Writers (We Call Ourselves a Content Agency, Right?) Hey – if we sell blogging and content, we better be good at it, right? Yes. But you’d be surprised how many writing agencies don’t care about maintaining their blog. Here at Express Writers, we’ve truly utilized content marketing to a degree of success. We adopted the idea in an effort to increase lead generation and sales through a targeted strategy incorporating guest blogging and SEO to a massive extent. The results we got were far better than many of the competitors in our very industry – we outrank 95% of them – and proves the potency of content marketing in the framework of a modern developing company. I would recommend any business that wants to see significant growth over time to consider content marketing as the vehicle to achieve that goal. You could say we’re among the 89% of companies that use content marketing and testify to its effectiveness. The development of our content marketing plan is: Four 2000-word pieces per week for our own blog, along with 4-6 more pieces per week for major guest blogs including such high-authority sites as Search Engine Journal, Site Pro News, SEM Rush and Content Marketing Institute. We also have over 80 site pages, 50 of which are our main service pages (one for each of our writing services) and are about 500 words or more each. I could tell you all day long how well our content does, how great our team does at compiling it, how we research the topics and develop the concepts, but here’s some cold hard stats for you to digest. We average 500-700 visitors in organic traffic daily, from Google keywords. We have 165 keywords indexed in SEO, 100 of which are in the top ten positions (screenshot from SEMRush): Also from SEMRush, a screenshot of some of our keyword positions as of June 2015: Many of our individual blogs are doing very well in search. For example, this blog written in 2013, “Website Copywriting for Dummies”, ranks #4 in organic search (screenshots via SEMRush): When we take into account the amount of growth our own company has seen over a single year, it’s not impossible to imagine how much content moves per day and how it can affect a company’s exposure and generate leads based off its content marketing strategy. It’s a testament to the kinds of things that we can expect from content marketing in the coming years. Now that we’ve disclosed how much content marketing has helped us, let’s delve into… The Cost of Content Marketing As an industry, content marketing is responsible for a massive amount of expenditure. In 2013, brand management site Brafton estimated that the total expenditure for new content creation for the year would reach about $118.4 billion. That’s billion, with a B. Although based on the amount of new content is produced daily and factoring in a cost like this into it, you can see why content creation itself can cost very little but the sheer volume of its production can add up to so much. Mashable approximates that as much as twenty seven million pieces of content are shared on social media per day. That’s a LOT of outreach for something that could cost you a couple bucks to make. Why Content Marketing Has Such An Impact With twenty seven million shares a day you’re probably starting to see how content can influence consumers to such a level that a message can go viral. As much as 58% of consumers trust editorial content, according to Nielsen. If you could … Read more

How Gary Vaynerchuk Wins at Marketing

December 31, 2020July 2, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Gary Vaynerchuk. If you haven’t heard of him, I really don’t know what kind of marketer you are. (Kidding! Or not…) For a start, he’s a reputable entrepreneur, public speaker, social media expert, investor, Internet personality, Jets fan, self-taught and self-proclaimed wine expert, and author of several bestselling, motivational books, such as The Thank You Economy, Why Now Is the Best Time to Cash in on Your Passion and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. Three Reasons Why Gary Rocks For Gary Vaynerchuk, family comes first, but after that, his ever-growing empire is listed as one of his top priorities. We love this guy because he is forward thinking and ahead of the curve. He isn’t afraid to make his voice heard and lead the pack; he understands the new realities of the 2015 content marketing industry and doesn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand to small business owners looking for pertinent advice on how to grow their businesses. 1. Gary Vaynerchuk’s Marketing Insight Is Not for the Faint of Heart. Bold content pieces with daring titles, like, for instance, Marketers Ruin Everything reflect the challenges experienced by entrepreneurs who are disconnected or unable to see any real ROI, in spite of their continuous efforts. His take on content marketing is pretty straightforward: in order to explore the full potential of your content and use social media as a convenient marketing tool, you have to give more than you actually ask for in return. In other words, you have to avoid becoming an annoying noise maker by providing increased value to your readers through your innovative, problem-solving, engaging content. 2. Gary Vaynerchuk Practices What He Preaches. As a CEO and hustler, Gary Vaynerchuk doesn’t waste any time. After growing his dad’s company from $3 million to $50 million through a unique combo of aggressive pricing, email marketing tactics and ecommerce hacks, Garyfounded VaynerMedia, a digital agency focused on social media, and also started VaynerRSE, an investment fund estimated at $25 million. All the advice that he generously offers to fellow entrepreneurs is derived from his past experiences and based on his marketing insight, skills and know-how. 3. You Can Ask Him (Almost) Anything. #AskGaryVee is the best place to get answers to your everyday marketing, entrepreneurship and social media-related questions. Takeaway: whatever you do, don’t miss Episode 108, especially if you’re very fond of elevators, e-commerce and aliens, or at least wish to discover the connection between these three elements. Here’s how it works: you ask questions, and GaryVee answers them. Check out his YouTube channel, free your curiosity and get inspired. Five Crucial Content Marketing Lessons That We Can All Learn from Gary Vaynerchuk In 2015, when the battle for supremacy and the highest number of eyeballs is fierce on any digital market, small business owners need leaders and influencers more than ever. Vaynerchuk is one of the path openers who could help you overcome any challenge that you may encounter while trying to lift your online business from the ground. Here are five important lessons that you can learn from this talented all-in-one social media guru, entrepreneur and author. 1. Creating Quality Content Is a Matter of Respect. According to Vaynerchuk, proper content creation revolves around the concept of respect. First of all, you have to respect the platform that is going to carry, distribute and promote your marketing message. One must strategize around the platform, and adapt the storytelling tactic based on the way in which a prospect actually interacts with that particular channel. For instance, activity on different social networking websites is linked to different mindsets. A woman may use Instagram and Pinterest to discover new trends, while also relying on Facebook to stay connected with her friends, family members and favorite brands. Each of these channels require a unique content strategy tailored to the prospect’s intent. At the same time, you have to respect the audience and give your readers instant access to quality food for thought. Play with different nuances, explore the unique features of your products and convert them into benefits and incorporate a surprise element to stimulate the curiosity of your public. After all, Five Genius Organizing Solutions That Will Help You Keep a House Clean with X Young Kids sounds much more interesting than Here’s What You Can Do with the Cheap Plastic Containers That I’m Selling,” right? 2. Hustling Is the Key to Survival in Any Environment. In the world of content marketing, you have two options at hand: you can either go big or go home with an empty wallet. If the latter alternative doesn’t exactly appeal to you, consider the fact that only a cohesive, well-rounded content marketing strategy will offer you the desirable long-term results. As Vaynerchuk puts it, every minute has to count for something. As far as we’re concerned, every success involves a struggle, and every struggle is geared towards creating and delivering better content that resonates with a specific audience, encourages feedback and improves conversion rates. 3. You Have to Provide Real Value to Your Customers. Unless you have been on vacation for the last decade or so, you must be fully aware of the fact that clients are now more selective and difficult to reach than ever. Why? First of all, they are bombarded with more than 5,000 branded messages daily. Secondly, even if they manage to cut through the dreadful advertising clutter, your visitors have a short attention span and tend to be quite self-centered. In this context, you have to step up your game by providing real value to your potential clients. According to Moz, you can achieve this objective by providing exclusive information that your readers wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else, delivering content presented in a unique manner and prepping the ground for a major upgrade in terms of website design, accessibility and aggregation. 4. You Can Improve Your Luck by Improving Your Content. In order to make your brand visible, you have to put it in front of your … Read more

7 Ways ModCloth Is Winning at Content Marketing

January 1, 2021June 22, 2015 by Adam Oakley

If you are unaware of what ModCloth is, you must not be into old-timey, vintage women’s clothes, accessories, and home décor. But really, who isn’t? I’m going to assume that most people are huge fans of this brand. I know I am. One thing I like about ModCloth is their amazing content marketing strategy. They really know how to organically sell themselves, and through this, they have shed a light on the retro, vintage appearance in general. Because marketing is so important, companies that do it well are always the ones people should be looking to follow. ModCloth is an example of these content leaders. For a group that is dedicated to vintage apparel, they sure are forward-thinking in their marketing. 7 Ways ModCloth’s Content Is Killer ModCloth has several content strategies that I love but here are six (and a half) things that they do that I think are especially innovative. 1. They use real models. If you go to the ModCloth website, you will not always see the average model. ModCloth sometimes even uses their own employees to show off their great designs. In fact a campaign they ran earlier this year took several of their employees of all different sizes and had them model the same swimsuit. ModCloth makes use of ‘real’ models in many different ways. They were one of the first retailers to sign the “Heroes Pledge for Advertisers,” which consists of guidelines on limiting Photoshop use in ads. They boosted their plus-size collection shortly after they signed the pledge. If you want to model for them, they make it easy for you to apply even if you do not have modelling experience straight from their website. In fact, they claim that they often find models in untraditional places, from, in their own words, “parties and shopping districts to airports and libraries.” The reason this works is because they are committed to making clothes for the everyday girl, and they realize that if they want to sell to that everyday girl, they need to show potential customers what someone like them would look like wearing that outfit. Plus, not for nothing, it got talked about in the Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Gloss, Cosmopolitan, and tons of other big name markets. Lesson to Learn: Be up front and honest about your product. If you try to flatter and deceive, customers might use you once, but they won’t come back. Plus, this is such a rare concept that when you do it, tons of people will want to cover it. 2. They keep their retro-y vibe even in modern-y formats. As does any e-retailers, and hopefully most if not all retailers, ModCloth has a blog, a Twitter account, Instagram, Tumblr, and you get the picture. All of these social media platforms have something big in common: they are all decidedly un-vintage. How can a company that is dedicated to celebrating all things retro use modern forms of marketing? The answer is by turning those modern forms into a retro playground. If you look at ModCloth content, you still get that vintage feel that you would expect from them. Through color schemes, images, and product descriptions, you forget that you are using technology from this era as you are transported back to the time that ModCloth wants you to envision. What is the lesson here for all employees, though? Remember who your audience is. You might not have young women who love that old-time feel as your target reader. So don’t advertise for them. But do figure out who you want to target, and then make sure your content reflects the image you want those people to feel. Don’t let technology control you. To an extent, you have to follow the crowd. If Twitter is where the people are, you have to be on Twitter. However, just because you need to use these modern marketing methods does not mean you have to market on their terms. Turn these formats into platforms to showcase your visions. 3. They let their customers upload images. Similar to the real life models point, ModCloth is great about encouraging people to upload their own images. Other places do this, but I have never seen it done quite as much as I have on ModCloth’s site. When you go to view an item, you can see whole galleries of real customers wearing that same piece. This is a great concept for so many different reasons. Free models. The more you get people to show off your product without having to pay them, the better it is for you. Customers feel like they are part of your team. When you let them help, customers feel like they are part of the family. And the more they feel like they are part of the family, the more they are likely to remain a loyal customer. People see what it looks like off the shelf. One of the worst things about shopping online is that you cannot see how you will look in an outfit before purchasing. Just because it looks good on a model, does not mean it will look good on you. And even if the model is just an ordinary person, the photographer is taking the picture at just the right angle with just the right light. However, if you get to see the outfit worn by someone of the same size as you (the uploaders include their measurements and the size they ordered to help make picking the right size easier) in a real life situation, you are more likely to purchase it. What should you take away here? Let your customers get in on your content marketing plan. They’ll give you free marketing and will want to keep coming back. 4. They give you access to their stylists. ModCloth makes it easy to get the information you want most through their ModStylist feature. Most sites have a chat feature where you can talk to a customer service rep. But ModCloth takes it … Read more