Content Marketing - Express Writers - Page 4
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION

Content Marketing

How to Review Your Content for Efficacy and Quality

by
How To Review Content Header

Your website reflects you and your business. It’s not enough to have an aesthetically pleasing site design. You also need to make sure you’re publishing impeccable content that Google will rank highly and that your readers will enjoy. Part of that is learning how to review content for efficacy and quality so you can put your best foot forward with everything you publish. This way, you always give off a great first impression. But how exactly do you conduct a content review? That’s what you’ll learn how to do in this post. What is a Content Review and Why is it Important? A content review is essentially like the final piece of the puzzle before hitting publish and sharing your work with the world. It’s your opportunity to look everything over and make final changes that will allow you to polish your draft to perfection. Here’s why it’s so important to learn how to review content: It Ensures You’re on Track to Reach Your Goals: As you look over your content, you’ll be able to ask yourself whether it’ll get you closer to reaching the goals you’ve set for yourself. If not, you’ll have the opportunity to make tweaks before publishing. It’ll Encourage Consistency With Content: Consistency is key but can sometimes be tricky if you have multiple people writing content for your brand. With a content review, you can catch those inconsistencies and correct them. It’s also possible to turn the review into a learning opportunity as you sit down and talk to your team about how to better meet brand guidelines. Any Mistakes Will be Spotted and Corrected: Content riddled with issues (whether typos or inaccurate information) is a major turn-off for your readers. You want to make sure you spot them and get them fixed to avoid hurting your brand’s reputation. While it may sound tedious, it’s worthwhile at the end of the day. When you take the extra steps to polish your content to perfection your readers will truly appreciate your efforts. They’ll keep coming back to your site because they know they can count on you for great content. Don’t hesitate to take your review beyond your blog posts. You can apply this process to your website’s homepage, landing pages (such as for products and services), and more. How to Review Content for Efficacy and Quality Your content review process could look different compared to other creators, and that’s okay. It’s important to make this step work for you and your team. However, there are some basic tips you’ll always want to implement to ensure success. Here are a few of our top suggestions: 1. Keep Your Goals Top of Mind As you move forward with these tips on how to review content, you always need to remember your goals. You cannot measure the efficacy of your content if you don’t know what you intended to achieve with it in the first place. So, what do positive results look like in your content? What results indicate that you’ve seen a return on your investment? For instance, your goal may have been to increase traffic, engagement, and conversions. To determine whether you’ve been successful at making that happen, you’ll want to dive into your analytics. Measure things like page views, traffic sources, and conversion rate to help you decide your goals and how to move forward with them. 2. Bring Someone on Board for Your Content Review The best thing about conducting a content review is that you don’t need to do it alone. After all, sometimes we get too attached to our content, and it makes us unable to spot mistakes or quality issues. By having someone else step in to look over a piece of content with fresh eyes, they can see things we’ve overlooked. Ideally, you’ll want to choose someone who is meticulous and has impeccable spelling and grammar skills. You never want to rely solely on spell check. It’s even better if that person is willing to offer constructive criticism that you can use in the future. If you work alongside a team, you can assign a specific person to this task. Having a team of creators and editors to help you bring your content to life is an amazing asset. So, if you can afford it, it’s worth it to have a content team that can tackle these tasks. There’s nothing wrong with having to tackle these tasks on your own. If you have to work alone, don’t be afraid to ask a knowledgeable friend or colleague for assistance. 3. Ensure Everything Meets Your Brand Guidelines Part of learning how to review content is determining whether a piece of content aligns with the vision you have for your brand. To start, you need to create brand voice guidelines and make sure you share them with anyone on your team who will be writing or editing content. This way, they can refer to those guidelines when conducting the review. They should encompass details such as tone of voice, who your target audience is, and even go over your brand’s quality standards. Then, you won’t have to worry about content that’s below your standards getting published. Instead, it’ll only be top-notch content your readers will love. 4. Take the Time to Fact-Check Claims and Data Misinformation can spread around the internet like wildfire if you aren’t careful. You can avoid being pulled into an issue by taking some extra time before publishing a piece of content to fact-check any claims or data you include in your article. This way, you can feel confident knowing that what you’ve published is 100% accurate. As you do this, make sure to include links  to cite your sources. Then, you can back up any statements you’ve made. It may seem time-consuming, but it’ll be worthwhile because your readers will view you as a trusted and informed source of information. 5. Check for Proper Optimization If you hope to see your content at the top of Google’s … Read more

Content Marketing in 2024: The Top Trends You Should Know

by

As we step into 2024, the landscape of content marketing continues to evolve, presenting both challenges and opportunities for businesses looking to make their mark in the online space. In a world where attention spans are fleeting and consumer preferences are ever-changing, mastering the art of content creation and delivering quality is essential. In this article, we’ll explore the top trends for content marketing in 2024, highlighting the importance of short and long-form video content, the staying power of long-form blog content, and more. Staying Ahead: Why You Should Be Aware of the Trends In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, staying on top of trends is a must for crafting a successful strategy. Trends provide insights into evolving consumer behaviors, emerging technologies, etc. By embracing this information, businesses can then align their strategies with the needs of their audience to ensure relevance and resonance in their field. However, it’s not just about adapting to market changes. It’s also about seizing opportunities for growth so you can have a bigger impact within the online landscape. By staying ahead of the curve, you’re also decreasing your risk of getting lost in the crowd. You must be able to keep up with what’s happening in the world and adapt accordingly if you want your brand to stand the test of time. Content Marketing in 2024: The Top Trends You Should Know Here are the trends you’ll want to consider as you map out your content marketing strategy for the year ahead: 1. Quality Long-Form Blog Content: The Evergreen Anchor As a team of skilled, professional writers, it should come as no surprise that we are always going to encourage businesses to embrace long-form blog content. While the digital landscape shifts toward dynamic and immersive content formats, the importance of quality blog posts remains strong. In-depth articles not only establish expertise and credibility in your field but also significantly contribute to search engine optimization (SEO). If you want your business to be seen online, you must be consistently putting out quality content that has been optimized to rank high in search results. If you want to master content marketing in 2024, you need to make sure you invest in creating comprehensive, well-researched blog content that will not only attract organic traffic but also provide lasting value to your audience. Need help creating top-notch content for your company blog? Let us help! We offer different levels of content writing to suit your needs and budget. Visit our Content Shop to learn more. 2. The Dynamic Duo: Short and Long-Form Video Content Are you tired of seeing video content on every list of content marketing trends? Well, let that be proof that video isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So, if you have yet to jump on board, now is the time! Video content has been a cornerstone of digital marketing for years, but as we head into 2024, it’s becoming even more diverse. Short-form videos on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels are embracing brevity and creativity to captivate their viewers. These easily digestible videos are perfect for capturing attention in a world where time is a precious commodity. Simultaneously, long-form video content is enjoying a comeback. Platforms like YouTube are still seeing a demand for in-depth, informative videos. As a result, brands need to find a balance between short and sweet videos and longer formats. This will help cater to diverse audience preferences and ensure you’re reaching as many people as possible. 3. Podcasts: The Steady Growth in Popularity If you’re feeling a bit camera shy, you can always add a podcast to your content marketing in 2024. Podcasts have transcended the niche status they had once upon a time and have emerged as a mainstream content medium in the last few years. Alt Text: Graph showing the growth of podcast listeners in the United States from 2013 to 2023. As shown by the graph above, the amount of podcast listeners in the United States continues to grow year after year. And since podcasting shows no signs of slowing down, there’s never been a better time to get started if you and your audience are interested in audio content. Whether commuting or multitasking, podcasts offer a unique opportunity for brands to engage with their audience on a more personal level. This is your place to share industry insights, tell stories, and cultivate a more intimate connection with your listeners, fostering a true sense of community. It’s safe to say we can expect to see even more businesses leveraging podcasts as a tool to build brand loyalty and thought leadership. 4. Social-First Content: Meeting Your Audience Where They Are There’s no denying that we’re in an era that’s dominated by social media. That means having a social-first strategy is kind of a non-negotiable for businesses these days. But wait! What exactly does that mean? To put it simply, having a social-first strategy is all about creating content with social media in mind. You need to be strategic when considering and crafting your marketing companies to see success. Tailoring content specifically for each platform and understanding the nuances of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok is crucial for maintaining a strong online presence. Otherwise, you risk getting lost in the crowd. And if you’re putting the time and effort into creating amazing content, you don’t want that to happen. You want to be recognized and you deserve it, too! This is why you want to figure out where your target audience is spending the most time online so you can meet them where they are. Put yourself on the platforms they’re using the most. Then, you can use that platform’s features to publish quality content that’s going to grab their attention. Before you know it, you’ll notice one of the key benefits of social media: increased brand exposure. Did you know we have social media experts who can create captivating, highly engaging content for your brand? It’s true! Our team can create social media posts for … Read more

Wrapping Up 2023: Navigating the Content Marketing Landscape

by

As we bid farewell to 2023, it’s time to reflect on what has unfolded in the world of content marketing over the past year. It’s safe to say this year has been a testament to the resilience and innovation of marketers who are tasked with navigating an ever-evolving digital landscape. We’ve experienced the growth of groundbreaking technologies when it comes to AI, leaving many wondering what the future looks like for human writers. And brands are feeling the pressure to create captivating content that resonates with both Google and their readers. In this post, we’ll look back on some of the top trends that have defined content marketing in 2023. Not only that, but we’ll delve into why these trends matter and how they’re creating the foundation for our strategies as we venture into 2024. Let’s dive in! Reflecting on Content Marketing in 2023 2023 has certainly left a lasting impression on us all and here’s what you need to know about its impact on content marketing this year and in the months to come: 1. The Crucial Role of a Content Marketing Budget Establishing a clear and well-defined content marketing budget is a must for every business, no matter what industry you’re in. You need to ensure you’re allotting enough money so you can afford the resources needed to create, distribute, and optimize content that resonates with your target audience. Many companies have mastered budgeting and know what they need to set aside each year and therefore don’t find themselves making major changes. As you can see from the chart above, Content Marketing Institute found that 42% of B2B content marketing budgets will stay the same in 2024. Where is that money going, you ask? Well, it seems that most marketers are pouring their funds into video and thought leadership content. 69% of respondents are investing more money into video in 2024, while 53% are focused on developing more thought leadership content for their audience. Video has continued to be a top priority year after year, making it even more pressing to get on board. 2. The Ascendance of AI There’s no denying that AI has emerged as a defining content marketing trend in recent years, but even more so in 2023. With tools like ChatGPT generating tons of buzz online, brands have been harnessing the power of AI to streamline content creation, enhance personalization, and optimize their strategies. However, as we navigate this AI-driven landscape, it becomes even more evident that the human touch is irreplaceable. While AI may excel in some areas, it lacks the understanding, creativity, and emotional intelligence of a human writer. And the authenticity, empathy, and storytelling that humans bring to content creation are crucial for establishing genuine connections with audiences. That’s why it’s best to find a balance when using AI tools. You can leverage the efficiency they can provide, but you still need to preserve the unique qualities that only a human writer can infuse into their work. So, turn to AI to assist with content ideation or even to recommend optimization strategies, but the content itself should remain in the hands of a skilled human writer. 3. Mastering the Middle of the Funnel As marketers, it’s easy to become obsessed with the beginning and end of a sales funnel. But what about the middle? Now more than ever, it’s crucial that brands prioritize and master the middle of the funnel when it comes to their content marketing. Otherwise, they risk losing out to competitors. The middle of the funnel is where leads transition from initial awareness to a deeper consideration of the products or services that are being offered. At this stage, potential customers actively research, compare options, and seek more detailed information. Your goal during this time is to build trust, showcase expertise, and address specific pain points to position your brand as the optimal solution to their problems. What kind of content should you create for those in the middle of the funnel? Here are some ideas: In-Depth Guides and eBooks: Provide comprehensive guides and eBooks that delve into specific topics relevant to your industry. They can provide valuable insights and actionable advice to demonstrate your expertise in the field. Case Studies and Success Stories: Share real-world examples of how your product or service has solved problems for existing customers. This will build credibility, offer social proof, and help potential customers see the benefits of choosing your brand over another. Webinars and Video Content: Host webinars or create video content that dives deep into your offerings. Showcase product demonstrations and engage with your audience in real-time through Q&A sessions that will nurture relationships. 4. The Importance of Short-Form, Mobile-First Video Platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok have become epicenters for creativity, community building, and brand engagement. If you haven’t already gotten on board, now is the time to do so because neither of these platforms seems to be going away anytime soon. The above chart shows just how popular TikTok is among the other social media platforms. People spend the most time there, averaging about 53.8 minutes of scrolling per day. Don’t you want to ensure your brand is there to potentially secure some of that coveted attention? What makes short-form video content so powerful is its ability to convey a compelling story in a matter of seconds. This allows brands to communicate their message in a concise, yet impactful, way that captivates their audience instantly. These videos can be used to showcase products, share behind-the-scenes content, and so much more. Not only that but participating in TikTok challenges or Instagram Reels trends can humanize your brand and help you stay culturally relevant. This is essential if you’re targeting younger generations. 5. The Power of Authenticity Through UGC and Influencer Marketing As the world of content marketing continues to evolve, user-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing have been redefining how brands connect with their audiences. UGC has become a way for brands to encourage their audience to become … Read more

Uplevel Your AI Content Game with the Human Touch

by

Uplevel Your AI Content Game with a Human Touch AI is here, and while it has generated thousands of pieces of content already, those pieces of content are still not quite up to the standard you would expect (or Google for that matter) when it comes to expertise. If your company is using AI-generated content, you may want to consider hiring a Subject Matter Expert (SME) writer to follow up and help you optimize and more importantly, humanize your content so that you do not sacrifice your position in the SERPs. AI-Content Generation Doesn’t Understand E-E-A-T, But a Writer Does AI creates content by pulling words together based on the prompts you provide. It can optimize content with keywords, but not in a reader-friendly way. Likewise, the tool provides outdated stats, which means you could be quoting something as much as two years old – and in the content marketing world, that might as well be 10 years. Content marketing trends come and go more than the tides, and now that Google has made it clear E-E-A-T is the standard, quickly generating content with AI and not following up with human AI content optimization is a risky chance to take. What is E-E-A-T? E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. This was designed for Google’s quality search result analysis and helps feed into the infamous algorithm that every website owner is trying to attract.  While E-E-A-T doesn’t directly impact your rankings in the SERPs, it is a strong SEO factor that you cannot ignore and E-E-A-T is more likely to increase conversions, according to SEMRush, because if a customer trusts your site, they are more likely to use your service.  Examining How AI Struggles to Meet the E-E-A-T Expectations AI content is written by a computer, and while the technology can perform tasks such as intelligence, learning, reasoning, and even decision making, there is a lot that it cannot do. From the content marketing side of things, AI lacks significantly in terms of creating personalized narration, building character, establishing trust, and even being factually correct. Right now, ChatGPT3.5 only has data back to 2021. Asking it how many blogs there were worldwide created this response: As you can see, its knowledge goes back to September 2021, and worse, it didn’t even have an answer then.  In case you’re curious, there are more than 600 million blogs as of 2023.  AI doesn’t have the ability to pull statistics, and statistics build two very important components of E-E-A-T: Authoritativeness Trustworthiness If you cannot prove to your audience what you are saying is factually correct, where is your authority and how can they trust you? Easy, they can’t.  What is AI Content Optimization? AI-generated content has its flaws, but it definitely is cheaper and faster than your average writer. That said, despite AI automating numerous processes in our lives, it cannot go unsupervised – especially when it comes to content. Instead, you need content that has a human touch, essentially human-optimized AI content, so that your message gets across and leaves a profound impact on the reader. 5 Reasons to Consider AI Optimization Done by a Writer In most cases, you can generate hundreds of blogs for free, but you still want to optimize your content using a human. At Express Writers, we do offer human optimization for AI-generated content, and quite a few clients have used this service so far to help amplify their AI-created content without sacrificing their SERPs. For human optimization, we recommend using our General Blog service. It is affordable, has a human optimize for SEO, rewrite for flow, add branding and personality, and most importantly, infuse your content with up-to-date statistics.  Still not sure? Here are some reasons you need to use a human to optimize your content.  Humanized AI Content Offers Personalization AI is repetitive, robotic and has no personality, but it is a computer, so you can’t expect it to have a personality. Your marketing copy, however, and those who read it, do expect to see some personality in the words you provide.  We are overwhelmed with dozens of marketing messages, emails, blogs and social media posts each day, so you need something that stands out, and AI content cannot do that alone. Instead, it needs that human touch. AI might automate generating your blogs for you, but you still need a human to help that piece of content resonate with your audience and offer authenticity.  AI Has Writing Flaws AI is by no means perfect, and while they continue to learn and release new versions of AI-generation tools, they still have too much missing. AI does understand basic grammar, but the output sometimes repeats itself and doesn’t read well.  For example, I had ChatGPT3.5 write me a 100-word paragraph for a blog on “reasons to start running,” and requested it to write a catching intro. Here is the intro it came up with: Not awful, but also, not really catchy either. It tends to ramble, it doesn’t understand flow, and some of the text feels more like fluff/filler than something that hooks. Speaking of, where is the hook? Do you see a profound hook that makes you want to continue reading a blog based on this intro?  A human needs to go through these paragraphs and pick out what matters, refine points brought up, and here is the perfect opportunity to add an interesting fact or stat that catches the reader’s eye. A Human Writer to Help Infuse Stats into Your Content Stats are crucial for content. Not only do they provide backlink opportunities – yes, backlinks are still important to SEO, but they also help you satisfy the Authority and Trustworthiness requirements of E-E-A-T. When you have statistics to back up statements or claims within your content, the reader feels more confident in what they’ve read rather than just making a statement and offering no insight or high-value resources to back it up. Offering Accuracy Checks You can use AI to generate … Read more

Unlock Your Content Empire with White Label Ebooks: A Game-Changing Solution for Any Business, Any Industry

by

You might not see white label ebooks every day on the latest content marketing sites, but that doesn’t mean they are irrelevant. In fact, ebooks are still a powerful marketing tool that any business, regardless of industry, should be utilizing in their marketing strategy. If your company is not using an ebook, you are missing out on the opportunity to educate and retain potential customers and position yourself as an authority. Hubspot Uses Ebooks – and Savvy about it Too Take Hubspot, for example. They publish ebooks throughout the year and put them on their site. “State of Marketing 2023,” is a popular one that they release annually, telling you what’s new, what’s trending, and what they see in the future. Yes, these are all free, but that doesn’t mean Hubspot is not gaining something from using them. To download the ebook, you must give Hubspot your email.  Once they have your email, you are part of their marketing funnel. You will get email marketing campaigns, some of which you might click on or even act on. All for a free download.  What is a White Label Ebook? Hubspot creates its ebooks in-house, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Hubspot is a major corporation with the means to hire in-house writers to tackle the research and writing of their ebooks. You are more likely to benefit from a white label ebook for your business than trying to hire an in-house writer. Ebooks as “white label,” are ebooks written by a third party, such as a writing agency you have hired, but published under your company’s name or even your name. You are the author. You didn’t research or write it, but you get all of the credit. By no means is this misleading.  You are a busy business owner and need to outsource things like content creation – including ebooks – to help your content marketing strategy and build your business. With these white label services, you get the expertise of a writer in your niche that can research, create, and edit – with some companies, like here at Express Writers, you can even get the book designed so it is ready to publish the moment you get it. You are a busy business owner and need to outsource things like content creation – including ebooks – to help your content marketing strategy and build your business. With these white label services, you get the expertise of a writer in your niche that can research, create, and edit – with some companies, like here at Express Writers, you can even get the book designed so it is ready to publish the moment you get it. A Quick Note on White Label Ebooks and AI AI is here, and it is writing content for a lot of businesses. However, we’d like to share a little caution when it comes to using AI to create an ebook – whether it is 4 pages or 40 pages. AI is NOT creative. It is not original. Yes, sure, your ebook might pass on Copyscape as “original” copy, but the reality is that your copy was generated by stringing together phrases and keywords already on the web – meaning content written by someone else already out there. So, your ebook is not white label if you opt for AI as your means to creating it.  The only way to protect your brand and ensure you have a genuine, white label ebook is to hire a writer and have them create that ebook from scratch using their words, their research, and of course, your branding. The Benefits of Purchasing White Label Ebooks on a Platform Like EW At Express Writers, we understand the importance of a worthwhile ebook. In return, you want to flex your knowledge and gain something from your ebook. If you’re on the fence about outsourcing, let us discuss with you a few reasons customers purchase ebooks from our team rather than turning to a content mill or even AI. You Build Credibility and Authority with Your Audience Yes, long-form blog posts, such as our Authority blogs, help build your authority (an important part of E-E-A-T), but ebooks can do it even faster and better. After all, no one wants to read a 10,000-word blog, but they will read a 10,000-word ebook. Ebooks are the epitome of long-form content that help establish your brand’s credibility and authority in a single piece of content. You can share case study information, in-house statistics, and even more in-depth information about the products or services your company offers. It doesn’t matter if your target audience is a consumer or another business – ebooks build credibility all the same. Inexpensive Compared to the Return on Your Investment The return on your investment with an ebook is well worth it. Not only can you use ebooks as a gateway to capture emails and expand your potential customer pool, but it only costs a few hundred dollars for you to unlock leads that are actually interested in you. A single ebook locked behind providing an email address could give you hundreds of potential customers all for a few hundred you spent writing that one ebook. Purchasing leads will never generate results like that.  Easy Distribution White label ebooks are digital; therefore, you don’t have to find a publisher or even worry about going through the demands of a digital publisher. Instead, you have a download-ready ebook you can put on your website, link in social media, create a landing page for, etc. Distribution is only limited by what you are willing to do to market the ebook.  Likewise, your readers can access and download the content on any device – computer, phone, tablet, and more.  Use Your Ebook as a Guide to Educate Even Further You can use an ebook as a “guide” to help your readers better understand your products or services. It works in any niche. For example, you sell custom resin pen blanks (quite the … Read more

Cracking the Strategy Code: What is a Content Calendar?

by
Cracking The Strategy Code What Is A Content Calendar (1280 × 447 Px)

Whether you are a small business just getting started or have been dabbling in SEO for a while, one term you might have come across is “content strategy.” Still, the content calendar is the more important and often unspoken strategy you need to know.  What is a content calendar, and what makes it the key to unlocking your best strategy results? Is it just adding blog titles to a calendar on Google and remembering to post them on time?  Well, yes, but also no. A content calendar is a key that unlocks that door to limitless possibilities for your content. From boosting social media interaction to improving your blog’s readability and call-to-action performance, you need to know how to build a content calendar that takes you to the top. Top of your industry, niche, and most importantly, the SERPs. Yes, a content calendar can help you get there – if you are creating the right type of content calendar. How to Create a Content Calendar No No’s – Hint, You Don’t Add Titles to Google Calendar While titles and a strategic plan for posting your content are part of the secret sauce that goes into a content calendar, it is far from the final ingredient. A content calendar builds out a title, but also sprinkles in focus keywords, information to include, links to use, and photo ideas, and then picks strategic dates to post. Most importantly, a content calendar is not limited to blogs. More companies are using content calendars for social media too – after all, aren’t social media posts essential pieces of content?  A content calendar can also help you plan out your website content. You don’t have to write it all at once, and you can strategically release web page content while you release blogs or corresponding social media posts to help bring it all together.  According to one survey, 64% of successful companies have a content strategy with a content calendar. That’s a big piece of the pie that you’re missing out on if you are not also utilizing similar tools in your strategy. What are the Benefits of a Content Calendar? Content calendars make planning your content and writing content more manageable. You can improve team collaboration, boost productivity, and organize yourself for a more competitive edge.  Calendars Help You Visualize the Strategy as a Whole It does not matter how big your content creation team is, whether it is just you or you have a few members helping, it is easy to get lost in the creation process if you don’t know what a priority is and have an accurate bird’s eye view of your content coming up. With a content calendar, you can plan out your blog posts, social media posts, and even YouTube community posts, all ahead of time – whether monthly or weekly, depending on the demands of your niche.  For example, you run a YouTube channel with a blog. You typically post a single video per week, then a corresponding blog post with it to summarize for the audience. Producing a single YouTube video with a blog, then promoting both, requires a few steps. You not only need to write a script for your video, but line up editing (or secure time in your calendar to edit), create a thumbnail, prepare the description, write up the blog post, capture still images for your blog from the video recording, and publish social media posts to promote your latest video and blog release. Those are a lot of steps to get done, and nothing you want to rush. By knowing what content is coming up for the next week, you can work on outsourcing what you need while staying ahead of the calendar. You Become More Predictable for Your Readers and Consistent in Quality When organized, your content no longer appears scrambled or haphazardly put together. You are posting regularly, on schedule, which also gives your readers, followers, or viewers more predictability. If they know that you release a new podcast every Friday or a new blog upload on Mondays, they will wait for an alert to catch it.  Saves You Time and Energy When your content creation is moving along like a well-oiled machine, you save time and energy that you can spend elsewhere on your business. Think about it – if you are working a week ahead, having next week’s blog already in production and a team working on next month’s social media posts, you can focus your time on growth, look for new opportunities, and not worry about finding time to squeeze in your content creation. Even if you are trying to do the creation yourself, you now have a plan laid out. You know when the final product is due, and what steps you need to complete to finish it, and you can plan ahead. How to Create a Content Calendar  A content calendar or editorial calendar is unique to each business or brand. However, there are some elements you can use to create a content calendar regardless of your niche. Keyword Research – You should always center your ideas around keyword opportunities. Today, the SERPs are incredibly competitive, so you need to look for high-volume keywords, but low-competition and still worthwhile to use in your content to grab the attention of potential searchers. Doing keyword research around your niche will help you generate ideas for your content calendar. Research What’s Trending – Following trends in your niche is critical. It doesn’t matter if you are a local dog groomer or big SaaS corporation, you need to know what is trending in your industry and follow along. Tools such as BuzzSumo can help you see what is trending in your niche.  Come Up with Content Titles/Topics/Ideas – After creating a list of keyword opportunities for your business, now comes the time to generate your ideas. Whether it is creating a web page to fulfill a keyword opportunity, adding some blogs, or even creating videos that will rank … Read more

Steps for Creating Content that Connects with Your Audience

by
Creating Header (1280 × 447 Px)

Content that connects with your audience is worth every penny. Having a single piece of content that speaks to your desired audience, and connecting to your audiences meaningfully, often results in a higher ROI. It is essential, whether you are a small business or large corporation, that you know how to connect with your audience emotionally, and often that requires a special type of writer to do so. Not just anyone can connect; simply putting words onto virtual paper will not do the job. Instead, you need to know what your audience needs, their pain points, their reasons for seeking out your business, and when to offer help – timing is crucial here. Today, we will review a few ways to create content that makes a genuine connection and how to implement it into your content strategy for blogs, web pages, and even social media posts. Is Written Content Relevant for Today’s Audience? The age of YouTube has certainly changed how we all interact with search engines, and often we opt for a video over a blog to learn about something, but that is not the majority. Written content, specifically blogs, is still in high demand. 77% of internet users read blogs, according to Social Media Today – so obviously, there’s a market.  7 Steps Every Company Needs to Use to Create Content that Connects with the Right Audience Creating and maintaining a connection with your audience is crucial. Whether your target audience is B2B or B2C, you have a target audience, and you need content that speaks to them. So, how do you do that when your “audience pool” masses in the thousands? Easy…by following these key steps. 1. Embrace Empathy The pandemic has certainly taught us a lot and restructured the way a lot of us communicate or even work today. However, one of the biggest lessons from the pandemic was empathy. Thinking about your audience using compassion and your emotional intelligence is critical in your content. 2. Write As You Talk You want to connect to the person reading your content. What is a better way to connect than conversation? For some reason, being conversational in blogs and even landing page content got a bad rap somewhere but shouldn’t have. Being conversational is precisely what a reader needs to feel as though you are speaking to them. The robotic, encyclopedic text has its uses but rarely is that content that is designed to create a connection. Instead, that is created to educate.  Social media posts, blogs, and sales pages need to connect to the reader, or the conversions will not happen. So, as you write out your text, think of how you would talk to a friend, explain something to a colleague, and use that as your muse when crafting your “voice” within the text. 3. Use Media Words are powerful, but so too is imagery. You want to use different media types to help you connect with your reader. While the personal tone is equally important, include a picture of yourself in your bio on each blog, that way, the reader can picture who they are talking to.  4. Picture the Ideal Reader Just like you want your reader to picture you, you need to picture them. You know your target audience – if you don’t, that’s an entirely different topic – so now you can picture one member from your target audience as you create your content. Pick them from the crowd, and pretend you are conversing with them. When you picture yourself talking to a real person, rather than them reading what you have written, it helps you be more conversational. You aren’t lecturing a group of students at the university – just an intimate conversation between two individuals. 5. Put Yourself in the Reader’s Shoes – Address their Needs You can’t truly connect if you aren’t in your reader’s shoes. What are their dreams? Fears? You need to know their pain points to bring them up in the copy and almost catch them off guard. You want the reader to sit there thinking, “Yes! That is me!” and not just going through the motions. The more connected they are to the writing, the more likely they are to take action you request at the end of the page – whether it is a contact, submitting email addresses, etc.  You need to show that you can relate to their problem, then strike with the solution. If you don’t build up a relationship on mutual understanding first, you cannot offer a mutually acceptable solution.  Often, copywriters will come out of the gates swinging. They don’t hit that pain point and instead just start talking about the solution while touching here and there on the issue it solves. That doesn’t grab a reader and keep them hanging on for the ride. Instead, they see that you have a solution, make up their assumptions, and bounce. So, instead, build up the rapport first, then offer your solution. Take the reader through your journey, showing your understanding and relativeness, then add your solution and call to action. If you offer the goods right from the start, you will lose the chance to build a relationship with your reader first. 6. Work with the Emotions You Want to Pique in Your Reader Picture your reader’s emotions as they go through your text. If you aren’t getting a reader to laugh at a joke, ask yourself if you would have laughed. Would you cry at the same instance of emotion? Would you yearn for the same solution as profoundly as they? Allow yourself to feel something, express it, and create that connection. You may be surprised at how willing people are to reach out to you when you occasionally open yourself up in your content, whether it is sharing a personal experience, a humbling moment, etc.  7. Avoid Third Person The third-person POV does not connect with the reader. After all, if you read something in a third-person point-of-view, … Read more

What Does Done-for-You Content Marketing Mean Anyway?

by
Header Done For You (1280 × 447 Px)

At Express Writers, you often hear us mention “done-for-you” content marketing in our blogs, and on our website, and we even boast about it in some social media posts.  But what does done-for-you content marketing entail?  For those who have wondered what DFY content is, how it works, and the benefits of seeking providers who can do it for you, look no further than this mini guide. Today, we will talk about done-for-you marketing and how you can get more out of your content while spending less time and money than you would going the traditional route (i.e., doing it yourself). Isn’t All Content Ordered Considered Done-for-You Content Marketing? Yes, and no. It depends on the service you are ordering and where you are ordering it. Some companies offer done-for-you content bundles, like Express Writers, while others offer DFY content, but it includes nothing more than writing content. It doesn’t necessarily include the expertise, research, and quality assurances you need to satisfy Google’s E-E-A-T and improve your website’s authority. Genuine DFY content is written by a subject matter expert in your niche – not a freelance writer who dabbles in that industry. Basically, your writer is a mirror of you – only they are saving you the time and effort of writing a blog yourself using the information you provide and leaning on their own experience and expertise in the niche to deliver top-notch content. Getting a content bundle is the best way to expand every penny spent on your content marketing and provide you with high-quality content that returns continuously year after year. What is a Done-for-You Content Bundle, and Why Should You Use Them? Yes, you could order a single blog written by a subject matter expert, but if you buy an entire bundle, you are unlocking even more benefits while saving time and money.  By bundles, we are talking about the blog, its meta, SEO research, images, and the expertise behind it.  A popular bundle option is our Authority Package service. Within the Authority Package, you receive: An In-Depth Content Strategy Designed around Your SPECIFIC Topic: A content strategist researches your desired topic and creates a click-worthy headline that touches high on the EMV scale. Then, they search for high-volume, low-competition keywords to sprinkle into your content so that you rank well in the SERPs. The strategist will look for strategic linking opportunities and even provide details for the writer to hit on to satisfy the topic with E-E-A-T in mind. A Subject Matter Expert Writing Your Content: Once you approve your content’s research phase, it heads over to an SME writer with genuine experience in your field (not only do they have 5+ years of experience writing in it, they have advanced degrees in that field as well). In-Depth Editing: To ensure everything is included and that you receive the highest quality writing possible, an editor reviews the content and fine-tunes it before delivery. Custom Designed Images: The Authority Package doesn’t use stock images. Instead, it includes custom images created in Adobe by an in-house designer. It includes a header image, inset, CTA image, two custom images or graphs, and four pull quotes to help specific text pop off the page. In 2022 alone, Express Writers provided authority packages for hundreds of clients saving thousands of hours of work.  Add social media posts and emails to go along with that package. You now have a blog with authority, an email newsletter to let readers know it is there and ready for consumption, and social media posts to sprinkle on your favorite platforms. What are the Benefits of Using DFY Content? Let’s break it down and look at the benefits you receive with  DFY content. You Get Three Professional Services in One Package Price Taking the Authority Package example, you have three core services in play. If you were to do these yourself, you would need to outsource to multiple freelancers for your SEO, writing, and professional design. In the package, you get all three professional services already vetted and ready to go from the same location. Saving you the hassle and time of searching for freelancers to fulfill these gaps yourself. You Unlock Access to a Team that is Up-to-Date on Google’s Wants and Needs Google does a lot of updates, and they all carry the same theme: authority and trust. Trust is not new to the marketing sector.  If you think about it, trust has been around since the dawn of content marketing. Sales pages, landing pages, Ebooks, emails…the goal has always been getting your reader to trust you.  So, what has changed? Google now wants to see that trust for itself.  When people do not trust your site, they will never purchase from you and will not return. You have that one shot at building trust, building up those relationships, and converting them.  Trust is a central component of Google’s latest guidelines with E-E-A-T. Trustworthiness doesn’t help your ranking directly, but according to Yoast, that “back” button when a client realizes they don’t trust you can. When you hire someone to do DFY content, they are more than aware of the latest algorithm changes and what Google demands in their latest E-E-A-T. EW writers are all trained on E-E-A-T and what it entails by offering an in-depth course within our university. So, when an SME writer tackles your content, they bring every aspect of E-E-A-T to the digital table: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. You Save a Significant Amount of Time Think about how much time you would invest if you did each component of DFY content bundles for yourself. First, you need to subscribe to tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush to start generating your reports and researching your topic. You would need to familiarize yourself with the EMV scoring system and how to improve your titles so they are click-worthy. You would need BuzzSumo to help you find what is trending in your industry so that you can play off both trending … Read more

AI is Not the Tool for SME Content Creation – and Google Knows It

by
Header

AI is here, and there is no denying it. While AI can share the workspace with a traditional writer and editor for content marketing, there is one thing it cannot do – SME content creation. The only genuine SME (subject matter expert) out there in your niche is, well, you – and the talented freelance writers out there that know your field just as well as you. More importantly, Google knows it and expects to see that in your content. What is AI Content Generation? It seems like almost daily another AI content generation tool is launching.  Some are free, others are paid, but are any of these tools able to truly replace a genuine expert? TechTarget lists 36 AI generation tools in their 2023 guide, and while there are loads of tools to choose from, they are all based on the GPT-3 model.  AI content generation is content that is created by a platform utilizing the GPT-3 model. The content is generated and while marketed to be “new,” it really is not. Think about how AI generators work.  Generative AI tools take keywords, themes, and even voice/tone preferences, and it works to generate a blog, web page, or even a social media post, but it is not creating them out of thin air or using any expertise in the field to offer unique opinions and insights. Instead, AI generates your content by pulling information from the internet. It searches and scours the thousands of web pages and blogs already out there to piece together information and generate copy.  But, AI Doesn’t Understand What it is Creating…. While it is fascinating to watch AI work, AI has no clue what it is writing. It is solely based on an algorithm pulling data based on your input.  Only a Genuine Industry Expert Knows the Content for their Industry AI is incredibly fast and can write a blog post quicker than any writer, but because of its limitations in terms of understanding and having any expertise in the niche, it is not a specialist. Here is where you may hit a speed bump or two, if you are using AI generation for your content marketing: Let’s Talk about E-E-A-T and How AI Falls Short for Industry Professionals Seeking SME Content Creation In Google’s February release, they mention guidelines for using AI generation in your content, and make it clear that they reward high quality regardless of how it is produced (whether human-made or AI-generated).  Many took that as a green light to go ahead with AI, but that is not what Google conveyed.  Let’s go back to the double update released in December 2022 when the extra “E” was added to the E-A-T standard, making it now E-E-A-T. Image Source: Google Update, December 2022, Page 26 What was that extra “E” for?  Experience… Trust is crucial with Google. Some websites may fall short of the bar, no matter how experienced, professional, or even authoritative they are if they don’t have the reader’s trust, and one example given from Google within their update reveals the most consequential sentence that websites need to pay attention to: “…the content creator lacks adequate experience” means they will have a low E-E-A-T score.  For example, if the content creator reviews a restaurant, but never ate at the restaurant, they are not experienced or trustworthy, which means they have a low E-E-A-T to Google. Let’s break it down further by looking at each component of E-E-A-T. Experience Experience, in Google’s eyes, offers another level of dimension they can use when evaluating content. Content must demonstrate it was assembled with a degree of experience – after all, a reader will value a person’s content more if they have life experiences on the topic and they are not basing it exclusively on research. AI has no experience with your topic. Let’s take a look at divorce law, for example. You want to write a blog for your law firm on the latest guideline changes for calculating child support, but you will find a few speed bumps along the way using AI to do so: AI typically doesn’t access the latest data – so it may not even know or find the latest guidelines for calculating child support. Worse, it could create a blog on outdated guidelines that it notes as “updated.” AI has no actual understanding of handling child support cases. AI hasn’t had to calculate what a child support payment would be based on your state, the local laws, or the parent’s income. It has definitely never filled out the child support worksheets – but you have.  If you go off the premise of why “experience” was added by Google, you can see why AI might not meet the mark. AI is not an attorney or a financial expert, and therefore, there is no SME content creation happening when you use AI to draft your blogs.  Expertise SME content creation comes down to one important factor: credibility. A person without qualifications should not be writing a topic out of their realm of expertise. Period. Why? Google is unlikely to rank a website with content not written by a credible source over a website they know has content written by a believable source.  In areas where a subject matter expert is required, such as healthcare, Google has a higher level of scrutiny than things based more on personal opinion and less on facts. Authoritativeness Authority means you have proven you belong in the niche your website represents.  Sure, backlinks to relevant and authoritative sources will help build that authority, but only so far. If you only have quality backlinks, but don’t meet the other areas of E-E-A-T – well, you don’t have much to go on. There’s not much more to say there. Authority is a building block, and it requires more than one block to finish your foundation. Trustworthiness Now, we’ve already covered where AI falls short for SME content creation, but the biggest area you are going … Read more

How to Ace Middle of the Funnel Content Marketing (with Examples)

by
B2 Header

The digital marketing funnel is a visualization of the stages your prospects go through before they eventually become your customers. While many businesses focus most of their energy on the beginning and end of the funnel, the middle needs just as much attention. Middle-of-the-funnel content marketing is critical to increasing conversion rates and giving your potential customers an informative, seamless journey through your marketing funnel. In this article, we will share some crucial advice on how to improve your MOFU marketing along with successful examples of this type of content. What Is Middle of the Funnel Content Marketing The marketing funnel is a tool businesses use to gain insights into the buyer’s journey. It is typically divided into three parts: top of the funnel (TOFU), middle of the funnel (MOFU), and bottom of the funnel (BOFU). Source: https://www.databranding.net/blog/design-digital-marketing-funnel While many prospects follow the traditional route of going through each marketing stage in order, customers today can come into the funnel at any stage and in any order. You could even encounter an impulsive buyer who heads to the bottom of the funnel without spending much, if any time, at the top or in the middle. Top of the Funnel The top of the funnel is where you first introduce potential customers to your brand. The goal of TOFU content is to attract new people to your website. It typically includes blogs, paid ads, podcasts, and social media. Users interact with your content because it solves a problem for them. If they don’t like what they find or your products and services won’t solve their problem, they may leave the funnel at this point. Middle of the Funnel Prospects still interested in your brand move on the middle of the funnel. In this stage, users are considering whether your business will fully meet their needs. MOFU content typically includes checklists, surveys, and educational resources. At this stage, you are trying to convince prospects that your products and services will solve their problem. More prospects will leave the funnel at this stage. Bottom of the Funnel At the bottom of the marketing funnel, also called the decision stage, prospects are deciding if they want to become your customer or not. BOFU content makes the final push to show off your value with customer reviews, comparison charts, and product demonstrations. The value of the top and bottom of the funnel is clear. The top of the funnel attracts people to your brand, and the bottom of the funnel closes the deal. However, without strong MOFU marketing, there isn’t a clear path forward and many prospects will fall off. Why Does Middle of the Funnel Content Matter? The middle of the funnel is where your business needs to nurture your leads. At this stage, prospects are looking for more in-depth information about your business and products. MOFU Marketing Can Increase Sales To anyone new to sales and marketing strategies, it might seem like customers can move directly from showing interest in your business to buying your products. While this does happen occasionally, it is not something you can count on every time. What these inexperienced marketers often overlook is the educational component of the middle of the funnel. Without a solid strategy for the middle of your marketing funnel, your leads could lose interest in your products and move on to your competition. In 2020, Google realized that even as a global powerhouse, it still needed to pay attention to the marketing middle. It found when it focused its efforts on the middle of the funnel, it earned 16 times more product sales than before. Global consumer data leader, Nielson, found similar results in an analysis of packaged goods campaigns for consumers. It found that marketing strategies that covered the entire funnel had 45% better returns than those that only focused on one stage of the funnel. While your business may not be as ubiquitous as Google or Nielson, these marketing results prove that the middle of the funnel can have a significant impact on how many prospects come out of the funnel as paying customers. Your customers want to be seamlessly guided through the marketing funnel and learn more about you and your products before they commit. This is why middle of the funnel content is so important. MOFU Marketing Nurtures and Qualifies Leads When your sales team keeps asking for more leads, they likely really want better leads. One of the key roles of the middle of the funnel is to filter through your leads so only the best and most qualified leads make it through to the bottom. If you were to ask your sales manager if they wanted 100 fresh leads or 10 nurtured, highly qualified leads, they’re probably going to take the 10 every time. Lead nurturing and lead qualification help you discover which leads are truly interested in your products and services. You can then focus your MOFU content on the specific needs of those qualified leads. 7 Proven Middle of the Funnel Marketing Practices Now that you understand why the middle of the funnel is so important, here are 7 proven strategies you can use to improve your middle of the funnel content marketing. 1. Offer Content with Real Solutions  By the time a prospect reaches the middle of the funnel, they understand what their problem is, and they are looking for a solution. Your marketing materials at this stage need to focus on how your products and services solve problems, and not just any problems, your prospect’s problems. Your potential customers don’t want to waste time filtering through content that describes those problems, they are ready for solutions. 2. Focus on Customer Validation  For this type of MOFU content, listen to your potential customers. What are they saying about your products? Do they need more information about a particular feature or why your services are priced a certain way? Whatever information they’re looking for that will help them decide on your brand, that is the … Read more

Company

Services

Resources

Access & Legal

No HR needed to get access to the best writers, editors, QAs, and strategists. We are your all-in-one content writing service delivering publish-ready content.

Linkedin X-twitter Facebook-square

Copyright – 2025 Express Writers -All rights reserved