Content Marketing - Express Writers

What Is Direct to Consumer Marketing? + How Content & Inbound Marketing Fits In

June 23, 2022July 28, 2020 by Adam Oakley

What Is Direct to Consumer Marketing? + How Content & Inbound Marketing Fits In by Julia McCoy | Jul 28, 2020 | Content Marketing Your business can lose a ton of money if you stick to your traditional B2C campaign. This is because consumers have radically evolved in the last decade. Here’s proof: Foot traffic to retail stores has declined, causing an avalanche of store closures. Millennials are the largest adult generation to date, and their habits include ignoring paid ads, using ad blockers, and resisting outbound marketing practices. Millennials value experience over material things, making traditional marketing strategies fall flat with them. So, what can you do to save your business? Well, it’s simple. All you need to do is adapt to the way consumers want to connect to brands today. It boils down to four words: direct to consumer marketing. In today’s blog, I’ll show you exactly what it means, why you should do it, and how you can start up your own successful (but not costly) D2C campaign. Ready to start? Let’s dive in! [bctt tweet=”Scary fact: Your business can lose a ton of money if you stick to a traditional B2C campaign. ? Why? Consumers’ buying habits have radically evolved in the last decade. The antidote? ? Direct to consumer marketing. Learn all about it:” username=”ExpWriters”] What is Direct to Consumer Marketing? Direct to consumer marketing is simply marketing done without middlemen. While a traditional B2C campaign involves a retailer, an ad agency, a publisher, and other middlemen, a D2C marketing campaign involves only the brand and the buyer. Here’s how HubSpot defines the term.[bctt tweet=”What is direct to consumer marketing? Marketing done without middlemen. It’s just the brand and the buyer. ?” username=”ExpWriters”] So, let’s imagine you’re selling shoes. Here are two scenarios for your marketing campaign. Traditional B2C Campaign: You sell your shoes at a retailer like Walmart, paying for ads to get your brand in front of potential customers. Buyers walk into the store and interact with your brand through salespeople not connected with your company. You have no way of knowing if buyers are happy with your product. Direct to Consumer Marketing Campaign: You sell your shoes straight to customers through your online store. If they have questions, they can ask you directly. They order and you send your product straight to their doorstep. You get feedback and suggestions to improve your brand and better fit it to your target audience. Direct to consumer marketing is minimalist, simple, and involves nurturing personal relationships with customers. 3 Reasons Why You Should Commit to Direct to Consumer Marketing Thinking of starting a direct to consumer marketing campaign? Here are three big advantages to convince you to begin right away. Advantage #1: You Can Deliver a Personalized Message to Potential Consumers Direct to consumer marketing allows you to collect data straight from your consumers. Because you know your audience well, you can craft a brand message that speaks straight to them. And this works. In fact, 34% of all consumers make an unplanned purchase when they read personalized content from a brand. What’s more, 86% of all buyers say personalization has an impact on their purchasing decision. Advantage #2: You Can Give Consumers the Option of Personalizing Your Product For instance, consumers can request specialized print or packaging. You can add in freebies based on your knowledge of a particular buyer. A great example of personalization is The New York Time’s NYT Cooking subscription.Source: nytimes.com Subscribers to NYT Cooking get their own personalized digital cookbook. They can use it to discover, save, and organize recipes they love on the platform. Advantage #3: You Can Get Rid of the Profit Share This is obvious when you’re selling your products at a huge conglomerate like Walmart. But even if you sell your products online, a middleman like Amazon still lowers your profit share. A professional account on the platform plus fees add up to as much as 15% of your product’s price. On the other hand, direct to consumer marketing allows you to eliminate the middleman and gain all the profit. You can even beat out your competition by offering your products at lower prices. How to Start Up a Direct to Consumer Marketing Campaign that Works A powerful direct to consumer marketing campaign won’t sprout up overnight. It requires hard work, consistency, and the valuable tips below. 1. Find Your Brand Voice Branding is essential in direct to consumer marketing. This is because your brand comes in direct contact with your consumers. So, you need to be clear about who your audience is, your mission, and your brand style. A. Create Buyer Personas The first step in molding your brand voice is knowing who your audience is. Only by understanding their needs, desires, and beliefs will you be able to truly reach them with your product. So, how do you create buyer personas that work? First, collect data on your buyers. You can do this by using Google Analytics and doing surveys. Find out who’s buying from you. Then, find similarities in the data. You can use these similarities to come up with fictional characters your brand speaks directly to in a marketing campaign. For instance, you find out most of your buyers are women over 40. They’re stay-at-home moms who don’t feel guilty about spending money for their kids. Use this information to create your buyer persona. For example, you can call your 40-year-old stay-at-home mom Mildred. She loves splurging on her kids, but she’s worried they’ll end up spoiled. Create your message around Mildred’s needs and beliefs. Whenever you sit down to create or improve a product, write content, or start a marketing campaign, do it to improve Mildred’s life. B. Put Your Mission Statement Out Front and Center What is your brand’s mission? How does it stand out from your competitors? How can your brand serve your consumers? Write the answers to these questions down, then use the information to create a tagline consumers can’t resist. Here’s an excellent example from Mailchimp. C. Come Up with a Brand Style Guide Your brand style guide will keep you consistent as you market straight … Read more

The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Ultimate Lead Magnet

June 19, 2024July 21, 2020 by Adam Oakley

Imagine this. You’re the master of SEO and your website is consistently at the #1 position on Google’s SERPs. You have tons of daily site visitors. Thousands. Even millions. Sound like huge success to you? It’s not. Because here’s the thing: Site traffic is COMPLETELY USELESS unless you’re converting your visitors. Yup. Maybe you have 1,000,000 site visitors. But those numbers mean nothing compared to your competitor who has 10 site visitors who all convert. It’s in the conversions that you see real success. So, how do you convert visitors into buyers? It all begins with getting leads. In this ultimate guide, I’ll teach you a proven formula for pulling in thousands of leads from your site. I’ll show you how to create a LEAD MAGNET. Don’t have a lead magnet right now? Or do you have a bunch of them that aren’t pulling in the numbers you expected? Read this guide and find out: Why you ABSOLUTELY need a lead magnet. How DigitalMarketer pulled in 35,859 leads with a single lead magnet (I dissect this exact piece and show you why it worked so well). A step-by-step guide on how to create a lead magnet of your own, based on this powerful example. How Brian Dean boosted conversions by 785% in one day by using an easy-to-create lead magnet (the content upgrade). How to create your own content upgrade. Examples, tips, and images to inspire your creativity. And more! Ready to dive in? [bctt tweet=”Ranking for 100,000 high search volume keywords ISN’T a huge success UNLESS you’re converting that traffic. What do you need to convert visitors? The humble lead magnet. More on the Write Blog via @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”] What Is a Lead Magnet? A lead magnet is simply a gift you offer your audience in exchange for their contact information. It’s super effective because people LOVE getting free stuff. Take the following experiment of the Amazon gift card. People were asked if they’d rather get a gift card for free worth $10, or a gift card worth $20 for only $7. Which one would you pick? If you were in it for hard value, you’d pick the $20 gift card for $7. Right? Let’s see how people responded. Source: neilpatel.com The graph shows that people always go for higher value UNLESS something is offered for free. Then they all go for the free stuff. This is exactly how a lead magnet works. It cashes in on people’s magnetizing attraction towards freebies. Here’s exactly how it works: Build something your audience will adore. Let your knowledge about them guide you. Ebooks, webinars, checklists, cheat sheets, and content upgrades are all fabulous ideas. Create an opt-in form on your site. You can do it easily with either Mailchimp or ConvertKit. To get your freebie, your audience has to sign up with their contact information on the form. Once your audience signs up, they can immediately download your lead magnet. Lead magnets offer your audience huge value for nothing. Or almost nothing. All they need to do is share their contact information with you. There’s one problem left, though. What if no one cares about your freebie? Because yes, not all lead magnets are created equal. There are lead magnets everyone is dying to grab and download… …and those that are just, well, meh. Source: backlinko.com The secret to success is knowing what makes a lead magnet desirable, urgent, and worthwhile. Let’s get into the “how” of building EXACTLY that. Looking to get an epic lead magnet written and designed? We do that! Check out our top-notch ebooks (AKA lead magnets) here. 5 Lead Magnet Types That Convert and Pull in Leads Like Crazy First, a few ground rules. Here’s an incredible example of a lead magnet that converted like crazy: The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library by DigitalMarketer. Source: digitalmarketer.com This powerhouse managed to pull in 35,859 leads in only two months. Amazing! By now you’re wondering: What made it so special? What made 35,859 people desire it? Can I make one just like it? YES, you can. This is why I will dissect DigitalMarketer’s lead magnet for you. I’ll: Show you the elements that made it super successful Give you a step-by-step guide to creating one just like it Inspire you with other examples of amazing lead magnets Let’s get started! [bctt tweet=”@DigitalMktr pulled in 35,859 leads in 60 days with one powerful lead magnet. @JuliaEMcCoy breaks down why it worked so well, AND shows you how to create your own high-powered lead magnet ” username=”ExpWriters”] 1. The Ultra-Specific Lead Magnet Opt-In Form: Where It All Begins It all starts with the opt-in form. Why? You will never convert a single soul if your opt-in form looks boring or generic. For example, look at this one. Source: lucidpress.com Honestly. Would you sign up for this? Nope. You don’t know EXACTLY what you’ll get, so why risk signing up for something that’ll only clutter up your email box? Okay. Let’s once again look at the opt-in teaser for The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library. What do you see? That’s right. Ultra-specificity. In particular… Specific Numbers Numbers convert like crazy. And there are tons of powerful numbers in this content. “8 BRAND-NEW examples,” “11-word ad that netted $208,485,” and “110,422 leads for just $1.76 a piece.” Notice the numbers aren’t even rounded off. That gives them an extra punch of power and specificity. Specific Benefits Those who download The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library get: Examples of successful Facebook ads by DigitalMarketer An 11-word ad formula they can use (for ANY market) A trick that will turn deserting leads into customers A question formula that increases conversions while saving money Inspiration from the top three Facebook ads that generated 110, 422 leads for $1.76 So the number one rule in creating a lead magnet opt-in form? Be ultra-specific. Let’s look at other examples of opt-in forms that follow this rule. Here’s one from HubSpot. Nope, HubSpot’s opt-in … Read more

A Day in the Life of a Marketing Strategist

February 15, 2024June 23, 2020 by Jillian

This is a guest blog from our Expert Marketing Writer, Jillian. If you were to research a marketing strategist job description on Google, you would find one common characteristic: goal-oriented. Sure, you need experience and project management skills. You also need to navigate branding and storytelling. But, without goals and objectives, it’s almost impossible to create a cohesive marketing strategy that drives ROI. Marketing strategists have to stay focused on the bigger picture in order to deliver and exceed sales and marketing goals. The digital marketing landscape is evolving at a drastic rate. In 2019, digital ad spend worldwide surpassed $333.25 billion and is expected to increase to $517.51 billion by 2023. Meaning, there’s a growing need to discover new ways to connect and build relationships with consumers on their preferred platforms. That’s where I come into play as a marketing strategist. I have to interpret consumer needs and turn them into a cohesive plan that my team can deliver on. Every sales and marketing team needs a marketing strategist who can step back and not only build a plan full of tactics but also monitor every stage of the execution. As a result, the strategy turns into a pipeline full of leads that exceeds revenue goals. It’s a win-win for both teams. As a digital marketing strategist in the finance industry, every day is different. I have the opportunity to expand on my own marketing skills, while also directly contributing to my company’s market share growth. Pretty cool, right? What Does a Digital Marketing Strategist Do? I’ve worked in marketing for roughly 6 years and my role as a marketing strategist has been the most challenging, yet rewarding. I have to be innovative, proactive, and direct in order to identify what marketing tactics my team needs to execute on in order to build the strategy and further promote the brand. A sales and marketing strategist combines all relevant marketing channels—from content development, email, paid media, and more—into one plan that is used to steer a brand. I have to be a storyteller for consumers and an advocate for sales teams. It’s a science in order to combine all elements into a plan that moves marketing efforts forward. To give you a better idea of what a marketing strategist does, let’s dive a little deeper into my day-to-day. Morning: Lead Generation and Analytics Go Hand-in-Hand A large component of a marketing strategist’s career is the ability to interpret analytics and translate them into a strategy. However, before I can even think about reading charts, I need a coffee. Who’s with me? Once I’ve settled in, I log into Google Analytics and analyze yesterday’s performance. I first looked into my brand’s website traffic and which source resulted in the most website visits. Personally, I’m trying to increase our organic reach and not pay for every click. My main goal is to increase our organic reach by 30% by the end of 2020, and with the launch of a new website and resource center, I expect to exceed this. Source: Google Analytics Next, I dig into what’s important to our sales teams: Leads. How many leads did we get? What sources did they come from? How many are qualified? Because I have multiple campaigns going on at the same time—from paid search and sponsored LinkedIn ads to webinars—I need to analyze which channel is the most effective for earning new leads and driving traffic. After that, I compare the YTD performance to last year to catch any dramatic decreases or increases. Source: Google Analytics After I have a handle on the daily metrics, I start working on any ongoing projects and approvals. Afternoon: Prioritizing the Big Picture As a brand and project owner, part of the role as a marketing strategist includes executing projects from start to finish. All of these projects—whether digital or content development—correlate to the larger strategy and have a purpose for my team. For example, how will my promotional strategy for an upcoming recruitment webinar earn us more leads? Why are clients jumping out of my email journey and how can I re-engage them? With these projects in mind, I hold daily strategy sessions with our creative team and other digital channel owners to optimize our assets and performance. This could mean anything from avoiding creative wear-out or A/B testing different graphics. Alongside these strategy sessions with the marketing team, I meet with key decision-makers from sales. I need to not only understand their process and needs but also innovate new ways marketing can provide a solution. If sales conversions are down, how can I create a more qualified lead flow? If we have too many leads, how can I automate the communication process? For the rest of my day, it’s going between meetings, tactics, and approving creative assets to ensure each project hits the deadline. Evenings: Where Motivation Never Stops If you think my day seems full enough, I don’t stop when the clock hits 6:00 PM. Instead, I head home and re-open my computer to start my part-time job as a Quality Assistant Editor and Expert Content Writer at Express Writers. I’ve been writing since I was young enough to hold a pencil and my evenings with Express Writers have become my own personal therapy. I love the feeling of not only writing something that connects with readers but also being able to coach others like myself to improve their own craft. So, from 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM, I write, edit, and review writing pieces that will be posted throughout various websites and blog platforms. 4 Characteristics of a Marketing Strategist Super Star If becoming a marketing strategist consultant sounds up your alley, there are a few key traits you need to master in order to pursue this career path. 1. Know the Ins and Outs of Multiple Marketing Channels You need to be fluent in various outbound and inbound marketing channels like social media, email, and branding strategies. Beyond that, exude a jack-of-all-trades … Read more

How to Use BuzzSumo: The Ultimate Guide on Uncovering Hot Topics to Create Content Your Audience Will Love

December 31, 2020May 5, 2020 by Adam Oakley

This was originally published in 2017 and updated in May, 2020. What if I told you about a hot content marketing tool that allows you to dig deep into your audience’s brain? ? This tool can tell you what your audience is feeling right now. Their current thoughts. What they’re looking for when they go online. The #1 topic they want to read about. Would you use it? Of course! Because the truth is, keyword research tools aren’t enough to help you generate steaming content your readers will devour, reread, and share. I’m not saying they aren’t necessary. They are. In fact, it’s almost impossible to do SEO right without these tools. But SEO by itself isn’t enough to build a brand. The ultimate recipe for success is SEO plus hot topics your audience cares about. So, how can you discover these hot topics? In this guide, I’ll show you how to do it using BuzzSumo. Let’s dive in! How to Use BuzzSumo: 5 Ways You Can Use BuzzSumo to Discover Hot Topics Your Audience Adores So, what is BuzzSumo used for? BuzzSumo is the ultimate content discovery tool. It constantly gets updated with brand new features, so you always know what kind of content your audience wants and exactly what they’re engaging with online. Here’s a list of awesome things you can do with BuzzSumo: Instantly generate tons of hot topic ideas Index over 3.5 billion articles and posts Get an updated list of the most powerful influencers in your industry Spy on your competitors Monitor everything that’s going on online [bctt tweet=”5 ways to use @buzzsumo to discover hot topics: 1️⃣ Analyze top-shared content 2️⃣ Find top niche influencers 3️⃣ Find trending topics 4️⃣ Use Topic Discovery to generate ideas 5️⃣ Analyze top YouTube content ?” username=”ExpWriters”] We at Express Writers absolutely love BuzzSumo. In fact, we use it extensively for our content strategy services. It allows us to: Put our clients ahead of their competitors by knowing what their audience really wants to learn Discover steaming hot topics in any niche Save tons of time in the brainstorming process Let’s go into detail and dive into five ways you can use BuzzSumo to discover topics your audience will love. BuzzSumo pricing guide: Pro: $99/month billed monthly or $79/month billed annually Plus: $179/month billed monthly or $139/month billed annually Large: $299/month billed monthly or $239/month billed annually Enterprise: $499/month #1: Get Ideas from the Web Content Analyzer BuzzSumo is your forensic tool for digging into your audience’s brain and finding out what they’re interested in. With the Web Content Analyzer feature, you get a list of the top content people engaged with based on a certain keyword. [bctt tweet=”.@buzzsumo is your forensic tool for digging into your audience’s brain and finding out what they’re interested in ?️‍♀️. Learn how to use it like an expert:” username=”ExpWriters”] [bctt tweet=”What if I told you about a hot content marketing tool that allows you to dig deep into your audience’s brain? ?✨ No, it’s not magic – it’s @buzzsumo! Learn how to use this mighty tool via @JuliaEMcCoy:” username=”ExpWriters”] To get started, click on Content and select Web Content Analyzer. Source: BuzzSumo Type your chosen keyword in the search bar. Click on Search. What you’ll get is a list of content pieces with the highest number of engagement from your audience. As you can see, a piece about Bill Gates and the coronavirus tops the list with 34.6K total engagements. This gives you a hint on what your audience is thinking about and the kind of content they want to read and share. Want to filter your results by time? Simply click the filter button and select an option to see results from the last 24 hours, the past week, the past month, and as much as five years ago. For example, here’s the result you’ll get when you choose the 24-hour filter. The next step is to click on the top content pieces and find out why your audience loved them. What made them special? More importantly, how can you improve on them in your own content? Here’s an example. Source: www.garyvaynerchuk.com Because this piece comes in the number two spot within the six-month filter, you now know that your audience is interested in being more productive in their content creation. Now, it’s your turn to create content with your own tips and tricks on how to be productive! Bonus: Experiment with the filters! They’re amazing. You can search for content based on type of article, word count, and even a specific domain. #2: Find Top Influencers in Your Niche Finding the top influencers in your niche will help you in three ways: You can gain inspiration from their content You can spy on them and improve on what’s missing in their content You can get networking opportunities To get started in your search for BuzzSumo influencers, hover over Influencers on the top bar and click Authors. You can also search for influencers on Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook. In the Authors search bar, you can find top authors by looking up a topic or domain. For example, here’s the results for a search on Forbes.com. On the left side, you can see the author’s name and Twitter handle. On the right, you can see how many articles each author published, plus their average and total engagement. Select View Top Content to see each author’s top pieces. For example, here are the top results for Zack Friedman. Looking for top influencers in your niche? Simply type in your desired keyword instead of a domain name in the search bar. Here are the results for “content marketing.” (I come in at #2, yay! ?) #3: Find Trending Topics with BuzzSumo’s Discover Feature Want to find content that’s creating a large amount of buzz online? Searching for trending topics within the last 24 hours (or less!) is the way to do it. To begin, go to the Discover option and click Trending. … Read more

How Today’s Pandemic Is Impacting Business & Marketing + 5 Ways to Keep Thriving

March 24, 2022March 31, 2020 by Adam Oakley

The past month has been one of the craziest in our collective memory. I’m banking on the inevitability that NO ONE will forget March 2020, when a global outbreak known as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on public health, economies, jobs, livelihoods, and day-to-day living. Business is NOT as usual. Instead, many of us in marketing are facing scary unknowns. IRL marketing events got canceled, just like everything else. Those of us who rely on trade shows, conferences, speaking gigs, and other events suddenly have to adapt. Digital marketing – and content in particular! – just got way more important. This is huge, but it’s also dependent on the niche you’re in. Since COVID-19 came on the scene, internet use in Europe has been up by almost 50%. If you think about the worldwide impact, Google searches went up from 3.5 billion/day to almost 6 billion! Streaming services saw a 20% rise in usage. Netflix has had to lower streaming quality for everyone just to handle the load. That said, for many marketers, it’s not all doom and gloom. ? Search traffic is UP for many industries. Niches reporting traffic gains include: Health and wellness Online grocery and meal/food retailers Remote work, remote teams Preparedness Online dating Online toy and puzzle makers (fun fact: puzzles are HOT right now! ?) Let’s talk about it all – the impact of the pandemic on business and marketing, which niches are winning, which ones are losing, and which are holding steady despite the doom-and-gloom. The good news is, hope is here for many content and SEO marketers. ? [bctt tweet=”NO ONE will forget March 2020, when COVID-19 wreaked havoc on public health, economies, jobs, livelihoods, and day-to-day living. ? Business is NOT as usual. On the Write Blog, @JuliaEMcCoy talks about the ups, downs, and ways to keep thriving. ?” username=”ExpWriters”] How the Pandemic Impacts Business & Marketing: 3 Ways the Pandemic Is Impacting Business Search Traffic and Content 1. Who’s Winning Search Traffic During the Pandemic? 2. The Downside: Who’s Losing Search Traffic to Their Site and Content? 3. Companies Holding Strong During the Pandemic and Giving Back How to Survive and Thrive in Business & Marketing During a Pandemic: 5 Important Tips 1. Don’t Panic 2. Lead with Empathy 3. Communicate Well (and Often) with Staff and Customers 4. Make a Plan 5. Be a Helper How is the Pandemic Impacting Business Search Traffic and Content? Here’s the gist of what’s happening in the world of search traffic, and what it might mean for your marketing, business, and content. 1. Who’s Winning Search Traffic During the Pandemic? It’s not all doom and gloom out there! ? Search traffic is UP for many industries. According to a recent survey Marie Haynes conducted on Twitter, niches reporting gains in traffic include: Heath/wellness Online grocery/food retailers Remote work and remote teams Preparedness Online dating services Online toy and puzzle retailers (puzzles are HUGE right now ?) Source: GIPHY Besides puzzling in their downtime, people are also furiously Googling anything to do with remote work, especially tools, methods, and ideas for collaboration. Kevin Indig from G2 recently shared on LinkedIn how traffic to many of the site’s remote work-related categories is exploding: Noticeably, the top categories include: Audio conferencing Telemedicine Video conferencing Webinar Collaborative whiteboard This holds on Google Trends, too. When you compare the search interest over time between the topics “work from home” and “coworking,” there’s a clear winner. “Work from home” interest spiked as the pandemic took hold, while interest in “coworking” flat-lined. [bctt tweet=”What impact is the pandemic having on business and marketing? Search traffic is UP for many industries like health/wellness ♥, remote work/teams ?, online dating ?, and online puzzle retailers ? (puzzles are HOT right now).” username=”ExpWriters”] Beyond industries related to remote work, who else may see gains during this time? Mark Schaefer wrote a great post about the coronavirus’s implications for marketing. He made some predictions about which business niches have an opportunity right now: Comfort foods like candy and baking Nostalgia Cozy wear like sweatpants and pajamas Comedy Old TV shows and movies Hobbies (puzzles, knitting, sewing, crafting, reading) Delivery of essentials like groceries and food Small luxuries that can be home-delivered [bctt tweet=”.@markwschaefer recommends looking for marketing opportunities in baking/cooking/comfort foods ?, nostalgia, comedy ?, blankets/pj’s/comfy clothes, hobbies ?, food/grocery delivery, and more.” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. The Downside: Who’s Losing Search Traffic to Their Site and Content? Despite the gains for many niches, most are seeing a decline in traffic (as reported by Wordstream and SEO Roundtable). Here’s Marie Hayne’s Twitter survey from March 23 that shows 59.6% of sites reporting a downturn, out of 726 responses: Let’s do this again. How has COVID-19 affected your site’s organic traffic (or your clients’ sites)? We’ll keep running this poll weekly as a way to track what is happening. Results will be published and discussed in newsletter. — Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) March 23, 2020 Some of the affected niches include: Travel Motorsports Ecommerce – fashion Personal finance Child care and daycare Additionally, Yelp’s Coronavirus Economic Impact Report shows other struggling niches include: Wineries Bridal stores Shopping centers Tax services Day spas The takeaway: These trends aren’t surprising to anyone. Social distancing and quarantines are forcing people to cancel their weddings and big events, avoid services they previously frequented (hair salons, spas, massage therapy), and rethink where their paychecks are going. Unless this pandemic wipes out the relevancy of your business right now, for struggling niches, it’s time to start thinking of creative ways to stay afloat. (More on that later.) ?‍♀️ [bctt tweet=”What business/marketing niches are losing out during the pandemic? Travel ✈, motorsports, personal finance ?, wineries, tax services, childcare ?, and more, now on the Write Blog ➡” username=”ExpWriters”] 3. Companies Holding Strong During the Pandemic and Giving Back Keeping the positivity going, let’s take a look at the many companies doing well despite mass unemployment, layoffs, and the stormy economic weather right now. Some are even using … Read more

The Modern-Day Content Creator: What They Do & Why You Need One

June 19, 2024March 24, 2020 by Adam Oakley

do content marketing – and ALL of those employ content creators of some kind. That said, for brands and businesses, not just any content will do – and not just any content creator will do. The content you publish on your website, on social media, and everywhere else needs to be purposeful, targeted, and valuable. It must be goal-oriented. It has to be search engine optimized. Without those essentials, your content WILL fail. ??? So, how do you make sure you hit all the right notes with content? You need the right content creator. But what IS a content creator, exactly? What makes them unique as professionals in the content marketing industry? More importantly, WHY do you need one (or a whole team of them) for your content? (Can’t you just DIY? Spoiler alert: NO. ?) That’s precisely what we’re exploring today: What a modern-day content creator looks like, what they do, why you need one, and the 5 indispensable habits every great content creator nurtures in their work life. Let’s explore this modern-day profession that’s gaining in importance as we deal with content overload and the difficulty of standing out from the slush pile. ? [bctt tweet=”How do you ensure you hit all the right notes with content? ? You need the right content creator. But what IS a content creator, exactly? ?‍? Learn it all on the Write Blog via @JuliaEMcCoy.” username=”ExpWriters”] The Modern Content Creator: Everything You Need to Know – Table of Contents The Definition of a Modern-Day Content Creator What Kinds of Digital Content Do They Create? Freelance vs. In-House vs. Agency Content Creators The Mega-Growth of the Content Creator Role Why Do You Need a Content Creator? Content That Gets Results Is Tough to DIY Crafted Content Increases Traffic to Your Site & Generates High-Quality Leads Targeted Content Reaches Your Audience Like Nothing Else When Do You Need a Content Creation Agency or Team? You Need ALL of Your Content Taken Care Of You Need Multiple Content Formats Created, Not Just Blogs 5 Key Habits of Successful Content Creators Use Skills to Improve Skills Stay Current on Digital Trends, Including SEO Best-Practices Make Researching an Instinct Clearly and Effectively Communicate Ideas and Information Read Up on the Best Industry Content Regularly The Definition of a Modern-Day Content Creator For a proper description of a content creator, we need to first define “content”. As you know, content is simply information wrapped up and presented in a shiny package. That package can be physical (such as the content within a book, newspaper, or magazine) OR digital (such as the content you’ll find on a website, blog, or social media platform). Thus, a content creator is the person responsible for creating that information. And, when we talk about modern-day content creators, we mean anyone who creates content for the digital, online realm of information. In general, content creators are always aware of 3 main elements when carrying out their jobs: The combination of the audience and platform they’re creating content for (Who are they talking to? Where will the content be published?) The point-of-view they’re representing in the content (Who’s speaking to the audience? A brand or company? An individual?) The main idea or topic they’re trying to explain or get across (including target keywords when relevant) [bctt tweet=”#Contentcreators are always thinking about 3 elements: 1) Their audience + platform ? 2) The point-of-view they’re representing ? 3) The main idea or topic they’re trying to get across ?” username=”ExpWriters”] What Kinds of Digital Content Do They Create? Digital content spans a wide range of media types and platforms. In general, if you can read it or view it online, then a content creator probably created it. Here is a basic list of digital content types that content creators have a hand in: Blogs and articles Ebooks Web pages (about pages, product pages, homepage copy) Graphic design (infographics, branding, logos, and blog images) Photos (photojournalism, Instagram posts, stock photos, and brand photography) Social media copy (tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn posts, Instagram captions, etc.) Videos Email newsletters and promotional email copy [bctt tweet=”Blogs and articles ?, web pages ?, emails ?, social media copy ?, videos ?, and more: If you can read it or view it online, then a content creator probably created it. ?” username=”ExpWriters”] Freelance vs. In-House vs. Agency Content Creators Beyond the type of content they specialize in creating, you also can distinguish content creators by the way they work. Here’s a quick rundown: Freelance content creators are not tied to any single company or brand. Instead, they serve a wide range of clients across multiple industries. They are usually paid by the work they complete, though hourly pay isn’t uncommon. (Type and method of pay depend on the relationship between content creator and client.) Where do they work? Freelance content creators tend to be remote workers. In-house content creators, meanwhile, are employed by one specific company. These content creators get a salary, report to an office daily, and may work in a content marketing department (even with small teams of 1-3 people). Where do they work? In-house content creators may work remotely, too, but a more common set-up is to work part-time in an office and part-time from home. Content creators working for an agency represent the middle-ground between freelancers and in-house employees. They aren’t permanent staff, but they do have an investment in your content. If you work with one agency, you’ll get the same creators working on your content from project to project. This means they’ll have deeper insight and knowledge into your brand voice and guidelines than a one-off freelance hire. That consistency makes a HUGE difference in the end-product. Where do they work? Most agencies will handle your content projects remotely. For an example of an agency workflow, check out our process at EW. The Mega-Growth of the Content Creator Role Content creators are more in-demand these days than ever before. 84% of marketers outsource content creation, and … Read more

Why Does Content Work? Plus, 39 Reasons You Should Invest in Content

January 1, 2021March 6, 2020 by Adam Oakley

You’ve heard content being praised time and time again by marketers. (Myself included.) But, why does content work? In today’s shifting business world, they say, content marketing is the way to go. It beats paid ads and other forms of traditional marketing by a long shot. (90% of consumers find custom content useful. Compare this to Facebook ad ROA, which sits at .66x. What kind of content works? Educational, useful, blog content. 3 out of 4 of internet users read blogs regularly.) We know content works. And although you believe what the experts are saying, you wonder: why? Why does content work? What’s the science behind it? Should you start your own content marketing campaign? Let’s dig into the data to find out! Why Does Content Work? Plus, 39 Reasons You Should Invest in Content – Table of Contents What Kind of Content Works? 1. Content with a Strategy 2. High-Quality Content 3. Consistent Content Why Does Content Work? 40 Reasons to Invest in Content Marketing Does Content Work? How to Move Forward with Your Marketing Goals [bctt tweet=”Why does content work? What’s the science behind it? ‍ Should you start your own content marketing campaign? Dig into the data with @JuliaEMcCoy via the Write Blog ” username=”ExpWriters”] What Kind of Content Works? Before we dive into why content marketing works, it’s important to point out that not all content works. You can’t just get on your keyboard and type up a frenzy of random blogs to publish online. Doing this is a waste of time, energy, and even money. So, what kind of content should you be producing? Here are three things to aim for. 1. Content with a Strategy Approaching content marketing without content strategy is like going on a trip without a destination. No matter how many miles you travel, you’ll never reach your goal because you don’t know exactly what your goal is. To keep your content from going in circles, you need to develop a content strategy. This is your master plan and blueprint. It’ll guide you on what type of content to create, the target audience to create it for, where to publish it and how often, and all the details that’ll make your content unique, purposeful, and powerful. 2. High-Quality Content When publishing content, remember that quality trumps quantity every single time. And when I say quality, it’s not just making sure your blogs are free of grammatical errors. It’s superb content. Share-worthy content. Content that gets your audience hooked. So, if you’re tempted to click publish on the mediocre blog you wrote, just stop. Publishing a day or two late is better than damaging your online authority with low-quality content. 3. Consistent Content That being said, try your best to stick to a regular schedule. Your readers will lose interest if you publish content randomly and inconsistently. If you’re having trouble writing everything yourself, hiring an awesome content writer is a promising and profitable step. [bctt tweet=”What kind of content should you be producing? 3 things to aim for: 1) Content with a strategy 2) High-quality content 3) Consistent content ⌚” username=”ExpWriters”] Why Does Content Work? 40 Reasons to Invest in Content Marketing Let’s start with exactly why content works, then explore statistics that’ll get you excited about content marketing. 1. Why Does Content Work? Content works because of what the buyer’s journey is like today. Buyers nowadays can’t be bullied into an old-fashioned sales funnel. They don’t like feeling “sold,” or “closed.” Instead, they want to feel powerful. They want to be in control during every step they take towards the solution they’re looking for. So no, you can’t put your audience into a rigid, linear sales funnel. What you can do is offer them value. For instance, let’s say your potential client wants to feel attractive and confident with a flashy white smile. If you’re selling teeth whitening products, you can do two things: Bombard your prospect with paid ads, or Teach your prospect how to whiten his teeth through quality content. As you’ve guessed, your prospect will respond positively to your brand if you choose the second option. He’ll see you as an authority in your industry. He’ll trust you. He’ll consider your expert advice and feel attracted to your product. That’s how content marketing works. [bctt tweet=”Buyers nowadays can’t be bullied into an old-fashioned sales funnel. They don’t like feeling sold or closed. Instead, they want to feel powerful. ” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Your Audience is Constantly Online In the U.S. alone, 81% of people go online on a daily basis. Of this number, 28% are online constantly, and 45% go online more than once a day. 3. The Number of Internet Users is Growing Each Year Today, there are 4.54 billion internet users worldwide. That’s more than half the total population of the world! 4. There Are Six Billion Searches on Google Per Day That’s 230 million searches every hour, and two trillion searches per year. 5. Google Is the Number One Place People Go When Searching for a New Product or Brand Every single day, hundreds of millions of people go to Google to perform shopping-related searches. 6. People Are Spending More and More Time on the Internet Source: thenextweb.com The Philippines leads the pack on total time spent on the internet with a whopping nine hours and forty-five minutes per day. Worldwide, it’s six hours and forty-three minutes per day (the same number with the U.S.). 7. 90% of B2B Marketers Use Content as Part of Their Strategy The brands using content for marketing aren’t all small. In fact, hugely successful brands like Toshiba, Cisco, and Marriott all take advantage of content marketing. 8. A Huge Chunk of Marketers are Investing in Content Marketing It’s not just B2B marketers, it’s B2C marketers as well. 70% of all marketers now invest in content marketing. 9. 3/4 of All People Who Use the Internet Read Blogs Regularly That’s 3.4 billion people who’d potentially be interested in reading … Read more

The 9 Most Useful Content Marketing Services You Need to Get This Year

March 24, 2022February 18, 2020 by Adam Oakley

This year, content marketing is a non-optional activity for any brand that wants to be successful. Facts: 84% of consumers now expect brands to create content. And if you think you can just get in front of them with ads… think again. Today, 80% of users ignore sponsored search results in Google. Organic is where you’ll win. However, if you’re thinking about content marketing services (such as hiring an agency to manage your content marketing campaign from start to finish — something we don’t do, we only write great content) — it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out what services to choose, and from whom. Should you go with strategic content services from a digital marketing agency? Or should you go with content development and marketing services from a creative agency? Or should you just go renegade and do it all yourself? You have a lot of options, so I’ve put this guide of the most quintessential content marketing services that you need. It’s got advice for whichever route you choose, so if you’re going to take that dive (and you absolutely should!) … start here. [bctt tweet=”Thinking about content marketing services? It’s overwhelming figuring out what to choose. …Or should you just go renegade? ‍ Learn everything you need to know in this guide on the Write Blog.” username=”ExpWriters”] A Quick Guide: Content Marketing Services You Need This Year – Table of Contents What Goes Into Content Marketing? 9 Content Marketing Services You Need to Grow Your Brand in 2020 and Beyond 1. A Rock-Solid Content Strategy 2. The Creation of Mind-Blowing Content 3. Frank, Thoughtful Video Creation 4. Captivating Infographics & Visual Assets 5. A Kicka$$ WordPress Site 6. Flawlessly Branded Social Media 7. Next-Level Email Marketing 8. A Fresh, Modern Maintenance Routine 9. The Right Tools to Measure Success So, Exactly What Does Content Marketing Entail? If you asked me to pick the top 10 buzzwords in the online writing industry, content marketing would definitely be near the top of the list. It’s difficult to tell when the term content marketing first came around. It appears in a few marketing textbooks (available on Google Books) from the late 1990s, but internet results all seem to indicate that digital marketers first adopted the term in the mid-2000s. Now, it’s everywhere. But what does it mean? In short, content marketing is the strategic planning, creation, and distribution of content to engage audiences and drive revenue. (CMI wrote a wonderful guide on it that’s worth reading.) In 2020, content marketing is all but a necessity for any company looking to market itself effectively. Consumers were fed up with in-your-face advertising and slimy sales tactics a LONG time ago. In contrast, content marketing takes a different approach. It emphasizes the delivery of engaging, helpful, useful content to audiences rather than convincing them outright to buy a service. It’s helpful to think of content marketing like a chain-reaction. Each step builds on the previous to create a working system to build an audience and generate leads. In general, you’ll see six steps: Strategy: Content strategy is the foundation of content marketing. It’s your road map and blueprint to build your content engine. Creation: Content marketing relies on the creation of superb content that’s been developed with your audience’s needs and the customer journey in mind. Optimization: With optimization, it’s time to get technical. Here, you make sure that search engines see you, your site works on mobile, and all the details are perfect. Distribution: Also called promotion in some resources, this is the release of your content on platforms like your blog or social media. Maintenance: Keeping the momentum going is important. In the maintenance stage, you apply the sensibilities of marketing to keep your content and presence fresh. Metrics: In 2020, everything is data-driven. To maximize success, you need to know how your content is performing. [bctt tweet=”It’s helpful to think of content marketing like a chain-reaction. ⛓ Each step builds on the previous, leading to growth. There are 6 steps: 1) Strategy 2) Creation 3) Optimization 4) Distribution 5) Maintenance 6) Metrics ” username=”ExpWriters”] Content marketing involves a lot! It’s no surprise that 84% of companies outsource at least one of those elements (usually content creation) – even if they have a dedicated content marketing team (which according to CMI, most do). So, what all goes into content marketing? Here are nine content marketing services you should absolutely consider if you want to grow your brand this year. 9 Content Marketing Services You Need to Grow Your Brand This year, you’ve got abundant options for content marketing services and packages. As the marketing approach finally goes mainstream, there’s no shortage of agencies and independents offering tricks, tools, and services. However, not all content marketing services are created equal. It takes a discerning eye to decide which option is best for you. If you’re looking around and feeling overwhelmed, I totally feel you! It’s a big, big world. Here’s a guide to the top nine services for content development and marketing that you definitely should consider this year. 1. A Rock-Solid Content Strategy First and foremost, don’t go anywhere without a road map! Content strategy is the framework for your content marketing. It’s what will inform things like what content you create and where you’ll distribute it. In many ways, developing your content strategy is front-loading your content marketing. With a solid content strategy as your foundation, you’re already halfway to a comprehensive content marketing engine. Strongly consider documenting your overarching strategy. According to CMI’s 2020 B2B Content Marketing Report, only 41% of surveyed businesses had one – but that included a whopping two-thirds of the most successful businesses who reported. Likewise, only 16% of the least well-performing companies surveyed had a content strategy that was written down. Many marketing agencies and even freelance writers offer content strategy. When shopping for a service, make sure that it’s got a few quintessential items: Trending topics research: Don’t let your … Read more

How to Set Up Your SaaS Content Marketing Strategy: 6 Steps to Success

March 24, 2022February 11, 2020 by Adam Oakley

Do you have a SaaS business? Are you publishing content as a way to bring in and nurture potential customers? ⬅️ If so, you need a SaaS content marketing strategy. To put it bluntly, content without a strategy is akin to a house without a foundation, support beams, walls, or a roof. Instead of welcoming a constant flux of eager visitors to your beautiful abode, you’ll just be sitting alone on a pile of bricks. The strategy gives your SaaS content marketing a purpose, structure, goals, and a strong foundation to build on. Without it, you’ll flounder with content. You won’t nurture leads – you’ll lose them. The ONLY way to start seeing exponential, compounding online growth with SaaS content marketing is to outline your content strategy plan, fill in the blanks, and follow it to the letter. Don’t believe me yet? Let’s look at the difference between content created & published without a strategy vs. WITH a strategy. How to Build a SaaS Content Marketing Strategy: Table of Contents Content Marketing with and Without a Strategy: What’s the Difference? 2 Years in, Without a Content Marketing Strategy What Happens with a Content Strategy in Place? What Do You Need for Successful SaaS Content Marketing? 6 Key, Strategic Pillars 1. Know the Base Levels of SaaS Content Strategy: Define Topic Areas, Goals, & More Goals and Content Mission Topic Area(s) of Focus Content Differentiation Factor 2. Get to Know Your Audience for Solid SaaS Content Marketing Find Your Ideal Target Buyer Research, Research, Research Know Your Customers’ Common Buying Journeys 3. Integrate SEO Research Long-Tail Keywords and Connected Topics Optimize Your Content 4. Build Your Content House 5. Understand How to Create Content for SaaS Marketing Fill Your Audience’s Knowledge Gaps Write to Engage Kill the Fluff 6. Track, Measure, Update, & Maintain Track and Measure Update and Maintain Your SaaS Content Marketing Strategy Is Covered [bctt tweet=”With all the offers out there, how can you make sure that your SaaS company and product stand out? @JuliaEMcCoy tells how and why you should make SaaS content marketing strategy right now ‍ ” username=”ExpWriters”] Content Marketing with and Without a Strategy: What’s the Difference? At Express Writers, we’re not selling SaaS, but our content plays the same roles as it would for a SaaS business: building audience trust in our brand, showing our expertise, and nurturing traffic and leads. Unfortunately, without a content marketing strategy, our content didn’t have the impact we hoped it would. We weren’t meeting our goals at the beginning. 2 Years in, Without a Content Marketing Strategy With 215 blogs published, we were only ranking for 141 keywords Our monthly gross income never topped $29K At most, we saw 500 visitors a day On top of these lackluster numbers, I was suffering, too. Hustling every day but not seeing any rewards (because I was misdirecting my energy) Stressed and scrounging for leads Working constantly to make ends meet Then, in September 2016, I finally built and implemented a content marketing strategy. What happened next? What Happens with a Content Strategy in Place? Life was never the same after our content marketing strategy hit the ground running. A few months after executing the strategy, we hit our first, landmark $71K income month. Our ranking keywords shot up from 3,900 to 6,000. It didn’t stop there. Within roughly one year, we were hitting records every month – January 2018 saw us hit our first-ever $120K income month. We were ranking for over 12,800 keywords My blogs were getting the highest number of shares I’d ever seen. EW ranked #1 for hot keywords (e.g. “content writing outsourcing”) Today, we’re still blowing our old records out of the water. 99% of our clients come to us from our content marketing We rank for over 24,000 keywords in Google We’ve earned over $4.5 million in agency sales We see 90,000 to 100,000 organic visitors every month As you can see, no content strategy = If you say YES to a content strategy, however… ✔ It’s true for SaaS and non-SaaS industries alike that invest in content. For those of you tuning in from a SaaS background, stay with me. We’re about to get into how to build your SaaS content marketing strategy. [bctt tweet=”Do you need a SaaS content marketing strategy? Don’t think twice. @JuliaEMcCoy shows the HUGE difference in ROI between having none vs. using a well-planned strategy for @ExpWriters.” username=”ExpWriters”] What Do You Need for Successful SaaS Content Marketing? 6 Key, Strategic Pillars So, you need a SaaS content marketing strategy. That means it’s time to learn how to do SaaS marketing the right way. The best SaaS marketing campaigns use these 6 pillars. They form the foundation for a working content marketing platform for your business. 1. Know the Base Levels of SaaS Content Strategy: Define Topic Areas, Goals, & More Your SaaS content marketing plan needs a few basic factors defined before you can get into the nitty-gritty of audience research or content creation. Goals and Content Mission First, what is your main goal for your content marketing initiative? What do you hope to achieve? How will you build relationships with customers through content? Outline the answers to those questions two ways: As an overarching mission for your SaaS content marketing. Phrase it the way you would phrase your broad business mission and goals. The two should be tied together and complement each other! Focused goals with measurable outcomes in the form of KPIs (key performance indicators). For example, Content Marketing Institute offers some solid KPIs tied to common goals for content marketing: Create brand awareness – Track and measure social shares Drive more traffic to your website or blog – Track total website visits monthly, the percentage of return visitors, or the time on site where the visitor was actively engaged Generate leads – Track the number of leads each piece of content earned, or track conversion rates for your landing pages Improve customer retention – Track … Read more

In the Spotlight: 5 Promising Content Marketing Trends for 2020

March 24, 2022January 21, 2020 by Adam Oakley

It’s 2020 already! Are you ready to seize the new decade by the horns? I sure am! We’re just a few short weeks into the year, and it’s already shaping up to be an exciting one in the world of writing. If you’ve been paying attention to what’s happening in content marketing, then you’re already a step ahead of the curve. Several ideas and innovations are maturing, bringing us more possibilities when it comes to writing and distributing our most magnetic content. Wondering what the future of content marketing looks like? Check it out. I’ve rounded up my best predictions for the 2020 trends in content marketing. This year is already roaring along at full speed, so we’d better get started! The 5 Biggest Content Marketing Trends for 2020 You Must Embrace 1. “Good” Is Not Enough! Readers E-A-T Only the Best Content Topic-Focused Content Builds Authority Results-Focused Copy Builds Relevance Customer-Focused Marketing Builds Trust 2. Pictures Become Worth 1 Million Words – If They’re Living Visual Media Is Becoming Interactive 3. An Emphasis on Lasting Relationships 4. Brand Authenticity Approaches New Dimensions Authenticity, Storytelling, and Story Creation Conversational Marketing 5. We Cannot Ignore the New Ways to Search [bctt tweet=”Excited to start the new year with fresh ideas to boost your content marketing to the next level? @JuliaEMcCoy shares the best content marketing trends in 2020 you should start following right now. ” username=”ExpWriters”] The 5 Biggest Content Marketing Trends for 2020 You Must Embrace While 2019 was all about refining what worked, the energy of 2020 signals that it’s all about seizing the day – or year. We’ve practiced, honed, experimented… Now it’s time to put all that newfound knowledge to work to build those dreams as you’ve never built before. Without further ado, here are the five content marketing trends for 2020 you must absolutely watch. 1. “Good” Is Not Enough! Readers E-A-T Only the BEST Content The phrase “content is king” has been floating around the internet now for almost a quarter of a century. (Thanks, Bill.) It’s a deceptively simple statement. Yet, 24 years later, we’re still discovering exactly what it means. 2020 may be the year that we (collectively) finally get it. An emphasis on good content has existed for a while now, largely spurred on by Google’s constant (and often revolutionary) updates to its search engine algorithms. Last decade, we saw several seismic updates that completely altered the nature of search. Google has a knack for doing that. However, the last several core updates such as Google BERT and the January Core Update have been relatively unique. Not only have they continued to tailor their algorithms to the human element, but they’ve now begun sending a pretty clear message to the content creation (and SEO) community with every update: Google really, really, REALLY wants you to stop overanalyzing the SEO situation every time it updates its algorithms. Why? Because in 2020 SEO has ONE main rule: Focus on delivering the best possible content to your readers. Oh look, another deceptively simple statement. In 2020, content and search engine ranking are fusing. It’s no longer going to be about either optimizing for people or optimizing for search engines. By crafting exceptional content, you’re now doing both. If there’s anything you take away, it’s these three points for content trends in 2020. (Which are so important, we made an image for you.) 1. Topic-Focused Content Builds Authority To establish authority in the search engines, you’ll need to prove to Google that you know something about a topic. That doesn’t mean posting one or two articles on the subject and calling it good. The average content pillar has been 2,000 and 10,000 words with 6-8 sub-topics (or pages) linked. 2. Results-Focused Copy Builds Relevance Craft content with a purpose. People use search engines to find answers to problems, but only 21% of searches lead to more than one result getting clicked. If your copy isn’t laser-focused on achieving a specific result (like solving the problem that person searched for), you won’t make it to the top of the list. 3. Customer-Focused Marketing Builds Trust In 2020, the primary means you’ll build trust with your readers is by delivering helpful, useful content. Such content indicates a willingness to be helpful, to give without expectation of monetary returns. Turns out it works. According to research by Conductor, customers are up to 131% more likely to purchase from brands that provide early-stage, educational content. [bctt tweet=”Don’t settle for good this 2020, go for GREAT! How? Focus on these three important points: the right topics (to build authority), ️ results (to build relevance), and customers (to build trust).” username=”ExpWriters”] Take a moment to absorb these three points. They’re what underlie the rest of the content marketing trends for 2020. BTW – Google is setting a high bar for what is considered quality content. And unsurprisingly, Content Marketing Institute found that 84% of brands outsource their content creation to pros. If you’re concerned about quality, this is the route to take. [bctt tweet=”Did you know? @cmicontent found that 84% of brands outsource their content creation to pros. Stressed for time? Maybe it’s time to trust a pro writing partner. ✍️” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Visuals Become Worth 1 Million Words – If They’re Live Remember the first infographic ever made? (Probably not – it was published in 1821.) It rocked everyone’s world. Today, infographics and visuals remain incredibly powerful. We’re going to keep seeing them – but they’re getting a refresh. How? Visual Media Is Becoming Interactive Infographics are neat, but unless they’re designed and optimized for social media sharing (like Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook), they’re surprisingly limited. They can pique our interest for a few minutes or flash across our social media feed… but they can’t do much else. In contrast, live video content is an experience. When something is real-time, we’re primed to think it’s unique. Plus, the real-time nature of the media amplifies the exclusivity and sense of connection with the … Read more