content writing tips - Express Writers

10 Steps to Create Intelligent Content This Year

June 19, 2024March 12, 2015 by Adam Oakley

When it comes to writing content, you want to make sure you create the best possible pieces for your site and clients. You can look up all the different writing tips and tricks, but there might be one thing you’re missing out on – writing intelligent content. Intelligent content is the way of the content future, and you need to make sure you are on board with this great method. I am going to take a look at just what intelligent content is, why you need it, and also focus on some great steps to help you achieve the best content this year. What Does Intelligent Content Mean? Referring to intelligent content not only refers to how the specific piece of content is written, but also what goes into your content strategy. Intelligent content helps you know whom you are reaching, and it can make the difference when someone clicks on your link on social media, another blog, or from the SERP. A leader in the niche, Ann Rockley, says that intelligent content has a rich structure, and it also keeps everything such as semantics organized. I am going to focus on why you need to have intelligent content for your page, and just how you can get it, easily. Why Do You Need to Have Intelligent Content? One of the most important reasons why you need to have intelligent content is because it can be what helps make or break your company’s success. Smart content takes user experience into consideration, which is something you need to focus on when you make your website and any content. A major part of user experience and content is the same, or similar voice, as well as proper research. If you have different content throughout the web that doesn’t have the same voice and that doesn’t match up when it comes to facts, people aren’t going to know if they can trust you. Inconsistency will breed discontent, and you will soon lose your clients and any visitors. Start focusing on creating intelligent content to make sure you have consistency; your clients will greatly appreciate it and you will be immensely happy with the results it produces. Another reason why intelligent content is important is it is because your clients are able to find what they need quickly, without a lot of hassle. This goes hand-in-hand with user experience. If your clients are able to find what they want and need, quickly and easily, they are more likely to stick around and use your business continually. It will also help you convert visitors into leads, bringing in more customers. 10 Steps to Follow for Incredible and Intelligent Content Now that you know what intelligent content is and why you need it, I am going to take a look at just how you can achieve it. Intelligent content isn’t very hard to get, and by following a few steps, many of which you should already be doing, you will be able to see some great success. Let’s take a look! Make Sure Your Content is Well Researched. One of the best ways to make sure your content is written intelligently is to make sure it is well researched. You might know a lot about a certain topic, but it is always wise to do your research and have resources to back you up. Google is not only helpful for people to find your site, but it is also helpful for you to find great research and resources. Look for sites that have high domain authority (you can use Moz’s MozBar to find great sources) and take time to learn. This is definitely important if you are writing about a topic that you do not know too much about. You don’t want to come across as someone who isn’t knowledgeable, so you need to make sure you do tons of research. Always Have Well Written Content. Another way to get intelligent content is to make sure it is written well. You do not want to have content that is filled with grammatical or spelling errors, or content that sounds stiff and dry. Well-written content is vital to keep readers and convert them into leads, and it is also important when it comes to ranking. Well-written content means that you should be focusing on high-quality content, and we all know how important high-quality content is to the SERPs. A great way to write amazing content is to focus on something you are passionate about; your passion will come across in the writing, which makes it engaging and great. Make Your Content Industry Specific. Writing about trends is great when you want to stay relevant, but you need to make sure you always write things that are industry specific. You can gain inspiration from the latest movie releases or books, but if it doesn’t relate to your industry, it isn’t going to flow very well with the rest of your content. Make sure that you are always writing about things related to your industry to help set you up as an industry leader and to keep from confusing your clients and visitors. I regularly take inspiration from various trends, but I always make sure that when I write about them, I utilize them to show things pertaining to copywriting, social media or content marketing. Trust me, it is possible! Use Your Meta Tags to Help Customers Find What They Want. Like I said earlier, intelligent content doesn’t just come down to how well you write a specific piece, but the structure of your content, as well. When you create your content, you need to make sure you are utilizing your meta tags to help bring in people who are specifically looking for a company like yours. It doesn’t work if someone is looking for the top dog food and they accidentally come to your site that is all about construction. That is a bit of an extreme example, but I think you understand where I am coming … Read more

10 Ways to Create Beautiful Content: Storytelling, Visuals & More

December 31, 2020March 6, 2015 by Adam Oakley

We all want to craft content pieces that engage our readers and give them something to talk about. Nonetheless, we are fully aware of the fact that our audiences are constantly bombarded with tons of attractive, informative and palatable content coming from different reputable sources. In this context, we are desperately looking for the simplest, most concise answer to the following key questions: Why is it so important to work hard to exceed our own content creation efforts on a daily basis? How do we make our writing stand out from the crowd? And most importantly, what are the secret tricks and tips that we could apply to craft eye-catchy, memorable content with a real substance? Let’s find out. Understanding the Challenges Posed by the Information Age In 2015, we spend a lot of time filtering our sources of information. A century ago, some of the most well-read people were lucky to assimilate the info provided by 50 books during their entire lifetime. The continuous expansion of the Internet has changed the way in which we communicate and educate ourselves and has also increased our appetite for premium content. According to a recent study cited by The Telegraph, these days the average Joe has the ability and the opportunity to filter and assimilate a large amount of information representing the equivalent of no less than 174 newspapers of fresh data on a day-to-day basis. Our brains act like giant last-generation computers that help us avoid the unessential and scan, skim, memorize and revisit the things that interest us the most. In this context, it becomes obvious that modern readers have become increasingly selective and able to distinguish mediocre writing from the truly useful and engaging written masterpieces put at their disposal. This brings us to the next question on our list: what are the steps that we should take to revamp, beautify and individualize our writing? 10 Ways to Craft Strikingly Beautiful, High-Value Content Wondering how you could add tiny hooks to your content pieces to make your audience read your written materials first thing in the morning, share them on social media platforms, provide feedback and land on your pages time after time? Here are a few pointers that you should factor in to enhance the practical and aesthetical value of your content without losing a wink of sleep. Unleash the Power of Quality Storytelling. A good copywriter knows everything about marketing tactics, conversions and sales and makes the most of his exceptional storytelling skills to promote any kind of concept, make it extremely desirable and encourage a certain action. We all love a good story. This is precisely why we read books, watch movies and enjoy the conversation that we get to have with an old friend whom we haven’t seen in ages. Stories relax us and help us break the monotony. Stories lead to more stories and get people talking. Every single page that you create needs to be linked to another to add continuity to your story. In order to touch your readers’ hearts and raise their interest and curiosity you should find the best way to: Introduce yourself and kindly invite your readers to sit down and enjoy the narrative ride Get your readers intrigued and build anticipation Present facts that your audience can actually relate to Rely on a unique approach that will individualize your writing style Stir up a mix of powerful emotions and explore your manipulative potential to stimulate your readers to respond to your subtle calls to action According to Copyblogger, strategic storytelling can help you reach just about any marketing goal that may be on your mind at this point. You just have to figure out what your story really is and how you could wrap it beautifully and serve it to your public while it’s still fresh, compelling and newsworthy. Create and Publish Shareable Images. High-impact, original images that evoke powerful emotions are a gold mine for copywriters looking for the easiest method to upgrade your content. We are all aware of the fact that a good picture is more meaningful than 1,000 words. What you may not know is that images boost recall 72 hours after a first exposure to web content. According to Brain Rules by John Medina, a relevant image can help you take your content from dull and unremarkable to memorable in a split second. Craft and Implement Attention-Grabbing 3D Pictures. If you are determined to give your website a quick, inexpensive facelift and turn your content pieces into beautiful masterpieces that your readers won’t be able to ignore, consider adding a few well-chosen 3D images to your pages. According to boostblogtraffic, 3D images enable your prospects to visualize the elements that they could get by signing up, registering or making a purchase. In a world where your content is your only tie with potential buyers seeking products like the ones that you’re selling, 3D photos are the bait that you need to boost your catches. Incorporate Infographics. We will let you in on a little secret: everybody loves infographics these days. As a matter of fact, as Search Engine Journal points out, the search volumes associated with these elements have witnessed an 800% growth over the last decade, proving that audiences have a huge appetite for neatly organized, information-rich, easy-to-read content. Infographics match this description and represent the handy visual aid that allows you to beautify, personalize and promote your content in the most effective manner, while also making it easier for your readers to assimilate the food for thought that you’re providing. Use Behind-the-Scene Pictures to Add a Sense of Authenticity to Your Writing. Let’s say that you’ve recently stumbled across some amazing facts that could constitute prime material for your next story. You write your content piece and get ready to publish it. But all the cool kids on your block will ask you: if you didn’t post it on Facebook (Twitter, YouTube and any other popular social networking website), did … Read more

12 Ways The Walking Dead Creates Content To Die For

December 31, 2020February 23, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Zombies. Blood. Skin falling off. Desperate survivors. You can’t turn it off, though. Is it magic? No, it’s just AMC’s The Walking Dead. Unless you’ve been holed up trying to escape walkers, or are busy prepping for the zombie apocalypse, you probably already know that it’s simply a major hit. When AMC’s The Walking Dead returned from its mid-season hiatus in February 2015, it came back to 15.6 million viewers, according to the New York Daily News. It’s blowing television away. The most-watched TV show on cable this year, it has been consistently drawing crowds since it first launched back in 2010. Fan demand has caused the show to grow from 6 episodes in the first season to 16 in the most recent ones. What you may have missed, however, is that their screenwriters aren’t the only talented wordsmiths on their team. AMC has some skilled copywriters working on The Walking Dead website as well. 12 Elements That Quality Content Should Have: Let’s See How The Walking Dead Measures Up For this piece, let’s actually take a look at the 12 elements that Forbes Magazine says high-quality content should have, and then see how The Walking Dead’s website measures up. Appropriate Content Length. The first thing that Forbes mentions is having content that’s the right length for the audience. It’s doubtful that people are trying to research and read about The Walking Dead using a mobile device, so they should be targeting 1500-2000 words for the sake of their readers and to rank well in Google. Using an online tool to verify word count, their “About the Show” page hits the spot at 1662 words. If, for instance, you decided to examine the “Daryl Dixon” page, purely for research purposes, of course, you’d find 1819 words. It seems their content writers did their homework and are delivering pieces of ideal length. Use of Supplementary Media. The second thing Forbes mentions is the importance of including photos, images, video graphics and other supplementary media, because they increase how often a piece is shared and improve reader response. If you’re still on Daryl’s page (it’s ok, we won’t tell anyone), you already know that the copywriters have included plenty of photos and videos. In fact, the website is loaded with media on every page, including the blog. If you can tear yourself away from Daryl, you’ll see that the copywriters have nailed this aspect across the site, too. Coherent Content and Grammar Check. Forbes also mentions the importance of not only having factually-correct information, but also in having error-free content that has been organized in a sensible way. Analysis of the “About the Show” and “Daryl Dixon” pages, plus one of the longer blog entries, returned zero spelling and grammatical errors. The website also utilizes a mixture of headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up text, which makes it very easy to follow. Proper Formatting of Page and Text. The next concern, per Forbes, is whether the content is easy to skim, as well as aesthetically pleasing. Considering that the website liberally uses images, reading the pages is almost unnecessary for navigation. However, corresponding text is certainly there and all content flows naturally. Attaining an Appropriate Readability Score. Forbes points out that readability is especially important when those checking out the content are children or non-native English speakers. Several pages of The Walking Dead were run through a Gunning-Fog Index tool, and they all came back with ratings between 4 and 5. An easy read on the Gunning-Fog Index is 6, while text that is more difficult to read can rise as high as a 20, though that might only be seen on a high-level academic paper. Although the median age for a Walking Dead viewer is 33.2, it’s actually the most popular show for people ages 12-34. Considering that the age span for the show’s viewership is pretty massive, and the youngest viewers are roughly in grade 6 or 7, the readability for the website’s content is dead-on. Hire Writers who are Experts in the Field. Although Forbes says having expert writers is more important on pages that involve finances, medical advice, or life-changing information, all content should come from an authoritative source. Sadly, the only true walker experts are characters on the show, but the Walking Dead website is managed by an entire team of experts who cover AMC shows. If a group of real-life heroes can’t be rounded up, industry experts are probably the best that one can hope for. Be Sure the Authors Have a Positive Reputation. Seemingly, reputation and expert knowledge would go hand-in-hand, but Forbes split them up for some reason. Based on a little bit of sleuthing, it seems that the noted contributors were plucked from relative obscurity to assist with numerous AMC blogs. None of them appear to have had work printed in any major publications, but being chosen by a huge company like AMC strongly speaks of their reputation. Has the Content Been Shared? Forbes reports that Google does not officially look at social media shares to help determine ranking, though they often correlate. In any case, when an article is shared frequently, it’s generally an indication that it was written by a skilled copywriter. Speaking only of the blogs on the Walking Dead website, the overall pattern seems to be that longer articles have more comments and social media shares. One recent post had 8k shares on Facebook, but some of the shorter posts had none. Even though social sharing is not consistent from piece to piece, the copywriters did well overall. Quality Internal and External Links. According to the Forbes article, high-quality outbound links help make a site more trustworthy, while internal ones are to be used carefully. Interestingly, the Walking Dead website relies heavily on internal links. It seems that every time a character or episode is mentioned, the text links to the corresponding area on the website. While the “About the Show” page includes only one internal … Read more

12 Ways to Write Awesome, Useful, Engaging Content

December 31, 2020January 9, 2015 by Adam Oakley

From the outside, content marketing might appear simple. Great writers sneeze and create compelling blog posts, right? It’s not that hard. The reality is, however, that even the best writers in this industry have to build their skills. It’s like becoming a world-class weightlifter: you don’t just go out and do it. You work at it, for years, and you eventually get good. One of the largest challenges for writers in the content marketing industry is learning to create engaging content readers want to interact with. It’s easy enough to write meaningless fluff, but compelling material? That’s another story. Luckily, this is a learned skill and, like all learned skills, it just requires practice. 12 Tips for Crafting Audience-Friendly Content So, you want to create useful content that converts clicks into customers? You’ll need to start planning for it. Here are the steps to take: 1. Start With Curation One of the very first steps to writing useful content is learning to curate it. The more you understand what your audience likes and dislikes, the better you’ll be able to create it for them. What’s more, discovering what is hot and trending in your industry plays a crucial role in helping you understand the needs of your audience, which will make you a better writer down the road. To get started curating content, invest in a streamlined curation tool like Scoop.it. Scoop.it eliminates the manual labor from the curation process and can save you hours of searching for the right content. Remember: curating content is all about finding the best content in your industry, but you can’t stop there. Give your writing muscles a flex by adding your unique commentary or perspective on the article before posting it for your readers. 2. Poll Your Readers The next step in discovering what your audience is looking for is going directly to the source. Writing engaging content starts with answering customer questions. Before you can answer those questions, though, you have to know what they are. This is where polling your readers or searching through question-and-answer sites can be invaluable. If you’ve never polled anyone before, start with social Q&A websites such as Quora. Quora is a popular social platform chock-full of user-generated questions on nearly every topic under the sun. Once you’ve found some questions you think would resonate with your readers, turn them into blog posts. If you want to poll your readers, turn to your social profiles. If you’ve been considering writing about a particular topic or idea, ask your readers what they think of it. Is there something they’d prefer to read about? Do they have any questions for you? Figuring these things out in advance is a great way to create truly custom content for your readers. 3. Use Industry Tools For More Topic Ideas Struggling to come up with catchy blog topics? Hubspot offers a free blog topic generator that is great for idea mining and can help you get out of a creative rut. All you need to do to use the tool is insert three nouns that relate to your industry, and the blog topic generator spits out a list of ideas. As with anything, a little common sense goes a long way with selecting your topics. Not every option will apply to your industry, but the topic generator does a great job of inspiring useful content ideas and can give you a lot to work with. 4. Read Competitor Content Believe it or not, your competitors are an excellent source for content ideas. If you’re having trouble coming up with topics that will be useful for your audience, comb through the comments of a competitor blog. When you do this, you’re looking for unanswered questions that your competitor’s customers are asking. Once you’ve found them, take these unanswered questions and run with them on your blog. Want to take your competitor research a bit further? Browse through a competitor website and take note of what you see. What do they have that you don’t? Do you notice anything missing? This is your opportunity to fill in content gaps on your website and, thus, provide more useful and relevant content for your audience. 5. Pay Attention to the News Another source for locating in-demand topic ideas is news sources. Depending on your industry, news topics can come from a variety of sources. A great starting point for general news is Google News, where nearly every industry has some form of news to report. Beyond Google News, look into popular industry online magazines and other relevant publications. Reddit also contains a fair amount of news-like material, but use your best judgment with this source, since not all content is fact-checked and verified before publication. 6. Use Your Headlines as a Hook When it comes to writing engaging content, it all starts with your headline. Even if your piece is well-written, it might never reach its full potential if the headline isn’t on point. So, how exactly do you write compelling headlines that encourage your customers to read your content? Think in numbers. According to Moz, 36% of customers prefer “number” headlines over other types of headlines. Take this blog post for example, with X Tips for Useful, Engaging Content. Use numbers to create helpful advice pieces, or to showcase lists in ‘Top X’ format. Solve a problem. Offering a solution to a problem in your headline will get customers clicking to find more information. Ask a question. A surefire way to write engaging and useful content is to answer questions. In fact, 11% of readers prefer these headlines to other types. Remember: 80% of readers will never get past your headline, so it pays to make it as useful as possible. To check your headline’s strength, use a tool like AMI’s headline analyzer, which judges your headline based on its intellectual, empathetic, and spiritual word saturation. 7. Go Long When it comes to writing engaging blog posts, longer is better. Studies have shown that long posts that have at least 1500 words earn a higher ROI than shorter posts. Long blog posts also keep your audience on … Read more

Why You Shouldn’t Be Doing Content for SEO Only

December 31, 2020December 11, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Wait just a second – isn’t content for SEO purposes? What does my odd title mean? Well, yes, content is great for SEO, and SEO is just one of several reasons why you should be using content. Goodness knows we’ve talked about the importance of content for SEO multiple times. However, it isn’t the only reason. You need to craft content that reaches your audience both on and offline, and it needs to be high quality and engaging. That said, how do you craft content that doesn’t primarily focus on SEO, while still putting out content that’s excellent enough for Google to #1 it? This blog is going to take a look at this, as well as help you craft excellent, engaging copy for your website and social media sites. Following these suggestions could help turn several of those clicks into excellent leads and long-term customers. SEO is Just One of Many Reasons for Content It might seem like the only reason most companies utilize content is for SEO, so why can’t you? It does look like it works, especially at the beginning. However, when you focus your content solely on SEO purposes, you can eventually lose your readership. There is nothing quite as boring as reading a piece written only to trigger the search engines and bring people to the site. Yes, SEO is a great reason for a content campaign, but it is not the only one on the market. There are several other reasons that combine to create an incredible formula of success. Take a quick look at my blogs; I write them for you specifically without focusing too much on SEO. I do take it into consideration. I like ranking in Google searches (who doesn’t?). However, I also want you to find something of immense value and that is the true goal of content. What Happens if You Only Focus on Content for SEO? The main thing that can happen is you can lose your readership. This is something discussed in several blogs about SEO. “Don’t keyword stuff because readers won’t appreciate it,” “don’t write for the bots because of readers.” Your readership is vital to the success of your business. Another important reason is if you only focus on the SEO aspect of your content, you can eventually be penalized by Google. Do you see now why it is vital to your business to only use content for SEO as one reason? How Else Can You Use Content? Now that you’ve seen just how important it is to not focus solely on SEO, you might be wondering how else you can use your content. Let me look at two important ways to use content for your business: To Reach Your Followers Online. One of the reasons for writing web content is that it gives the ability to reach your followers easily through the Internet. The online world gives all companies the unique ability to meet customers where they are. This could be if the customer is on a train commuting to work, at Disney Land, or as they marathon House, M.D. on Netflix. No matter where you customer is, you can use your web content to reach them quickly. When you only focus on SEO, you still might reach them, but you won’t be able to retain them, which can be detrimental. Use it to Grow Your Business Both On and Offline. When using web content, not only can you reach people online, but you can grow your business offline. How can online web content grow your business off of the World Wide Web? Simple – word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth marketing gets your business to other people who may never have known about it at all. What will happen is one customer likes a product or service, and they will tell their friends and family members who will then tell their friends or family members. The cycle continues until it grows into a great client base. This can also happen on social media, and, as the Forbes article I linked to says, it is one of the most important elements in your social media marketing campaign. Tips on Creating Excellent Content That isn’t Just for SEO Just how can you create killer content your audience will enjoy without solely focusing on SEO? Let’s take a quick refresher course on a few ways to help your company both on and offline. Know Your Audience. One of the most vital parts of creating content that doesn’t just focus on SEO is knowing who your audience is and what they want to read. This will take some researching, but it can be done. This will help you craft excellent content that will be shared on social media, helping with one aspect of word of mouth marketing. If you truly know your audience, they will feel comfortable with your company and will be willing to tell others about it. A few ways to research your audience are: Create specific questions to help you truly learn about them. Sending out customer surveys for your audience to fill out. Meeting with clients and hosting a sort of online town hall to get a feel for what they want. Research your audience on social media and what they are saying about you. Write for Your Readers. When you focus your content solely on SEO purposes, you miss the biggest mark for successful content – writing for your readers. You can write your content with SEO in mind, but readers are going to notice if you are trying to rank. The best way to write for them is to follow point one and research them, but to also write naturally. “Talk” to your audience by using pronouns and create a relationship. Write on topics they find interesting and give them valuable information that they don’t feel they can get elsewhere. A great way to write for your readers is to use their language or “voice” in your content. This … Read more

Great Copywriting In Action: Tim Burton

January 1, 2021August 13, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Image credit: Listal.com We all know Tim Burton, whether we are solid Burtonites or if we have only watched a few of his films with friends or family. He is known for his unique take on films and many remember him for his films like Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Beetlejuice. However, his incredible filmography is not the only great thing about this unique director – his copywriting skills are something that any copywriter can learn from. We are going to take a look at a few ways in which Tim Burton does copywriting and how it is tremendously successful. In fact, how he does copywriting is really what has helped push him to the top, since his films are not the standard Hollywood fare. Tim Burton Stays True To Himself One thing you can never say about Tim Burton is that he copies or hides behind methods that are overdone. He is known for completely being himself and anything that seems overdone (like Johnny Depp in almost every film) are only overdone because he has stuck to what he likes. You know that you are watching a Burton film, or that he had something to do with the film because it has his unique signature looks and designs. He also sticks with the things he loves and those things that inspired him to become a director, such as using Vincent Price for as long as he could in his films or making a film based off of painter Margaret Keane, who one can obviously see inspired Burton’s art. When being interviewed, he never strays far from his personality, which endears him to many people. What can copywriters learn from this? It shows how important it is to stay yourself and be genuine. Sure, sometimes it might seem difficult to be yourself when it comes to writing copy, but if you try to sound like anyone else, it will come across as fake and forced. Burton does change to different versions of himself depending on the situation, and copywriters can do the same. If you are witty and sarcastic, you can definitely use this in your casual, laid back pieces, but you should also be able to transform your wit and sarcasm into something professional. Whatever your personality is, always make sure to stay true to it. It will make your writing sound more personable and can create excellent relationships with existing and potential clients. Tim Burton Dedicates Time To His Projects You can never say that Tim Burton doesn’t spend enough time on his projects. While he didn’t direct Nightmare Before Christmas, he did direct Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie, all of which are stop motion. (Stop motion filming is a huge process and commitment to undertake.) Many of Burton’s projects all started a long time before they were even considered for large motion pictures, many of which he wrote while working as an animator for Disney. He wrote the story for Nightmare Before Christmas in 1982, and Disney considered for a brief moment to use the poem as a TV show. It was eventually shelved for being far too strange for a TV audience. Eventually, it was filmed and released in 1993 because of Burton constantly working to get it put into production. This shows an awesome level of dedication to his projects, even if he couldn’t direct some of them. No matter what role he had to take, he always took some role in making his films to make sure things were done like he wanted them to be. This is great for copywriters because it shows that dedication can produce long lasting, quality material. If you simply aim just to write out X amount of blogs a week or to write X amount of word web content pieces a week, you will find that the quality of your content is low and lacking. Spend some time and work on your projects to ensure that you produce the highest quality pieces. Tim Burton Builds Lasting Relationships With Fans While Tim Burton is known for being insanely shy, his fans know him as someone they can relate to. This is because he works hard on his projects, gives access to things like an art book, and stays true to himself. Because he follows these core values in copywriting, he is able to build long lasting relationships with his fans. Many feel they know him, though they’ve never met him, simply because he can get on their level and speak to them in a way no one else has been able to. This is great for copywriting, because relationships are what will make your web content soar. Building relationships will also help you beat your competition at the game and get a strong client base. The relationships you build now will ensure that you will have a consistent client base that will always support you, share your material, and, of course, purchase your items. Build those relationships by following what Tim Burton does, be yourself and dedicate time to your content. Copywriting Inspiration from Tim Burton You can learn quite a bit from Tim Burton. Take this chance to look into his work some more and see what inspiration you can gain from him for your content marketing and copywriting. You will love the results you get once you follow the above steps!

How Does Your Content Look At A Glance? Creating Irresistible Content

January 1, 2021August 1, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Do you know what “the glance” is? It’s the .7 seconds that we have to win readers. In that tiny time period, we have to get the audience to take action. They have to want to go beyond a glance based on what they see and how it makes them feel in what amounts to the blink of an eye. How can you create the kind of irresistible content that wins clicks, reads, and shares? That’s what we’re about to consider. The Challenges of Creating Content One of the harsh facts of today’s business world is that everything runs on a budget—usually a series of tight ones. An even harsher fact is that today’s businesses are running on few staff and more workflow out of pure necessity. Who has time to write content? According to PR Daily, a recent business study concluded that approximately 75 percent of buyers are likely to use social media during the purchase process. Roughly, 55 percent of B2B survey respondents confessed to using social websites to search for information. So, how do you tie in a great headline, opener, even a tweet about your blog piece so people READ your blog…and want to go beyond the glance? Do you educate your staff or outsource? How about a little of both? The Fundamentals of Irresistible Content If we break it down to the basics, there are three fundamentals of content that cannot be ignored: The Intuitive Title: The title has to pique curiosity. It’s one of the most important aspects of any piece of content. In as few as 5 to 10 words, a title conveys the entire point of the content. It hints at the tone of the piece, and—if crafted properly—it creates an instant emotional spark that draws the audience in, compelling them to click into the content. Descriptive Headings: The skeleton of content is in the headlines. Each headline conveys an essential part of the content structure. Once a reader clicks into your content, the glance becomes a quick review of the headlines. It is vital to craft headings that pique curiosity, convey the meat of the content in short bursts, and make the reader say, “That sounds interesting. I should read that.” The Story: If you do the job right, the title and headings will hook the reader in that .7 second window. But the hook doesn’t end there. Once they’re on your page, staring down your content and starting to read, you have to tell the story. Business2Community recommends writing “like you are talking.” The best way to connect and deliver a story that will keep the reader engaged is to write like you’re speaking directly to them. Tell them the story. Show them why they should care. Give them something of value to take away. The art of weaving classic storytelling into your copy is one of the most effective means of creating delectable and completely irresistible content. Now, don’t think that these fundamentals are only applicable to your written content. These fundamentals are highly applicable across ALL of your content. It doesn’t matter if you’re broadcasting a podcast series, marketing an eBook, sharing a SlideShare, producing a video seminar, or crafting the meat of your landing page. A hooking title, classy and interesting breakdowns, and the unique story the audience can’t get anywhere else are the foundation of every piece of every type of tantalizing content. But the foundation doesn’t stop there. Know Your Audience: We hear it all of the time, but it’s one of the most overlooked cornerstones of creating irresistible content. Copyblogger recommends using an empathy map to put yourself in the shoes of your audience, Create An Experience: Storytelling isn’t the only way to create an experience. Everything contributes to your readers’ experience, from the look and functionality of your website to the copy they’re skimming and hopefully reading. Show Your Personality: If you ask a big business why they invest so much in creating their own personal branding, they’ll likely say it’s because people like and trust brands. The more people like and trust you, the more likely they are to buy from you. According to Business2Community, one of the keys to creating irresistible content is to show your personality in your content. Be Extreme: Business2Community goes on to point out that attempting to keep neutral ground is a recipe for frustration. Instead, be irresistible by offering something spectacular! Offer an opinion. State your outlook. Take a stand! “Only then” says Business2 Community, “will you attract…like-minded subscribers.” Try Something New: The number of tools at your disposal to create irresistible content is truly amazing. For example, have you ever thought about using content curation as a means of filling that downtime in between your new content pieces? What about using crowdsourcing as a means of collecting knowledge from different sources? Don’t be shy of trying something new. Sometimes it’s that fresh infusion of a new way of doing things that suddenly boosts your content to irresistible. Repurposing Is Okay: Copyblogger says that after you exert the effort into writing your content, you should be open to repurposing it. In truth, every piece of content starts out as copy. Podcasts and videos have scripts. SlideShares need to be outlined before the text and graphics can be pulled together. Once you’ve crafted your content, think about how to repurpose it and get the most mileage. Different types of content appeal to different members of your audience. The busy would be buyer who didn’t have time to read that blog post just might watch the related video because it works for their on-the-go lifestyle. A Little Content TLC Goes a Long Way With a little content TLC, you can be a brand hero and successfully create and publish irresistible content every day. Learn by example by checking out the 5 irresistible copywriting examples we covered in April. And remember, there’s no shame and everything to gain in educating your staff and outsourcing your content needs to … Read more

The Olympics 2014: Gathering Copywriting Inspiration From the Games

January 1, 2021July 18, 2014 by Adam Oakley

The 2014 Olympics were filled with talented people, glorious uniforms, and humor. It had its own twitter feed, and memes from different events were usually on the Internet within an hour of the event occurrence. Although the Olympics may seem like a spectacle with no substance, we as copywriters can actually take inspiration from various things that happened in the two-week span that was the Winter Olympics. Let’s take a look—shall we? How to Handle those Annoying Mess-ups The most memorable moment outside of the #sochiproblems twitter trend was that pesky Olympic ring not opening. Memes started popping up everywhere, joke articles posted, and people talked about it for the entirety of the Olympics. It is something that will live on for years and give Type A personality types nightmares until the end of days. There is an important lesson to be learned with this particular mess up, though. At the closing ceremony, watchers were not expecting Russia, of all countries, to make fun of itself. Many people had, and still do have, preconceived ideas about Russia and were completely surprised when Russia did something a lot of people are afraid to do by mocking themselves and turning a bad situation into a humorous one. They took and implemented the old saying of “it is better to laugh with people then have people laugh at you,” into the closing ceremony. That was quite epic! It was on the Internet in minutes, maybe even seconds. Twitter exploded with tweets exclaiming how amazing it was, and everyone seemed to enjoy it completely. What can we take away from this mess up? Well, we all know we will mess up eventually and possibly mess up just as epically. We write our copy, read it, re-read it, and send it off to editors, but undoubtedly something will happen. That is Murphy’s Law for you. There is likely to be some time when you find information online and share it or quote it only to find out it is a farce. That is embarrassing, and it is understandable if all you want to do is hide from the world. Instead, follow Russia’s example of making fun of their flub. Joke about your mess up with followers and readers; do not try to hide the fact that you messed up. Everything will be fine, and people will enjoy and appreciate that you are laughing at yourself and your mistake, as well as being honest. Staying Current with Your Copywriting Keeping up with the trends is important in every aspect of advertising, hosting sporting events, and copywriting. If you are not current, people will turn away from your events or stop reading your material. You do not want this to happen because those attendees and readers help keep you successful! When it came to advertising the Winter Olympics, the BBC went about it in a very current way. Their commercial leading up to the Olympics had a Game of Thrones vibe to it, very dark and full of treacherous landscapes. Not only did they play off of the darkness and wintry aspects of Game of Thrones, they also got an actor from the show to do the voice over. Fans of the TV show were very excited when they heard Tywin Lannister’s (aka Charles Dance) voice begin. Another way advertisers got people to tune into the Olympics is the “Loser Gets Bieber” billboard that went viral. It was set up in Chicago for the men’s Canada vs. USA hockey game and many people who otherwise might not have watched the game, tuned in. It quickly became the “most important” game of the Olympics. Photo credit: Command Sign We are not suggesting making fun of celebrities who are in the news for some of their most raucous behavior, but we are showing that keeping up with current events brings in more viewers, and in your case, more readers. As Hubspot points out, many of the athletes at the Olympics were down to earth and kept up with the current trends, particularly those within the extreme sports category. The word “stoked” was used 14 times, someone joked “Wu-Tang” was for the children (which, we will say, they aren’t), and people were just generally easy going. This is a big part of society now, especially with the millennial generation. Due to this laidback approach many millennials tweeted and talked about the Olympics. Staying True to You and Your Readers Another important lesson you can take inspiration from in your copywriting is how many athletes were unassuming while also managing to please their fans. When people tune in for extreme sports, they want to see laidback people, not people in shiny costumes who use exquisite language. When tuning in for figure skating, viewers want to see those sparkly, and sometimes outlandish, costumes. Let’s not forget that Bermuda stayed true to themselves and wore shorts to the Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies. Photo credit: Mashable The Olympics are all about knowing which audiences tune into which events, and making sure advertisements and uniforms, or costumes, appeal to that demographic. The same goes for copywriting. Knowing whom you are writing for and whom you are writing to is very important. If you do not know the demographic you are appealing to, eventually people will lose interest in your writing. Creating a Buzz One thing that can be said about the 2014 Winter Olympics is that the opening and closing ceremony fashions were eye-catching and, in most cases, memorable. Twitter was ablaze with people discussing the different uniforms each country wore. America had gigantic Cosby sweaters while Canada had striking red coats, and let’s not forget those curling pants worn by Norway and Russia. While many fashion experts found the American and German teams to have terrible fashion sense, many people online loved the bright and crazy color combos. When the opening ceremony ended people were not just talking about that fifth ring, they were also talking about all the crazy fashion, and … Read more

Purr-fection: How Friskies Does Copywriting

January 1, 2021June 23, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Image source: walmart.com Friskies – that wonderful cat food company with all of those wonderful commercials; whether you are a cat owner or not, you know this brand and what they do. They’re a huge contender in the cat food industry and they always play on the fun aspects of a cat’s personality. They are part of the Purina food company, which is one of the top pet food companies and many vets prefer Purina over any other store bought brand. Today, we are going to focus on Friskies and how they do copywriting. While you might not think you can learn anything from a cat food company, you may actually find some helpful tips and gain some awesome inspiration. Let’s take a look at this purr-fect company! Friskies Food For All Cats Friskies has a huge selection of wet and dry food for cats and they make sure to market this selection as much as possible. They have food for indoor and outdoor cats, elderly cats, kittens, and a number of foods that you can use to spoil your cat such as their new breakfast food line. Friskies knows what it takes to bring customers in and they make sure always to have something fun and new for their client base. Friskies know the universal truth of all cat owners – they spoil their cats as much as possible. How does this help you in your copywriting? Friskies understands what their customers want and what their customers do. This is a prime example of researching your client base and offering them something that appeals to their interests and needs. While it may seem boring at first, research is one of the best marketing ploys out there. The more you know about your client base, the more revenue you bring into your company. Start researching, much like Friskies, and start offering products or services that your client base wants and needs. It’s All Fun And Games One step that Friskies made that raised a few eyebrows and created a lot of funny YouTube videos was the decision to release iPad games for cats. This sounds dangerous, but cat owners love to spoil their pets and with proper protection for their iPad, the cats won’t damage it. These cat game apps were the first ever to be released by a cat food brand and cat owners loved the idea. This is a great marketing ploy for Friskies because they know people are more apt to trust a company such as Friskies instead of purchasing an app from a company they do not know. It also helped bring in more customers for Friskies. If people didn’t use the Friskies brand, they most likely switched to the food brand after purchasing these games. Another way Friskies involved their clients was by providing them with a link to a live cat stream on Facebook. This live stream enabled viewers to control the cat toys and zoom cameras in or out. This was a great way to involve cat lovers with something they all enjoy, playing with cats no matter who the cats belong to. One of the nifty little catches to this marketing technique? If a person found that they really adored a little cat from this stream, the person was able to adopt the kitty and take him or her home. Such a great marketing ploy on Friskies part! Giving cat people to ability to do what they love – play with adorable cats and adopt one that needs a loving home. This shows the importance of fun elements and client engagement in copywriting. Friskies knows that they will only continue to grow if they continue to interact with humans and their cats. This is something you need to learn, as well, in your marketing techniques. Engage with your clients in a variety of ways and try to make the engagement as fun as possible. This promotes a positive attitude from clients towards your company and makes them more likely to tell others about your company, as well. Grumpy Cat Sponsorship One of the best marketing ploys Friskies has taken has been using Grumpy Cat as their spokes-cat. The company is using this opportunity to meld something that is incredibly popular with the food brand. This promotes both Grumpy Cat and Friskies; a match made in heaven. They have several videos with Grumpy and she became the face of The Friskies, an award show created by the company. This award show gives awards to various Internet cats and their accompanying videos and photos. It is a great way to market off of the Internet’s love of cats while bringing in more customers for the company. But we all know that Grumpy Cat does copywriting very well. The Grumpy Cat sponsorship is a great example of doing something involving current trends and being relevant with your content. If Grumpy Cat was not popular, Friskies would find another famous Internet cat or whatever the current trend was. They will continue to do this as trends change, staying up-to-date with what their customers enjoy. You should take their example and continue to stay up-to-date on trends on the Internet, as well as trends within your field. Always stay relevant; customers will appreciate it. Friskies Copywriting: In Closing You can learn a lot from the Friskies brand and how they do copywriting. Visit their site and take a look at all of their other items and content they offer. They are constantly coming up with unique ideas to engage their client base and bring in new customers. You can watch them over the coming year to see how they adapt to changes within trends and see how they shift their approach in order to continue to market relevantly. Start crafting content that is fun, trendy, relevant, and something that everyone can enjoy. Once you do this, you will watch your client base begin to grow and you will start bringing in more revenue!

6 Tips for Creative, Original & Unique Content

December 31, 2020June 6, 2014 by Adam Oakley

There you are, sitting behind your computer screen wondering what in the world to write next. You want it to sound new, exciting, and original all while bringing people in and making them want more. Currently, you might be feeling stuck because you just don’t know how to go about crafting this creative content and all of the standard blog posts you’re writing just aren’t cutting it. This blog is going to explore a few tips that will help you start crafting unique content and help you stand out in crowded Internet-land. 1. Craft Perfect Headlines A huge part of creative content is your headline and sub-headers. Finding the right ones for your blog will help make it pop and stand out from all others. Headlines are what draw people in, so you want it to reflect your blog while also being unique and interesting. Sometimes, it is easier for you to come up with the perfect headline after you have finished writing your blog because you will be able to pick the best headline possible for it. Other times you will need to have a headline chosen in order to know how to write on the topic. You can go to popular websites and see how they formulate their headlines to give you ideas and inspiration for future ones. In addition, sub-headers are important. These are the mini-headlines people will read when they click the link to your page. We all do this. We open a page, scroll down, read the sub-headers and decide if we need to read it. The best thing to do here is craft some very interesting sounding sub-headers that give just enough information to tease readers, but not enough to make them feel they don’t need to read your blog. Sub-headers are also handy for you because they create an outline for you, keeping you on track and on topic. 2. Marvel Has Visuals Down To A Science Whether we are fans of Marvel or not, we enjoy the gorgeous quality of all Marvel films. It is because of this quality that many people are gearing up to go see a film based on a band of heroes that aren’t very well known (Guardians of the Galaxy), but consumers know that Marvel means quality and enjoyment. You will want this type of quality in your writing to keep people coming back. Utilize visuals with your content and create stunning looking formats for your blogs, utilize great stock photos for a blog photo, or craft an engaging infographic that is visually appealing. Visuals appeal to the masses and the more visually appealing your site and blogs are, the better. 3. Geek Is The New Sexy We aren’t sure if you’ve noticed or not, but geek (or nerd) is the new sexy. People love to learn about things and they want content that makes them feel knowledgeable while teaching them something new. They don’t want something that continually talks down to them nor do they want something filled with information that was “so yesterday.” “How does this pertain to creativity?” Simple. The more you teach someone something in an easy to understand way, the more likely you are to be creative with your writing. Just try it and watch the creative juices begin to flow. You’ll find new ways to write sentences and your descriptions will help paint an excellent picture in readers’ minds. 4. Take A Lesson From The Doctor: Focus On Your Fans A huge thing Doctor Who has done with the reboot is doing things for the fans. Sure, you’ll hear angry comments here or there, but most of the time everything is done with the fans in mind. On the DVD commentary, you even learn that the producers and director shied away from a big re-introduction scene of the Doctor and opted for a more personal touch; same with viewing the inside if the T.A.R.D.I.S for the first time in years. Do this with your writing. Focus on your readers instead of the search engines, and you’ll find it much easier to be super creative and come up with some great, unique web content. Write what you know they’ll be interested in hearing or what they’ll be interested in learning. This puts you on a personal level with your readers and makes you not seem like some unknown entity within the Internet. 5. Netflix and Barnes and Noble Are Great Resources We aren’t referring to their content campaigns, but those could be helpful too! We are talking about what they sell and what their business is; books, television shows, and films. These are chockfull of information ready to inspire you and get your creative mind pumping at full power. Many people say these are timewasters, but when you just can’t think of a creative way to write your content these forms of media might just be the best thing for you. It gives you a chance to turn your mind off and just rest, while enjoying a show or book that stimulates your brain. You’ll notice as you take these breaks, that all of the sudden ideas spring up out of nowhere. Make sure you have a pen and notepad nearby to write down all of your ideas or head on over to your computer to write from great unique content! 6. Use Stories To Make Your Content Unique Storytelling is something that has been around since the dawn of humanity. We haven’t been able to go through our lives without stories and we all enjoy them, no matter what they are about. Use this as a great way to start writing creative and unique content that will be shared multiple times. You may not publish all of your storytelling content, but it will get your brain thinking about many different topics and ideas. Even just writing a creative story for you can do this. You can write a story about your brand for your upcoming company anniversary or you can … Read more