Storytelling is an excellent tool to use in your content marketing strategy, giving your brand personality and connecting you with readers. It can help boost your content and shares, but just how can you go about telling a story with your content? Where can you get excellent inspiration?
In this blog, I want to look at the BBC’s Sherlock series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as everyone’s favorite consulting detective and Martin Freeman as his loveable friend, John Watson. (If you’ve yet to watch this incredible series, it is available on Netflix and on DVD/BluRay.)
Let’s take a look at some great lessons you can learn!
How BBC’s Sherlock Wins at Storytelling
Since BBC’s Sherlock is such a great resource for storytelling, I am going to look at what you can learn for your copywriting. These are some amazing things the show does, and it can help your content incredibly.
1. It Utilizes Excellent Story Symmetry. Symmetry is a great part of storytelling and can make a story more impactful. This could be whether in the framing on a TV show like Sherlock or a Stanley Kubrick flick. However, Sherlock illustrates symmetry not only in filming but also within the story. When we get to the end of the first episode of season 1, we see John Watson taking things into his own hands, willingly saving Sherlock’s life. He could have been caught and even charged with a crime, but his friend was more important than his criminal record. When we get to the third episode of season three, the same thing happens, only this time it is Sherlock saving John in a similar fashion. He knew he would get caught and punished, but he wanted to protect his friend, knowing Watson would do, and has done, the same for him.
While you don’t have to create a symmetrical story like this, using symmetry in your posting can help to bring about consistency. Symmetry is soothing to many people and if you create symmetrical content, you could see more engagement and shares. You can create symmetrical copy with your writing or you can create images or videos that utilize it. Either way, it can help you stand out and make you look incredibly professional.
2. The Writers Utilize Emotion to Draw in Viewers. If you watch any season of Sherlock, you know that it can be an emotional roller coaster. What do you mean Moriarty did that and why is Sherlock listening to him? Who is this Magnussen and why is he threatening John and Mary? Whatever happens, people feel the anger, excitement, and sometimes extreme sadness due to the storytelling by the writers of Sherlock. One of the most intense episodes, The Reichenbach Fall, connected with many viewers and created a huge stir online. It still has an impact, even if you’ve watched it multiple times.
Using emotion in your content can be a great way to draw in readers and convert visitors into leads. You can focus on a variety of emotions whether they are happy, sad, upsetting, or even cause anger. Always remember when dealing with emotions to do so respectfully, especially if you are going to write content on something people are angry about. Emotions can help you connect with your audience while also giving your brand a personal voice both on social media and within your copywriting.
3. We See What Sherlock Sees. The show lets us in on what Sherlock sees by going over a person’s body or items and highlighting aspects with words. We learn that someone owns a dog, has a wife in labor, and more just from Sherlock’s glance. When this happens, we are all transported into being Sherlock. This is a great way to connect watchers with the show and help them feel like they are part of it. Breaking the wall between viewers and a show isn’t always recommended in television, film, or stage productions, but many BBC shows, like Doctor Who and Sherlock break it. When it is broken well, people can really engage with the story. Just think, if you’ve watched Doctor Who, how terrifying is it that the Weeping Angles are still stone because you the watcher are staring at them?
You can break that wall easily with your copy, and it isn’t as touch and go as it is with TV or stage. A great way to break it is to write in first or second person and ask your readers direct questions. It can be a rhetorical question like I did above about the creepiness of the Weeping Angels, or it can be an open-ended question that gives your readers the ability to answer with their own opinions and questions. Let people in on what you’re writing to build a great connection and relationship with them. Writing in something like second person can be a great way to draw your audience in and help them connect with your content.
4. The Show Repurposes the Original Stories to Create Something New. Sherlock is one huge example of just how you can repurpose a story and create more for further content. The show has a lot of great source material to work with due to the many stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the writers always make sure to create something incredible and unique. If they followed the typical storylines we all have memorized (see: The Hound of the Baskervilles) then it would quickly become a boring show. However, the writers make each episode different, adding their own twists to each and repurposing the content effectively to create a powerful story.
You can do something similar with your content by repurposing your other blogs and copy to create something new and impactful. You can use your older content to help build a story and create storytelling that will connect with your readers while still using your existing copy. Repurpose content to see just how powerful it can become and how many clients and readers you are able to reach out to when you do this.
5. Sherlock Gives Us More Content Than Most TV Shows. With Sherlock, the BBC gives you a lot of content for a TV show, which encourages people to watch even more. It can be a bit of a letdown when you start a show and realize that, while it might be on air for an hour, you only get 45 minutes of content. This can make people give up on a TV show, especially if it doesn’t have a captivating story like Sherlock. This show would probably be just as successful if it were only 45 minutes, but something that really sticks out to fans is the fact that we get a full hour and a half of content. This helps to immerse watchers and get them into the show more than a shorter series. While we only get three episodes, we get a lot of content per episode.
Your readers and clients are taking time out of their day to come to your website and read your content, and if you don’t provide them with enough, they could leave. However, if you provide them with more content than what they’re expecting, you can give them a great surprise and make them happy that they took time out of their busy days. You can give them a variety of content types or give them something free for taking the time to look at your site. Whatever you choose to do, you can help build confidence in your content and business by giving them more than they expected.
6. The Show Uses Visuals to Create a Huge Impact. If you take some time to watch Sherlock, you will notice that the showrunners don’t just focus on the written story but visuals as well. This is what helps make the stories even more powerful than they were on paper and any watcher can get easily immersed in the story when watching. The directors frame the shots gorgeously, and they focus on important details within the story, even if we don’t know what they are yet. In addition to simple images of streets and clues, the visuals of the actors acting out some of the most emotional scenes adds such an impact. Whether you are laughing at Sherlock’s attempts to surprise John or watching John cry with horror, you feel the intensity because of what you see.
According to Susan Kusinitz, at HubSpot, visuals are an important aspect of content and if you want to create something powerful, you need to make sure you utilize them. You don’t need to go quite the route of Sherlock, but if you film high-quality videos, share great images, and create infographics, you can connect with your audience quickly and easily. When you are crafting your content, don’t leave out the incredibly important visual aspects.
Did You Miss Me: Don’t Miss Using Sherlock for Great Content Inspiration
As you can see, there is a lot of inspiration to glean from this show, helping you create powerful, impactful stories for your readers. If you need guidance to create epic storytelling content or would like experts to craft it, then look no further than Express Writers. We have some of the top writers who can create excellent story pieces for your content, as well as create different impactful content types by using similar aspects that the BBC uses for Sherlock. Don’t hesitate to contact us to see how we can help!
The world is full of great business books by awesome authors. I want to specifically look at the bookshelf of someone who’s involved in marketing and business and recommend the best-ever books they could put on their shelves.
I’ll admit to not reading each of these cover-to-cover (yet they are all on my must-read list), BUT I know plenty who have benefitted from reading them, and recommended them; plus, I am familiar with each of the authors . I hope you find this book list helpful!
Get Ready To Change Your Life With These 20 Business Books
Many entrepreneurs and captains of industry started off as regular people, but the books they consume changed who they are at a fundamental level so that they were able to make the decisions that put them into the positions they are today.
And, a book is like an insight into another person’s mind. People inspire people. Want to be inspired by someone? Read what they write and understand where they’re coming from. Business coaches, self-starters and entrepreneurs all write books detailing their thinking and the model of their success. By reading their books, you can pattern your thinking around theirs and reap similar results. Here’s a list of the twenty most influential business books I’ve come across that are very likely to change your future.
1. See You at the Top – Zig Ziglar: Originally rejected by over thirty publishers, this particular book is one of Zig’s greatest works. Although it’s a bit dated (it was published in 1974) a lot of the principles it teaches regarding your own personal motivations and how you get what you want are still relevant. Through a series of steps based around your own, honest self-evaluation, he develops a method for changing your outlook on life and your aims of accomplishing what you believe needs to be done. It’s not new information, but it’s a brand new way of looking at yourself.
2. So You Think You Can Write? – Julia McCoy:Authored by yours truly, this is a summary of all the lessons I’ve learned on how to craft successful, winning online copy after 5+ years in the field learning it on my own. I left nursing school and built a multi-million dollar company around online writing. Now, I’m sharing all the lessons I know so you can change your life by a) writing winning online copy for your brand that gains you rankings and reads or b) make a career out of online copy. It’s on Amazon as print and Kindle.
3.Maximum Achievement–Brian Tracy: As far as motivational manuals go, this one is among the best available. Brian Tracy is a self-made-man. He outlines his tactics in Maximum Achievement and creates a roadmap for all of his readers towards success. Although the things that Tracy propounds should be obvious to anyone, the way in which he presents them makes you think critically about your goals and your results. It delves into the idea of result-oriented tactics. Even if you don’t follow what he says, his writing will forever change the way you look at a task.
4. The Art of SEO – Rand Fishkin: This book is a must-read for marketing professionals, simply because of how well laid out it is. Fishkin and company outline and define the important aspects of SEO, ranging from the basics to the extremely advanced approaches. And when I say it covers everything, I do mean everything. Anyone, at any level of SEO knowledge can pick up this book and learn something from it. It’s obvious that as time goes on, SEO will be even more relevant to everyday life, which is what makes this book an investment in understanding the future.
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen. R. Covey: You’d be hard pressed to find someone in business and industry who hasn’t read this book. It belongs on the shelves of everyone because it helps you to get your mind focused on your tasks at hand. Covey developed a methodology for personal effectiveness that is as important today as it was the day it was published. Another oldie (this one was also published in the 70’s), the book goes back to the roots of what drives success and makes you think about your character first and your personality second, something that many books of the period seem to do in reverse. It’s definitely one of those business books that will affect the way you look at life.
6. Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki: Kiyosaki, a self-made multi-millionaire, explored the differences in conditioning between a rich parent and a poor parent and explores the differences between the thought processed between the two social classes. It’s semi-autobiographical and reads extremely easily. By applying Kiyosaki’s lessons to your own financial situation and change the way you perceive value. That’s a lesson that tends to follow you all the years of your life.
7. Ogilvy on Advertising – David Ogilvy: This particular book has helped many entrepreneurs figure themselves out. Ogilvy focuses on big-picture thinking, proposing that your most important ideas are the ones that are huge. Those ideas are the ones that drive your success. He also writes about dealing with negativity and always having your facts to hand, two things that serve you very well in day to day life. Although the book is mostly aimed at advertising professionals, everyone can glean some form of inspiration or insight from it.
8. The Magic of Thinking Big – David Schwartz: Schwartz deals with the mind-over-matter phenomenon. It’s a book that has changed the lives of many people by teaching them a time-honored lesson: “don’t sweat the small stuff”. It’s mostly self-motivational in content, but it does help you to overcome hurdles that your own mind erects for you. Most importantly, it has something for everyone, no matter what level of business you find yourself at. From employee to owner, everyone can benefit from reading this book.
9. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard– Chip Heath and Dan Heath: Everyone knows change is hard, but it’s also necessary. People are usually afraid of change because it means something different from the ordinary and would require people to leave their comfort zones to deal with it. Chip and Dan make a compelling argument for helping someone deal with change, whether it’s in the workplace or in life, by breaking it down and understanding change to make it less scary. It’s a very well-thought-out book that combines the psychological stimulus of fear with the physical and logical reasoning needed to overcome it. This book helps you master your fear of the unknown.
10. The 4 Hour Work Week – Timothy Ferriss: I acquired this book in my early twenties and it has been a source of constant motivation for me. Ferriss breaks down the modern view of success and replaces it with a simple philosophy, then gives you the tools you need in order to achieve this philosophy. When I got this book, I was skeptical about its claims but it does work. And what’s more, it gives you a different look at life in general. It makes you reconsider what you think of as “success”. Whether your treat it as an instruction manual or a motivational tool, it’s definitely something that’ll change your future.
11. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? – Seth Godin: This book is based on the idea of leadership and potential. It helps you to marshal your resources and become indispensable to a company or organization. In a job market such as this no one is one hundred percent assured of their place in an organization. Overnight changes could render your position redundant. By becoming a linchpin you add value to yourself and if it’s one things companies love, it’s value. Godin teaches us to be the linchpin that holds organizations together by simply doing what we do to benefit the right people.
12. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho: The only fictional entry on this list is here for a very specific reason. Coelho is noted for the way he explores the lives and personalities of his characters in his work. The Alchemist does that to an extent that most of his other works abandon in favor of the narrative. Although the premise seems to be that the universe will conspire to make things happen to people, the deeper meaning is that success comes to those who work for it. Through all the struggles of the protagonist we see a very human figure surpassing almost insurmountable obstacles in his quest. As an analogy for life, you can’t get any more accurate than that.
13. The Lean Startup – Eric Ries: When you have limited resources, how do you function? You get more creative and efficient to deal with those reduced resources. Ries has developed a different sort of mindset from what we are used to when it comes to putting together a startup business. In the 90’s startups were abundant because capital and speculation in the “electronic age” was high. With the eventual collapse of the startup market, it has become increasingly difficult to present and expand on a good idea because there were so many bad ideas. Ries gives you a whole new way to think about business that will definitely shape your future.
14. Maverick – Ricardo Semler: Most people have never heard of Semco, a Brazilian business that has a very unorthodox work ethic. Due to its unique business structure, it has managed to weather and even better a Brazilian recession and perform vastly better than its nearest competitors, both in production and worker satisfaction. Semler explores what makes Semco such a good place to work for his employees. It’s one of those books that leave you considering that worker happiness can actually lead to a more productive company in the long run.
15. The Score Takes Care of Itself – Bill Walsh: Starting with the randomness that pervades all success, Walsh takes a look at the things that are out of our control and then goes on to tell us that we should deal with the things within our control. As a former football coach, he was well positioned to know this. The advice he gives is simple and although we do this daily with a number of things, we never apply it consciously to our own life decisions. Walsh’s philosophy of leadership is the kind of thing that gives you hope for the future in a rational way.
16. Rework – Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson: Efficiency is the name of the game. At its core, Rework is a business manual, but it’s so much more than your run-of-the-mill step-by-step to success. Fried and Hansson give you ideas about how to circumvent the traditional method of developing a successful business with the same end result. The most important thing that you learn from this book is that success comes from doing, not talking. It’s a lesson that you should apply to both your personal AND your business life.
17. Traction – Gabriel Weinberg: Traction gives startup owners insight into previous startups that have managed to succeed over the years. By utilizing such well-known names as Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Alex Pachikov (Evernote) and Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), we get to see how these masters of business think and what got them to where they are today. Marketing professionals should definitely follow what he has to say since his statements are based around finding the right channels of communication for a particular business.
18. Seneca: Letters from a Stoic – Lucius Annaeus Seneca: For a book to survive over two thousand years, it has to be a pretty good book, right? Letters from a Stoic touches on the simple dictum, “actions speak louder than words”. As a life changing manual it can be pretty dry, especially when compared to the other business books that I’ve mentioned. Seneca’s letters have survived the test of time because these speak to a certain part of us and inspire us in ways modern works can’t. It gives us a sense of perspective that is lacking in many modern methods of motivation and inspiration, something that lingers with us forever.
19. The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham: The newest installment of this book with added commentary by financial journalist Jason Zweig underlines the importance to investors of knowing the value of the product or company they’re investing in. Even if you’re not in investor, this book teaches some important lessons on financial risk management that are likely to benefit everyone to an extent.
20. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz: In any business, there will be hard situations to deal with. Horowitz explores in-depth the sorts of uncomfortable situations CEO’s and managers tend to find themselves in. As a semi-autobiographical writing on Horowitz’s life, we get to see how the upper echelons of a company deals with the hard decisions that they may have to make. It’s a very good manual for those aspiring to be the leaders of a group.
BONUS, # 21: Zag: The Number One Strategy of High Performance Brands – Marty Neumeier: This book is a treasure-trove of information for the marketing professional and entrepreneur alike. The book focuses on understanding why certain brans are good at what they do and why some fade out of existence a couple months after hitting the shelves. It gives you insight into customers, audiences and understanding their unspoken signals. Neumeier says, “When everybody zigs, zag.” I could not have said it better myself.
For You: What to Read?
Understandably, not all of these books would fit into any specific category for any type of individual. Investors would have a different set of books that change their lives compared to marketing professionals and entrepreneurs. The books you read are usually reflected in the decisions you make and the steps you take to secure and promote your business. A couple of these books promote the idea of not having a business or profession run your life and to me that’s as important to your future as is dealing with your current position in life. These business books all have something to teach you, regardless of your field or position.
Reading these books (and starting with which one feels most relevant to you right now) would be among the best things you can do to enrich your life in the long haul. Grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and get started! And, let us know in the comments which book YOU love to read!
Content marketing is such a fun, interesting part of creating a website that converts. It can be daunting at times, but there are some truly excellent places to garner inspiration from.
Sometimes inspiration can come from unexpected places, like the laundry and cleaning products brand, Tide.
Let’s look at how they approach content marketing, as well as what you can learn from them. I promise you’ll learn some excellent tips that can help clean up your content marketing approach and make it sparkle.
20 Amazing Tips You Can Apply to Your Content Marketing
Tide is a great company with excellent product, and this company is one that knows it needs to focus on content marketing to bring in more clients—and creates great things in their content marketing space.
Tide Creates Ads Based Off of Common Problems. When you head over to the Tide landing page, you will see a great section with different blocks of content. There are a wide variety of content pieces, and each one has a chance to answer a problem you have. For me, it addresses how to wash certain types of clothing, which is very helpful. For parents, it addresses things like how to keep your Tide products in an easy-to-reach place while also being out of reach for children. No matter what, Tide has made sure to answer your common laundry questions all on the landing page.
Tide Personalizes the Landing Page To You. They do this by showing you a simple weather-in-your-area box. Heading over to Tide’s web page won’t just show you items that address your problems or needs. It is also personalized to show weather in your area. It is awesome to see my town’s name with a little weather widget on a huge brand’s website. Even though I know it is something built into the website, I still feel more of a connection with Tide by seeing something personalized.
You Can Go Coupon Crazy on the Site. Who doesn’t like coupons? They help you save money on items you want and need, and we can all use some money saving techniques at some point. Tide knows this and the company makes it easy for you to click on a coupon box and be taken to a list of excellent coupons for your favorite Tide products. You can keep these coupons on your phone or print them off to take with you. Either way you are able to save money on products you need, which can really help lower that grocery bill when you’re checking out.
Are You Washing Denim Wrong? As I mentioned in point one, Tide has many content blocks that help with problems you may have. One of mine is knowing just how to wash certain clothes, especially denim. Right there, on the home page, Tide links you to an excellent piece giving you tips and pointers on just how to wash your jeans and other denim products. I find this immensely helpful since washing jeans is something I do quite a bit of. It is great to find this, and while Tide would love for you to choose Tide products for washing clothing, the tips can work with other laundry detergents. This is a perfect example of giving your clients something useful instead of just focusing on selling your product.
Tide Utilizes Multiple Content Formats. While perusing through Tide’s website, I realized that there isn’t just one type of content. Tide utilizes multiple content formats to give clients access to every aspect of the site no matter what the client is doing. The company shares videos, images, and written content for clients, which is absolutely perfect. This helps to give clients content they can consume no matter where they are and how much time they have.
Help People Out and Look Great Doing So. People love to give back and help others in need, and Tide understands this desire. When you head to the website, you are given the chance to help someone out while getting an excellent, vintage-inspired t-shirt. When you buy a shirt from Tide’s Loads of Hope charity, $4 of your purchase will go towards helping people after a disaster. This is a great idea because it gives people something tangible to have while also helping others after terrible disasters take over their lives.
You Get Even More Tips for Keeping Fabrics Safe. Remember how I mentioned that the landing page links to a great denim “how-to”? Well, Tide doesn’t stop there. In fact, the company has a whole list of helpful tips for washing any type of material. No matter if you are washing specific fabrics or need some help with how to de-clutter the laundry you have, Tide is ready with excellent, helpful tips for anyone. This is excellent because the company doesn’t always focus on the products, and readers who don’t purchase Tide products can still get help. This can eventually lead to those readers becoming clients simply because Tide gave them free help.
Garment Stories Offer Excellent Advice for Style and Fashion. Tide also gives some fashion and style advice, because that is something clients will love. No, it isn’t specifically related to cleaning materials, but fashion obviously requires clothes, making this a great branch of content inspiration. You can see different “Garment Stories” from Tide, getting excellent tips for what to wear as well as how to care for your clothing.
The Site is Laid Out in an Easy-to-Understand Fashion. Something that I really enjoy about Tide’s home page and landing pages is that it is all easy to understand. I can quickly find exactly what I am looking for, and not be inundated with a bunch of content that doesn’t interest me. My eyes scan over the site quickly and naturally, helping me skim until I find something I want or need. What a great example of how a website should be laid out!
Tide Gives Helpful Tips for Parents. While not everyone who purchases and uses Tide are parents, there are quite a few who are. Which means that Tide knows it needs to reach out to the parent demographic. When you head over to “Tips from Tide for a Better Life” you will see a variety of postings giving tips to many people, including parents. The postings talk about messy games for kids that clean up well, as well as excellent games that can get your kids outside. Tide also focuses on safety, and how Tide can get out tough stains that kids inevitably get on their clothes.
You Can Easily Access Their Social Media Sites. No matter where you go on Tide’s website, you can get easy access to all social media channels. This makes it very easy for clients to click on the social buttons and like or follow Tide to get more news and information from the company. Tide has Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest and use all very well for clients and fans.
Do You Have Special Laundry Needs? Tide Helps. We all have special laundry needs whether it is cleaning workout gear to getting out tough stains and cleaning hard-to-clean fabrics. Tide covers all of these in the “Special Laundry Needs” section of the website. You can get a lot of suggestions and helpful tips from the company, making sure you clean every part of your laundry in the best, and safest ways.
You’re Encouraged to Sign-Up for a Newsletter to Get Great Deals. Do you want easier, quicker access to deals and coupons, as well as news about upcoming products? Of course, you do. People love being up-to-date with their favorite brands and companies, and Tide understands just how much this can benefit clients and the business. When you head over to the website, you are encouraged to sign-up for Tide’s excellent newsletter, which gives you more access to great deals. You can also learn about new products quickly, learning if the products are something you will need for your laundry or clothing.
The Social Media Campaign is Focusing On Upcycling and Recycling. A huge, and worthwhile, trend right now is taking care of the environment by recycling or “upcycling.” Upcycling is when you take something, like a Tide detergent bottle, and use it for something else. Tide is utilizing the trend to not only get more clients, and give them helpful tips, but also to do their part in protecting our planet. This is a great example of utilizing a trend, especially one for the greater good when it comes to social media.
Tide Re-Tweets Customer’s Tweets and Images. While doing the recycle campaign, Tide is making sure to encourage engagement with clients by asking them to send in images. When a client does this, the company re-tweets that person, which can help foster more engagement. This shows that there are other clients who are doing their part to help out the environment, which can encourage other clients to do the same. In addition, this is a great way to encourage more client engagement with a company.
Tide Shares Tips from Other Companies. When Tide makes a social media post, they sometimes share great tips and information from other companies. Tide doesn’t share material from competitors, but when they share content from other companies, they are giving more information on a wide amount of topics for all of their clients. This can be about fabric softener from Downy or any of the company’s current cleaning partners.
Social Media Focuses on Latest Trendy Items. If you take a quick glance at Tide’s approach to social media, you will see just how much they focus on trends. Whether it is Game of Thrones related or talking about the red carpet or Kentucky Derby, they have a post for it. Focusing on trendy materials when it comes to social media is a great way to help drive engagement and bring in more clients.
Tide Shares Notes on Facebook for Quick, Consumable Content. Blogs are great, but sometimes people don’t want to leave Facebook by clicking on a link to the post. Instead of making clients click away from the social site all the time, Tide shares small “notes” with the Facebook Notes feature. This gives clients immediate access to excellent tips, which is a great way to create and maintain a business-client relationship.
Each Post Has a Social Share Button at the Top. When you go around the Tide website, you will notice that each page and post has a social share button right at the top. This is a great way for the company to encourage social shares, especially when it comes to the various DIY and tip postings. Social share buttons can really help increase engagement and, if they are easy to access, they can promote your clients to share pages on their chosen social network.
Looking for a Nearby Store? You can purchase your favorite Tide products from Tide’s website, but most of the time, people buy their detergent when they go grocery shopping. Because of this, Tide has implemented a great little feature that helps clients find Tide products at the nearest store. This is great because it helps clients feel, yet again like their particular experience is made specifically for them. It’s a great feeling when it seems like a brand is helping you every step of the way.
You Can Have a Squeaky Clean Content Marketing Approach Like Tide
As you can see, Tide has several excellent examples that you can learn from when it comes to content marketing. Just by following a few of the company’s tactics can help you create a better, more effective plan. Express Writers can help you create content for your marketing campaign that will help make your content and website awesome for all of your clients and readers. Take a look at our content services to see which can help you create a stellar campaign!
You know that there is no business like show business, right? But who is to say exactly what is meant by “show business”? When you create content, you do so in an attempt to show readers that you know what you are talking about and that they should go to you if they want to learn more or use your service/product.
So when it comes to the show business of content creation, how can you make sure your writing is a box office smash? (Or at least a cult hit or award favorite)?
7 Methods To Shout From the Rooftops (Or Get Your Content A Lot of Viewers)
There are actually a lot of things you can do to make sure your content is seen by a whole lot of viewers, but here are seven good places to start.
1. The Preview Looked Good: Use Social Media to Attract Readers. Have you ever determined whether you would see a movie based off of its preview? There is a good chance that you have. Here are some things that my friends and I have been known to say after a preview:
“I didn’t think I would want to see that, but the preview looked good.”
“The preview looked funny, but they probably put all the funny parts in it. So it’s probably not going to be that good.”
“I’m disappointed. I thought I was going to like it, but not if the preview is anything to go by.”
You have probably said something similar at some point too. So what does that mean for content production?
It’s not just the writing itself that counts, it is all the small, social media content you do along the way to advertise for your content. What you say in the Tweet, Facebook post, or summary can be just as important as the actual content.
Because it is what viewers are most likely to see first, it is the main component in deciding whether they are going to read on. So you have to grab their attention there if you want to have any chance at grabbing their attention in the long-form post.
Moral of this point: If you can’t catch them in the previews, then you are not likely to catch them at all.
2. Be the Headliner: Create Good Headlines. Just like it is the star headliner that is going to draw a lot of the crowd, it is your catchy headline that is going to get people interested in reading your content. So you know that you need to work hard on crafting a great title.
Knowing you need a good headline and actually being able to come up with one, though, are two very different things. Not only do you have to get your creative juices flowing in order to write a good title, you also have stop trying so hard because people can always tell when you are trying too hard.
Luckily for all of us, there are all sorts of tools to help us create amazing titles.
Advanced Marketing Institute. The AMI has a headline tool that allows you to enter your headline and have its Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) ranked. It then walks you through how many EMV words a good headline should have and what type of EMV words you are using (e.g., intellectual EMV).
Crazyegg Blog. This post walks you through several ways almost guaranteed to convert readers and tells you why they are successful.
The Future of Ink. This post basically gives you some fill in the blank headlines that you can use with your own content.
Moral of this point: If the headliner isn’t drawing in crowds, then everything else had better be a hundred times better to make up for it.
3. Open Strong: Create Catchy Intros. After the opening night of a movie or play, reviews are going to come in. That opening could just make or break the show because if it gets all bad reviews, people aren’t likely to come back for the rest of the performances.
Think of your opening paragraph as the one that is going to get you the initial reviews. People are going to read it, and then they are going to determine whether they want to read more. If your intro paragraph is getting bad reviews, then no matter how good the rest of the content is, people likely aren’t going to be reading it.
On the other hand, if you capture the attention of your readers from your opening lines, then you have a better chance of making it to the end of your run (i.e., getting people to read the entire article.) So don’t ignore that opening paragraph or rush through it to get to the meat of what you are trying to say.
Moral of this point: If you want a long run, make sure you get good reviews from the opening.
4. You’re Gonna Be in the Pictures: Use Images. I’m making a long, drawn out analogy here comparing writing to show business, so you can see why images are going to be an important component to what I am saying. If you want to be a success in show business, then you need to actually show something.
People like pictures. It’s just a fact of life. That’s why they say a picture is worth a thousand words. A good image will draw the eye so that the potential reader can see that great headline you created, which will cause them to read that opening line that is going to get you great reviews, which will make them read whatever it is you have to say. And all because you caught their eyes with a good image.
Images could even help your SEO ranking because Google loves images as much as us mortals. You can find free images on places such as Wikimedia Commons or by searching Flickr’s creative commons images. You can also set up accounts on platforms such as iStock in order to find pictures.
Moral of this point: People love going to the pictures, so give them a picture worth seeing.
5. Take 5: Use Breaks Wisely. Looking at a giant block of text is bound to give you a headache. It doesn’t matter what it says, it just looks intimidating. Think about going to a play. You are going to have notable act breaks and likely an intermission. Even movies, which very rarely have intermissions unless they are three plus hours long, have Act and Scene breaks. Imagine watching a movie that was done all in one shot. Sounds dull to me.
When you are writing any type of long-form content, you need those “Act” and “Scene” breaks not only to help guide the flow of the piece, but to keep from scaring off potential readers.
In order to do this, use subheadings (and give them the same consideration you give the title), bullets, numbers, charts, images, etc. Just whatever you do, don’t create a giant body of text and expect people to want to read it.
Moral of this point: Give people short breaks so that they can digest all of the great performances they have been watching (or reading as the case may be.)
6. Lights, Camera, Action: Don’t Just Use a Bunch of Words, Say Something Important. Everybody wants to see it because of the previews, the headliner is drawing lots of attention, the images are stunning, and the actual movie is … blah. This could be a big flop on Rotten Tomatoes. What went wrong?
You can do everything else exactly right, but it does not mean anything if the actual content is bad. People want action. They want plot. They want to be able to trust the piece they are reading. Don’t just say words to fill in space. Make every word count, and back up your claims with proof.
If you give people interesting content and prove that you aren’t just making things up, people are going to enjoy what you have to say and believe that you are an expert. That is the way you will become a success.
Moral of this point: Without a believable plot, no one is going to like the story.
7. They’ll Remember the Closing Act: Leave Them Wanting More. Now that you have done everything right, end strong. People like endings. Just recently, one of my friends was discussing a book with me, and he said that the book was good, but then it just kind of ended. He wouldn’t recommend it because he hated when books did that. What does this tell you? Wrap things up if you want to leave people satisfied.
When they are finished reading, people should have all their questions answered. What was the point of what they just read? Why were you the right person to tell them about it? And, perhaps most importantly, what should they do next?
In order to close strong, wrap up all your points. Did you ask why carrots are orange in the beginning, but you never finished with the answer? Then you aren’t finished yet. Did you write a great post, but never explained why the post was written? Then you aren’t finished yet.
The ending is where you can place your call to action if you have one – such as donate to a cause or fill out a form. It is also where you make sure all of your points are wrapped up.
Moral of the point: When they leave, the ending is what they’ll remember most: make sure they remember something great.
Successful Content Is Like A Well-Oiled Machine
Just like a movie is not just a preview or a scene or an actor, a good piece of writing is not just one thing. In order to be successful, you have to make sure everything is working together to be the exact thing your reader needs. Only then will it be successful.
Ultimately, with content, blogs, social media – any aspect of maintaining a marketing presence online – the goal is to influence people.
Whether you want to coax them to your side, convince them to buy your products, or convert them into loyal followers, your influential power matters.
In the beginning, it can feel like a tall mountain to climb. How do you build your reputation, your authority, and your presence so you can reach people in the first place?
How do you appeal to them, interest them, and move them?
This is a question people have been asking forever. Everybody wants to be liked and respected. We’re all human, and it’s a basic human need. As Dale Carnegie says in his iconic, best-selling book, How to Win Friends and Influence People:
“Dealing with people is probably the biggest problem you face, especially if you are in business.”
Turns out, the way you approach your online communication is everything. Every single blog post, social media update, direct message, email, comment, and tweet matters.
That’s a lot of pressure, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Instead, focus on a few key areas, and you’ll naturally build up your influence so people will gravitate to you without thinking about it.
Consider this your guide to creating successful content that will influence readers positively.
Your Guide to Influencing and Winning Over Your Audience with Amazing Written Content
[bctt tweet=”How do you build your reputation, your authority, and your presence so you can influence your audience? @JuliaEMcCoy discusses her 7-step guide to create influence with amazing written content. ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
Ready to get into how to grow your clout and influence your audience with successful content? Follow these steps:
1. Know Who You’re Talking To
First thing’s first: It’s impossible to influence anybody without a tailored, personalized approach.
Who are you targeting? Who are you talking to? Without this knowledge, you’ll have no idea how to frame your messages and make them relevant to your readers.
So, before you ever begin thinking about how to win people over, first identify who those people are.
According to G. Riley Mills for Forbes, there are three main aspects of audience discovery to consider. He applies these to public speaking, but they also may apply to any type of marketing communication. They are:
Demographics – General statistics pertaining to your audience group and identifying factors including gender, age, marital status, level of education, occupation, etc.
Psychographics – Personal information such as beliefs, values, opinions, loyalties, and feelings.
Situational factors – The factors that may change on a day-to-day basis that influence why your audience might seek out your solutions, products, services, or content.
Research each of these factors and build your understanding of your audience before you move on to writing content or communicating with them.
[bctt tweet=”‘It’s impossible to influence anybody without a tailored, personalized approach. So, before you ever begin thinking about how to win people over, first identify who those people are.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
2. Know Your Objective (What You Want from the Interaction)
What do you hope to gain from posting that new blog, social media update, Instagram photo, or email?
When you have a general goal or objective in mind, tailoring your content to perform and complete that goal is much easier.
I shoot for three different “goal buckets” whenever I post a new piece of content. If the content won’t fit in one of my buckets or help me to advance toward a goal, I scrap it and move on to the next.
[bctt tweet=”‘I shoot for three different ‘goal buckets’ whenever I post a new piece of content. If the content won’t fit in one of my buckets or help me to advance toward a goal, I scrap it and move on to the next.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
3. Write Content That Moves, Inspires, Entertains, or Educates Your Audience
Ultimately, content that’s moving, inspiring, entertaining, or educational is going to be valuable to your audience.
If your content doesn’t accomplish any of the above, stop. Re-evaluate your content goals, and set some if you haven’t yet. Then, try these tips in your content.
A. Get Personal
Getting personal in your content doesn’t necessarily mean sharing every tiny detail of your life (TMI much?) – although you can share relevant experiences, thoughts, and ideas.
Instead, it mostly means talking to your audience on a personal level. It means empathizing with them, speaking to their concerns, and relating to them.
B. Add an Element of Surprise or Delight
Injecting your content with surprise or delight will go a long way toward moving your readers. Use these suggestions to bring more light and life to your words:
Use opposites – To jerk your readers out of reading by rote, introduce opposites in your writing. This can apply to anything, including descriptions and metaphors. For example, when describing a problem, compare it to falling into a patch of prickly thorns. Then, flip the script and compare the solution to a cloud of feathers.
Embrace the one-liner – When you want your words to throw a punch at your reader, put them on their own line, in a one-sentence paragraph. For great examples of this technique used right, look at Seth Godin’s blog:
Share personal anecdotes – Put humanness back in your writing and describe personal examples of whatever you’re writing about, where relevant. For instance, perhaps you experienced the problem you’re discussing or maybe you have a good learning experience to share that relates to your topic.
Be yourself – Don’t write to impress. Instead, be yourself. Use idioms and turns-of-phrase you would insert in your speech when talking out loud. Crack bad jokes, litter your writing with puns, or include nerdy Star Wars references, if that’s your M.O. You do you.
C. Include Research, Data, Statistics, and Studies
Want to truly inform and educate your audience? Turn to research to ensure your content is stuffed to the brim with value. Don’t just spout off some numbers or facts without citing a reputable online source – you’ll actually damage your authority instead of strengthening it.
[bctt tweet=”‘Content that’s moving, inspiring, entertaining, or educational is going to be valuable to your audience. If your content doesn’t accomplish any of the above, stop and re-evaluate.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
4. Be Human, Engage, and Connect
If you really want to influence your readers, find ways to connect with them and build relationships. The best way to do that is the simplest: Be human.
More specifically, be a friendly human on social media and across the web.
Engage and interact with the people you follow. Share posts, comment on posts, and add to discussions.
Participate in Twitter chats and live streams.
Reply to blog comments respectfully, thoughtfully, and with depth.
Building your reputation is about more than the content you publish or the online face you reveal on your website. It’s about every single interaction you have, no matter how seemingly small.
Think about this when you send that email, reply to that DM, or post that quick update on Twitter. All these small moments add up to how you’re perceived online – and whether people feel that they can trust you.
As you build that trust, you’ll build influence at the same time.
[bctt tweet=”‘If you really want to influence your readers, find ways to connect with them and build relationships. The best way to do that is the simplest: Be human.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on creating content that builds influence” username=”ExpWriters”]
5. Craft Compelling, Irresistible Headlines, Subheaders, and CTAs
To influence your audience, every piece of your content needs to be convincing. That’s why care and attention should infuse your headlines, subheaders, and CTAs alongside the body of your content.
Headlines
A compelling headline will bring readers to your content, but, more importantly, it keys into their needs, wants, and pain points. This is what makes them click over to your piece versus the other guys’.
Touch a nerve – When you touch a nerve with your headline, you’ve succeeded. You’ve managed to get inside the reader’s head so deep, their problems have become yours. This should be your goal with every headline.
Don’t overpromise – Don’t overpromise in your headline. If you make a wild claim but fail to deliver on that in the content, it’s a letdown for the reader, and their trust in you will deplete.
Make the headline mirror the content – The headline should never be dangled like bait to make readers click. Instead, the headline should mirror the content, which helps the reader know what to expect when they invest their time to read it.
Subheaders
Subheaders have a few jobs to do inside your content.
Subheaders break the content into parts. It’s easier to understand your topic when it’s broken down into key ideas.
They make the content easier to skim and scan.
Neglecting your subheaders means you’ll make your content harder to read – and nobody has time for that.
CTAs (Calls-to-Action)
Your CTAs pave the way for reader action. Without solid CTAs, you will have fewer sign-ups, downloads, subscribers, and even purchases.
Every piece of content should tell your reader what to do next. If you don’t tell them, they’ll click away – and your amazing, influential content will go to waste.
Look at this recent post by Portent and note how they include a solid CTA to sign up for their newsletter at the very end:
[bctt tweet=”‼️ In creating influential content, never forget about headlines, subheaders, and CTAs‼️ Know more about the steps in creating content that can help you build influence in @JuliaEMcCoy’s 7-step guide.” username=”ExpWriters”]
6. Build Better Landing Pages
Once you begin crafting influential content, you can’t stop there. Other key pieces for conversions need to get the golden touch, too, including your landing pages.
Landing pages are separate pages from your website, where visitors “land” after clicking a link or ad. The goal of your landing pages should be to get these visitors to complete one specific objective (usually, whatever your conversion goals dictate).
According to CoSchedule, your landing pages should have three elements:
A strong headline
Compelling body copy
An irresistible call-to-action
Building better landing pages means:
Making sure the page has ONE purpose
Using conversion copywriting techniques
Holding your audience’s attention and staying persuasive
Focusing on the benefits of your offer (rather than the features)
Keeping the offer about the user (NOT about you)
Without great landing pages, you’ll earn fewer conversions on your awesome content. While you’re building influence, authority, and trust, you have to make sure there’s a net in place at the end to cash in on it.
[bctt tweet=”Without great landing pages, you’ll earn fewer conversions on your awesome content. @JuliaEMcCoy shares some tips on how you can create better landing pages that can help boost your influence.” username=”ExpWriters”]
7. Optimize Your Content the Right Way
The final piece of the puzzle is optimizing your content so your influence can grow and spread organically. This means:
Implementing SEO, including targeting keywords in the correct places
[bctt tweet=”Optimize your content the right way. Make sure to invest in quality content, SEO, and a user-friendly and beautifully designed website. Know more tips on creating winning content that builds influence in this post by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
To Build Online Influence, Build Your Content and Social Presence
Attracting your audience, moving them, and influencing them are no small feats.
To do it, you have to have four things:
Patience
Knowledge of your ideal readers – their needs and desires
Amazing content that speaks to those readers
A consistent web presence (including consistent blogs!)
If you’re just starting, start small. Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
Lay your foundation for online influence brick by brick, and soon you’ll build a haven for your audience – one they’ll flock to in droves.
