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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Building a Brand That Thrives Through the Ups & Downs

December 31, 2020June 5, 2020 by Rachel Moffett

read that post here. And we were inspired by that post to hold a #ContentWritingChat on the same topic. #ContentWritingChat Recap: Building a Brand That Thrives Through the Ups & Downs Welcome to #ContentWritingChat! This month, we’re having a community chat and discussing how to build a brand that thrives through the ups and downs of life, such as the recent pandemic. We hope you find today’s chat valuable! ? pic.twitter.com/NxJvAbtwjg — Express Writers | Your Content Writing Team (@ExpWriters) June 2, 2020 This month, we opted to host a community chat to discuss a topic on the minds of many business owners during this worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. How can you build a brand that thrives despite what may be going on in the world? Well, if you’re wondering the same thing, this chat recap has some great advice for you! Q1: What do you think are some of the biggest struggles brands have faced during this pandemic? Being that we were all in this together, many brands dealt with the exact same struggles. Here are just some of the issues that came up during this time: A1: The biggest struggle for brands was the unknown. It was uncharted territory so it made it hard to determine what was appropriate to say to your audience. #ContentWritingChat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) June 2, 2020 As Lexie pointed out, the unknown was definitely one of the biggest struggles because that’s just something you can’t prepare for. When you don’t know what’s next, that can be stressful and scary. Brands have essentially had to take it one step at a time during the entire pandemic. A1: Brands were struggling with SO MANY THINGS… – What messages are appropriate? – Can I generate enough cash flow to survive? – What about my content plan? …those are just the beginning. #ContentWritingChat — John Cloonan (@johncloonan) June 2, 2020 John knows that brands were often left questioning if their messages were appropriate before posting. The risk of saying the wrong thing is often high during times of crisis. Not only that, but brands wondered how they would make enough money to pay their bills that continued to come in month after month. Many even considered changing their content plans that were already carefully crafted! A1: When to focus content on COVID. We’ve heard feedback from some segments that are flooded with COVID content. We want to share the info they need but don’t want to create content fatigue.#ContentWritingChathttps://t.co/9ww3AyrF1A — Danielle Bullen Love (@daniellewriter) June 2, 2020 And when it comes to that content plan, should you make adjustments to discuss real-time issues such as the pandemic? If so, how much is too much? You certainly don’t want to flood your audience with it, as Danielle mentioned. A1: Consistency in messaging. I think there has been a lot of push and pull between what is considered appropriate and what’s not, and the disconnect between what brands are pushing out and what consumers actually need is wide. #ContentWritingChat — Rachel Wendte (@rkwendte) June 2, 2020 Consistency in messaging is always key. During times like this, it’s important to ask yourself if the content you’re putting out there is truly serving your audience or not. A1: Reassuring their customers they are still relevant, safe, and open. Many people hear “We’re open” but aren’t sure that means “safe.”#ContentWritingChat — Shawn Paul Wood (@ShawnPaulWood) June 2, 2020 And because so many people have been living in fear throughout this time, ensuring your customers that they would be safe when doing business with you was another crucial message to spread. But besides just reassuring them, you also needed to keep them safe, especially for in-person businesses. Q2: When it comes to the brands that will withstand the test of time, what are some of the characteristics about them that stand out? The harsh reality is that not all brands survive. But if you want to be around for a long time, there are some important characteristics to embrace. A2: The brands that understand not to make it ALL about them ALL the time are going to be more successful. It was never really ALL about them – maybe now, brands who didn’t get that will understand. #ContentWritingChat — Michelle Garrett (@PRisUs) June 2, 2020 As Michelle said, brands cannot make it all about them. Your focus needs to be on your audience and how you can best be of service and provide a great experience. A2: – The assurance of past downturns to know that they don’t always need to be pushing product to be successful. – The awareness of the underlying conversation happening in media and the world and pressing pause. – The knowledge to listen rather than post.#ContentWritingChat — Rachel Wendte (@rkwendte) June 2, 2020 Rachel’s last point about knowing when to stop posting and start listening is something everyone needs to be reminded of. Q3: Creating authoritative, valuable content is a huge part of building a great brand. How can you be sure your content makes an impact? Before you create that next piece of content, you’ll want to read through these tips! A3: Creating authoritative content starts with figuring out what your audience needs from you. How can you best be of service to them through the content you’re publishing? #ContentWritingChat — Rachel (@redheadrachel) June 2, 2020 First, you need to figure out what your audience actually needs from you. It’s important that you’re delivering the content that they need the most in this very moment. A3: Survey your audience for the topics that matter to them. Make sure your distribution channels are optimized. Content needs to be seen to have an impact. Are you reaching your audience on the right channels?#ContentWritingChathttps://t.co/XW5dbG0koL — Danielle Bullen Love (@daniellewriter) June 2, 2020 But how do you figure out what they want? Survey them! Danielle knows that’s a powerful way to figure out exactly what your audience wants. Ask them what topics are important to them and what they’re … Read more

10 Proven Ways to Create An Unforgettable Presence in Your Content Marketing

December 31, 2020April 25, 2017 by Adam Oakley

When it comes to content, nobody wants to be “decent.” Decent is boring. Unremarkable. It doesn’t stand out. When it comes to your content, you want to be much more colorful. You want people to describe the material you write as exciting, unique, amazing, and memorable. But how do you get from Point A to Point B? The answer is simple: When you learn what separates incredible content from decent content, and which tricks you can use to create more of the former, it’s easy to stand out as one of the most skilled content marketers on the web. Here’s your step-by-step guide. The Boring Content Marketing Epidemic There’s an epidemic going around, and few people are talking about it. No, it’s not the bird flu or the dreaded selfie “duck face.” Instead, it’s something much, much more serious. It’s boring content. In a world where more than 2 million blog posts are published daily, it’s safe to say that easily 90% of them are duplicative, boring, and unoriginal. It’s safe to say that most of them are crap. Cloned from other blogs, regurgitated from prominent sources, or modeled on the 30 other blogs already written on a topic, these posts don’t do much but clog up the web and make it harder for truly unique content to stand out. In some ways, this isn’t even the fault of individual writers. Instead, it’s the curse of an entire industry, which sometimes focuses on things that are viral and flashy more than it does on things that are unique and relevant. In other cases, the boring content epidemic is perpetuated by the fact that everyone can be a publisher today, and this leads to the web being flooded with material that’s poorly written, poorly researched, and not worth reading. If you subject to this boring content epidemic, it’ll have a real and dramatic impact on your content marketing. Fortunately, this fate isn’t inevitable. When you commit yourself to avoiding boring content and shooting for something bigger and more lasting, you can succeed in being one of the few content marketers that manages to develop unique content people remember. Why Epically Amazing Content Matters I know what you’re thinking. “Come on – epically amazing content? Isn’t that just showing off? Or unforgettably impossible?” The answer is no. Not by a long shot! Today, it matters more than it ever has mattered for brands to be unique, creative, and standout. Here’s why: today’s consumers don’t just want an earful. They’re not looking for flashy promises, empty content, or regurgitated thoughts. Instead, they want real value. They want originality, and they want excitement. In fact, they base their purchasing decisions on these things. According to a recent NewsCred study, 62% of millennials report that their brand loyalty is directly related to the type and quality of content a brand produces. When you consider that millennials have an annual spending power of about $200 billion annually, this quickly becomes an important statistic. Today, it’s not enough to just churn out boring content so you have something, anything, online. Instead, you’ve got to dedicate yourself and your brand to creating truly EPIC content that supports brand loyalty, builds your reputation, and helps people remember your company the next time they need a good or service. Epic content is the only way to do this, which is why it’s emerged as the content format of the present and the future. What’s more, the role of content is continually growing, and effective digital communication is more essential today than it’s ever been before. Here are a few facts to illustrate my point: [clickToTweet tweet=”78% of CMOs report that content marketing is the future of marketing. @JuliaEMcCoy” quote=”78% of CMOs report that content marketing is the future of marketing. @JuliaEMcCoy”] Today, epic content is the only way to go for brands who truly want to make an impact on the web. Enough of this wishy-washy crud. Enough mediocre articles and blog posts. Enough low-paid, low-researched material that doesn’t do anything but clog up the search results. In an environment where it’s harder than ever to earn attention online, the only way to succeed is by creating superb material that outshines everything else with its levels of quality and relevance. The Benefits of Epic Content The first and most obvious benefit of epic content is that it helps your brand stand out. While few people talk about boring content creators, everyone talks about content marketers who break the mold and do things nobody else is daring to do. Here are a few of the other benefits of truly epic content: It’ll earn you more online shares It provides more actionable, relevant, exciting information for your followers It lasts longer and remains valuable for longer than ordinary content It helps people trust your company It makes you stand out as a thought leader Beyond that, brands that create epic content can rest easy knowing that their content creation efforts are worth something. When you’re not beating yourself against a wall, struggling to come up with boring topic after boring topic, and then being devastated when they don’t produce the results you’d hoped they would, content creation gets much easier and much more satisfying. Unfortunately, creating content that’s consistently memorable can be tough, and many brands struggle to develop a formula for doing it. 5 Tips to Create Epically Awesome Content “Epic” is a high standard, but it’s totally attainable. You just need to know where to start. Here are five steps to get you closer to the goal of unforgettable online material: 1. 10x Your Research One thing that separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to online content is research. Think about it: writing is easy enough, for a lot of people. Almost anyone can put together an average blog post. Heck, a prolific writer can easily crank out more than 1,000 words an hour, so even long-form material isn’t that hard to create. When you look at … Read more