Content Marketing , Getting your ducks in a riw
Time to get your ducks in a row
If you’re like me (a prince among procrastinators) the “ducks in a row” has always been a safe haven. “The websites not finished”, “the email list isn’t long enough”, “you never post anything on a Tuesday””. The list can be endless.
But as I embark upon a new “Content Marketing Strategy” I finally corralled all those ducks into single file, heading in the right direction. To help fellow procrastinators here s a check list of what you need in place if you intend to make a splash in the Content Marketing pond.
1: A website; your number 1 goal is to send traffic to your website; it’s the base camp for everything that follows. Make sure your site is logical contains good information and easy to navigate, both for your visitors and for Google to use and search through. If you have an old style site with Flash (we used to love those moving characters) you should consider a refreshing your website, Flash is not good for Google. Similarly if your text is in jpeg files that’s no good either because Google can’t read them. Talk to your web developer if you’re not sure how your site is set up.
2: Blog; Every business should have a blog, and every blog should be full of good quality content. You could write about the latest developments in your industry, new awards your company has won, the parachute jump by the office junior. The important thing is to regularly update your blog and keep the content entertaining and engaging. This is your opportunity to build a relationship with your potential customers, use it wisely.
3: Social Media; Someone told me recently that you need to meet someone seven times before they know you and trust you enough to do business with. I don’t know how true this is but it’s certainly true (as is evidenced by all the networking events and forums) that
“People buy people”.
Social media is your opportunity to meet people on a global scale. Join groups, start discussions, add comments, this is your chance to build a presence for you and your business. Which social media platform to use is up to you. If you are a B2B company Linked In is a vibrant business network. If you’re B2C, Facebook would be the obvious choice. You know best your customers and where you likely to find them, that’s the space you need to be active in.
4: Opt In List; Websites, blogging, social media, the goal at all times is to attract customers to your website. Analytics will tell you how successful you are, but it won’t tell you who your visitors are. Invite people to give you their details, put a big obvious “Opt IN” button on your site and add an offer as a reward for opting in.
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5: Email List: From your “Opt In” list and other sources you can form an email list of customers and potential customers who are interested in your product or service. There are a number of email marketing services available which once set up take a lot of the hard work away from your email marketing efforts. Mailchimp, Adweber, and Constant Contact are just three and if you have had any experience or recommendations regard song which system is best I’d love to hear from you
The Copywriters Guide
The Copywriters GuideThe Copywriters GuideThe Copywriters GuideThe Copywriters Guide
Digital Content and Copy in Ireland
I write the words that deliver more interest, more traffic and more profit to your business
My Copywriting Experience
I have been writing advertising and marketing copy for almost 20 years. I have worked with ad agencies in Belfast and Dublin and large and small businesses across the island of Ireland and the UK. As a digital content writer and copywriter I can
- Save you time. Do you really want to burn the mid-night oil writing copy?
- Save you money. With low overheads I deliver top flight copy at a very reasonable price
- Deliver great copy and web content on deadline and to budget every time.
The Copywriters Guide Part 2
How to write great copy PART 2
In Part 1 we covered the Who’s. What’s and Why’s and finely arrived (sometimes kicking and screaming) at the brief. At last I said you were now in a position to put digit to keyboard, but not quite.
I want to be on Facebook
Or Twitter or Linkedin or Google + or a host of other channels. The question you or the client need to answer is “Why”. It may well be the case that Facebook is the ideal place for your social media efforts, if that’s where your customers are. However just because everyone says Facebook is the place to be, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best place for you. The other thing to note is that just like having a website proved not to be a panacea for all your marketing needs, without constant attention via posts, asking or answering questions and taking part in discussions your Facebook page will wither on the vine. 
The 4 U’s Formula
Originally devised by coach and serial entrepreneur Michael Masterson this formula works wonders for headlines,email subject lines, titles and with a little tweaking, it can be a powerful blog writing formula too.
So what are the 4 U’s and how can you use them to write better headlines and copy?
1: Urgent
2: Unique
3: Useful
4: Ultra specific
Urgent
Urgency in headlines convinces people to open the email, scan the newsletter or subscribe to the blog. While urgency is very important for headlines, if you can’t apply all 4 U’s to your content, urgency is the one to leave out. It can be difficult to maintain urgency throughout your content without sounding too pushy or salesy.
Unique
If your content isn’t unique why would anyone spend time on your site? The uniqueness of your copy includes everything from your writing style to the benefit visitors get from reading your content.
Useful
The same applies to usefulness. While the uniqueness of your content may draw readers in, theusefulness is what keeps them reading. You must offer a benefit, solve a problem, or otherwise provide value for your audience.
Ultra-specific
The more specific your copy is, the more useful it will be. Being ultra-specific doesn’t mean every blog post you write needs to be a list, how-to, or step-by-step guide, although those formats are popular for a reason.Specificity increases how useful the content is and makes it more compelling.
In the end of the day, by how ever you arrive at your web copy or digital content the readers or audience, with finite time are driven by one basic tenet
“What’s in it for me?”
No matter how flowing and elegant your prose may be, if your content isn’t solving a problem or providing a solution that enhances your readers lives you’re probably wasting your time. To be useful and to be pertinent for your product or service you
Sell the benefits not the features.
For example
“The Westfield lawnmower has an alloy deck, a 25 horse power two stroke engine and a 20 inch blade.”
0r
“Light to handle and with a huge cutting arc the powerful Westfield Lawnmower makes short work of any lawn.”
What the reader wants to know is what problem this product solves, in this case the Westfield makes my effort cutting grass easier.
Think of it like this
Nobody who bought a drill with a ¼ inch masonry bit wanted a drill.
They wanted a ¼ inch hole in the wall.
In fact they didn’t even want a hole in the wall, they probably wanted to put up a shelf or hang a mirror. Before you start to write think beyond the features to what benefit your service or product brings. If the one thing you take for this post is “selling the benefits not the features” it is something that will improve the effectiveness of your web copy, digital content and sales literature.
In Part 3, I’m going to look a little at web copy and white space and how to get the best from collaboration with designers, actors, engineers and more.