March 4, 2016
1,097 WORDS TO CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT CONTENT WRITING
Content marketing rocks today. Content writing rocks, too.
With that in mind, every entrepreneur tries to implement it to their business strategy. Content marketers have their glory days now.
However, only a few clients understand that content marketing doesn’t equal content writing. The word “content” confuses them and makes them consider every content marketer a writing guru.
Yes, content marketers know what a good text looks. And yes, they know what components it should have to reach out the audience.
But content marketing is more about marketing than content. And a good content marketer is not necessarily one who writes. He is the one who makes content meet a company’s objectives and marketing plans; he is the one who knows how and where to distribute content for attracting and acquiring the target audience, and he is the one who understands what content to use to achieve required results and drive profitable customer action.
And if a marketer doesn’t write himself, he needs the help of a good content writer.
And here the problem appears:
Everyone writes today. But far from everyone is a writer.
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T TRUST A WRITER
There are three key components of marketing: Message, Market, and Channel. And there is no power structure between them: all three are significant, and all three go simultaneously.
Just imagine a tripod. It won’t stay if one leg is broken. It needs all three.
Plus, this triangle is closed: each component “feeds” others. One component can destroy your marketing tripod. You have several variants to do that:
- right Message – wrong Market – right Channel
- right Message – right Market – wrong Channel
- right Message – wrong Market – wrong Channel
- wrong Message – right Market – right Channel
- wrong Message – wrong Market – right Channel
- wrong Message – right Market – wrong Channel
- wrong Message – wrong Market – wrong Channel
And only one variant to save your marketing tripod is:
- right Message – right Market – right Channel
As a content marketer, you control two components of this triangle, which are Market and Channel.
But it’s your content writer who controls Message. So, you should be careful when choosing the one to write for you.
I bet you know about a term such as Message-Market match. Or mismatch.
What can a mom living in a small town and selling her 500-word texts with titles like “5 Principles of Success” for $5 write you?
It was a rhetorical question. The problem is, there are hundreds of such content writers on the Web, and they write texts about marketing, management, technologies, and many other difficult topics.
Your biggest mistake as a content marketer is entrusting such writers with your customer communications.
One email, well-written and sent to right people, can bring hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It’s important to realize that the marketing psychology on the Web works the same as offline. So, you should control who talks to your clients online – John Smith considering himself a professional copywriter or the influencer in the niche, a business founder, and a CEO.
MORE THAN WORDS…
A text is not just words.
It’s an encoded mind of those who wrote it, with all their experience and world’s view. When you write, you insert your mood and your self into the text; that’s why 500 words written by one person will never equal 500 words written by another one.
500 words can change the world. 500 words can change a country. 500 words can inspire a person to leave his job and start a business. 500 words can save someone from suicide.
But someone considers 500 words nothing but the wind that blows and doesn’t influence anything.
Meanwhile, writing is a difficult skill. The financial outcome of a web text may be bigger than one of engineer or accountant work. A piece of content you publish online may appear the best seller that brings customers and helps to achieve corporate objectives and marketing plans.
HOW TO FIND A GOOD CONTENT WRITER
First of all, make sure you look for them at right places. Forget about freelance websites, places such as Fiverr, content mills, etc.
You need people who write a lot.
Two variants work here:
1) Top bloggers in your niche
You can see their performance by checking readers’ reaction: likes, shares, and comments.
2) Journalists
Not all are good but some are worthy writers. Check by the same criteria – likes, shares, comments, and views – and pay attention to the publications where they post their writings. In a perfect world, it will be a place where your target audience meets.
For example, a journalist of Cosmo would be a perfect writer for your project on clothes.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT
Generally speaking, every text pursues two aims:
- a) to provoke a reader into doing something (subscribing, downloading, making an order, commenting, etc.)
- b) to build loyalty with potential customers.
High-quality content is not that written with tricky words. A pro content creator will write as he speaks. The power of his texts is not words but meaning and truth, so he’ll be able to tell a story with simple words.
Content marketers read a lot, so it won’t be difficult for you to catch a rhythm, form, and atmosphere of the text you evaluate. A high-quality text captures you at once, and it’s like an adventure novel you can’t help reading.
For content writers, it’s not easy to create such texts. Research and in-depth insight are their shadows, and they help readers see the strengths and benefits of your product or service. To succeed here, content writers should know your audience by sight.
Why?
Otherwise, a content creator will write something, spending time and money with no understanding why, what, who, or where his texts go.
Or, he will write as if he was John Smith, your client. As far as you understand, it’s a bad idea: big chances are, there are no other John Smiths among your clients.
What to do?
Share buyer personas with your content writer.
Provide the following information:
- Who is your client?
- Where is he from?
- What is his profession?
- What are his hobbies?
- What does he love?
- What does he hate?
- Where does he spend his free time?
- What problems does he have?
- Where does he spend his time online?
With all these questions answered, your content writer will know whom to write Message and what Channel you’ll use for his text to win the Market.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Content writing is a significant skill to sharpen. Persuasiveness wouldn’t go amiss for communication, even if it’s not about texts only.
So, choosing a content creator to write texts for your projects, make sure your target audience already love him.
March 3, 2016
10 Tools for Better Content Marketing in 2016
Content marketing can be a time-consuming tactic. Sixty percent of marketers are creating at least one piece of new content each day.
Content marketing can be a time-consuming tactic. Sixty percent of marketers are creating at least one piece of new content each day.
Luckily, as content marketing has become more popular, an array of helpful tools have entered the market to help save time and money.
Here are 10 top tools for better content marketing in 2016.
1. Evernote
Evernote is a note taking, organizing and archiving tool any marketer can use to get their content in order.
At first glance, Evernote's web clipper tool makes it easy to organize your research materials for content development, but there's so much more than that. You can:
- Create a library of social media update ideas
- Collect and organize stock images for your content
- Create a social media calendar
- Subscribe to newsletters for content inspiration
- Create notes and to-do lists
- Track your social media performance
And it seems with every update, Evernote is finding new ways to cater to the unique needs of content creators.
2. Buffer
Social media automation is a must for any marketer, and no platform compares to Buffer for usability.
Buffer works with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest, so you can cover all your profiles with one tool. Buffer will also analyze your Twitter profile to determine when your followers are most often online and interacting, and schedule your tweets to post at the optimum times.
You can also make use of engagement analytics to see which tweets are getting the most engagement to further optimize your social media efforts.
3. RightlyWritten
Content has literally been a staple for all those involved in content marketing. However many marketers struggle to provide the volume and stellar quality of content at affordable prices which is very important to succeed.
RightlyWritten is simply the best copywriting service online to address this problem. They have a talent pool of hundreds of Native American writers on board with expertise in most of the verticals and can be hired to create content in the form of blog posts, articles, website content, press releases, white papers and more.
You may place orders on ad hoc basis using their intuitive ordering system or sign up for Monthly blog packages to put your website blog on complete Autopilot.
4. Feedly
Feedly is a organization tool for all your favorite blogs, online magazines and news sites, making it simple to follow all the latest news in your niche in one place. It's a great tool to brainstorm content creation and follow the latest trends.
Feedly also integrates with several social media automation tools (including Buffer), so you can share valuable content to your followers with a click of a button.
5. Slide.ly
Slideshows are becoming an increasingly popular content-type, especially for repurposing blog posts and other material.
With Slide.ly, you have a simple way to create your own professional slideshows. Slide.ly allows you to create video or photo slideshows on mobile or desktop, use real-time effects, and work with more than 80 templates and visual art. The platform also integrates with Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, YouTube, and others.
6. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo fills a lot of roles in the content creation and distribution process. If you're in the brainstorming phase, use BuzzSumo to easily search for similar content types that have received the most "buzz" (social shares, comments, etc).
The best way to use BuzzSumo though is to find potential influencers to help spread the word about your content. The tool allows you to easily find powerful social personalities who like to share content related to you and your niche.
7. Trendspottr
So much of social media success comes from taking advantage of the hottest trends, which is easier than ever with the help of Trendspottr.
Trendspottr allows you to follow emerging social media trends, including hot topics, trending hashtags, and important influencers. The tool also gives insight into audience sentiment surrounding the topics, so you can decide which conversations are the best to join.
8. Trello
A content marketing strategy has a lot of moving parts, which you can easily keep organized with Trello.
Trello helps you plan your content week by week, including helpful notes and comments from you and your team members. The platform keeps all your information in one place, making it simple to see what projects you're working on and what tasks need to be done next.
9. Apester
2016 is all about creating dynamic content, and thanks to Apester, you don't need advanced software to create your own.
Apester allows you to create polls, quizzes, surveys, personality tests and other types of interactive content.
Easily engage with your audience on a new level by making them a part of the content you create. You can even make video quizzes for the visually-inclined.
10. Outbrain
Every marketer struggles with content distribution to a certain extent, and Outbrain is posed as the best solution to the problem.
Outbrain can get more eyes on any type of content you create (blogs, videos, infographics, etc.) by displaying it as promoted content with other related options.
As far as affordable options for increasing traffic and amplifying your content goes, there's no comparing to Outbrain.
What are the secrets to success in marketing? We picked the brains of some of our favourite marketers from Thomas Cook, BBC Worldwide, Holland and Barrett and Unilever.
Don't stop learning
In an age where digital and marketing trends come and go, like the changing of the wind, it is imperative that you never stop learning. Even if what you are learning is not directly associated with your current position or even your dream career, knoweldge is power and will only make you stronger.
If you are not learning anything new in your current role, you will not only fail to get ahead, but will in turn lose value as your skills and knowledge become outdated and redundant over time.
In the words of Sara Holt, head of brand and global campaigns at BBC Worldwide: "The key to success in marketing today is to be learning constantly".
Take risks
Playing it safe may feel more comfortable, but as the old adage says: 'nothing ventured nothing gained'.
Lysa Hardy, chief marketing officer at Holland and Barrett, says: "Mistakes are a good thing, you can learn from your mistakes, but the biggest mistake people make is to not take risks, because they are afraid.
"Taking risks is when some of the best work in marketing is produced."
This encouragement to take risks was also echoed by Tim Hunt, marketing director for Guardian News and Media, saying: "Take risks, bravery is very important. It is easy in retrospect to say how easy something was, but you need balls to try it first."
Look before you leap
How long should you stay in a position before moving on? The answer may vary from person to person depending on a number of factors, as does the answer depending on which marketer you ask.
Geoff Seeley, global communications planning director at Unilever, warns: "Don't get sucked into a routine." This is particularly true if you wish to avoid stagnation in development. But as Andrea Newman, head of advertising and marketing communications at HSBC, says: "When you look at a CV and see someone has moved every 18 months, you get suspicious from the get-go."
Martin Dyhouse, marketing director for Thomas Cook, adds: "If you have been in a job a year then offered a promotion, then great. But if [changing your job] off your own back, then be cautious as I've never learnt the role of a job in just a year, and neither has anyone I know".
Set realistic goals
Having a five-year career plan is a great thing, but don't be too set on a linear path.
As Thomas Cook's Martin Dyhouse says "Wherever you want to end up, three, five or 15 years down the line – it is more of a zig-zag approach than a straight line - If you do not know where you want to be, then doing a wrong role will still be educational as you will learn about what you like and what you don't like.'
Andrew Jones, marketing director at BSH Home Appliances,says that you should: "Make decisions for the right reasons, not just to get ahead. The path maybe non-linear but you will get there eventually."
HSBC's Andrea Newman says something quite similar with: "Always chase status, not salary, as the salary will follow".
Do what you are good at
Capitalising on the areas in which you excel will always make you stand out from the pack. Jacco Van der Linden, marketing director of Heineken, says: "Play the game you are good at, and don't play anyone else's games.
"Playing politics to get ahead does not work - there are more people playing chess, rather than Monopoly, just concentrate on the task, and you will get recognised."
Or as Tim Hunt puts it more simply: "Good work speaks for itself."
by Alex Player, Marketing Magazine
March 2, 2016
Is Snapchat A Marketing Loser?
The first thought that strikes you after opening Snapchat is, “Now what?” Followed by, “Where did it go?”
Yet highly visible marketers are wishfully proclaiming Snapchat as a big deal in social marketing, but that is absurd. Don’t waste your time. At least not now.
Yes, it’s a tool you can’t miss. The same way Twitter TWTR +2.80%, MySpace, Second Life or even Bitcoin were hyped, the marketing pundits can see the future and Snapchat fits neatly in it. Perhaps they’re right, perhaps they can see 10 moves ahead, like a chess game that has yet to play out.
But numerous changes need to happen to the core functionality of this app before it’s possible that this deficient, substandard social app gain the attention of the ROI driven marketer. You can watch me explain them in the video, or follow along below.
- What? Marketing messages disappear?
Nothing is worse than a marketing message that disappears and can’t be recalled later. It doesn’t matter how you spin it or phrase it. If it’s something that can’t be recalled or watched again, what’s the point? Yes, I know you can take a screen shot, or download a video (if the marketer allows), but trust me, not many users are going to do that.
- No outgoing links = big zero in marketing value
This one is pretty simple. If you think Instagram is hard to convert, then Snapchat is like trying to convert lead into gold. There are currently no simple means to move someone off the Snapchat platform into a lead funnel or purchase cycle.
- Difficult to get new followers and to have followers follow you
On almost every other social network, finding users to follow and be followed is easy. Not on Snapchat. Adding my first 25 followers was painful and unnecessarily difficult. The same for finding users to follow. If you don’t have their Snapcode (a unique scannable QR code) or their exact username, adding them is problematic.
- Short video duration = small value
Like Vine and Instagram, Snapchat limits you to 10 seconds of video at a time. But unlike Instagram or Vine, you must shoot the video using Snapchat. That makes creating marketer friendly videos challenging. There are a handful of companies like Buzzfeed, ESPN and Mashable with special video editing powers, but it’s unclear how to gain these powers or if it’s even worth the effort.
- Analytics that disappear too
Nothing in Snapchat wants to stick around. And that includes its analytics. Yes, you can view the analytics of your posts, but they disappear in 24 hours. For a marketer, this is a non-starter. Can you imagine having to give a monthly report to your CMO on the effectiveness of Snapchat only to have lost the analytics? No we cannot.
In Sum
You can give me as many Snapchat presentations as you like. But to make it sound more marketing friendly than it is, the myth that’s been perpetuated is that marketers need to use it, because if they don’t they’re going to be left behind.
But the opposite is true. If you can’t justify an ROI or even measure the ROI, you shouldn’t be using it. Sure a case can be made for personal branding experts, I understand it has its story telling appeal to some audiences, but it’s not marketer friendly and thus, at least at this point, a waste of time. Far more return can be squeezed out of a YouTube, Facebook FB +2.70% or Twitter than can be extracted from Snapchat.
Stay away for now, and perhaps Snapchat will figure out a way to lure marketers back in. But big changes are needed first.
Forbes
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