If you’re reading this article, then you’re probably thinking about either entering Content Marketing side of writing or have already started it. Success in any business depends upon the quality that you offer. The same goes with content. Offering the best content to your clients is the key to attaining success. And this is what forms the base for Content Marketing. But, is a website and a team of writers enough?
Before you venture into any business, you need to test the waters. Content business, though seemingly simple, is no less than a tech business. And that’s exactly why we present the Complete Guide to Content Marketing Essentials for Writers 2017. Content marketing is a tool which has gained a lot of importance in the past few years. It can be Getting your website to Google’s first page or increase likes of your latest publish… Content Marketing solves it all. So train your writers and sharpen your skills because this is a necessity in 2017.
<link>How important is Fred
Overview
-The 4 pillars of content marketing
-How should Writers best use the Content Marketing pillars?
-Know and Master the 4 content types
-Psychological Facts in Marketing
So, the question now is, are you ready? If the answer is yes, then let me walk you through some basics that will definitely help you in achieving success in your content business.
Let’s start by understanding the basics of Content Marketing by looking at…
The Four Pillars of Content Marketing
Authoring A content cannot be formed without an Author. You need to create content around your audience’s needs, producing and curating engaging blog posts, videos, infographics and more. Frequency is also important in content marketing since you’re in it for the long run.
<link>Vocabulary tools
Distribution & Broadcasting You need to distribute your content through the right channels and bring relevant traffic to it by using paid, owned, and earned media. Even the best content won’t perform unless you can gather the right audience around it.
Performance Analysis You need to measure how your content performs in order to steer your strategies in the right direction. Informed decisions are based on what’s worked in the past and the shape of your industry today. Effective content marketing is never a shot in the dark.
<link>Google Analytics
Customer Experience The content experience is what makes your content convert. It needs to be strategically organized, have a responsive design, and reinforce the buyer’s journey with Calls-to-Action. Without it, the content we create is more likely to collect dust than new leads.
How should Writers best use the Content Marketing pillars?
For all good content published online, the bonding factor with readers is important. And truth be told, humanization fits into all aspects of content creation. That’s exactly how brands like Fauxboard are able to move forward in this overcrowded, money driven, Digital Marketing Industry. Here is how we implement humanization to maximize readers and conversion:
Authoring
While authoring a new article, try and compose posts that showcase your experience. Authority content that spreads by word of mouth while building trust is possible only when you make your audience learn through your experiences. Here are a few more pointers on Authoring:
Voice your opinions Taking the para above further, Be sure to voice out your opinions. You need to either represent yourself or your brand. And communicate directly to the audience.
Use Google keyword results to compose Headings Use Google results on the specific query for the keywords you wish to rank for and form your overview / headings accordingly. Now you know what topics to cover.
Correct use of H1 to H6 When you post online for marketing, You know a bot would read your content. And when a bot reads your article, it looks at its significance by using “H tags”. Bigger the heading, more the importance. Simple!
Distribution
Having a network is important. From generating Quality backlinks to a Influential shout outs to your posts, Connection and trust building with Influencers & Bloggers is extremely important. We have mentioned many a times that its because of our community that we are motivated to create better posts each time. And our engagement attracts Influencers. Its just easy to leave a message to influencers when they have seen you around on the same platform. Let’s look at some other tips for Writers to get their Content distributed:
Collect your sources. Collect your resources and comment how their content has been helpful in your composition. This would link them to your website. Since most resources are picked from Google’s top results, a Dofollow backlink shared here can increase your Domain Authority.
Valuable Commenting. Another step you must take is to add value to their blog. These people have nearly the same targeted audience as your article does. Your valuable comment would divert their readers towards you. Valuable Commenting is also a great Action Content practice for writers. You need to convince the reader your value and make them convert into following your blog.
Performance
Performance is all about Contemplating strategies and using the analytics available to outperform others. Agreed! This part is a bit technical but it’s also pretty interesting for the Writers among you who like challenges:
Use Heat Maps. As a Content writer involved in Content Marketing, you need to understand that you are not just a writer but also the person in charge of spacing and layouting. These things are extremely important to understand, as they make the traffic flow on a web page! Which lines are working? Is the heading punchy? Should you link to a different article on top or at the bottom? Sumo Heat map helps me generate a map of the clicks our audience makes on different pages. I have attached a video here and it would explain you more about the tool we use at Fauxboard: <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/WPlPaGD5n5I” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe> URL – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPlPaGD5n5I
Customer Experience
When we started this blog, I remember me<link> and Akshay<link> having this conversation that no matter what, we will try and send Personalized messages and replies to anyone – no matter if they are our customers, are unknown, or are reading the blog and visiting our creation.
This has been the mantra ever since. And we are proud of ourselves for this. There are a couple more things that can help you provide your customers better experience:
Spacing and Layout Make sure you nail this one. My previous point explained the importance of this aspect of Content Creation. And if I have picked the point again with the risk of content being repetitive, It sure has to be important. Sadly, its importance is still being neglected by Content Writers. Placing things where they need to be in an article is an art less talked about but makes the most difference in conversions. Make sure you give time to it.
Quick Sharing Snippets Consizing content, Make snippets to use with Click to Tweet. Expressing a thought in 140 characters will a good exercise for awesome Heading creation. This challenging task is also boosts customer experience as it gets the gist of the article directly to the reader. Not only that, it also boosts the shares you get on the social media channel. We are about to start using this extension soon but for the sake of this topic, I have put up an example below. Make sure you stay tuned to see it in action when we start using it extensively after our next update.
Writing is a play of emotions and content marketing teaches us just that!
Master the 4 Content Types
Surprised at the heading? Don’t know what content type is? Well, Content writers often neglect the importance of content types. Back in the early days, I too neglected these. We, as freelancers, feel that our writing skills are what matter. Though this is true to a large extent, writing skills are not the only skills that will make you successful.
Figure 1 The 4 A’s of Content
There are primarily 4 content types that you’ll be dealing with in your Writing career. Your goal is to make sure that your team masters in all 4 types. These types are:
Attraction
This type of content is used to generate curiosity among the readers. This is the content using which you attract the readers and get them hooked on the brand for which you’re writing. In your content business, attraction content will be the first thing that you’ll use, whether it is for your own website or for your clients.
Authority
The key to retaining your readers is to gain their trust. You might have great writing skills, but why would people trust you when they don’t know about your skills? That is where authority content kicks in. For example, if you a Content Marketer, write articles about the content marketing industry, content business and show your authority in these subjects. When you offer something of value to your readers, they know that you have a deep insight in the niche and start trusting you.
Affinity
Once the people start trusting you, half the battle is won. Now, the next step is to provide them with affinity content. The people who are reading your posts are from the digital marketing and content marketing communities. Also, there are people who wish to use your services for their content marketing. By creating content that makes them feel a part of it, you can build your own community. Sprinkle your content with jargons every now and then to appeal to those who understand the business. Ask your readers to contribute and comment. Make them feel connected. Only by creating an affinity towards your content can you successfully make them share your content and spread your reach.
Action
Finally, we have the action content. The whole idea of creating content is to convert your readers into fans or paying customers. Action content is the type of content where you incite the readers to perform an action. The action can range from subscribing to your newsletter, commenting on your post to buying your services or products.
<link>tips to building action content
Please note that a single piece of content can be used for different purposes. These 4 A’s are not mutually exclusive. You can write an ‘epic’ content that can incite the curiosity of readers (attraction) and also make them trust you (authority). It can further drive them to subscribe to your email or buy your product (action). So, the whole idea is to understand these 4 types of content and then use these guidelines to make your content presentable.
Psychological Facts in Marketing
Your team has good writers, who can create top notch content? Awesome! Is that enough? Not so much! Mastering the art of content is not the only thing needed. You need to be able to gather audience to read that awesome content too right? Marketing is an integral part of any business. Without promoting your own business, you cannot hope for success.
In my years of working as a content creator, I never gave too much emphasis on marketing. However, I realised I was wrong. As a content writer, it is very important for you to know about marketing.
Mastering the art of marketing is quite tough, especially since it deals with the human mind. Marketing is all about persuading the fellow human beings into thinking that they need your product. Thus, psychology plays a major role in effective marketing strategies. If you know the psychology of your target audience, you can effectively use it to your advantage.
Even though the psychology differs from people to people, here I am listing 3 psychology facts that are more or less universal.
Figure 2 Three Psychology Facts to help you market
Minimise Commitment
We all fear commitment. Be it our personal lives or professional, committing requires trust. So, for the readers, committing to buy your services is not easy. No matter how great your pitch is, they will still have doubts. Thus, the best way to encourage them is to minimise commitment. Offer them a free trial or a money back guarantee and you will see the conversions going up. If they feel like they have nothing to lose by trying out your services, they are more likely to take a plunge.
Answer all the ‘Why’s’
This is pretty obvious. Think of yourself as a customer. Before buying the product, what are the questions that will come to your mind? Most often, the questions will have Why? Why should I buy this? Why is it important for me? Why is it the best deal that I am getting? These are general questions and you must answer all of them in your content. By successfully answering all the doubts that the readers may have, you can easily increase your chances of conversion. The Comment section is the best to add to the interaction.
Hook them to the future:
Have you ever bought something because you were thinking about everything that you can do after you have it? I suppose the answer is yes. Hooking people to the future makes them more likely to go for your product. For example, a car salesman asks you to surely invite him for a long drive in your new car even before you have decided to buy it. This makes you think about the future prospects of having a car and drives you through the sale. Similarly, tell people what benefits they will reap once they’re using your products and hook them to the future for better conversions.
Though all of this sounds easy, it is certainly not. It will take time and constant efforts on your part to build up a successful community of trusted fans who will be willing to buy your services. However, if you follow these tips closely, the process will be expedited and you can expect success sooner than later.
Concluding Remarks
Content business is an ocean of opportunity. With things going digital, content marketing is sure to be a thing of the future. If you’re really passionate about building a successful content business, then make sure you master the art of writing powerful content and market it. And if you have just started a business, I would recommend you to the Reap benefits of Outsourcing Content for better Return On Investment.
If you have further questions, I am more than happy to help. Just drop a comment and I’ll get back to you. This concludes our Complete Guide to Content Marketing Essentials for Writers 2017. And you have just read a 2.5k word article.
Do share this free knowledge to support and help us keep building better articles in future. Also, if there are any suggestions or ideas, please share them. It’s only by sharing that we all learn and become better than we are today.
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