According to Content Marketing Institute, brands’ use of Instagram grew 17% in 2014 alone.

If you’re not already reaching customers on Instagram, it’s time to start.

Instagram’s Benefits for Marketers

With more than 300 million monthly users and 2.5 billion Likes daily, Instagram is an ideal platforms on which to reach your target demographic.

The recently expanded search function, which promises to help your audience find you quicker than ever before, allows users to search with hashtags, locations, or specific account names while the platform’s updates earlier in 2015 enabled a “shop now” option for brands.

Take a look at Ben & Jerry’s strategic use of Instagram and compelling content writing to drive brand awareness, promote new products, and increase conversions.

Case Study: Ben & Jerry’s

In a case study published on Instagram, Ben & Jerry’s reached nearly 10 million viewers via Instagram alone. The untraditional ice cream brand used imagery, humor, and well-placed ads to promote its new Scotchy Scotch Scotch ice cream flavor to a target demographic of U.S. adults ages 18 – 35.

The result was a 17% increase in brand awareness and 33-point rise in ad recall.

Content Writing for Instagram

Here’s Ben & Jerry’s secret: Winning on Instagram requires content writing. While images do capture attention and encourage sharing, the supporting content is why your audience sticks around.

Generating content for Instagram is different when compared to other social platforms, but there are a few tricks available to help you be successful.

Put the following into practice to see improved results from your Instagram marketing campaign.

1. Develop landing pages that entice. Ads create a positive impact on business goals when they’re precisely targeted and backed by an enticing landing page. Format landing pages to display imagery and scannable text that drives conversions.
2. Perfect product descriptions. Often the last piece of content a viewer will read before taking action, product descriptions must contain a review of the product’s features and benefits.
   Review our tips on product content writing to create descriptions that convert.
3. Encourage user-generated content. A powerful way to reach your customers is by using content created by other customers. Though not a specific tactic used in Ben & Jerry’s Scotchy Scotch Scotch marketing campaign, #benandjerry reveals thousands of customer images that, if curated, promote brand awareness.

Finish Strong with Content

Images are the resident attention-grabber on Instagram, but your brand’s content directly reflects your values. According to Pew Research Center, 26% of U.S. adults use Instagram.

Through access to content that encompasses your brand’s identity and the use of Instagram to connect with fans, empower customers to become ambassadors.

Evaluate the content you’re creating to ensure it resonates with your audience.

Is your brand using Instagram and content writing effectively?

The post What Content Marketers Can Learn About Instagram From Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Don’t you want a deeper, more meaningful connection with your clients, prospects, and fans?

An efficient way to forge this connection without tying up all of your resources is drip marketing.

Because you can create drip campaigns for different customer personas at different stages of the purchase process, targeting customers with relevant messaging directly in their inbox boosts your content’s priority.

Craft Your Message for People

Forget search engines and SEO for a minute — it’s all about reaching people. Are you vying for the attention of C-suite execs or reaching out to single moms?

Depending on your audience, brand messaging in a drip campaign can vary greatly while retaining the following qualities:

• Purpose. While a drip campaign may only consist of 3 well-timed emails, it must have a well-defined purpose. What should your reader do after opening the email?
• Connection. Words mean more than you might think. A simple greeting, short purposeful statement, and invitation to act may be all it takes for a reader to learn more.
• Call to action. Should your viewer head to your blog, sign up for an offer, or write you back? Whatever your call to action, make sure it’s easy to complete. Anything more than a step or two might decrease your overall response rate.

From including interactive elements to tweaking landing page design, developing a cohesive campaign ensures you take advantage of each and every opportunity to “wow” your reader.

Content: The Heart of Your Drip Campaign

Despite rumors of marketing automation taking over, there remains a very real, human element to marketing communication and it rests in your content.

Unlike creating website content, drip campaign messages need to be short, on-brand, and speak directly to their pain points.

Answer the following questions and share with your team before launching a drip campaign:

• Which emotions or thoughts will this message evoke when read?
• What barriers and challenges is the reader facing?
• What solutions are offered by my brand?

Communicating the answers to your content creation team is crucial to building an effective email drip campaign.

Have you had success with drip campaigns?

The post Email Drip Campaigns: How to Wow Beyond Website Content appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

But neglecting its contents can cost your business dearly. After all, your editorial calendar is the heart of digital communication between you brand and your audience — it deserves a little TLC.

In a previous post, we discussed how maintaining an editorial calendar helps you stay organized and focused. But developing an editorial calendar is more about reaching targeted goals than it is about recording publishing dates and keywords.

Discover which categories your editorial calendar might be missing.

5 Must-Have Categories for Your Editorial Calendar

When taking inventory of content creation tools at your disposal, start with a review of your editorial calendar’s contents. Incorporate the following categories to “connect the dots” between content creation and conversion rates.

• Target audience. Many businesses have ideal clients they’re pursuing, whether it’s stay-at-home moms or C-suite executives. Specify which member of your audience content is targeting before tracking its success via analytics, and ensure each piece is tailored to them.
• Stage of buyer’s journey. From discovery to commitment, the buyer’s journey is complex. That’s why creating content for each stage is critical to your bottom line. Map your sales funnel and connect content with different stages to optimize results.
• Distribution channels. To get the most from one piece of content, distribution is key. Is your blog being promoted on Facebook? Are you publishing video on Twitter? Using a paid service to disseminate content? Track your efforts to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
• Media type. Depending on your audience, publishing content in different formats, like infographics, video, and podcasts, produces better results than traditional blogging. In fact, visual content is consumed and shared more than text media. Record published media types to determine which evokes the best response from your viewers.
• Call to action. While it may seem like an afterthought, adding a call to action to your content is the conduit through which viewers make an informed decision about your brand. If your intended viewer is in the initial phases of your sales funnel, invite them to learn more.Alternatively, an in-depth article about your product may be just what your reader needs to click on a “buy now” link.

Make Your Editorial Calendar Work for You

As much as you might think you’re a lone warrior, efficient content marketing takes a village.

A detailed editorial calendar will guide you through successful campaigns, highlight barriers to success, and keep your content organized — provided you keep open communication of its contents with your team.

Is anything missing from your editorial calendar? What are your content creation struggles? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

The post 5 Essential Categories Your Editorial Calendar is Missing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

Let’s face it — you’re not in the business of serving search engines.

You want to build a business primed for growth, and that means nailing product descriptions.

Do your product descriptions drive purchase decisions, or drive customers away?

In a previous post, we discussed the many benefits product descriptions can have on your business, from higher search engine rankings to the establishment of a refined, cross-platform brand voice.

Now it’s time to look at writing goal-focused, unique product descriptions your customers will find helpful. The following advice comes from our very own product description writers’ experience writing hundreds of thousands of descriptions for eCommerce sites of all sizes.

Essential Elements of Every Great Product Description

Describing your product takes more than a grasp of language and grammar; it takes a determination to reach customers at a personal level, regardless of how short the interaction.

Create compelling descriptions by incorporating three key elements.

Scannable Text

As customers read a page, they naturally scan it for the most important information. Likely, you did also seconds after clicking the headline.

We want to make sure what we’re reading is actually useful, right?

For the same reason, product descriptions must be written in a way that leads the eye to the most important information. Include bullets, short paragraphs, or bold text to draw your reader to the best content.

A Personal Touch

Everyone likes a story — particularly when they’re playing the lead role. Use product descriptions to concentrate on your customers’ needs, wants, and challenges.

How will your product affect relationships, comfort, family life, travel, or other important aspects of life?

What will be the ultimate impact on your reader? Weave storytelling into product descriptions to guide the reader’s imagination.

The Feature-Benefit Sweet Spot

While including specifications must be done to an extent, it shouldn’t overshadow your product’s benefits.

Encourage your reader to delve further into an item by suggesting uses or scenarios in which the item is indispensable.

According to KISSmetrics, downplaying features in exchange for illustrative benefits is the best way to drive conversions with product descriptions.

Are your product descriptions lacking any of these qualities?

The post Are Your Unique Product Descriptions Missing These Components? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

When it comes to B2B content marketing, LinkedIn is truly the king of the Internet. Between its 330+ million users and its recently expanded features, like publishing and online learning, it is the social launching pad for professionals and brands alike.

Building Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn

It’s time to delve into how individuals — from CEOs to bootstrapping entrepreneurs — use the professional networking platform to promote their personal brands, get more clients, and earn respect as thought leaders.

Communicate Your Uniqueness

LinkedIn’s co-founder, Reid Hoffman, specifically offered the following advice to entrepreneurs, (and any professional looking to stand out from the crowd): “One of the things about competitive differences is you really have to think ‘How am I almost world class?’”

Stand out by creating a dynamic profile that include links to your personal blog, social profiles, and associated company, if applicable.

Keep Your Audience Engaged

Since becoming a publishing platform, LinkedIn redefined networking to include an emphasis on thought leadership, which has helped many professionals become thought leaders in their industry.

As Content Marketing Institute points out, publishing attention-grabbing headlines, custom opt-in offers, and helpful content your audience cares about can reel in hundreds of subscribers and potential partnerships.

Reach Out and Make Connections

To build your personal brand with any measure of success, you’ll need to crawl out of your comfort zone and make new (and potentially beneficial) connections. Publishing content is one way to enhance networking, but it lacks a personal touch.

Spend time crafting personal messages, looking for connection opportunities within your existing audience, and reaching out to influencers to boost your numbers. In addition to attracting more leads, having a large network on LinkedIn positively affects how users view your brand’s credibility and importance.

How Does Your Personal Brand Measure Up?

How are you different, and what will you add to the conversation? Furthermore, where will your content travel? Follow the above tips to build a captivated professional following on a platform that works non-stop to promote your personal brand.

The post How to Become a LinkedIn Warrior: 3 Personal Branding Tips appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.