Does the writer know and understand clearly, your target audience?

Writing to the persona (and this is your job to adequately describe), does this writer understand how to speak the language that will sound familiar to your audience (i.e. teens, or professions, or artists)?  A great way to help your writer is to interview current or past customers and find out more about their interests. Pass this along to your writer!

Does the writer provide a call to action?

Make sure the content includes something compelling your audience to DO something. Offer some value added service or product or information that would be particularly interesting to your target audience. Does your writer show this in his/her other work? Don’t forget to have a plan. What do you want a visitor to do once they arrive at this stage of the marketing/sales funnel? Include images and infographics or video.

Use forms or other interactive ways your visitor can engage.

Offering value added services and landing pages with opportunities like newsletter sign ups, social media sharing and reviews is a great way to get folks to participate and not feel ‘sold’. People love to buy but hate to be ‘sold’ anything! Does your copywriter make good use of forms and calls to action?

Avoid writers with these tendencies:

• Writing for a general audience and not for the intended target market
• Overly salesy ~ again, facts tell stories sell. Too many facts and not enough connection will turn readers off.
• Writers that take bland content and just place keywords throughout. Meaningless copy, regardless of the number of keywords or phrases used, will not engage or inspire.

ALSO – What is Copywriting?

Finding great content writing service providers can seem daunting. Keep these important guidelines in mind and be sure to test, track and analyze the results of your copywriter’s work. Great writers will want feedback and will keep improving their copy to improve your conversion results. To learn more about how to become a Conversion-Focused Copywriter, visit our Affiliates page.

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Using reviews of products and services is becoming a solid way to get yourself to the top of the search engines or land in the face of the person researching the types of products or services you offer.

Use reviews rather than case studies or sales material

Using in-depth reviews with value added information from past customers presumes that the source of the review is more likely to be objective as opposed to the traditional ‘case study’ or even the great sales pitch or marketing campaign.

Buyers are savvier and intelligent shoppers are first looking to research what experiences their peers or other users/buyers of a product, service or company before venturing on to comparison shopping of price, convenience, etc.

Using these reviews can assist unique product descriptions in helping your target audience find and then buy from you.

According to the 2013 State of Demand Generation study by Pardot, close to 80% of buyers start their searches on the internet.

As review content grows, it is may very well begin to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) rather than case studies when prospective buyers type in common search terms like “Product A vs. Product B.”

Reviews generate unique content material

Of course, you want and hope your reviews are all positive, but even less than stellar reviews do get you exposure.

If these opportunities are used to propagate less than happy customers into a positive showcase of how your brand/company handles itself, even a bad review can gain new respect and new leads.

Use this fresh content by encouraging your audience to place reviews ~ be sure you are asking for detailed reviews, this is an added value service that simply asking for a thumbs up or down or a Facebook ‘like’ isn’t going to give you.

Offering lots of opportunities for customers and users to review and publish their comments will help increase your search-ability and assist unique product descriptions of your brand in being found in the right places.

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Before the written word, verbal history was handed down generation after generation.

Even in our day of over stimulation and information overload, there is something about engaging the imagination of your reader that will endear them to you.

If you can capture their imagination, their heart, you will gain their respect and when they like you and trust you, they will buy from you.

Story telling is both an art and a science. For web content creators, this means there is an opportunity to learn how make this work for you in practical ways by touching the heart and imagination of your intended target.

Sometimes the value added is the entertainment and inspiration given. It makes them want more. It endears your audience to you. Create a brand with storytelling.

Taking your brand and telling a story to your audience that will help them remember you is where the rubber hits the road.

How to make story telling work for you

The best advertisements tell a story. Being able to get that story heard and shared is the key. Memorable stories will outlast any other form of advertising, hands down.

What your readers or audience will remember is the feeling or ideas that will ‘stick’ with them when they are considering the product or service that you provide.

Keep the story relevant to your audience and relate it to your product/service.

The use of social media today gives as many opportunities to tell you story as it does challenges to be heard. Every opportunity you get to tell your story, take it!

Remember, facts tell stories SELL! Keep in mind your audience, if you are speaking to conservative businessmen versus a group of teenagers on the topic of gaming ~ you’ll want to tell your story a bit differently to each group!

Storytelling can be a great web content resource, provide material that will quickly impart your knowledge, all the while exposing your expertise and willingness to share yourself with your audience.

It endears you to them and more quickly imparts the advantages of your service or product to your intended audience faster and will last longer than telling facts alone.

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Traditionally, the Marketing Funnel is a way to describe or visualize the path on which your target market, i.e. website visitor, customer or reader, will reach your website and ultimately do whatever it is you are asking. Whether it’s to buy a product or service, participate in a survey, share a post or make a phone call to you, there is a particular action you want your target to  take. Getting them from wherever they are to completing that action is the Funnel. Content Marketing Funnel ideas are vast but here’s a mile high view:

Identify Your Target Audience

First, identifying your target market as specifically as possible. There will be several Personas (personalities of folks you are looking to engage) and you need to identify each and bring them through a funnel of their own.

Give Them Value-Added Content

Secondly, after getting an idea of the WHO you are attempting to grab the attention, then you need to help them step through the WHAT by giving them a WHY… why should they click on your Facebook add or share your Tweet or give you their email, name and address? What is in it for THEM?

Guide Them One Step at a Time

If you can answer that and they step into the next funnel ring, you will be able to then give them the HOW ~ how can they get that which you have so perfectly described as their coveted need/want or have-to-have. Keep each step simple and only ask for one thing at a time. Following a bit of a bread crumb trail to the middle of the funnel.

Here’s a great example of a content marketing funnel in five points, easy to follow and implement. You don’t have to be a great writer, just speak to your audience in their language. If they are techie, you need to know their geek-speak, if they are professionals make sure you sound like their peers.

Guide them through the funnel one step at a time and don’t forget to keep track with analytics so you can improve the steps that work best and eliminate those that fail. Want more help and ideas on Content Marketing? Visit our blog at Crowd Content!

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Getting in the Mind of Your Audience

Touching the heart (or nerve depending on your goals) of your intended reader is not rocket science but does require some real thought on your part as a writer and producer of content.

\Whether you are selling ice to Eskimos or sand to Arabs you need to be able to describe that intended target in great detail before attempting to appeal to their needs/wants/egos.

Do you have a written description of your intended reader? Creating written Personas is a little like preparing for an interview.

You know the job description (i.e. your product, service or information you want conveyed) now you have to research how that will impact your buyer/reader.

The more specific you can be in describing your target market, the better your chance the content will inspire or invoke an intended reaction.

Buyer Personas

What the heck is a buyer persona, anyway? Let’s take for example, you are a real estate agent wanting to sell a new listing that is in a retirement community in Florida along the Gulf Coast area near Clearwater. That’s pretty specific.

To develop a Persona, ask yourself these questions:

• Who are your best potential buyers?
• What does he/she do all day?
• What would be that person’s favorite activities?
• Where are they currently living?
• What amenities does your neighborhood and surrounding areas offer that would appeal to them?

You may get several specific types of Personas by working through such a list of questions. Consider writing content for EACH one. Yes, you heard me correctly.

Speak to the individual and be sure your content is published in the appropriate places that line up with the answers you came up with. If you can’t answer those questions, canvas the neighborhood!

Ask a handful of actual buyers of similar products/services that you are seeking to promote. Use that information to develop even more specific questions to help really develop those Personas.

Become an Expert

Knowing your audience is most of the battle. Knowing where they frequent, who their friends are, what their favorite activities are ~ it is key to developing a trustworthy relationship with them.

If they like you and trust you, they’ll buy from you or at least take the next step along the sales funnel to your intended goal. For more content marketing resources and help with developing Buyer Personas, visit our Resource Center.

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I look at ‘inbound marketing’ as a way of marketing and content as the what and how of marketing.

Some argue that content is the very opposite of inbound. To some, one is a subset of the other.

The real important point to consider is does it work for YOUR website in gaining more traffic, engaging more readers and influencing them to buy your widgets!

A Few Critical Content Marketing Tips

Read: You must set aside time (or at least delegate it to someone!) to keep up on what’s new to your intended target market. In order to drive traffic to your site, you must stay in touch.

Whether you are using ‘inbound marketing’ techniques or just want to write engaging copy, you must be current. A great read for tips on driving traffic, Alex Ivanovs post on Huffington Post explores some new as well as tried and true techniques.

Analytics: This is a growing field of research that is only getting bigger and deeper. Content marketing is here to stay.

Find out how you are ranking among your peers, competitors and especially with your intended market. To get ahead and stay ahead in the future, the ones who master analytics in their content marketing efforts will win the lion’s share of booty!

Social Media: It’s not going away. According to the Content Marketing Institute, it may be in a decline but it’s not going to become irrelevant.

In other words, keep engaging your audience where they hang out. Invest in being a presence wherever they are.

Content Marketing Tips for the Future – Technological Transformation

Regardless of your industry, using technology for improvement of the connection with your target audience is a hot topic.

As mobile technology evolves, your marketing talent and strategy must rise to meet it. As audiences grow in their ability to use technology, traditional marketing approaches just won’t grab their attention.

Mobile technology makes it easier than ever for them to research, buy, and share from anywhere.

Don’t be left behind the 8 ball! Keep up with the digital transformation of marketing to meet your audience where they are, not where you want them to be.

Learn more about recent Content Marketing news by visiting our blog!

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Think of it this way — content creation is like running. The first time you do it, it kinda sucks! But getting out and getting it done is better than not doing it at all. Plus, the next time, it will be easier and you’ll get better.

I have put together five of my favorite content creation tools to help inspire, engage and maybe even make it enjoyable!

1. Facebook GraphSearch – a newer tool that is wonderful for finding what your audience is in to. Run searches on the pages of yours or clients’ page to see what fans like and do. Add these ideas to your content and keyword research.
2. Awesome Screenshot – a picture is worth a thousand words. This Chrome extension now has a Firefox version and allows you to capture three different sizes of the page you are on AND crop, edit and mark it up!
3. ThingLink – super fun tool that will most certainly increase user engagement! But beware, you may spend more time than you think playing with this tool!
4. Haikudeck – for presenting the content in a fresh and lively way. Be sure to think about HOW you are presenting your content as much as WHAT the content includes.
5. Hubspot – this is one of my favorite websites for content creation ideas and resources. They do it right. Dig deep and often here to find more thought-provoking information in one place.  They have mastered the art of ‘inbound marketing’ which is key to getting in the face of your target market and reaching the exact people you need.

These are just a handful of tools I use every day to help me find great ideas, expand into new areas I never considered and keep abreast of the newest and most popular content creation tools my peers use and find effective.

You can also visit our resource page for bloggers and get even more great content creation tools and ideas to streamline your marketing efforts!

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Search engines and people in general have become increasingly bombarded with content en mass. Websitemagazine.com shares that over 70% of businesses realize that publishing is becoming more and more important a role in marketing efforts and are investing heavily in content.

If you don’t write your own content and you seek blog writers for hire, keep in mind some very important things to avoid some common mistakes when hiring blog writers.

Tap Key Emotions – Stop Trying to ‘Sell’

If they (your target audience) like and trust you, they will buy/engage from/with you. It’s not about you or your product. Gone are the times where just placing advertisements everywhere and expecting a certain percentage return on that investment will result in direct sales.

Now, buyers are more sophisticated than ever and want to be given something they consider value added up front. It’s like dating, you have to be willing to take them out a few times to gain their interest, give them something to believe you are interested in them and only then will they be willing to take a closer look at what you are selling.

They need to trust you have their interest in mind. When hiring blog writers, be sure they have a heart for your audience and knowledge of what moves them.

Create a Content Creation Culture – Don’t Just Hire and Forget About Them

Be involved with your writers. You have to set the bar high and remain engaged yourself. Don’t just hire a blog writer and expect a superstar overnight. Set goals and expectations by

• Investing in qualified hires. You get what you pay for.
• Using analytics and feedback to increase engagement, decrease bounce rates and improve content overall.
• Inspire ~ give incentives and rewards to your writers, friendly competition is healthy and authors that perform particularly well should be rewarded or highlighted for their contribution.

For more help in finding and differentiating between good and bad writers, ideas to help you identify your needs and goals check out our resources page as well!

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You are competing with some of the biggest and baddest marketing specialists for your audience’s attention and money. So, how do you write engaging content that will grab and keep your intended reader’s attention?

Here Are 5 Things Every Content Creator Must Bear In Mind:

1. Know Your Audience

It’s not just enough to think you know them. Go where they go, spend some time interacting with them and describe them as thoroughly as possible. One great new tool to use is Facebook’s Graph Search Tool. You may discover that the folks who like your page also like sushi or mountain biking… you may find new places to target in your AdWords or organic searches.

2. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Except online, it’s worth much, much more. Make your posts and content scan-able. Help your readers ‘see’ your point with great images. Infographics, visual guides and great imagery will help get your message seen.

3. Consider Your Competition

Know what they are putting out and be at least a little better! Find what is working for your biggest competitors and duplicate then expand upon it. Don’t copy, but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel either.

4. Create Lists

• They draw the reader’s attention much like an image.
• They break up long paragraphs and make it easy to make points.
• They give the impression of something important.
• They can sum up important concepts you want to get across.

5. Research, Research, Test and Research Some More

It may seem as though I am beating a dead horse here, but what content creators must do is find what motivates their ~ audience, target market, readers, whatever you may call them ~  Setting a specific goal for each piece whether it is to send them to the next landing page for more information, to download a free resource, to set up a user account or to purchase something.

Define your goal for that particular situation. Finding what your visitors respond to and what they don’t, will help you hone your content and increase engagement.

Take advantage of the skills, ideas and creative minds that are available for content creators. Get inspired now!

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If your business depends on people finding your website in Google, the long tail is very important. Instead of focusing on optimizing your products’ page for one or two really popular words, especially if your product is more of the niche variety, try for Long Tail results. There is a lot less competition, and there’s still room for popularity and profit.

Competing with the ‘big guys’ like Amazon may seem quite daunting, but think of it this way; just like Burger King and Wendy’s always seem to find locations across from McDonald’s by ‘following’ them, product description writers can use longtail SKU keyword research to find ‘real estate’ on the search results pages with this technique.

The use of SKU product numbers makes the most sense when advertisers are using Dynamic Keyword Insertion ads or DKI where the potential customer is searching for a very specific product or part number by it’s SKU, such as ink cartridges for instance, and the ad displayed will dynamically be produced with their exact keyword match. Your site has a much better chance of being found in this very niche marketing schema that is perfect for long tail keyword use.

SKU and ROI

When it comes to using a product’s SKU in the description or related keyword research, one or two probably isn’t gonna cut it. Consider adding the SKU to an overall strategy with long tail descriptions of the product including the SKU and for ALL of your products. This is where the return on investment will really pay off! SKU numbers can be a highly targeted keyword for quality traffic since they represent a specific product. Used in bulk on an ecommerce website, the traffic you get could exponentially exceed the cost and time invested!

Research and Drill Down

The holiday shopping season is practically upon us. Get a jump start with your website by researching your product’s keyword and SKU performance results on Google. Generate an SKU level report in your Google Adwords account and test regularly for product popularity and demand. Being proactive and responsive is key to higher sales online!

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Here is a quick list of five content marketing resources and techniques to help you get more out of your content efforts!

1. Identify your target customer

It sounds a bit cliché, but you have to ‘be your customer’. Tapping into the cultural ethos, as described in a blog post on getting followers to amplify your best content is central to reaching your customers. If you can’t describe the person in detail that will be interested in your content and WHY then you may find that either you won’t get the traffic you are seeking or that traffic will simply not ‘bite’ on what you’re selling. Ever landed on a page that was simply not what you were looking for? Exactly!

2. Social Media

Everybody knows you have to have a Facebook page, right? Duh. But there are a plethora of competing social media sites and YOUR content readers may or may not be THERE. Invest  time into finding out where your target market spends social time online. Tools like Buzzsumo are great. Engage them there, become one with your target audience! Learn their lingo and visit their favorite spots online.

3. Paid Ads

If you’ve done your homework and have accurately identified your target audience, mingled with them in their social hangouts and honed organic search terms, implemented what you’ve learned, then you’re ready for some paid advertising. Tailor your Google or Facebook ads to what you’ve learned. Track them regularly, and make adjustments and tweaks as needed.

4. Inbound Marketing

Getting your target market on your page is only the first step! Compel them to take the next step, whatever that may be. Hubspot is king when it comes to describing inbound marketing. This is a wonderful content marketing resource to learn and gain tips and tweaks to your site’s content and sales funnel to get them to come to you. Value added offers and free services or add-on/up-sell products are a super way to whet their appetite.

5. Connect With Complimentary Competition ~ Coat Tailing

Don’t reinvent the wheel! Find other product or service providers seeking the same target market as you. They don’t have to be direct competitors with similar products or services, just after the attention of the same audience. Go where they go and do what they do and learn from how they interact with your target audience.

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