“The customer is not stupid. She is your wife.” That quote from the grand ol’ daddy of advertising pretty much settles the debate on how you should be communicating with your customers. Whether you do it via your blog or advertising, the rule remains the same. Which means, whether you do it via copywriting for your ads and marketing material or content writing on your blog and website, you need to keep the basic etiquette on creating crisp content that is closely linked with the end result you want to drive. The difference between copy and content writing Copywriting, as wiki, describes, it the art of writing marketing content that is persuasive enough to drive your customers to take action. Content writing is the art of writing content on websites and other marketing avenues to promote specific products. This extends to also all steps that are the means to the end like educating your customers, creating awareness, building your brand, sharing stories, writing on your websites, blogs, building on testimonials and some more. So, how are these different? The long and short of it is simply that copy is short and content is long form. Copy is mostly thought by the industry in the sense of writing for advertising. If this extends to the website, it may involve some additional writing to drive home the point. Usually, the call to action is clear and immediate. It is also likely to be structured around a single campaign or cause. Unless these are long-standing commercials, the brand will want to increase leads and sales through advertising in addition to build recall. An additional interesting part of copywriting is that though you write it for mass consumption, you address it to make it relevant to the one reader reading it at a time for it to be effective. Last but not the least, copy in its many formats like Brand Taglines, jingles, sound cues (sensory branding) and even celebrity speak is intended to make a big impact with fewer words. Content writing is like a story you read down a meandering path where you are likely to find a solution to a problem you may have. You may ‘stumble upon’ a piece of content after you searched for the topic on Google. While content to is written with the clear intention of driving CTAs, people are more likely to discover similar stories and consume it before determining their action about a particular topic. Copywriting is used both online and offline. It is in ATL and BTL communication and is customized as per the language and interests per month. Content writing is mainly restricted to online unless you are counting advertorials as content. Is either one better than the other? Not really, you need a good use of both to make your strategy complete. For example, you could read a few blogs, watch a few videos and then some more while planning for your vacation. But when you are ready, you are likely to click on an ad that is offering the package and sharing the price up front. So how do you create a good mix of both? Mix copy and content for your blog Copywriting works as a great pull to draw attention in bursts. For example, while your blog may have great content writing, the title needs to be written with the precision of a copy writer selling an FMCG product. Clutter breaking titles for blogs and web pages are often the make or break point between consumed and non-consumed content. So you see, a blog is, in fact, a great use case where copy and content writing skills are required in equal measures. The process of coming up with click-worthy titles are similar to creating the USP for the product. Compelling words, irresistible call to actions that make you want to click right now and read is the exact intent of copywriting. There are plenty of case studies on how sites like BuzzFeed have nailed it and caused us to click and scroll through a lot more content than we intended on cat photos and sports fails. The other use case of mixing copy and content for your blog is when you want to create a single line in between the content that breaks the clutter and keeps the engagement going. These are often ‘tweetable bites’ of content that even work for other social media. The third use case of mixing copy and content for your blog comes when you want to share it across channels. Imagine that you are a travel company which has conducted a survey on the travel trends in India and is ready with a report. You’ll have to pull a good insight from the report and do some copywriting to ensure your Facebook readers check out the report. At the same time, you’ll have to write a different copy for Linkedin which brings you out as key player in the industry. You can create multiple one-line insights for tweet bites which can be shared across time zones to ensure maximum reach. Does it work vice versa? Sure does. From real estate to financial products, the attractive headline copy can get your foot in the door but you need content to ensure that when people want to know more, they aren’t left with a call center number to call. You ad copy is most likely redirect users to a website where content does the actual talking to sell. Last but not the least, you need content to be found There is no better reason to raise the content marketing services flag than the fact that Google recognizes quality content. If done right, it gets you link love and puts you right in front of the people. Campaigns with good copy can be done with a frequency cap but good content is always on. You know, they are lying in that job description When you read about a content writer job these days, they talk about
Month: August 2018
How small organizations can join the video marketing craze?
We’ve generally seen startups and SMEs all thrilled when it comes to digital marketing as it offers quick and tangible results. But a lot of them shy away when we suggest video marketing. The term invokes a budget, production, and execution worry which stops most people from exploring it as an option. Believe us, we are here to change that. Video marketing is not complicated and need not be expensive if you have a clear vision. The benefits of using it are exponential without a doubt. The very fact that YouTube has more than 1B users and is experiencing a 50% YoY increase in the number of hours people watch videos is a big indicator that you need to communicate to your customers in their preferred medium of consumption. If you haven’t tried video marketing yet or started off really small and want to expand, here are some of the things you can try. Types of videos Introductory videos It is hard to understand the superpower booster of a vacuum cleaner when you just say it in words or show pictures. You need a video that can do justice to the product you are selling. Similarly, if you are offering a service that helps people rent houses but also demonstrate that you do it better than all the other people in the market, doing a video can be much better than pages filled with text and pictures. There are many such examples where an introductory product video is simply necessary. And you never know, the first video may just be the last one you need. Take Chat Books for example. The popular introductory video which was an instant hit with mothers currently has over 16M views catapulted the product subscriptions too. Another video that we simply cannot miss mentioning here is the introductory video for Dollar shave club. The video that left its audience in splits also gave the company the visibility it needed to get customers to try it out. Animations While the above videos work well, they also involve a budget with actor and production costs. If you don’t want to start off with a big bang, you can go for quick animation explainer video that can make your complex product proposition look simple. Animation videos mostly have your customer as the protagonist, first shown facing the problem. Then comes your brand to save the world (among other things) making your customer super happy. Check out the Mint videos here which is a classic example of an animation introduction video. You can also see the Spotify video here, which is well made one that is quick and easy to understand. Besides the call to action is so clear that it makes you instantly want to try the product out. There are many freelancers and startups who can make animation videos for as low as INR 3000 / min. So, you see, it isn’t expensive at all to get started. All you need a great idea and script to get started. UGC videos In a day and age where everyone with a smartphone can be a video marketer, you can potentially have hundreds of brand ambassadors talk about your brand. UGC videos are really the new word of mouth campaigns where all need to do is delight your customers and give them the ability to express it. Customers are keen to talk about their experience with your product or service if you delight them. Many even do it without you asking. They review your products or share an experience with your service just like that. The important thing is to then ensure you find them, appreciate their efforts and celebrate them as a hero by sharing their content. If you don’t have customers doing it on their own, just create an ask. Once you do, wait for all the content that comes in and stitch it together for the world to see. Take some of the videos here. The Coca-cola campaign is especially a great example of the potential of such videos. Closer to home, you can see HolidayIQ holidayiq.com do a great job of catching reviews as videos with a smart app that detects where you are before you can do the destination review. Testimonials Testimonials that are in the form of text generally have very less credibility. Anyone can write “I totally flipped over when I used xyz’s Microwave oven.”. – John Doe Instead, have a customer speak about it adds a lot more credibility. Customers aren’t staged actors so the connect with fellow customers is very real. More importantly, these videos don’t cost an arm and leg. Just be nice with “thoughtful thank yous” (which means a nice product hamper could be well received). Influencer videos We all like customers, but we also tend to be attracted towards the better-looking customers who happen to be liked by 20,000 other people. Influencer videos can also be created on the barter system in some cases involving actual payment. But the reach for these videos automatically tends to give the visibility velocity which is much needed. The final impact of an influencer video is debatable, though. A lot of so-called influencers are in the business of collecting goodies and shortchanging brands with no real marketing impact to show. The most important consideration here is that you are clear on your end goal with such videos and can show measurable outcomes. Insider videos You can sum up a bunch of brand showcase videos in this category which is again fairly low on production costs. These can be employee videos, culture videos and behind the scene videos. Just to elaborate, culture videos showcase a slice of how you do business. It can be about your company’s bent towards social activities or the amazing time your employees are having and raving about. Another type of insider videos is ‘expert videos’ where senior and preferably well-known people