There is a reason why your English teacher at school used to stress so much on getting the grammar in an essay or even a sentence right. Grammar mistakes can spoil a reader’s experience in seconds, even if the content is interesting and highly informative. And no matter how careful you are about grammar, there are certain mistakes that tend to occur time and again. So, we have decided to make life simple for you with this post. You will find out about the 8 common grammar errors even the best English language experts make and will be able to avoid confusion and embarrassment in future. Whether you are writing a novel, content for your website, an article or product descriptions for your ecommerce store, here are some top mistakes to avoid. 1. Who or Whom? Even experienced writers end up confusing between ‘who’ and ‘whom’. So, for starters, remember that ‘who’ is used for the subject in a sentence while ‘whom’ is used for an object in a sentence. So, when to use which? To keep things simple, if you can replace the word with any noun or he or she, then use ‘who’. And if you can replace the word with him or her, use ‘whom’. Some examples will make it clearer. Does this sound right to you – The maestro, for who the audience applauded, was an elderly man. So, did the audience applaud ‘him’ or ‘he’? Obviously, they applauded ‘him’. This means, the sentence should include the word ‘whom’ and not ‘who’. The correct sentence should be – The maestro, for whom the audience applauded, was an elderly man. Take another example to see the other side of the coin. Does this sound right to you – David shouted at Jay, whom seemed to be cowering. In this case, ‘whom’ can be substituted with ‘he’ rather than ‘him’. So, the sentence should include the word ‘who’ and not ‘whom’. The correct sentence should be – David shouted at Jay, who seemed to be cowering. 2. Who or That Though this is a common and confusing grammatical error, it is easier to avoid than the confusion between ‘who’ and ‘whom’. All you have to do is remember that ‘who’ is used in case of a person and ‘that’ is applicable for an object or anything inanimate. Example of ‘who’ – Tina is the one who will sing at the event or He is the one who knows how to throw a ball. Example of ‘that’ – That is the book she wants to buy or Here is the pen that left a mark on his shirt. 3. That or Which If I was paid for every time I noticed someone use ‘that’ and ‘which’ interchangeably, I would be very rich by now! However, such a practice is wrong. For starters, though ‘that’ and ‘which’ are both clauses, ‘that’ is restrictive and ‘which’ is not. Now, let’s take a closer look at what it means. Restrictive clause – This refers to a part of a sentence that cannot be removed as it restricts another portion of the same sentence. Non-restrictive clause – It is just opposite of a restrictive clause. The following example will make the concept clear: Sentence 1 – The hospital, which has those famous doctors, is based out of London. Sentence 2 – The hospital that has those famous doctors is based out of London. In the first sentence, the readers know which hospital is being talked about. In other words, if you take out ‘which has those famous doctors’; the sentence’s meaning will not change. This phrase simply offers more information to the readers, but they anyway know that the hospital is based out of London. Also Read: 12 Grammar Tips for Content Writers Who Pursue Perfection However, in the second sentence, if you take out ‘that has those famous doctors’ the readers won’t know which hospital you are talking about. ‘That’ creates a restriction in this case. So, if you don’t know whether to use ‘that’ or ‘which’, first find out if the meaning of the sentence will change if you remove the concerned part of the sentence. 4. Less or Fewer To keep this famous grammatical error at bay, just remember that ‘fewer’ can be used when you are talking about something that can be counted. And when any object seems uncountable, use ‘less’. These examples will make it clear as to when you can use ‘fewer’: There are fewer apples on this table than yesterday. This summer, fewer children will go for camping. In both examples, the nouns (apples and children) are countable and can be assigned numbers. Hence, using ‘fewer’ is correct. Now, look at these examples for ‘less’: A little less anger could have prevented this damage. Arnold takes less sugar in his tea than Mary. Since neither anger nor sugar can be counted, using ‘less’ is correct. 5. Me or I The thing about pronouns is that they can take different forms to indicate the various roles they have in a sentence. For instance, ‘I’ and ‘me’ are the subject and object forms of the pronoun. And many writers often end up using the wrong form. So, how do you know when to use ‘I’ and when to use ‘me’? Consider this example – My husband and me will go to the opera together. It doesn’t sound right, right? That’s because, if you take away ‘husband’ from the sentence, then ‘me will go to the opera’ sounds strange. After all, ‘me’ is the object form of the pronoun and needs to be replaced with a subject form like ‘I’. So, the correct sentence is – My husband and I will go to the opera together. Here’s another example to help you understand where ‘me’ is needed. Consider this example – The football coach helped my brother and I when we couldn’t get the moves right. What’s wrong with it? Well, if you take out ‘my brother’, the
Category: Content Creation
7 Tips to Write Product Descriptions That Convert Potential Customers
Let’s assume that you have an expert team working on your social media and digital marketing strategies. You are also getting traffic to your website and pages. However, the traffic isn’t converting into sales. Why is that? It might be because you are unable to keep your visitors hooked with your product descriptions. Sometimes, an ecommerce business owner gets so caught up in the aesthetic looks of their products and their attractive web design that they completely ignore the value of product descriptions. Now, according to this ecommerce study, 20% of website visitors do not convert because of unclear or incomplete product information. This is how they explained it, One shopper in a recent study could not find the information he needed in the product description, so he left the site to search Google for more product information. In the course of his search, he found another site with the same product, a more complete description, and a lower price. And, that is how you lose out on potential customers. So, today, we will talk about how to convince site visitors with product descriptions. If you think that a simple piece of content that describes the product will work, think again! Read on to know about what differentiates a good product description from a bad one and how to write a description that stands out. Good vs. Bad Product Descriptions What do we consider a ‘bad’ product description? Anything that fails to explain your product to your target audience. It has basically nothing to do with the length, images, or even the words that you may use. Or at least, they aren’t as important. The goal is to explain the product like, ‘what it does’ and ‘why you need it’. Take a look at this Lululemon example: The product itself is self-explanatory and so it is okay to keep it simple. And that will work just fine as it is obvious what the product does and who it is for. In addition, the company explains the material as ‘soft, comfortable, and easy to wear’, giving you an overall idea of the tee. The selling factors of this product depend on how it looks on the model (the image quality), color options, sizes, price, and availability. And therefore, even a small, sweet, and short description does the trick. Now, let’s compare it with this SuperSnorkel example: The product does not give away anything. The only thing one can guess is that ‘is it some kind of mask?’ And that’s where the product description helps you out. The elaborate explanation of ‘what the product does, why it’s different (and better), and why you need it (for improving experience)’ has got the product covered. So, when we compare these two product descriptions, we see that: A good description explains what the product does. It offers you benefits or added value. It includes all the information needed. Now, take a look at this example from AND: It is a beautiful dress from AND (a brand I prefer to wear), but their online product descriptions need work. For instance, the only description provided for the piece above is ‘A Black Dress’, (which I can definitely see myself, but thanks). In case I want to know if the dress has a shoulder lapel or shoulder closure pattern, or even a belt, I will be at a loss. Such inadequate descriptions can make a prospect decide to ‘never shop online from this website again’. So, it’s vital to focus on writing smashing product descriptions. Here’s how you can go about it. Tips for Writing Great Product Descriptions 1. Define the Buyer If you are running an ecommerce store, you will have a specific type of target audience. Write to them. Use the language they use and tone they prefer. For example, let’s take look at these two products, Dope Taupe Pencil MacBook Air These products appeal to different audiences, and so, their tones and words are different. The tone of your product description should vary according to the audience. You can go with: Feminine or manly Economical tone or a luxurious feel Classic stance or modern up-to-date beat Youthful or mature tone Playful or sophisticated And so on… This is where defining your target audience becomes a necessity as your content will speak to them. Here are some of the basic questions that will help you in identifying your ideal customer are: Who is this product for? Whose problems are you solving? Who needs your product the most? Who will benefit the most from your product? What language, words, phrases, and tone does your target audience like to use? Why would they like to buy from you rather than your competitors? Use this buyer persona, and cultivate a strategy to write content that persuades and converts your website visitors. 2. Persuade Customers with Your USPs and Their Benefits As an owner of a business or ecommerce store, you might be excited and interested in sharing your products’ features. But are your customers interested in knowing all of them? Probably not. While your customers aren’t interested in the mundane features of your product, they want to know about the ones that can benefit them. Let’s take the product description example of this Himalayan Pink Salt Glow Lamp: See how the company has mentioned the health benefits of the lamp as well as how one can use it as a décor item – thanks to the aesthetic looks. The company also mentions it as an item worthy of gifting to someone you care about. This way, it tells the customer everything they need to know about the product, right from the dimensions, colour, and looks, to benefits, making it more interesting for them. Here are some suggestions that can help you highlight the features and benefits of your products: Encourage customers by focusing on what they will achieve with this product. Let customers visualise the idea of owning the product. Make the customer release that they need the
(Free Cheatsheet) 12 Grammar Tips for Content Writers who Pursue Perfection
Getting grammar right is one of the absolute essentials when you decide to take up content writing as a career. Oops…did a crooked red line appear under “rghit”? Luckily, Microsoft Word caught it. Still, let’s not correct it right now. We need “rghit” to show you why grammar or spelling errors can ruin an otherwise amazing piece of content (in this case, the introduction). Though close to 1.3 billion people speak English all over the world, few can master it. Even if you are a native English speaker, being careful about common grammar errors and confusing words is helpful. However, we understand that learning grammar from the ground up or cracking open a dictionary every time you write can be a challenge. To make matters simple, we will share handy tips or a grammar cheat sheet on how you can avoid basic mistakes with commas, and apostrophes, and use commonly confused words (like compliment and complement) correctly. Though you can use smart tools like Grammarly or Spellcheckplus these days to catch errors, there’s nothing like the human eye. So, let’s get started with those tips. 1. To Capitalize or Not If you think that this rule only belongs to a book like ‘Grammar for Dummies’, think again! Even experienced writers tend to goof up often. So, to clear it up, proper nouns should always start with a capital letter, be it a place, brand or someone’s name. Example – Did you try the latest shampoo by Dove? It does wonders for my hair. Example – Can you ask Mary to clean up in the evening? Now, when it comes to names, don’t confuse them with the titles we usually give to our family members, like dad, mom, grandma etc. Unless the title can be replaced with a name, start with a small letter. Example – My dad knows how to fix bikes. Example – Annie, my sister, sings so well. Also Read: Content Writing Tips For Beginners 2. Stay Away from Vague Pronouns Does the sentence below sound alright to you? “After Sonia played for almost an hour with her dog Coco, she decided to chase squirrels. “ – Who exactly decided to chase squirrels? Sonia? Not likely! Vague pronouns can distort the meaning of a sentence and leave the reader wondering about the authenticity of the content. The above sentence should have been crafted this way – “After playing with her for almost an hour, Sonia’s dog Coco decided to chase squirrels”. 3. The Rule for Common Abbreviations Do you often get confused between i.e. and e.g.? Well, you are not alone. So, we decided to keep things simple and straight in this English grammar cheat sheet: i.e. is the abbreviation of the Latin phrase for ‘id est’, which means ‘that is’ in English. e.g. is also derived by abbreviating the Latin phrase ‘exempli gratia’, which means ‘for the sake of example’ in English. Hence, wherever you have to offer examples, use e.g. Example – Choose from popular content formats; for e.g. case studies, blog posts, articles and e-books. When you need to explain a sentence in detail, you should use i.e. Example – A spider is an arthropod i.e. it belongs to the family of invertebrate animals that have exoskeletons. 4. Use Comma Only Where You Should Using a comma before “that” is wrong as you are introducing a restrictive clause with “that”. Wrong – The vase, that shattered on the floor was old. Right – The vase that shattered on the floor was old. Also, you should not use a comma to separate sentences that are independent clauses. You should use a semicolon or full stop instead. Wrong – Susan was looking for salad bowls, there were no shops selling them. Right – Susan was looking for salad bowls. There were no shops selling them. [/vc_row] However, if you have to connect two independent clauses, using a comma is advisable. Wrong – After I washed the dishes I put them away. Right – After I washed the dishes, I put them away. 5. All About Quotation Marks No grammar rules cheat sheet is complete without this tip. If you are writing in US English, full stops and commas should be inside quotation marks. In the case of UK English, they can be inside or outside. Example – “It rained last night.” (As this blog post is in US English) When you are using an exclamation point or question mark, it should be inside the quotation marks, if the tone of the quotation is exclamatory or questioning. Example – “Do you come here often?” Note that dashes, colons and semicolons must be outside quotation marks always. Example (dash) – Roy said, “I like pies” – just when his friend offered him muffins. Example (colon) – He chose his favorite book from the works of Charles Dickens: “Great Expectations”. Example (semicolon) – Dan’s favorite quote is “Live and let live”; he uses it almost every day. Confused about when to use double quotation and single quotation marks? Follow this rule. Use double quotation marks while 1) Writing a standard quote or quoting another person. 2) Mentioning the name of a movie or book. 3) Indicating irony or sneering at something (like – No “good” pilot fears heights) Use single quotation marks while 1) Using a quote within another quote. Example – The bartender said, “There was absolute silence when the customer screamed ‘This is poison!’ “ Differentiate between quote and quotation – Though many writers use quote and quotation interchangeably, they are different. Quote is a verb you use to quote someone, or to say what he or she said. Quotation is a noun used to describe whatever you are quoting. 6. Don’t Keep the Participle Dangling A sentence like “A running man hit the pole” is an example of a sentence that uses an adjective-like participle (running). It basically tells you what the noun (man) was doing when he hit the pole.
10 Steps to Create a Content Calendar and Boost Your Marketing Strategy
Isn’t it surprising that 63 percent of businesses lack a documented strategy when it comes to creating online content? No wonder their efforts to capture the target markets fail to reach the full potential. This is where the most crucial element of content marketing – content calendar—comes into the picture. Popularly known as an editorial calendar, a content calendar is an organizing tool to schedule and organize future content. The typical content calendar contains the list of upcoming content pieces, publication dates, titles, focus keywords, status updates, and other crucial elements. These elements vary based on the business and available resources. With a content calendar, your business can keep all content marketing efforts organized. Tracking the activities and their results can become more efficient with this tool too. However, before we dive deep into how to create a content calendar, let’s take a look at its 4 important aspects: • Editorial – Your calendar must include pieces that you plan to publish and they should be scheduled in advance (even by a full year if needed). This way, you can keep checking your schedule and stick to it and know what you need to do next. But, do keep some room for flexibility as digital marketing trends keep changing quickly. • Platform – This basically refers to the place where you have your content calendar. You can use a simple Google spreadsheet or an advanced tool or even go the traditional pen and paper route. However, when a lot of people are working on different content pieces, they will need to refer to one place where everything is visible to everyone. In which case, a spreadsheet helps. Tools like Trello and Basecamp can help you create a calendar too. • Promotional activities – This covers how you intend to promote different content pieces and where. Like, do you need to send a newsletter about your latest e-book to your subscribers or promote a blog post on Facebook? Will you be doing a podcast on a very successful case study soon? If you are listing down promotional activities in the same calendar, just use a different color to make them easy to spot. • Ideas for the future – Creative ideas can strike you anytime, while driving to office, taking a shower or while watching a movie! But, you need to jot them down somewhere, so that you can use them for building content in the future. So, include random topics or ideas in your calendar even if you are working on something else right now and schedule them later on. Now, check out this step-by-step guide to create an excellent content calendar: Step 1: Analyze your team to determine the type and amount of content you can create Your content creation team must have multiple professionals, like graphic designers, editors, writers, and distribution specialists. Take a look at how much content they can churn out on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, without hurting the quality. Other than these content creators and distributors, you must have several subject-matter experts. Though they usually aren’t directly involved in the content creation process, but they can offer invaluable insights on a wide range of topics. Step 2: Align your content marketing strategies with your business goals to populate the calendar Your content calendar should be aligned with your business objectives, which means, it should cover topics and ideas that will get you what you want. For example, you can fulfill the purpose of ranking higher on Google’s search results with the right content pieces and schedule them in your calendar. So, you can create and publish high-quality, informative and engaging articles and blogs on your website with relevant keywords, so that search engines find them relevant and valuable. You can also plan to publish guest posts on various third-party portals to get quality backlinks. Your goal can also be to target a particular set of customers to generate new leads. In that case, create useful content like e-books and whitepapers that go deep into a topic and solve the problems of your target group. You can then create a CTA (call to action) on your website for interested users to share their contact details to get access to these resources. The goal of establishing your company as a thought leader can also be fulfilled through content marketing services. And by creating a content calendar, you can make your marketing efforts consistent and strategic. For instance, in this case, you can develop a set of comprehensive articles, videos, and podcasts that talk about an array of topics from your industry. Feel free to take the support of subject matter experts for creating valuable content for the end-users. Step 3: Repurpose existing content for better reach than last time Don’t ignore the content that you already have, as these can be repurposed to provide more value to the target audience. For instance, old blog posts can be updated with the latest information or made more comprehensive and converted into a whitepaper or e-book. Slide decks can be repurposed to create blog posts or videos for more engagement and better recall. Big reports or whitepapers can be used to create a blog series, with multiple posts on a broad topic. Step 4: Determine the frequency of each content type For a quarter, publish 18-20 blog posts on your portal. Select around six topics from these blog posts to prepare and publish guest articles on reputable third-party sites. Create two long-form contents – case studies, white paper, and/or an e-book. Organize a webinar and create multiple social media posts to promote it. The frequency of each content type can vary based on your team size and business goals. Step 5: Choose a content calendar tool Go for Google Sheets if you want a content calendar tool that offers easy collaboration and is free. For teams that have only one member, Google Calendar is an ideal option. Microsoft Excel spreadsheets are also a
How to Write More than 10,000 Words a Week?
I love writing. That’s what I do almost the whole day, every working day of the week and month and year. Well, you guessed it – I am a writer and I love being one. I usually write about 3000-4000 words a day, depending on what I am writing. If it’s heavy stuff like writing a blog that needs loads of research, I write about 2000-2500 a day. When it’s less heavy stuff, I can crank out more. So the point of this blog is to answer a question – how to write more than 10,000 words in a 5-day week? From my experience of working with a content agency, I have seen interns starting with 500-1000 words a day. Some writers even struggle to reach 2000 in a day. The point is you don’t have to write 4000 words a day, but if you are trying to reach a goal of more than 10,000 words in a week, there has to be a plan. It does not always mean you need to be a fast writer. It means you need to organise yourself better, and stick to a process. Writing isn’t the same as any other task. It requires considerable planning, research and writing. There is no magic pill or quick mantra that can make you churn out 5000 words a day or help you finish writing that book that you’ve been putting off for weeks. However, there are certain tips and techniques which can help you write more. Let’s explore more of that. Be S.M.A.R.T About Setting Writing Goals If you want to maximise your output as a writer, you have to be realistic about it. There are no benchmarks. The effort, the thinking and planning that goes into each piece is different. For instance writing 4 blogs posts of 500 word each is different from writing a long article of 3000 words. Keep this mind when you set targets for yourself. S – Specific Be specific about your goal. Do you mean to write 4 blog posts of 500 words each or a 2000-word-long product guide. The word count is the same but goals are different and will require a different approach. M – Measurable Create goals that you can measure. Don’t give yourself vague goals like “ Learning to write brilliantly” etc. Set goals that you can measure your performance against and check off as you progress each day. Say for instance, getting done with two chapters of the book each day or writing 2 blogs of 700 words each. You can then measure your performance at the end of the day or track your performance at the end of the week. And before you know it you’ll have completed a manuscript by the end of the month. A – Achievable Set goals that are attainable. Don’t set out to complete a book in one day because that isn’t possible. R – Realistic You should set realistic and relevant goals for yourself as a writer. This will help boost your productivity and mould you into a better writer with time. T – Time bound Set a time-frame for achieving your daily goal. Are you planning to get the tasks done in a day, two days or a week? This will help you stay inspired and motivated. Take Notes Keep a pen and paper handy at all times because great ideas or thoughts often strike at the most unexpected times- while driving, while taking a shower, while watching TV etc. Note it down. Not because it’s ready to read or it will complete your piece but simply because writing it down is the only way to give your ideas a tangible shape. Take down notes as and when they strike. Come back to it when you’re actually ready to write. Believe it or not, it will make your writings go a lot faster. These random scribbling go a long way into giving your ideas a concrete shape. It’s a lot easier than starting with a blank paper. You can’t build a house without the necessary materials. That’s what these writings are-materials to help you write building of a piece. Focus on One Type of Writing Ever been in the situation when you’re writing a comprehensive blog and suddenly you’re asked by your boss to come up with some tweets for a client’s Twitter handle? Annoying but real. Being a copywriter simply means everything writing-related falls in your plate. Writing long-form content requires concentration and unbroken rhythm. You can’t accelerate when there is heavy traffic. If you want to know your speed limit, you need to drive on a clear lane. Similarly, in writing you need to focus on one style of writing at least initially until you have had some experience. Once you have picked up speed in a particular type of writing, you can accommodate other tasks as well. Outline This is the key to writing long-form content that makes sense to the reader. Give your blog, article or e-book a structure. Make this a part of the research process. Outline is what gives your thought a direction when you’re writing; else it becomes easy to lose track of the subject as you move along. Deciding on the outline takes time but saves a lot of time eventually when you actually sit down to write. Writing without an outline is like going grocery shopping without a list, you end up buying a lot of things you don’t need. Read Other Good Writers Finally, if you want to produce great work while at the same achieve your writing goals; you have to read some of the great works produced by other great writers. Reading will give you ideas and enhance your thought process. Spend time reading and your writing will gradually get better. Love Writing Lastly, there is simply no other way to get better and faster at writing than by loving what you do.
How You Can Make Up For Lost Clients With Content Marketing?
I would like to not talk about the negativity surrounding us right now. I strongly believe that the best thing about the human race is how fast we learn to adapt to new conditions. And it’s this survival instinct that will help us come out of the other end of this pandemic. In the world of business, it’s a time for do or die. And when you come to that situation, you are more open to trying out things which you probably would have never thought of doing otherwise. As the coronavirus rages across the world, businesses and brands across the world are scrambling to find new ways to find their audiences. And in search of that audience, which is now held up in confined territories, brands are finding alternative ways to fill their pipeline. And that is where content marketing and the digital space comes into the picture. With the virus blowing up all large-scale events and trade shows, marketers are now looking at content marketing more than ever. In the past 10 days, I have talked to atleast 5 business owners who have had to shut down their operations (mostly because of the industry they work in) and were now starting to build new streams of business that reach out to the audience digitally. They mostly wanted to know how they could improve their reach through their website? This trend has also been confirmed by the leads on our website. There have been businesses owners calling me to know how they could build a better website and attract more customers online, marketing heads looking for more content and brands looking for a stronger digital presence through content marketing. So, what is content marketing? According to Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” Simply said, content marketing is a part of digital marketing where content plays the lead role in building connections with the audience. Content marketing relies on an ongoing relationship with the customer by creating trust and loyalty and imparting value at every stage. Over the years, content marketing has moved beyond just writing blogs and content pieces to encompassing SEO, social media, email and content distribution. See this infographic on exactly why content marketing works. Why does this make sense now? The graph below gives a bird’s eye view on how conversion rates have been declining across industries since COVID-19. Image Source As you can see, apart from industries like Food, Pharma, Media, and Healthcare, everything else has seen a massive dip. But there’s a silver lining through this whole situation. According to eMarketer, consumers spent 6.1 hours a day online on average in early January. This number has spiked to 7.3 hours in February and March since many parts of the world went into isolation and lockdown. Which means that online marketers have a more captive audience than ever before. And this could hold the key to recovering some lost business and powering through the crisis. At Justwords, we’ve been observing this very closely as we help our clients navigate this very challenging time. In the last month or so, we’ve devised our own playbook. This playbook is all about using digital marketing, particularly content marketing service, as an anchor to tide through these times. Here are some of the most important steps: 1. Use online marketing tools to retain existing customers Needless to say, you will lose some customers as people lose their jobs and businesses start scaling back. Having said that, this is the time to make sure you’re communicating the value you’re delivering to existing customers so that yours is the last product/service that gets hacked. Here are some simple tools you can use: Marketing automation If you’ve always planned to set up personalized, targeted ways of reaching out to existing customers, this is the time to do it. Use a strong marketing automation platform (WebEngage, MoEngage etc) to find the perfect way to communicate with your customers — through a combination of emails, push notifications, app/web content, chat, and so on. Make sure that you’re staying with them through the user journey, communicating about the extraordinary situation, how you’re adapting to it, extra services, etc. Delivering a superlative customer experience at this point will go a long way to retain customers. It’s also a great long-term strategy because your staff will now have free time to focus on content creation services and ROI-generating activities. Generating success-based content It’s really important to share stories about your success and effectiveness at this time. If you’re a B2B company, creating compelling case studies and whitepapers is a great idea, as are video testimonials. Of course, it’s important to be mindful in your messaging — make sure your content reflects the fact that we are in the midst of an extraordinary crisis that we need to come together to beat. Don’t allow your content to ignore the ground reality. Stay on top of social This is the time to really up your social media game when it comes to existing customers. Create a low-cost plan to reach out to customers at every stage of the social media funnel. Use monitoring tools like Hootsuite and Brandwatch to keep a firm eye on what customers are talking about — whether it’s your brand in particular or the industry in general. Also, make sure you add to the conversation — in a way that’s respectful and appropriate, but also adds real value. 2. Leverage dirt-cheap advertising You may be tempted to pull out all your money from online advertising. But think twice before you take this step. Online engagement is at an all-time high as people are spending more time indoors and on their devices. At the same time, many businesses are withdrawing ad spends which means that the auctioning system is
11 Reasons Why Nimble Content Trumps Everything Else
There are about 4.5 billion internet users around the world. According to CMI, half of today’s 18 to 49-year-olds read news and information online and 61% of American consumers made e-purchase decisions after reading recommendations on a blog. What does this data mean for marketers? Online consumers today are smarter and more informed. They don’t rely on companies or brands for answers. They choose and review a wide net of resources to extract the information they need. As marketers, it’s up to you to create this valuable info-pool, and make it available across all channels. That’s content marketing in a nutshell. Creating value-added nimble content that educates and informs readers rather than explicitly promoting a brand is the key to increasing the value of your brand. If you haven’t incorporated content marketing in your digital strategy yet, here are compelling reasons for you to do so: Great content builds brand trust People should see you or your brand as an authority in your field. For instance, what’s the first name that comes to mind for sports shoes and accessories? Most would say Adidas or Nike. That’s because these brands have established themselves as unshakeable experts in the domain. Or at least, created such messaging. Both companies spend time and effort to create snappy, share-worthy, and value-added content. People love that they anticipate questions and provide fun answers, which boosts brand perception. Gradually, consumers begin to see you as a reliable authority. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does, over time. Smart campaigns grab eyeballs You’re new in the game, and nobody’s heard of you. But a clever marketer can generate the right kind of noise to create awareness and pull in leads. For instance, a software development firm that sells e-learning tools can publish how-to videos about their products and its benefits, which are then boosted on YouTube, your website and social media. Create blogs about their unmatched benefits for users, send e-mailers, and reveal how corporations can weave in e-learning in everyday operations. Slowly and steadily, online readership will rise. Your blog organic traffic will increase, and so will your search rankings. Instill brand credibility in the eyes of Google The search engine’s algorithm remains a mystery, and nobody knows the exact formula (or its extent) that Google uses to rank search results. But what we do know, is that the algorithm is centred around providing the most useful, vetted results for users. As long as you create high-value content (preferably, multimedia) that readers love to read and share, you’re good. If your ranking doesn’t match your best SEO efforts, it’s time for something different. Today, digital > traditional In 2014, the Aberdeen Group showed how online marketing is six times more powerful than traditional media when it comes to converting leads into paying customers. While TV, print, radio and newspapers hold considerable sway in developing countries, digital marketing methods like social media, e-mailers and blogging have made a powerful climb to the top. Build relationships If your website has unique, informative content that provides value, visitors will keep coming back to your website. For instance we all know Neil Patel as an SEO expert. Every blog he writes is focussed around offering valuable tips and strategies to help brands and digital marketers solve problems faced by them in today’s ever competitive scenario. Similarly Backlink’s Brian Dean is known for providing valuable tips in the form of case studies which gives the impression that it’s tried and tested and therefore trustworthy. People have come to regard them as experts in the field and look to him for any information around the subject. That’s the kind of relationship you should be looking to build with your visitors. Earn precious backlinks Backlinking is when an external or third party website hyperlinks to your SEO content, citing it as a useful reference. If that site is a credible, high-quality source, your audience will multiply exponentially, boosting referral traffic and leading to a higher presence on the seach engine result page (SERP). Google takes the high quality backlink as a sign of trust, and pushes you up on the radar. Targeted content influences purchase decisions Most people look up product recommendations, study user complaints and compare prices before making an online purchase. Blogs, aggregator websites, news portals and best social media channels present a crucible of varied opinion, and brands must strike while hot. Turn buying behaviour your way by providing answers to the questions the user might have. It can be about a common problem that the product aims to solve or a how-to guide that tells or shows the user how useful and easy-to-use the product is. For instance how-to videos, podcasts, social media posts etc are a good idea. Funnel your inbound marketing Gone are the days when you could push marketing material into people’s faces—think direct methods like flyers, brochures and TV commercials. Audience these days hate pushy advertising and being told what to do. They’d rather exercise their own sense of judgement, compare brands, and see if you work for them. Content marketing does just that. Help them decide what is best for them. If somebody wants the best sunscreen in the market, create indirect content that also lists peripheral information. Why are sun-screens essential during summer? What are its scientific benefits? Do effects differ with age and location? Track the common questions a potential customer might have, provide all answers, and voila—you’ve built credibility. Here are some tools that help identify you identify such opportuinities. BuzzSumo – Simplifies content research by bringing up popular posts using keywords. UberSuggest – Primarily a keyword research tool. Can help content research by bringing up search queries that users generally type in. Google Alerts – Helps you stay ahead of the curve by notifying of whenever new content is published around your keyword. SentiOne – A social media listening tool, it tracks brand mentions and conversations around a given keyword.
How Should Brands Communicate Now: 4 Companies That Are Getting It Right
As the Corona crisis took over the world, several brands pulled back their advertising and marketing efforts. While some feared that marketing campaigns could earn backlash against the brand, some just didn’t know to say. So, should brands communicate? Should they communicate at all? A 12-market study (12,000 people were interviewed across countries by PR company Edelman) on what role customers expected brands to play reveals some interesting points. Customers want brands to act responsibly, take care of their employees, and not aim to reap benefit from the crisis. Respondents wanted brands only to speak about their products after knowing how people’s lives are getting impacted by the crisis. Several said they wanted brands to make a difference during the hour of crisis by helping the community and bringing everyone together. Brands, they felt, should use their power to educate and inform. Everyone wanted to hear from the brands they associate with, but was expecting messaging that had empathy for the struggles that were being faced. Having said that, this crisis is a great opportunity for brands to talk to their customers. It’s a moment for them to prove that humanity comes before profits. While many brands did end up losing this golden opportunity by putting the proverbial foot in the mouth, others have really been able to build an amazing crisis communication strategy. Here are some brands that have really aced their messaging and communication at this time of crisis: Pidilite Pidilite’s Fevicol has been acing its social media game for a while. This simple but powerful creative said it all. It kept the seriousness of the situation and the messaging about social distancing at the forefront, but the brand imagery and their core brand messaging is also integrated beautifully. Social distancing made simple #corona #FevicolKaJod #MazbootJod This, by the way, isn’t the first time that Pidilite has created such creatives on topical issues. From the Mumbai rains to Brexit to Game of Thrones, Fevicol social media channels have been buzzing with fun, quirky takes that sometimes incorporate important messages. Lifebuoy In times of crisis, innovative messaging is great but it’s even better if it’s backed by some on-ground action. And that’s exactly what Lifebuoy has done so well. For many years now, Lifebuoy’s brand messaging has centred around the importance of washing your hands, so their Corona campaign was simple yet effective. However, it’s not just the messaging that Lifebuoy did so effectively. They have actually partnered with PayTM on a crowdfunding campaign to get people to donate sanitizers and soaps to domestic workers, migrant labour, and other disadvantaged sections of society. During the Corona Crisis, it’s not just about innovative messaging, brands have to be ready to back their words with action. Zomato Zomato is another brand that has really got its crisis communications plan in place. The brand has set up an initiative to provide free meals to migrant workers and daily wage labourers as India goes through its 21-day lockdown. What’s more, it also has an option on the app where (if you’re practising social distancing), you can request your delivery rider to leave your food outside the door instead of handing it to you. Now that’s what we call some next level crisis communication strategy! Once again, this has worked so well because Zomato has been unafraid to put its money where its mouth is. With the recent COVID-19 lockdowns the daily wager community has seen their only source of income come to a screeching halt, leaving them struggling to arrange for food for their family. Please help.by donating to ‘Feed the daily wager’ to help ensure they don’t sleep hungry during this period of lockdowns. Click the link in our bio to contribute. #BeaHungerHero #Bethechange #Covid19 TravelBlue Travel Blue is a travel accessories brand that provided over 2000 N90 face masks to travel retail partner Flemingo. This helped Flemingo protect airport staff against the COVID-19 across airports in India Mumbai Duty-Free, Go Duty-Free, and the Duty-Free Galleria stores in Delhi and Bangalore all received these masks. Once again, measures like these go a long way in building brand goodwill at a time when the world is grappling with so much panic and uncertainty. Amul When it comes to topical content, few can nail it like Amul. This time too the brand’s simple yet effective copy brought home the strong and powerful message of hygiene and social distancing. #Amul Topical: Precautions against the Coronavirus! Read also: Content Marketing During the Times of Crisis What can we learn from these brands? There’s a lot that marketers can learn from brands at this time of Corona crisis — both in terms of what to do as well as what not to do. Here are some of our key takeaways: Be mindful of the situation People are grappling with an unprecedented situation — and it’s likely to constantly play at the back of their mind. This doesn’t mean that you only need to create content and messaging around COVID-19, but it does mean that you have to address the crazy reality of the moment. Even if you’re putting out a regular story, it’s a good idea to mention the pandemic and the current situation first. Back words with actions This is something that every brand that’s nailing their communication strategy at this point is doing. Any number of brands are sending emails to their customers saying “We are with you during this tough time”, but that isn’t enough. Not by far. You can either make a donation to a worthy cause, organize a cause yourself or even provide some extra value to customers during this period. People will always remember how brands valued and supported them at this juncture so it’s very crucial to get this right. Avoid fear-mongering This one is an absolute must. You have to realize that people are suffering from all kinds of stress and anxiety at the moment — whether it’s about their job,
Working from Home: 11 Tips to Help You Stay Super Focussed and Avoid Distractions
Kids running around, television channels screaming out news, your spouse wanting something done urgently, meals waiting to be cooked and household chores waiting to be finished. That is the home situation that most of us are dealing with nowadays. Add to that the constant stream of notifications that pop up on different messaging channels, and inboxes, and temptations to scroll through our social media newsfeeds and, perhaps even, roll on the bed; and you have a pretty difficult task of staying focussed while working from home. Our responsibility towards our family and society kept us home and our responsibility towards our clients kept us working. The Justwordians are committed to their deliverables. #StayAtHome #WorkFromHome #CoronaVirus #Covid19 #AgencyLife 12 Likes, 0 Comments – Justwords Consultants (@justwordsconsultants) on Instagram: “Our responsibility towards our family and society kept us home and our responsibility towards our…” Studies have shown that a knowledge worker on an average checks his email every 8 minutes and his Skype or other IM messages every 6 minutes in an 8-hour workday. This essentially means that he spends just few minutes before going back to checking/answering emails or messages. Basically, you are constantly battling distractions, procrastination and lack of focus. If you are one among countless others stuck in such a situation, you’re at the right place. Check out these 11 really helpful ways to build your focus and get your work done. 11 Fantastic tips on how to stay laser-focused on your work 1. Prioritize Prioritizing your tasks for the day is very important so as not to get distracted or embroiled in unimportant tasks. Identify your priorities before you get started for the day. Once you have important tasks chalked out, you will be more focussed and find it easier to say no to other tasks that divert your attention. 2. Start Early Whether you’re a morning person or not, if you have to work from home, you’d better get started with it as soon as possible. Start as soon as you get up. All other household chores can wait. Starting early helps you stay focussed as you wake up with a fresh mind. Several productivity experts have maintained that people are most productive in the morning hours. Also count in the factor (as per the British Journal of Psychology) that people are mostly loaded with energy and happier when they wake in the morning. 3. Stop Multitasking Multitasking doesn’t work in tasks which require a lot of thinking. Try to concentrate on one task and finish it before you move on to something else. If you switch in between, you’ll break the flow and it will take some time before your mind can focus on the first task again. Before you know it, you will have already lost 20-25 minutes in the process. 4. Set a Schedule for the day Plan your day and try to have some semblance with your original workday at the office. Plan your usual 8-hour workday including start time, short breaks, lunch breaks and the log out time. Try to get as much done during that time. It’s okay to not get everything done as per plan. Some pending tasks don’t hurt. 5. Be Organized The organization is the key to improving your productivity. Keep your work desk at home tidy and every essential stationery in a place like notepad, pens, markers, earphones if you listen to music while working etc. Keeping everything neat and organized will prevent you from wasting your time looking for them. 6. Use the Pomodoro Technique Image Source This is a time management method that breaks down work into fixed intervals followed by a short break. This means you work for 25 minutes straight without any distraction and then take a 5-minute break. Every 25-minute interval is referred to as Pomodoro. Once four Promodoros have passed which means 100 minutes, you can take a 15-20 minute break. This keeps your mind fresh and focussed. A study by Airtasker also revealed that 37% of employees felt that breaks helped their productivity. It takes time to master the Promodoro technique. It takes time to master the technique but once you do you will see your productivity levels rise. 7. No Social Media You need your phone while working to communicate with colleagues, we get that. But try to resist picking up your phone every few minutes to check social media, Whatsapp etc. You have to be firm about it and discipline yourself if you want to work productively from home. 8. Promise Yourself a Reward Promise yourself a small treat like a cup of coffee, treating yourself to a snack or catching up on a movie once you’re done with a particular task. This will inspire and motivate you to get it done. Who said bribes are just for kids? 9. Have some People Time It’s easy to lock yourself up in a room while working from home to avoid distraction but it can also get lonely at times. Build-in networking with your colleagues into your weekly schedule. Schedule a time slot once or twice a week for a video call with your co-workers. This will not just help to stay connected but also fight bouts of boredom that are bound to settle in when you are working from home. 10. Get the Right Tools Just like a hi-speed wi-fi helps you work smoothly, so do the right tools. Whether you are a writer, designer, software engineer or provide online marketing services, right tools are important in getting the work done quickly and more efficiently. There are a number of tools for time tracking, file sharing, communication and project management tools making easier to get the work flowing smoothly without wasting too much time on unnecessary things like sending emails, messaging colleagues for clarification etc. 11. Know when to end When you’re working from home it is easy to lose track of time
Grammar Cheat Sheet: Rules to Help You Write Well
As a writer, MS Word has made me lax over the years. I type out the thoughts quickly and expect the autocorrect to take care of the mistakes. The good part is I also recognize the mistakes that the software misses. For example, if I wrote ‘The girl was pail’ and not pale, I can still run my over-the-years honed spell checker to catch it. Let’s get one thing straight. English may be a language I really like but it isn’t the easiest when you are learning the rules of spelling and grammar. Their and there, effect and affect… it can get you running to Google for answers. While we don’t have to by heart Wren and Martin, let me share a quick reference sheet that you can bookmark to avoid the most common mistake. I, Me, Myself Use I when you are referring to yourself in subject of the sentence i.e. you are the one taking action Example: I am reading Ikigai and I like it Me Use me when someone else is performing the action for / to you Dana gifted me the book Myself Use Myself when you are performing the action on yourself I taught myself the rules of Ikigai Also Read: A tried-and-tested guide to becoming a better content writer Different to / than / from Different from is considered a safe bet in the usage of Different with a preposition Different than and Different to are also used, but more often in British English Seven Square is no different to / than any major CBSE school or This house is very different to your last one. In American English, it is more common to use Different Than. For example: This coffee tastes very different than the one I usually drink. Because some rules are meant to be broken I’ve always been one of those errant children who think rules can sometimes be broken. Feels good to know that can happen with grammar too. Here are some set rules and why it is ok to break them Don’t begin a sentence with a conjunction However, this is a great example on how to break that rule 🙂 And then, don’t we all have exceptions. Don’t end your sentences with prepositions Then what do you end it with? Without a preposition, that would be ‘Then what do you end it’ which is just not right! Avoid sentence fragments She heard that. It broke her heart. She choose to walk out. Creative and narrative writing can bend the rules just enough to convey the meaning. Confusing words A lot v/s Alot v/s Allot ‘A lot’ represents a number that is uncountable. There are a lot of bees Alot isn’t a word… at least not yet Allot is to assign to a person. For example, ‘The land is alloted Also Read: The 10 mistakes your clients don’t want you to make as a freelance writer Should’ve, Could’ve, Would’ve There is something you should’ve done in order to explore what possibilities could’ve manifested and how we would’ve utilized them Common misspellings Here are the top 10 ones where spell checker comes to our rescue Seperate | Separate Definately | Definitely Occassion | Occasion Refered | Referred Entreprenur | Entrepreneurs Recieve | Receive Untill | Until Exceptable | Acceptable Embarass | Embarrass Paralel | Parallel Z or S As an Indian writer, this conundrum is more pronounced as we practice British English which uses Z. If you are writing for a global audience, ‘Specialize’ would be better but if you are writing for an Indian audience, ‘personalise’ would be appropriate. Dangling modifiers After a long day at work, the dog welcomed Shawn with slobbery kisses Wait a minute, did the dog go to work? After a long day at work, Shawn was welcomed by the dog with slobbery kisses. The right usage of Comma When a , can put a fullstop to your writer dreams A comma in the wrong place can change the meaning of the sentence. Comma with quotes In the series “The Walking Dead,” the lead character is played by Andrew Lincoln. Though this is a strange rule, the comma always goes inside the quotes. So does a fullstop. Comma in dates He was born on July 4, 1990 He was born on 4th July 1990 If you have 2 number units side by side, separate them with a comma. Comma and suffixes The most famous of them all is Kunal Mehta, Jr. Here it is fine to write Kunal Mehta Jr. Without the comma The essential comma Many men want to be the actor, Shah Rukh Khan. Here you aren’t talking about men wanting to be actors but wanting to be a specific actor (by using the). In this case the comma is non-essential as the meaning of the sentence remains the same without it. The correct usage is ‘Many men want to be the actor Shah Rukh Khan.’ The overused comma Some flowers, such as, sunflowers and lilies, brighten up the room. The extra comma after a transitional phrase such as (or including) should not be used. The correct usage is Some flowers, such as sunflowers and lilies, brighten up the room. Comma with compound elements She liked to read, and danced a lot too. When you are using a conjunction like ‘and,’ ‘but.’ or ‘or,’ don’t use a comma unless the subject (she) is used twice. The correct usage here is ‘She liked to read and danced a lot too.’ Alternatively, ‘She like to read and, she danced a lot too.’ Comma Splice I want to eat, I want t drink. The sentences, as such, are independent of each other and without conjunction. The best way to write it would be ‘I want to eat. I want to drink.’ or ‘I want to eat; I want to drink.’ Also Read: The content writer’s easy grammar cheat sheet Title Case In marketing we often capitalise what best pleases the