How to Turn an Idea into Two Weeks Worth of Content

We all know that panic strikes when we are running out of ideas for the next blog post. There is pressure to constantly find ideas that captivate your audience can be very intense. In extreme cases, one can even start feeling burnt out or run into a creative block. One of the best ways to get around this situation is by turning one content idea into a four or five-part series. This can help you navigate the pressure of finding new content ideas every three days while also enabling you to create well-researched, and in-depth blog posts.   Why series are so great Here’s why carving one content idea into a series can pay off in a big way. Building anticipation and increasing traffic Someone who reads the first part of the series will want to keep going till they finish the entire series. Similarly, someone who stumbles across the 4th or 5th article will probably start from the beginning and go through them all. In fact, people who are waiting for the next post in the series may even end up subscribing to your blog. Eliminate stress and improve productivity When you decide to write a series, you have to go through the ideation process just once. After that, you already know the overall idea and its breakdown into different posts. All you need to focus on is writing. With the stress of constantly coming up with new ideas out of the window, you’ll actually be able to focus solely on quality content creation. Go in-depth Have you ever had one of those content ideas that are really meaty and important, but there’s no way you could fit everything into one blog post? That’s exactly what a series is meant to achieve. You can finally go into details and share in-depth insights without overloading your readers with too much information at once. More conversions and profits Believe it or not, series are often far more amenable to your business goals than stand-alone posts. Whether it’s getting more subscribers, generating leads, building your brand, or creating online products that generate recurring revenue. More ideas With a series, you have more time to play around with ideas and concepts. Many of our best writing ideas come to us subconsciously when we’re not actively writing. With a series, your subconscious mind has enough time to formulate ideas and arguments, whether you’re gardening or in the shower. Chances are that the ideas will flow a lot more easily when you do sit down to write.   How do you know if an idea can be made into a series   If you’re not sure how to figure out which content ideas will make for great series, here are some tips. You’ve written a post with a meaty list Say you’ve done a post saying “Top 5 Content Marketing Formats in 2019”. You suddenly realize that each of these 5 formats merits a full post in itself. And suddenly you have your idea for your next 5-part series. The idea is too substantial for one blog post Many times, you don’t start off thinking of a content idea as suited to a series format. Maybe it’s intended to be just one post, but as you begin writing the outline you realize there’s too much substance to restrict the idea to one post. These kind of ideas are best outlined in a series. If there isn’t too much material, you can always stick to a short, three-part series. Your readers have many related queries This is another great organic way to develop a series. Many times, readers respond overwhelmingly to a post. In fact, they may come up with a number of questions on related topics that are not covered in the original post. It’s a great idea to take some of these questions to create a 4-part series. Evergreen content In general, it’s not a good idea to invest time and energy into writing a four-part series for passing trends. In most cases, in fact, articles based on the latest fads and trends simply don’t have enough material for a series. Evergreen content ideas that focus on substantial issues are ideal for creating a series. The idea-to-series playbook Let’s say you are planning to write a four-part series. The topic you’ve chosen is video marketing. Here’s a general playbook on how you should go about it. Post 1- Establish authority In the first post of the series, spend time on introducing the topic, your own background, and connecting the two. For instance, while talking about video marketing, you could start by introducing the concept and why it’s become so important to have a video marketing strategy today. You could then talk about your own experience with video marketing. It could be about your journey as a video marketer or even your experience with video marketing for your own product. Use interesting anecdotes and make sure to use an interesting CTA (Call to Action) that makes people want to know more. Post 2- Prepare the background In this post, you don’t delve into the details of creating video marketing but talk about the things you need to know in advance. For instance, you could talk about things that need to be in place before you get started with video marketing. This could include considerations like budget, a video marketing strategy, equipment, cast and crew, and so on. Post 3- The details This is the post where you actually break down video marketing into a step-by-step tutorial that users can follow. The best part about saving the details for the third post is that readers already know a fair bit about the topic by now and are well prepared for the information-centric content. Post 4- Give advanced information and answer queries This last post helps you give value-added information to your readers. A great way to design this post is by going through relevant questions you receive in the comments section in the previous posts.

Why You Need to Sell Your Own Product to Become a Better Copywriter

Here is a thing to remember. You may have learnt a whole lot about copywriting; from books, online courses, and even real-life experience. You might have even worked for a multitude of clients across the board; handling their marketing and sales copy. But the truth of the matter is unless you’ve had the experience of selling your own product, you simply don’t know what it’s like to have skin in the game. It’s one thing to understand your client, their product, and their target audience; it’s another thing to be able to feel their pain and urgency. This kind of empathy can only come with personal experience and it can help you become a more well-rounded copywriter. In this article, we talk about how to sell your product online and why that will make you much better at your copywriting job.   Invest time and money to create a product Of course, you can’t sell a product you don’t have. While it might not be possible to create a physical product, in most cases you’ll find it much easier to create an online product. This includes a number of options, ranging from e-books to courses. The key here is to invest enough time, effort, and resources so that failing to sell your product will actually hurt. Not enough to bankrupt you of course but bad enough that it’s a real setback. Unless that happens, you simply won’t have enough skin in the game to focus the way you need to. Here are some of the key steps that you simply cannot skimp on when you’re on this journey.   Step 1 – Understand your audience   The key to creating a valuable product is by listening to your customers. You don’t want to spend valuable time and money on creating something no one needs. Use social media listening tools to really understand prospective customers’ pain points. It’s also a good idea to go old-school and just talk to people. Go past what your customers think they need to get to what they really need. How this helps- You will now understand how painstaking it is to find the right product and features that satisfy customers. Keep this in mind when you write copy for your clients.   Step 2- Create the product   This is the scary part. You’re going to be spending hours and hours creating a product that may not yield any ROI. You may also find yourself investing some money to create a quality product. For instance, if it’s an e-book you may have to hire an ace designer. If you’re creating a video-course, you might find yourself renting high-end equipment. Of course, you also need to figure out the platform that you will use to deliver your product. For an e-book, you need to decide the format you want to publish it in, whether you want it to be on Amazon, and so on. If it’s a course, you need to decide which platform to use; whether you want to go with a Udemy or Teachable or use a self-hosted LMS (Learning Management System). You will also need to complete the email and payment integrations so that your customers have a seamless experience. How this helps- All the time and resources you invest will give you a glimpse into what your client has at stake. It will also help you realize how much they really have on their plate. Be mindful of that when you work with them.   Step 3- Create a landing page and write sales copy   Work on creating a landing page, or even a complete website if it’s warranted. When you create the perfect landing page, write all your launch copy. From the sales page to emails and social media posts. How this helps- Notice the care with which how you write sales copy when you actually have skin in the game. Remember, your clients deserve the same focus.   Step 4- Launch your product   The D-day is here. You will probably be juggling a number of different things; from sending out emails to promoting your product on social media, collaborating with bloggers, and even asking your friends to recommend the product. It’s important to remember that this is only the beginning and that it’s going to be a long road ahead.   How this helps Launch day will give you a whole new level of empathy for your client. Juggling so many different things at the same time should give you an insight into what your client goes through every day. You can be a wizard with words, but you won’t really become an exceptional copywriter unless you understand what it means to have your skin in the game. Creating and selling your own product may not be the easiest way to become more empathetic, but it will definitely take your skills to the next level. And hey, you may just end up making a lot of money in the process!

7 Daily Routines That Harness Your Creative Genius

“The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.” Pablo Picasso Counter-intuitive as it may sound, this quote by Picasso says a lot about the nature of creativity. Most of us think that creative effort happens only in bursts of inspiration, but creativity is a habit that needs to be inculcated and nurtured on a daily basis. And most creative people in the world agree that this is the secret to consistently producing good work. Here are some daily routines that have been proven to enhance creativity over a period of time.   Get active   We often underestimate the importance of physical activity and how it can improve all aspects of our life. Getting active is often the key to getting those creative juices flowing. Scientifically speaking, any form of physical activity gets your endorphins flowing, which has an excellent effect on your overall mental health. Most creative people today are sitting at their desks and working on their laps. Needless to say, we lead a pretty sedentary life, which can cause massive mental and physical fatigue. The key to getting active is to find an activity you love. If you’re one of the lucky few that loves the rigour of the gym, good for you. If not, you need to find more “creative” ways of staying fit. From swimming, playing a sport to yoga, kickboxing and pilates, there’s no dearth of options. The key is to find what works for you and stick to it. You can even find 2-3 things that you enjoy and then take turns with them.   Choose between late nights or early mornings   Most creative people find that they are at their creative peak either early in the morning or late at night. People like Anaïs Nin, Tony Morrison, and Frank Lloyd Wright believe in working first thing in the morning, while others like Picasso and Jack Kerouac preferred late nights. It’s easy enough to understand why these times are particularly suited to creative endeavour. It’s quieter, distractions are minimal and your brain tends to focus better. If you’re a freelancer, you can choose to do your creative work (writing, designing, etc) either in the morning or late at night. Things like client interaction and marketing can be done during the day. This may not always be possible if you have a full-time day job. Even so, you can always speak to your employer for flexi-time options and work-from-home days and figure out a way to make it work.   Map your stream-of-consciousness thoughts   Many creative people agree that this is one of the most effective habits when it comes to unleashing your creativity. All you need to do is simply note down your thoughts the moment you wake up. These thoughts are simply your stream-of-consciousness thoughts. They don’t have to be particularly creative or even make sense. This is just a way to unload your subconscious so that you can understand the obstacles between you and your creativity. It’s not just writers who have a daily habit of writing down their thoughts the moment they wake up. Artists, designers, painters, actors all use this simple habit to harness their inner creativity.   Warm up   Many creative people use simple warm-up techniques to get into the flow of their work. Musicians, for instance, tune their instruments. Actors do facial exercises while singers exercise their vocal cords. This warm-up is usually a mindless task that helps establish a comfort zone before you go into a more creative state. The warm-up you choose to do depends entirely on your work as well as your personality. For instance, many graphic designers choose to tinker with their software before they begin working. Artists prefer to indulge in some practice brush strokes before they get to their actual work.   Use mini projects and break down bigger tasks   Mini projects are a very effective way to avoid procrastination and get into the habit of creating consistently. When we have a project with a deadline of a week, we spend hours planning what it needs to look like, create outlines and drafts, and then spend more time polishing it. If instead, we have only a couple of hours for a project, we are likely to maximize efficiency to create something minimalistic yet effective. Doing many such mini projects helps boost confidence in our own creative abilities. Of course, all tasks cannot take the form of mini-projects. We also need to find a way of accomplishing more long-term tasks. An easy way to do this is to break down big jobs into a list of smaller, manageable tasks. Then try to check off one item from this list every single day, even if it’s a small task. This helps you make progress every day without feeling overwhelmed.   Take time out for self-care   While self-care is important for everyone with our hectic lifestyles, it’s especially important for creative folks. But self-care doesn’t always have to mean bottles of wine or expensive massages. Self-care can be as simple as doing things you love every day, focus on how they make you feel, and being grateful for them. These activities can range from your morning cup of coffee to a long walk with your dog to watching a beautiful sunset.   Learn to say no This is probably one of the most powerful tools you can have as a creative person and one that is most elusive. You may be constantly anxious about not doing enough, not having enough opportunities, not making enough money. That’s why you may find yourself constantly saying yes to everything. That could be a new project, a tighter deadline, or work that doesn’t inspire. Yet, doing too much and burning out in the process is the most counter-productive thing you can do as a creative professional. Spend some time to understand what kind of work makes you happy so that you can say no to the work that doesn’t. As a creative

E-commerce Microcopy: A Simple and Effective Way to Increase Sales

What if we told you that you’re ignoring a very simple aspect of your e-commerce website? And that this aspect can actually help you increase your conversions by 14- 166%? This article talks about microcopy- an essential element of a website’s user experience that most businesses end up ignoring. We will also talk about how you can use microcopy to increase conversions. What is Microcopy? Microcopy refers to all the text on your website that doesn’t fall into any category. In other words, once you strip away things like headings, banners, titles, blog posts, and standard website copy; microcopy is what’s left. Microcopy occurs in different ways and forms and its main goal is to motivate shoppers to complete an action. This includes adding a product to the cart, signing up for a newsletter, or filling credit card information. The best example of microcopy comes from Joshua Porter who’s often known as the father of microcopy. When Joshua Porter was working for an online store, he realized that the store was losing money every month because 5-10% of its transactions were failing. After some research, all he did was to add one sentence next to the billing address field “Be sure to enter the billing address associated with your credit card.” Immediately, all the failed transactions reduced dramatically. In other words, microcopy strives to make the user experience as smooth as possible. And that is why it has so much power to influence conversions and help you reach your financial goals. How does microcopy increase conversions for your e-commerce website? Microcopy can become the key to better conversions simply by virtue of their strategic placement in the entire user experience. Here are some ways in which effective microcopy can help you increase conversions. Emphasize key value propositions You may have some killer deals and discounts for your customers. But it’s not enough to just put them in your standard website copy. Having these deals located at strategic places such as the shopping cart or when the customer is making the purchase helps emphasize them. Build trust You may be losing customers without even realizing it simply because they have a hard time trusting you. Microcopy can really help here. For instance, having a line that says “We won’t share your email id with anyone” right after they have been asked to fill in their email id, helps assuage their privacy concerns. Similarly, things like security and confirmation messages when a customer is actually doing a transaction go a long way to build trust. Reduce ambiguity The main goal of microcopy is to ensure that customers have a seamless user experience. Smart microcopy can enable a better user experience by reducing ambiguity and making things as clear for customers as possible. For instance, all the product categories in your e-commerce store should be classified in a way that leaves no room for doubt. Reinforce your brand voice Microcopy is also a way of cleverly reinforcing your brand personality in a subtle but effective way. For instance, if your brand is known for being slightly quirky and out-of-the-box, injecting humour into your error messages and form fields can endear you to customers. Similarly, if you want to be known as a credible brand with authority, your microcopy should reflect that. Tips on writing good microcopy Now that you know how powerful microcopy can be, it’s time to understand how you can leverage microcopy to increase conversions. Here are some tips on writing effective micropy. Brevity is the key As the word itself suggests, microcopy is meant to be short and to-the-point. Its goal is to enhance the user experience and wordy sentences are not the way to go. The more succinct the microcopy is, the easier it is to drive the point home. Use Click triggers Click triggers refer to text that is right next to a button and that motivates customers to click the button. Money-back guarantee, free shipping, testimonials, etc are all good examples. State your case directly Microcopy is not the place to be coy or ambiguous. It’s where you need to tell your customers exactly what you have to offer. Phrases like “Buy now” and “Sign up for exclusive offers” tell customers exactly what to do. Of course, you don’t want to come off as coercive or pushy but it’s important to be explicit and speak to customers directly. We often end up trying every trick in the book to increase e-commerce sales; from digital ads to content marketing. Sometimes, it’s the small things that we tend to neglect that can actually have a major impact on those conversions. Microcopy is one such thing that many people tend to neglect. Luckily, all it takes is some attention to detail and you can soon have many more customers shopping at your virtual store.

How to write great social media posts

Social media advertising has gained in stature as one of the most potent mediums to promote, engage and register conversions among the target audience – a testimony to the fact that they have been the sole cause for creating celebrities from scratch, business empires and unique corporate models for some time now. Clearly, this cannot be possible merely by putting together a string of catchy words and phrases but requires proven expertise in crafting powerful copy backed by research into the target’s online presence and preferences. First, let’s get into some general directives on how to achieve great social media posts. Copy Matters Be Compelling There are ways you can cut the clutter of the thousands of posts that are jamming your customer’s feed. One of these is, of course, answering the all-important question “What’s in it for me?” Describe a benefit: “Get more client referrals with..” Display an excerpt: “9 out of 10 people would use their realtor again, if only…   Don’t use weak words These are words that sound like a mouthful, take up precious space and don’t mean anything substantial, such as, “maybe” or “hopefully” or “try.” Go for more assertive one like “guarantee” or “expect.” Understand post lengths Sticking to optimal post lengths and shorter will obviously lead to more reach and consequently more conversions. Keep it short Pressed for time and overwhelmed with the post length restrictions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more? The trick is always, always to keep it short. Image Copy Metrics Mechanics-wise, the one key takeaway to remember here is this: Facebook ads and boosted posts place a 20% image text overlay restriction. This means if more than 20% of your image is covered in the text, your post will receive reduced reach. That’s bad news if your goal is to cut through the static in your fan’s feeds. Oversell is overkill Nobody is here for your sales pitch. Ditch the sales, promotional chatter and go for an authentic and ‘real’ person to person talk, one that feels like you are addressing real-life pain points and not pushing your product down somebody’s throat. Write for your audience, choose your voice: Your voice is your brand personality. Ask: What do you sound like on social media? Spend time scanning your follower’s profiles: for the kinds of things they say, do and comment on Read the same websites/publications your audience does: to understand their taste Understand their language and verbiage: from commonly used terms and phrases   Use Relevant Emojis Relevantly used, emojis are sometimes more effective than a plain copy! Plan ahead   When it’s digital media, every day is crunch time. It may pay to follow some measures to plan ahead and save on quality of posts. Be ready with a Social Media Calendar: The best way to keep your posts organized is to have a social media calendar ready. The benefits include visibility of your social posts to your entire team and the bandwidth to plan your posts ahead of time as also to judge the best time of the week/month to post. Plan Campaigns: This is much better than writing last-minute one-off campaigns without much thought. Think about switching to cohesive campaigns – campaigns with consistent hashtag messaging, a series campaign promoting a single piece of content and the like. And now, a brief rundown on the dos and don’t for crafting perfect posts for popular social media channels:   Facebook Post lengths vary, about 80 words maybe hitting the sweet spot. The medium is big for visual and video content and yields well to engagement using questions and contest posts. Cleverly used hashtags helps you join a larger discussion.   Twitter Notorious for its character restrictions, keep your tweets to 250-260 characters in length allowing you to add your twitter handle at the end and other information such as blog link.   Instagram While visuals are the name of the game here, writing the perfect caption and description can be tricky, especially since it gives you a long hand. Break up your descriptor, get innovative with emojis and you can even use them in hashtags!   Linkedin A platform for blog length professional posts, great for sharing company related information like new ideas, insider experiences, and event updates. Stay professional, avoid rants and salesy language.   In sum, crafting the perfect social media post is fast becoming the El Dorado of advertising writers all over the world. As is apparent, customers are increasingly going digital and making informed buying decisions based on online advertising exposure. So get ready for writing those lines of winning a copy. It’s social or so long!

Why Great Brand Stories Need Videos

Videos are fast becoming the go-to medium for brands to connect with customers. With the digital age, videos have become so much more than the traditional 15/ 30-second advertising that dominated television. With the adoption of high-speed internet and social media taking to videos in a big way, videos are more accessible than ever before. Consumer tastes are consistently showing a preference towards videos vis-a-vis static content. In fact, according to a 2014 Levels Beyond survey, 40% consumers said they would rather watch a video of a brand than read the same information. This means that more and more brands are understanding that videos are no longer an option when it comes to effective marketing. In fact, video ad spend is set to reach $20 billion by 2020. Here’s why most brands need videos to tell great brand stories. Videos viewing rates are increasing The average time that consumers spent viewing videos in 2017 went up by a whopping 19% compared to 2016. Video completion rates (videos watched all the way through) reached a phenomenal 69% in 2017. Videos also have the highest CTR (Click Through Rate) of all digital ad formats. Finally, mobile viewing of videos is at an all-time high and in 2018 people will globally watch 25% more video on mobile devices. This means that videos are not just here to stay but are on a phenomenal growth path. That’s an opportunity no brand wants to miss out on. Social media loves videos View this post on Instagram Hi, this is RVR. Drive it, program it, hack it, and back it, because our latest and greatest robot is now on @Kickstarter. Link in Bio. A post shared by Sphero (@sphero) on Feb 19, 2019 at 4:18am PST According to a recent Facebook study, people spend 5 times longer watching video content than reading static content. Instagram and Snapchat are also seeing video take over as the most popular medium. Whether it’s Instagram poster children Inspirato and Sphero or bigger companies like Nike and Jimmy Choo, more and more brands are now creating inspirational video content that is getting them a lot of love from customers. Of course, as social media gets flooded with more and more videos, brands are making shorter ads. Facebook recommends that brand videos should be 15 seconds or shorter while Snapchat limits videos to 10 seconds. The advantage of shorter videos on social media is that A/B testing can be done more easily as it’s easier to produce 4 variants of a 10-second video than a 30-second one. Videos tug at the heartstrings The combination of great visuals and music that videos offer provides users with a great experience. Videos are more effective than any other content medium to make viewers emotional. When it comes to great brand stories, users will connect with and grow to love brands when they have a compelling narrative. And videos are the best way to put a great narrative out there. Barbie’s rebranding video is a great example. Videos allow you to use audience signals and customize content Today, it’s not enough to just create a compelling brand story based on general cultural insights and demographic assumptions. Nowadays, there are many audience signals from views to searches to clicks to shares to searches, and great brand stories come from paying heed to those signals. Luckily, advanced analytics on Youtube and other tools allow brands to understand their customers better and create customized videos. This makes for effective and personalized storytelling. For example, Frito Lay worked closely with Youtube to identify the major interest categories for their users; from gaming to 90s fashion, and used these insights to create different creatives to cater to different interests. For example, a user would see a gaming-related Lays ad before they watched a gaming video. Videos now allow you to build a story, not just tell it With the different channels through which to tell your brand story, videos are now in different sizes and formats. Moreover, you can use digital media to actually build on your story through multiple videos, based on who’s seen the previous ones, instead of telling your entire story in one go. Here are all the different ways in which videos can cater to different audiences and different attention spans. Traditional ads: Online or television commercials Promo videos: Viral videos, interviews, testimonials, product reviews, case studies. Explainer videos: Introductions, processes, tutorials, services, and overviews. Culture marketing videos: Content to showcase the brand, people, or causes. Social videos: Content to engage followers on social—Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. In 2018, videos accounted for as much as 64% of all consumer internet traffic. In 2019, this number is estimated to go up to 80%. 64% of all marketers believe that video will be dominating their brand stories in the near future. If you haven’t yet considered getting a video strategy in place for your brand, now is a perfect time.

How to write the perfect product descriptions for your eCommerce website

You have a product you want to sell. So, you have lured the customer in and he is flipping through your website. And, you know that he is interested! But what is that quick-kill chord that needs to resonate with him and make him hit the ‘Buy’ button? Aah. It is then that you rack your brain for those magic words. That unique piece of content writing that will talk about your product and more importantly, sell it! For, in the veritable ocean of products that hit Googlers like nothing less than a tsunami, your product needs to stand out. So, how do you get about product description writing that sets your product apart from a gazillion others of the same kind? Well, there’s an army of trade tricks to write that brilliant, selling copy. But remember, not all will work well for all products. There are, however, some general guidelines, that you must keep in mind when you go about scripting the sales-effective copy for your product. Here are a few questions that you can ask yourself while writing a product description.   Who is my audience/customer?   First and foremost- Always! Pay keen attention to the audience/clientele you are catering to. Think about who they are – age, interests, demography, where they are from, etc. Think about how your product (through your weapon of the description) can appeal to that clientele. Strike a chord with that group, use words/phrases that pique their interests (for example, use sports terms for customers buying fitness goods, perhaps), and give them an idea that you understand them and are on their side. For example, take a look at this one     The Kellogg’s Oats Masst Masala product description clearly caters to health-conscious individuals, who are not ready to invest time in the preparation of food. So, the description talks about nutrition, heart-health, and that it cooks in 3 minutes! That is enough to grab the attention of the audience?   What are they looking for? Why are they here?   Now that you have given them the assurance that you are batting for them, aim your description at the pain points for which the customer is on your site, looking at your product. Talk about their problems such that your audience finds a kindred soul in you, bound by the same trials and tribulations (no matter how tiny or insignificant). Let them know that you have been through it, just like them. And you have looked for a solution, just like them. For example, take a look at this one     The potential customer that has surfed through pages and landed on the page selling Vanish Oxi Action Stain Remover Washing Liquid, can be assumed to be tired of removing stains from clothes. The first thing the description does is calm down the frayed nerves of the audience by saying ‘Wash away your worries’, clearly indicating that the Vanish people understand their customer’s problem. It then goes on to describe the product’s plus points, from a problem-solving perspective.   So, how can my product help them? The next logical step is to step in like a magician (well, almost) and tell your audience that you have just the product for them, that will work for them and solve the problem they are looking at your product about. Focus on the benefits of your product, try to go in as much detail as possible within limit constraints. Tell them that your product can improve the quality of their lives and give them a good idea about how and why it will happen. For example, take a look at this one   The author of the product description of L’Oréal’s Magic Root Coverup doesn’t waste any time before delving straight into the benefits of the hair spray. The copy introduction starts with how conveniently the customer can die her roots and cover the grey bits and then moves swiftly on to a more elaborate focus on the benefits of the product.   Why you, and not the others? While you had been doing all of the above, one crucial aspect should have guided your choice of words, tone, flavour, and graphics used. And that is – why should your customer choose you over others in your category? What is so special about your product that your client (who has been enticed by similar products galore), will think to himself ‘Huh! This product speaks to me!’ Keeping that in mind, think of the unique trait that you are offering and how exactly that trait can be useful to your customer. For example, take a look at this one     This product description for Dove beauty bar soap might talk about moisturizing, but the focus is clearly on how only Dove understands ‘moisturizing’ and ‘skin-natural’ features more than any other competing beauty bar. In general, it will do you good to remember the following things as well: Set the tone of your description: From fun and playful, to romantic or steamy, from loving and cuddly to staid and formal, the tone of your copy should align itself with the product you are selling and the audience you are targeting. Be conversational: Everybody likes a good story. So, if time and space permit, tell one! Talk to your audience as if you are having a one-on-one conversation. Pack a punch in the introduction to hook your customer. And then carefully unfurl your ideas. Use bullet points: For listing characteristics of your products, nothing can be more useful than bullet points. Lists give a great snapshot of what you are offering, in an uncluttered way. This can prove useful in prodding the audience in the direction of finally making that purchase. Use words that convey emotion: A lot of people buy on impulse, driven primarily by emotion. So, use words that might appeal to your audience’s emotions. Don’t scrimp on your adjectives, but then again, at the same time, be careful that you do not go overboard

5 Common Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Content marketing is without a doubt one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. It brings your website invaluable organic traffic over a long period of time. In fact, 53% of marketers believe that blogs are one of the best ways to generate inbound traffic. however, there’s a flipside to content marketing. It is a very, very crowded field. Every day, more than four million blog posts are published online. Does this mean you shouldn’t invest in content marketing and stick to advertising and other marketing techniques? The answer is a resounding no. Content marketing, if done correctly, can help build your brand and reputation like no other marketing activity. But this extreme competition means you need to be very smart in your approach to content marketing. The key to this is identifying the most common and costly content marketing mistakes and avoid them from day one. Here are five common content marketing mistakes and how you can fix them   Not putting your audience first Surprisingly enough many content marketers make this mistake while starting out. It’s one thing to have a vague understanding of your audience, and another to really solve their problems through your content. Most content marketers use prestigious publications or competitor blogs to find topics to write about. And then find themselves with very little traffic. Another common mistake happens when you have a limited understanding of your audience. Once the content is ready, you have very little idea about how to reach out to prospective readers. It’s important to use the first-principle approach when it comes to understanding your audience. Use tools like the Facebook Ads Manager or EpicBeat to get insights about your audience. These tools have detailed insights about audiences. See what they like, what they’re interested in, what content they read and share. Use this information to define what your next content piece should be and how you should share it. You can even do a group discussion or one-on-one with a few audience members to understand where they’re coming from. Just remember that a whopping 55% of people say that they receive content from brands which they don’t find relevant. Make sure you don’t belong in this group.   No follow-up Some content marketers believe their job is done once the article has been written and shared. However, it is a long journey from content consumer to customer and marketers need to enable that. Experts say that it takes 7 exposures to go from being a website visitor to a customer. Setting up a follow-up campaign takes time but it’s the only way to go for a truly effective marketing strategy. Luckily, there are some great marketing automation tools like ActiveCampaign, SharpSpring, and LeadSquared that can do the heavy lifting. Your role is to understand the customer journey and create a follow-up strategy accordingly.   Using only one form of content One of the biggest mistakes today’s content marketers can make is to stick to text-only blog posts. Even the usual blog post with 2-3 images is not enough today. As users spend more time-consuming content, especially on hand-held devices, they prefer more visually appealing content.     Infographics and videos have both made enormous headway in popularity. They can even bring in a whole new audience that doesn’t usually consume long-form content. Infographics are especially useful because they are low-hanging fruit. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to repurpose a blog post into an attractive infographic. You can use tools like Canva and Piktochart to design your infographic fairly easily.   Not having enough evergreen content Evergreen content is content that literally stays “evergreen”. In other words, it’s not based on recent news or trends that will get outdated soon. Evergreen content is centered around topics that have been relevant for some time and will continue to be relevant in the near future.   Having evergreen content on your website is a very important aspect of content marketing. Creating content that will still be relevant 5 years down the line means that you will get long-term website traffic. You can search for specific keywords on Google trends to see if they can qualify as evergreen content. If so, you can focus on creating content around them.   Not getting enough help   One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a content marketer is to try and do everything yourself. There are several kinds of people who find themselves donning the content marketer hat. You may be a blogger who has tremendous writing talent and wants her blog to reach a huge audience. You may also be looking to grow your business through content marketing. Or a professional content marketer setting up or scaling the content marketing efforts at your company. In every case, doing everything yourself is a bad idea. If you have great writing skills, focus your energy on creating valuable content that your audience will love. Outsource the audience outreach to an expert. Similarly, if your skills lie in audience outreach but you’re not a writer, find a talented writer who matches your brand voice. If you don’t have either of these skills work with individuals or agencies that do. When you try to do it all yourself, your mind is easily diverted and the learning curve is steep. You will most likely end up giving up on content marketing without giving it a real chance. Stick to your strengths and hire experts as soon as you can.   Conclusion If you do a Google search for your targeted keywords today, don’t be surprised to find over a million results. That is the kind of intense competition that you will have to deal with in content marketing today. Hence, it’s super important to use the right strategy and avoid the common mistakes discussed in this article. Also, it will be wise to keep the long-term horizon in view. So go ahead and start using the tips discussed above to create a valuable

Here’s How Brands Used Social Media to Celebrate Republic Day 2019

The feeling of patriotism seems to be at an all-time high in India this year. Whether it is patriotic movies being released or the rediscovery of our past glory, we Indians seem to be revelling in feelings of nationalism and patriotism. Of course, many well-loved brands are using this patriotic fervour to engage audiences to the next level. According to a key concept in Marketing 3.0, brands have moved from focussing on customer’s material needs to understand the causes and sentiments they really feel strongly about. And what can be more appropriate than appealing to people’s sense of patriotism on the 70th Republic Day? After 15th August, Republic Day is the most important national holiday in India, and brands aren’t shying away from the occasion. Here is our pick of the top brand campaigns on Republic Day this year.   Nature Valley Keeping India’s energy high one bar at a time! #HappyRepublicDay Posted by Nature Valley on Friday, January 25, 2019   This nature valley Republic Day campaign cleverly combines the brand’s positioning as an energy bar with the feelings of patriotism. It does this by paraphrasing a now-famous line from the recently released movie Uri, based on the Indian army’s surgical strikes.   Ixigo   Ixigo’s “Train mein hai swag” campaign is hands down one of the best Republic Day campaigns we’ve seen this year. In the form of a really fun rap song, the campaign talks about how travelling by train in India is the new cool thing to do. It talks about everything we love about trains – the childhood memories, the home-cooked “puri bhaji”, and the beautiful views outside our window. The last line of the campaign is “Kyunki desh mein hai swag” which ties in the whole campaign so beautifully with Republic Day. The underlying message is that trains, which epitomize so many things about our country, are the coolest way to travel because our country is now “cool”. This is the must-watch campaign for this Republic Day!   Tata Salt We often take for granted the freedom and privileges of living in the largest Democratic Republic in the world. Here’s a salt art tribute revisiting some of the many reasons to celebrate the Indian Constitution #NamakKeWaastey pic.twitter.com/35v7aZjDzD — Tata Salt (@_deshkanamak) January 25, 2019   From its earliest days, Tata Salt has positioned itself as “Desh ka Namak” (The Country’s Salt) and this Republic Day was no different. With its latest campaign, #Namakkewaastey, Tata Salt used a really unique “salt art” campaign to talk about what makes the Indian Constitution unique. Combining extreme creativity with a strong patriotic message, this is one heartfelt campaign.   Sony Pictures Network   View this post on Instagram   Cinema that entertains and binds this great Republic together! ❤️ Here’s wishing all our fellow countrymen a #HappyRepublicDay! ??‬ ‪ गणतंत्र दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ । ? A post shared by Sony Pictures Networks (@sonypicsprodns) on Jan 26, 2019 at 12:42am PST   Sony Pictures released a beautiful video on Instagram as part of their Republic Day campaign. This video talks about how cinema is truly a medium “Of the Republic, By the Republic, and For the Republic”. It showcases how the world of cinema comprises artists and technicians from all parts of the country and all communities and religions. And it talks about how the most important part of cinema is the love that it gets from its audience; the billions of Indians all across the country and the world. This campaign is a great example of choosing to use the brand product to shed light on a different kind of nationalism – one which sends a message of unity and brotherhood. Kudos!   Axis Mutual Funds Nation building is a collective responsibility of all citizens. Today, as we celebrate 70 glorious years of being a… Posted by Axis Mutual Fund on Friday, January 25, 2019   Axis Mutual Fund’s campaign ties in the concept of a responsible citizen with “a responsible investor”. While a responsible citizen builds the country, a responsible investor plans and manages their money well. And the simple campaign showcases how a good Indian should be both.   Captain Zack Happy Republic Day from Capt. Zack and team! Posted by Captain Zack on Friday, January 25, 2019   Pet grooming brand Captain Zack keeps things simple. It has an adorable picture with a catchy caption. With one simple image, it evokes our love for dogs, our patriotism, and a smile on our faces. They say minimalism is the key to an effective brand campaign and Captain Zack shows us it is possible even in today’s digital-first age.     Robin Hood Army and Girliyaapa Little Voices We want to be a Robin and we hope that after watching this video you will too. #RobinHoodAcademy #AcademyVoice #CreateTogether #GirliyapaSpotlight We nominate all our followers & friends to volunteer, register with them on www.robinhoodarmy.com/academy Posted by Girliyapa on Friday, January 25, 2019   This one deserves a special mention. Popular Youtube channel Girliyapa collaborates with Robinhood Army to solicit volunteers for the Robinhood academy. Girliyapa, in a simple but very effective video, asks you to volunteer just 3 hours a week at the Robinhood Academy so that underprivileged kids have a better chance at life. And what better occasion for this message than Republic Day? A light, breezy but effective campaign for a very important cause. This was our list of eye-catching campaigns this Republic Day. These are the brands that made it to our list because they effectively combined a compelling story with the value proposition of their brand. If you think we missed out on any great Republic Day campaigns, do let us know in the comments below. Also, don’t forget to tell us about your favourite Republic Day campaign.

This is why even content marketers need editors

Content has rapidly become the de-facto in how businesses build credibility, implement thought leadership and grow a community of loyal fans and followers. Understandably, the pressure and expectations on the content marketer are increasing by the way. However, when you see that that 27 million pieces of content are created each day, but that 60 to 70% of website content goes unused, it’s clear that content marketing is slowly becoming more about just producing a high volume of content at the expense of producing content that people actually want to consume. Well, you might wonder what’s wrong with that? The answer probably lies in the growing line of difference between ‘producing content’ and ‘writing great stories’. While content marketers are usually great in coming up with ideas and catchy headlines, maintaining quality, consistency and ensuring that your customer doesn’t skim through your blogs without so much as a nod or a note is the job of a skilled Copy Editor. Here’s how an editor brings your content to life:   Maintain consistency It is important to remember that your brand is “one of many” in the over-communicated marketplace, and therefore, you have to consistently ‘own’ your voice. Notice how mainline and social media giants such as The New Yorker maintain their unique voice and tone in all their blogs and articles and has therefore been able to wield authority and high recall value through all mediums. Content marketers and writers who are constantly under the microscope for producing winning ideas, may not have the time or ability to phrase and word blogs, posts and articles precisely to company standards and therefore, it is only a skilled editor with sharpened tools of tone, grammar and overall knowledge of category who can dovetail the content to a voice that is associated with your brand alone.   Ensure Quality Control Once writers and marketers submit their pieces, it’s time for the editors to employ their refined skills to polish and correct these pieces to show you/the customer in the best light possible. It’s not only about cutting the T’s and debating over the Oxford comma, but a skilled editor is also a key to ensure perfect and easy readability – concentrating on delivering great stories and not just handing out more content into an already overcrowded space. In the light of maintaining quality, the editor is also responsible for implementing brevity and getting rid of any fluff or superfluous explanations and rhetoric – giving readers an almost ‘invisible experience’ while reading a piece from start to end.   Implement Strategy If you look at social media champions such as, Hubspot, whose widely-shared blog posts offer authoritative insight on everything from the evolution of Google+ to the psychology of job interviews, you will notice the copy editor’s hand at work in aligning ‘content’ to ‘company objectives’. This is a person who is well-versed in the industry space you are in and can readily identify any gaps in your content that you can fill or any opportunities that are for the taking. Content editors also work closely with writers and subject matter experts as they do with community managers, social media marketing managers with a content strategy and all other key members of the team to accrue the maximum ROI from each post you make on the social media.   Conclusion While you might think that your friend or colleague is ‘good enough’ for the ‘little proofreading’ that your content requires, investing in a professional editor may just be the best decision you make for producing really good content. An editor in the house means that he/she can scan through mistakes and errors that can finally damage the quality of your content. Also, an editor can sometimes give you a different insight into the content written, helping you elevate the standard of your content and thus build an engaged and enthusiastic audience.