Writing fresh and useful marketing content that your audiences will appreciate
Plan ahead
As far as you can. Not that you need everything buttoned down for an entire year. But try to get ahead of the game by at least 3 - 4 “cycles” of content. Doing so reduces the likelihood of settling for just anything when “zero hour” hits.
This works even better when others can brainstorm with you.
Talk to customers
Build a dialogue. Ask them what they’d like to know a little bit more about your company, products, and services. This doesn’t mean asking them “what would you like us to put in our next newsletter?” Instead, see if they have any questions or concerns they’d like clarified.
Stop for a second
Stop and ask, “Who cares?” as you determine content. Often, our words become so internalized that they mean nothing to anyone but ourselves. Pick topics that you can honestly say others would definitely care about.
Think keywords when writing
Having keyword-rich content provides two things. First and foremost, you bring information people already want. And secondly, your search rankings escalate when you deliver quality content responding to those keywords.
Generate lots of headlines and subheads
Good stories often have many starts and stops.
Use the headline to stop the reader
Make it personal to them. Hold their interest by punctuating your story with subheads that entice and encourage reading more.
Flip your content
Conclusions should start paragraphs, not end them. This helps to keep readers engaged-even if they’re just scanning.
Stress end-user benefits. Not features
To intrigue readers, describe the benefit of a specific feature. Review each paragraph to make sure you haven’t forgotten to share key benefits with your readers. People like hearing or reading about themselves. So make your content as personable as possible, by relating it specifically to your audience.
