Quality content writing must be mixed with quality images and graphics

Mix quality content writing with quality images and graphics

The Internet after all is a multimedia experience. Although most of the information on the web exists in the form of text (written information), visual information has the proverbial edge – one picture is worth a thousand words.

In terms of SEO and unobtrusive communication, compared to writing, video and images haven’t arrived yet. Even if you want to rank images and videos well, you need to depend on the surrounding text.

You may also like to read The importance of visual content in your content marketing.

But content writing – no matter how awesome it is – on its own, has its limitations these days.

If people come across just text on your web page or blog post, they feel intimidated.

A good image gives a welcome break, and so does a captivating video. There is a mix of people who prefer video over text and text over video (and images and graphics) and since these days any person can turn out to be your customer or client, you don’t want to lose out on various media-opportunities technology gives you these days.

Writing text has never been difficult, provided you know how to write.

Until a few years ago, coming up with business-worthy images and graphics was a taxing exercise but not anymore. With a decent camera you can click great photographs. You can mix your photographs with different other graphics available on free stock websites with the help of Photoshop and other image editing tools.

For a few months I have been using Filmora and Movavi for creating videos. Before that, I was also using PowerPoint to create videos. In PowerPoint there is a feature that allows you to export the slides into a nifty movie. These days, I use all the three tools. For example, recently I created this video using Filmora:

Along with content writing, you can use quality images to improve your SEO

I have observed videos aren’t as good as images for better SEO. Videos are good if you simply want to upload promotional videos on YouTube and other social media websites but other than that, when it comes to featuring on search results, I’m not impressed.

Images, on the other hand, do quite well on search engines. Surprisingly, Bing image search is better than Google image search. Even the quality of images and graphics is better on Bing.

Anyway, most of the SEO tools these days advise you to throw in a good mix of images and text. Preferably, one image or graphic after every 300-500 words.

A good thing about strategically using images along with content writing is that the images give you an opportunity to use your primary and secondary keywords.

You can name your images including your keywords. You can use alt text for keywords. You can also use captions.

Surrounding your images and graphics with keyboard-rich content helps Google and Bing figure out what you’re trying to say through your images and graphics.

Some concepts are better explained with graphics: for example infographics.

You can use words, you can use icons, you can use arrows – there are scores of things you can use to explain concepts that are difficult to explain using plain content writing.

Sometimes I also use images for humour. For example, if I tell you to smile. Instead of showing a human smiling, you are sure to smile if you see a dog smiling or a cat smiling.

Smiling dog

I was writing about anger. Instead of showing an angry person, I showed an angry baby. With little bit of fun and cuteness, I was able to put my point across.

Angry baby face

This post titled 5 ways graphics can post content marketing success says that using images and graphics also increases engagement and shareability. Your readers are more prone to sharing your content if they find captivating images.

Images can also be used to draw people’s attention to your content. When you share your links on social media and social networking websites, you must have observed that the biggest rectangle is assigned to your image. The headline appears over the image. So, the first thing people see about your content is your image.

Images and graphics also give you an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitor, as rightly suggested by the above link. Visual imagery is very powerful. And the good thing is, you can create highly unique images with little bit of creativity and some good tools.

Are you writing content for voice search?

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According to eMarketers, at least 40% people in the United States use some sort of voice assistance while surfing the web, once a month. This is 2019, and 111.8 million people (just in the US). By 2021 the figure is expected to increase to 122.7 million people using voice search. Are you writing content targeting these people?

200 billion voice searches will be done by 2020

[Image source]

I have written multiple times on writing content for voice search, including How to optimize content writing for voice search and How to write content for voice-activated devices.

If you recently said, “Okay Google, find me this information”, then you will understand what I’m trying to say.

There are certain businesses that are very straightforward. For example, if you’re looking for a content writing service for your business, you will probably tell Google to “find a content writing service for my flower delivery business”, or something like that. Or you can search for “why does my business need a professional content writer?”

But, if you have scores of products and services, you need to write content in such a manner that no matter what people say into their “smart” devices, using voice search, they are able to find your website in such a manner that they understand that you are in the business of providing what they need.

Writing content for traditional search is not very different from writing content for voice search as long as you are addressing the core issue and you write your content in a conversational manner. After all, people use voice search as if they are having a conversation with someone.

When we are talking to someone in a conversational tone, we don’t use stiff language. We use words that we don’t normally write.

Our school and college train us to use different tones when we are speaking and when we are writing. Even when you don’t write the way you wrote essays in school and college, you may use monosyllables or simply the service names when using your fingers to type.

On the other hand, when you are speaking into your voice assistant, you will speak complete sentences, and sometimes even slightly complex sentences with unrelated phrases.

A big reason why we tend to speak longer phrases for voice search is that it’s easy to speak than write, especially on mobile phones and especially on devices like Amazon Echo where there is no system of writing.

Writing existing content for voice search

If you already have lots of content written for your website or blog (or both) the idea of rewriting existing content for voice search may seem overwhelming, but actually it is not.

In fact, if you already have lots of content, you have an advantage. You just need to make some structural changes and add some phrases at strategic places to make it friendly for voice search rankings.

For example, make a list of phrases people would use when using voice search. Then use these phrases in the headlines and sub headlines. Insert sentences carrying these phrases whenever they sound logical and relevant.

Add a couple of extra paragraphs using those phrases.

You can also create or write additional webpages and blog posts specifically targeting phrases for voice search. Just make sure you don’t end up duplicating your content.

Writing new content for voice search

Of course, being a professional content writer, I would suggest that if you need quality content writing for voice search, you should work with a trained content writer. But, if you’re not in the mood of hiring one, or if you don’t have the budget, you can first record your voice before writing.

Whatever you want to write, first, have a conversation about it with one of your colleagues or your friends and record the conversation.

Don’t worry about grammar and wrong usage of words. Simply have a conversation.

Then, when writing content, listen to that conversation and try to use as many words you hear in the conversation as possible. I have found that this is one of the best ways of content writing for voice search.

Don’t stop your content marketing once your customers have bought from you

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Content marketing to existing customers

In its truest essence, content marketing is all about building relationships and when you build relationships, you don’t put a stop to your relationships once some basic job is done.

The purpose of content marketing is to positively engage your prospective customers and clients so that they feel aware enough and consequently, feel motivated enough to prefer you for their next purchase, over your competitor.

According to this study, 50% of small and medium-size businesses have revealed that half of their revenue comes from repeat customers. Other studies have shown that loyal customers are worth 10x as much as first-time customers. A 5% increase in customer retention can increase your profitability by 75% (source).

Hence, this blog post rightly suggests that you shouldn’t stop your content marketing targeting them once your customers have purchased from you.

In fact, since they have purchased from you, they have a positive perception about your business. They are familiar with you or your business name.

Through spending money on your business, they have shown their confidence in your ability to deliver. They trust you. They are more receptive to your messages and communication.

How do you engage your existing customers through content marketing?

Almost all of your customers share their email ids when they buy from you for the first time.

After getting their permission, you can add their email addresses to a mailing list through which you can keep in touch with them regularly.

But they wouldn’t like to hear from you for your chitter chatter. They will appreciate communication from you if you have something valuable to offer.

This is what I would suggest you can do to constantly keep in touch with your existing customers:

Send them a nice thank you email once they have purchased for the first time.
After a couple of days, you can send another email asking them if they have faced any problem using your product or service.
After a week, send an email asking for their feedback. You can use a custom online form to allow them to leave your feedback as easily as possible.
After another week, give them an opportunity to connect with you using a social networking apps or platform.
In between, if you have come across an interesting article or blog post, or if you yourself have published an insightful article or blog post on your own website, you can share the link with them hoping that they find it useful.
Send them an offer if you have got something similar to what they purchased from you.

Outside of email, maintained an updated FAQs section in case they have some questions regarding their purchase.

You can also publish tutorials on how they can benefit the most out of their purchase from you.

You can go on publishing content targeting your existing customers.

Content writing for effective email marketing

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Content writing and effective email marketing

What is the relationship between quality content writing and effective email marketing?

You might as well ask what is the relationship between air and breathing?

Or, what is the relationship between speaking and words.

To understand the importance of content writing vis-à-vis email marketing, you need to understand your email strategy.

There is a good way of doing email marketing, and there is a bad way.

The bad way is, simply blasting an email message to “thousands of” email addresses and then hoping that since you have sent out a message to so many people, even if 1% of them respond, you have hit the jackpot.

Doesn’t work that way.

It’s a misconception.

Even if you send out a message to thousands of people, unless you send them something that really matters to them, they’re not going to respond.

Even 1% don’t respond.

It’s because people don’t really care about you.

The same way you don’t really care about them.

You just want them to spend money on you and then be done with that.

You don’t even want to spend much time, effort and money on creating a convincing email message for them.

If the message matters, if you want your communication to make an impact, you understand the importance of content writing.

Of course, you can fill up your email message with high-resolution images and for many businesses, words don’t matter, especially when your brand already enjoys a significant degree of recognition.

Amazon, for example. They can simply send out a catalogue with prices and small descriptions and people are going to buy if they want to buy.

On the other hand, as a small business, or even a big business that doesn’t enjoy brand recognition, you need to hit a chord with your words. You need to convince people. You need to tell them that you have something to offer that they cannot resist, something highly useful.

How quality content writing helps you in effective email marketing

Building your own mailing list for personal branding

Email marketing works. People know it works but somehow, they don’t believe that it actually works. Since they don’t take their email seriously, they think that so does everyone else.

This might have got something to do with email being mostly free.

But they often come across blog posts and articles, and these days even videos, where people are shouting from their rooftops telling the non-believers that email marketing definitely works. It has worked for them.

In The Ultimate List of Email Marketing Stats for 2019 the Hubspot blog post refers to a study that says that email marketing generates $38 for every $1 spent on it. This is 3800% ROI. Which marketing tool or marketing method gives you this much ROI?

The problem is, although people drool over such an ROI, they neither want to work hard for such an ROI, nor want to spend money.

They just fantasize about replicating the success stories of other email marketers and then, since it is so easy to send out “thousands of” email messages, they go on doing the same thing without much success and then in the process, getting disillusioned.

Quality content writing is what makes your email marketing effective. It is content writing that earns you $38 for every $1 that you spend on getting your email campaign written, designed, and broadcast.

Some more stats about email marketing:

83% B2B companies use email marketing as one of the primary content marketing tools.
40% B2B marketers claim that email marketing is most critical for the success of their content marketing.
In 2019, just the US companies spent around $350 million on email marketing.
99% consumers check their email everyday (I bet you have already checked your email multiple times today).
80% respondents, according to this Marketing Land survey admitted that grammar and spelling mistakes were the biggest reasons why they abandoned going through an email message. Words matter.

Writing is important because going through email is a very personal activity and hence, when someone is reading your email, it is as if you’re talking to him or her directly. It mostly happens in the subconscious mind.

So, for effective email marketing, it is very important that you pay close attention to every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every heading and every bullet point that you use.

Even a small oversight may send your recipient to the next message in the inbox.

For email marketing success, the focus of your content writing must be establishing a relationship with your recipients, rather than stuffing a marketing message down their throats.

Therefore, an important key to email marketing success is running a long campaign rather than blasting off intermittent messages.

Take your own example. Do you remember any business, organization or company that sends you messages you look forward to receiving?

If you can recall a few names, these are probably the businesses, organizations and companies you want to do business with, want to spend your money on.

This is because they deliver something valuable. Something valuable to you. Something you enjoy reading.

Deliver something useful. Deliver something useful regularly. And use good language to deliver it. Then, when they need to purchase something that you offer, they will definitely purchase it from you unless you have made it impossible for them to purchase it from you (for example, exorbitantly costly).

When writing content for effective email marketing, keep the following in mind:

Use a compelling subject line that makes people open your message despite all the distractions. Make a promise in the subject line.
A precursor to writing a compelling subject line is knowing what your recipients really need. Only when they need something that you have mentioned in your subject line, they will open your message eagerly.
In the first headline or the first paragraph, talk about the promise that you have made in the subject line, otherwise there will be a disconnect and your recipients will immediately move onto the next email message.
Use smaller words and smaller sentences. Just one sentence per paragraph.
Use a conversational tone but don’t dumbify your writing. Respect the intelligence of your recipients.
Remember that it is a one-on-one conversation. Keep it that way.
Don’t shy away from working with a professional content writer.

Some people have a natural flair for writing expressively. Recently I advised a client to write a blog post on her own because I noticed that she was writing better than me.

This doesn’t make me a bad or and incapable content writer, it’s just that, I agree that when it comes to writing on certain subjects, people who are already working in the field, in the proverbial “trenches”, provided they know how to write, write with much greater passion and insight than someone who is just taking points and writing something.

So, using the guidelines mentioned above, if you feel that you can carry out an effective email marketing campaign on your own, nothing wrong in that. Go ahead.

But if you think that it would be better to work with a content writing service then don’t dillydally. It will one of the best business investments you will ever make.

Writing effective content for 7 stages of content marketing

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Content writing for 7 stages of content marketing

I just came across an interesting infographic explaining the 7 stages of content marketing. They are

Setting a goal – what you want to achieve through content writing.
Creating a content writing strategy – what all factors will influence your content writing process.
Research – to create authoritative content, you need to do research to collect useful insights and data for making a convincing case.
The actual content writing process – use all the information that you have gathered, write the content and publish it based on your strategy.
Content curation – provided you can find it, you can curate highly useful content and either publish your own version of it, or share it using your social media and social networking timelines.
Content distribution and broadcasting – once you have written the content and published it, you need to broadcast it. In terms of content marketing, you need to “market” your content. You can use different channels available to you including email marketing, social media marketing and search marketing.
Engagement – this is also an important component of content marketing. Only when you engage your audience, it responds to your content.

Just as content marketing followers a 7-stage approach, so does content writing, although, content writing is a subset of content marketing – the content that you market is often obtained through high-quality content writing.

But the process is more or less the same.

When I start working on a certain piece of content, I always ask my client what he wants to achieve? What should be the end result? How must the reader feel after having read the entire piece?

Research is an expensive undertaking, because it takes time and also, access to data sources. Very few clients are ready to pay for research and they think it should be a part of writing content.

They need good content, good content needs data, data can be gathered with research, but they think, they shouldn’t have to pay for the research because it is part of content writing. It becomes a vicious circle.

Then comes the actual content writing process. Being an experienced content writer, this doesn’t take much time provided I have the needed information.

Content curation is not a part of content writing, but it plays a crucial role. For example, I didn’t have time today to work on something elaborate but then when I came across this infographic, I quickly had something to write about. This can be termed as content curation. You can directly share the content you are curating, or you can use it to write and publish content on your own website or blog.

One of the most crucial passes content distribution. This is where most of the content marketers are stumped.

For content marketing, you need to build an audience, or you need to spend money on a pre-built audience. Since people are not even ready to spend good money on content writing, spending money on content distribution is even more difficult. But, writing and publishing content is just a very small part of content marketing. What’s important is, you make sure that your content reaches the audience.

Engagement, again, is as important as marketing your content. We live and operate in a high state of distraction these days. People won’t notice your content unless you are able to engage them. Engaging means making people respond to your content. People respond through “Liking” your social media updates, sharing your content, writing about your content, recreating it on Twitter – basically, reacting to your content in a positive manner.

You may like to read What is engaging content writing?