Word on the Street The Roadmap to Creating Compelling Content
What makes a good writer?
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uch like a street graffiti artist, a good writer begins with utilizing what's in your tool kit. An artist, much like a writer, cannot simply pick up a can of spray paint and create a masterpiece. It all starts with inspiration and a whole lot of imagination. Inspiration is like a alley-way trashcan fire. All you need is a little spark and the fire begins to burn. Once you start your blaze and your idea has taken hold, you have to mold and shape it into something useful for your brand that your target market will comprehend and engage with– and make it something your competitors haven't tried yet! The key to creating compelling content begins in the strategy room with a Category 5 brainstorming session. Make it a rule of thumb to always have a team member join you to bounce ideas around. Some of the best content I have ever created has been a result of an early morning water cooler conversation.
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You A Question
Why are you creating this? What message are you trying to convey? What do you want the reader to do? What images will you use to help the reader visualize?
What’s your story?
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very brand has a story and chances are that you’ll tell anyone who will listen. When it comes to writing content, it’s important to figure out how to share your story in a way that is moves consumers to interact with your brand. Bumper stickers are kind of like walking storybooks. You put a bumper sticker on your car so that everyone on the road knows how smart your kid is, who you’re voting for or how many members are in your stick figure family. You are saying “this message is so important to me that I want everyone in rush hour traffic to see it”. Imagine if we told our brand’s story like that. Somewhere along the way, our company stories became more like term papers than short paragraphs. It’s time to stop writing novels about your brand and start summarizing the most important parts into a few sentences and interacting with your consumers. A story is much more than words. Just like bumper stickers, your story can be as simple as a short, witty and simply decorated message that conveys a little sample of your brand’s culture and beliefs. It’s up to you to string together the right, honest words to make your brand’s story bumper sticker worthy!
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Why are you writing?
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hen you’re writing about the same thing everyday you can easily become repetitive and unimaginative. Forget what you’re writing about and remember why you’re writing! Think of content creation like a restaurant’s street-side chalkboard menu. Any one can write Deluxe Burger Special on a sign, but what will make consumers stop and say “I want to eat here”? It’s your job to think outside of the box and create unique content that drives traffic and sales leads.
Your content should be 3 things on the REG: Resounding, Engaging and Gripping. Creativity is key in creating compelling content but you cannot lose sight of your overall goal. Remember, a picture of a dog in the shower with a witty caption will not sell Murphy Beds but it will sell pet hygiene products. Success Goal Spend a few minutes each day increasing your vocabulary. The more words you know, the better your content will be.
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Quote-able “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” — Rudyard Kipling
Are you making an impact?
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here are more than 1billion people on Facebook. If you think those people don’t have an affect on your brand, you’re wrong. Social Media is the number one activity on the Internet and those consumers are always talking. If you’re not having an impact on your industry, your competitor is. Unlike traditional writing, social media content constantly changes to match current conversations. Take a gander at your fan page. Is the content diverse? It should be. If all you’re doing is selling yourself, you’re losing business. Follow the 80/20 rule: interact with fans on current events and new 80% of the time and only sell your brand 20%. You must first become a source of entertaining and relevant content. Get people to your page and they will stick around. Here comes the no brainer: make sure that your content is free of spelling and grammatical errors. Social media users will be fast to jump on the Criticizing Train and will relentlessly remind you of your error. Save yourself the embarrassment (and the apology) by proofing all if your statuses and updates.
Social Media content should always be: likable, relatable and sharable.
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Where’s this traffic from?
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EO. It’s an industry term that ‘s thrown around a lot but do you know what it means for you? For content creators, SEO means that you have one more team member to consult before writing. Optimizers collect data from your website and search engines to determine how people are getting to you. Your target demographic is always searching out things that you sell, but without incorporating SEO, how can you ensure that they’ll find you and not your competitor? You can’t. Writing for SEO should be incorporated into everything you create. Utilize your specific key words or phrases as much as you can in your blog posts, web content or other online copy. Most of the time, this should easy– you’re already writing about your products and services– but every now and then it’s a challenge. There’s nothing a “weapon of mass production” loves more than a content challenge. Break out the thesaurus!
SEO content should include:
Keywords
Link Backs
Relevant Tags
Searchable Titles
Note: Website content that is copied and pasted throughout multiple pages will not increase your SEO rankings. Search engines actually penalize for repeated content. Make sure you’re always creating something unique and original.
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5 Content Mistakes You Can’t Afford
1. Not Knowing Your Audience: If you don’t know who you are writing for, there’s no use in writing. Always keep your target audience in mind when creating anything! Don’t write a blog on Barbie dolls if your demographic is 25-34 year old men. 2. Bad Spelling/ Grammar: Refrain from embarrassing yourself and proof all of your content. It’s easy to press send without reviewing but it’s past time to start making revision a priority. 3. S-E-No: Not using SEO is like fishing without bait. It doesn’t make sense. You will help yield the most positive search results for your brand by simply adding optimized key words and phrases. 4. Sell-Sell-Sell Attitude: If your content is all selling based, you’re wasting your time. Start creating content that is resounding, engaging and gripping. 5. Boring: When you’re reading something that you’re genuinely uninterested in, what do you do? You skim, skip and ultimately navigate elsewhere. If your content is boring, your products and your company also come off as boring. Don’t be afraid to spice it up! Throw in a joke or a pop culture or world event reference (as long as it is in good taste, of course).
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Are you ready to succeed?
888.718.3188 | www.Hi5Creative.co