Marketing Writing: Three Important Elements to Improve Efficiency
Marketing writing provides real value, drives traffic, and improves search engine rankings.
Quality content and effective copywriting builds authority and trust, brings in leads, and improves SEO. Optimizing content to rank well on search engine results pages is also an increasing priority for marketers because organic search engine traffic is five times more effective than paid ads.
The challenge for most content marketers is creating enough optimized content to make a difference.
Here are three important strategies that will help you write faster without compromising on quality.
Create an Idea Capture System
The first important element in creating better content faster is an idea capture system.
Copywriters tend to keep a log of ideas, researching their customer’s search intent, and organizing their content writing toolbox.
Log Your Content Marketing Writing Ideas
An easy reference sheet listing blogs past and future helps in several ways.
- It reveals which subjects you’ve covered well and where there are gaps.
- It keeps a record of past blogs to avoid repetition.
- Developing the habit of recording your ideas when they come saves you time when you’re ready to write.
Your log can be a notebook, an Excel spreadsheet, an app on your phone, or anything that works for you. The key is consistency, so the more accessible you make it, the better. Online resources like Google Docs or Microsoft OneNote allow access to your log from any device.
Provide Structured Answers to Question-Based Keywords
SEO has shifted from being strictly keyword-based to intent-based.
That’s because when consumers are ready to buy, they search with intent.
Blogging now is all about addressing the pain points a potential customer will have before arriving on your landing pages.
A successful marketing blog resolves a potential customer’s question.
Understanding search intent allows you to design an experience that leaves the customer feeling satisfied. It ensures you know them and are writing for them. This will ensure you are maximizing the benefits from your writing efforts.
Targeting the content of each blog to answer a customer question avoids wasted writing time and effort.
You can have months’ worth of content, but if no one is searching for your topics, it won’t matter how skilled of a content writer you are. All that blogging will be put to waste.
Content creators know it’s worth taking time to find a targeted and searched keyword phrase.
Find out how to use Google Trends to uncover popular search terms.
Organize Your Marketing Writing Toolbox
Whether you call it marketing writing, copywriting, content writing, blogging, or content creation, the process is still the same.
Great content will always rise to the top, because it fulfills your target audience’s search intent.
That’s why it’s so important for web pages to showcase a content strategy that’s informative, entertaining, detail-oriented.
Nothing undermines a great message like sloppy grammar or misspelled words. Not everyone has an eye for detail or can afford an editor.
Not to worry!
Even if your budget is zero, there are free online tools to support your writing process.
- Do you like to think out loud? Try narrating outlines or first drafts using speech to text in Google Docs.
- For keyword ideas, try Google’s Keyword Planner.
- Want to simplify the editing process? Grammarly and Hemingway both offer free services.
- In between a rock and a hard place with clichés? The cliché finder will help.
- Ready to brainstorm? Hubspot has a popular blog topic generator.
- To perk up your headline, this tool rates its emotional value.
- Need to visualize how ideas relate? This mind map tool makes it easy.
A current list of industry resources is another timesaving device, such as statistics and research related to your industry. By bookmarking these resources and keeping them at your fingertips, you save time and provide greater value with less effort.
Efficiency is all about saving time and effort. By understanding customer intent, consistently logging past content and ideas, and taking advantage of available tools, you can streamline your writing process.
Select a Singular Purpose
Web pages are rarely read in their entirety.
Writing with a singular purpose brings focus to your content marketing writing.
Since your target audience will arrive at your blog looking to answer a specific question, a clear purpose quickly confirms for them that they are in the right place.
It invites them to look deeper and read more.
Here are a few steps to create focused and inviting text that is easy to scan.
Research First
If you’re well-versed in your subject when you sit down to write, you can write without stopping. Working without interruption speeds the writing process. It also avoids potential distractions in the form of email, social media, or reading off-topic articles while writing.
Know Your Main Idea
You know you have a clear main idea when you can express it in one sentence. This main idea articulates what the reader will learn from the blog. It should answer the reader’s question: “what’s in this for me?”
Start with an Outline
The outline is an opportunity to map out the supporting points to your main idea. An outline can be detailed or general to fit your style. The important part is to set up the logical structure of your article before you get started. A clear outline avoids meandering and keeps you on target.
Lead with Your Headline
A header or two can be all a reader sees before they flip to another website or dive into your blog. Your headline creates an expectation. You want that expectation to be satisfied by the content. When writing, starting with your headline defines your focus for the paragraphs to follow.
However, you don’t have to get each headline perfect the first time. According to Leah McClellan at Simple Writing, “Crafting a headline keeps you focused on your topic and your purpose. Even if you end up rewording, a headline makes a promise you have to keep.”
One Idea Each Paragraph
One main idea per paragraph keeps the layout simple and easy to both scan and read. Bullets and subheadings are excellent ways to break up your writing into blocks and to highlight important content.
Write First. Edit Later.
Focused, uninterrupted writing is the key to speed. Experts recommend writing without pausing to edit or polish. Let it out the way it feels now. Get your ideas down first, and refine them later.
Corey Pemberton at Bidsketch recommends you “give yourself permission to write a bad first draft. Trying to get everything right in the first draft will absolutely kill your writing speed…. This change in workflow is one of the most important things you can do to pick up your speed dramatically.”
Polish the Rough Edges
If you have time to walk away for a while, a fresh pair of eyes aid in editing. If you don’t have an online editor you use, you can compare online grammar checkers here. In most cases, writing improves through a round or two of edits. As you polish, highlight key offers and messages within the copy.
Smart Content Marketing Strategy: Write to Repurpose
With multiple content channels demanding attention, repurposing is a powerful efficiency tool.
It allows you to create more content with less time and effort.
However, effective repurposing requires strategy.
It should start with a top-notch piece of content like a white paper written on a topic of value to your customers.
But you don’t want to just regurgitate the information contained in that white paper.
You want your blog to provide a better answer than the competition has. One way to improve is to review the top ten search results for your chosen keyword.
Notice what each post contains — especially gaps in information or ways to add value.
Write your own post that answers all the questions a person searching for the topic would have. The topic should be relevant to your customer’s needs. Your post should be substantial. A specific word count is less important than covering the topic completely.
To brainstorm great blog ideas, you can browse eBooks on Amazon. You can poll your customers. You can also find out which of your blogs are most popular with Google Analytics or a similar tool.
Find out how important marketing writing has become with this infographic on the subject.
Want to create a quick-quote graphic formatted for Facebook or Instagram? Canva is a handy tool.
Content Marketing Momentum
With organization and focus, you can create the volume of high-quality content that builds customer relationships, establishes authority, and brings in new leads.
Remember you aren’t writing for yourself. Arm yourself with insights on your customers’ behavior, needs, and pains so you can address them every time.
Content marketing writing is a powerful tool in today’s marketplace. However, it does take consistent effort and time. By incorporating these key elements of efficient writing, we hope you streamline your process into an endless pipeline of relevant and valuable content.
Joan Weisman’s strong research skills, SEO knowledge, adaptability of style and voice, and passion for staying current make her an asset for freelance web content, SEO, and copywriting.
