Marketing content, or information, used to be a pushy, one-way street.
We called this process outbound marketing. We delivered content to
journalists at traditional media. They, in turn, moved the gist of your
content to their, and your, audiences. Your content sold you.
This was, and is, what outbound marketing is all about. The information
moves in one direction – outbound from you to your audiences. Social
media changed all that. Now, we talk about inbound marketing. You need
your content to attract your audience(s) back to you, to your website
and blog.
To get this done means having a new mindset and taking a radically
different approach to writing–to prompt an ongoing give and take between
you and your audiences. Here’s how:
Make your copy conversational. If nothing else, writing
for content marketing and social media is best done with an
informational, conversational style that invites other people to
contribute their thinking. Content marketing is about conversation,
first, last, and always.
Write for the ear. Doing so makes especially good sense
when you’re writing for social media. Your copy should read well, of
course, but above all, it should sound conversational. After all, that’s
how you get a conversation going, isn’t it?
Be timely and relevant. When it comes to social media,
people want to involve themselves in what matters to them now. They come
first. So you’d better know what they consider to be timely and
relevant. Observe and listen to what they talk about in real time and on
social media.
Hijack the News. Keep up with what’s going on in the
world. Find ways to tie your business and what you do to what’s going
on. Because your audiences will be tuned into large events and issues,
relating your stuff to these events and issues will help them pay
attention to what you communicate about.
Headlines matter big time. The people who make up your
audiences are on the go. They don’t want to take time figuring out if
your copy is something they should spend time with. They have to know
right away. Strong, grabber headlines help them to get into your
narrative without having to think about it.
Use visuals whenever possible. Visuals—photos and graphics—draw people right into your content. Isn’t that what you want?
Newsiness is the new norm. Look at it this way: On the
Internet among social media, everybody is a reporter. If your content is
newsworthy to them, they’ll spread the word by tweeting colleagues and
other people they know, and will write about it on Facebook and other
sites.
Step away from the formulaic. Doing so ranks as
important as newsiness. Your copy should be fresh, new, different, and
express your personal and professional take on things, not someone
else’s. Find the style that sets you apart.
Master the art of the short. If the Internet and social
media are about anything, they are about writing short, pithy content
that involves readers in the blink of an eye,, gets to the point with
useful information, keeps them coming back for more, motivates them, to
offer their inputs.
