Content marketing is a great way of informing your target audience about your brand, expertise, and the products or services your business offers.
According to Deloitte, 12% of UK consumers increased the number of brands they followed on social media during lockdown. This has presented companies with a chance to capitalise on new leads. Good copywriting plays a key role in doing just that.
Content marketing and copywriting: what is the difference?
Content marketing is the creation and dissemination of free content to encourage prospective customers to convert and existing customers to keep buying. It can exist in the form of blogs, videos, podcasts, infographics or email automation when useful data can be gathered to inform a wider marketing strategy.
On the other hand, copywriting revolves around getting the reader to take a specific action. That could be making a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or getting in contact with your business for more information.
To be successful, content marketing and copywriting need to work in conjunction as bad copy can ruin good content.
How copywriting can aid content marketing
Copywriting is an important part of content marketing. If it is not up to scratch the content might not achieve the desired effect.
When writing copy for content marketing purposes, there are a few simple things to bear in mind to ensure it does what you need it to.
Make a strong start: Grab the reader’s attention with a strong headline and introduction. People are quick to disengage from content if it doesn’t grab them straight away. Twitter even trialled a feature to make people reconsider sharing articles without reading them. This trial showed that sometimes even a good headline isn’t enough to get people to read. You cannot waste a single word that could draw your reader in.
Keep it tight: Avoid making your copy waffly as this can switch the reader off. If you can make a sentence shorter, do it – as long as it still makes sense. For example, change ‘in order to’ to ‘to’ or ‘a number of’ can become ‘several’, while the word ‘that’ can often be removed. However, it’s still important to vary the length of sentences as this can provide a more engaging rhythm.
Avoid hyperbole: There is no need to exaggerate how good the product/service you are offering is by using words like ‘revolutionary’ or ‘ground-breaking’ – unless it really is. If a product is that good, your copy should reflect why in simple terms the reader can quickly understand and buy into.
Be influential: It’s important to make it clear that you understand the prospective customer’s pain points and empathise with those issues. You can then gently nudge them towards the desired solution, convincing them that your product or service is exactly what they are looking for. In some cases, it’s better to incorporate subtle calls-to-action rather than taking a blunt approach such as ‘Buy Now!’
Make a connection: Rather than tackling the issue head-on and diving straight into selling the product or service, good copy will look for an angle that resonates with the reader. Think about the problem the reader is facing and how your offering can solve it for them. By homing in on that and why the solution the product or service provides, you can show you understand them on a deeper level.
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