Writing is the backbone to all marketing promotions. From SMS, email, fax, website and social media marketing, writing is how you convey your message, intent and call-to-action to your customers.
But crappy writing does more disservice to your promotions and your brand even, than anything else does. Poor writing shows your customers that you’re lazy, unprofessional and generally don’t really care about what you’re selling. You can’t become an authority in your field when you can’t even write clear and concise copy about the subject. Readers pick up on this and you need to understand that right off the bat.
No one is too busy or too stressed or under too harsh a deadline to ever condone substandard writing. Readers are sometimes more excited to leave a comment about a spelling mistake or incorrect fact, instead of praise for a well written article.
If you think that your content writing needs a little pick-me-up, then dive right in to our expert tips.
1. Write like you know what you’re talking about
Or, write like you have the authority and know-how to do so.
By doing this, you’re not only demonstrating to your customers that your company is the leading voice in the industry, you’re also reaffirming their loyalty and the trust they placed in you.
Write as if you know what you’re talking about, don’t hedge. Get right to the point, and do so with intent and clarity. Be decisive. If you need to, use the tools available on the Internet to quickly teach yourself more on the subject and never print something you are unsure of.
2. Original content only
Never, ever, under any circumstances, copy and paste content from another site and call it your own. Not only will Google punish you, so will your customers (and your conscience).
It doesn’t matter how busy you are, copying content is the same thing as lying to your customers. And, if you’re okay with that, then who know what else you’re doing. Writing originally takes time and effort. Creating something from scratch always takes diligence.
For the record, we’re not talking about copying your own content; meaning, you recycle past promotions and blogs that received rave reviews. Do that. But, don’t take credit for a stranger’s work.
3. Watch your grammar and spelling mistakes
This is a no-brainer. Even the simplest mistake can cost you subscribers and your reputation.
4. Write relevantly
Here, think like a social media guru. Social media thrives on what’s the freshest, hottest and most talked about. This is what relevancy is.
Do some research within your industry, scan discussion boards and look at what your customers are talking about.
5. Keep an eye on your keywords (SEO)
For email purposes, keyword content isn’t necessarily a big to-do. In general, you don’t have to worry about in the day-to-day managing of your email marketing campaign.
But, what you do need to worry about is what happens after you send out your email. Chances are you link to existing content on your website and social media pages, and those are subject to search engine optimization. Further, if you post older emails on your site to lure in new subscribers, those, too, are up for SEO rankings.
So, you do need to watch your keyword count and ensure that you’re treating your emails as if they’re blogs on your site, posts on your Facebook page or Tweets.
[box]Written by Michael Cusden
Michael is the Marketing Manager at SimplyCast.com, a Canadian-based startup that provides automated marketing tools to businesses worldwide.[/box]
Thank you, Michael, for these 5 great tips!
When I see misspellings in sales copy or in general, I do become a bit suspect of the professionalism of the company and/or blogger. Of course we all make mistakes, but it really does plant a seed of doubt.
Personally, I found your first point to be relevant to me in that I need to be more consistent in this area and I appreciate you highlighting that approach.
Thanks again,
Nathan Gurley
I write articles but didn’t notice on keyword. Now I knew that the importance of keywords. This post really helped me. Thank you.
Very basic, and certainly not new, but valuable advice nonetheless.
Thanks Nathan.
Marquita, I agree with you but it is the basics that people tend to overlook or not double check.
Great tips, there are different stages or niches to write for and you helped the people that are looking to start a business and looking for content writing information for the first time…when they need it the most. I tend to target the same of people..looking to start a business, not already in one or looking to learn the hardest things on the internet. They can progress later.
I Like to.write a list of the problems I went through before and after I joined a business because we all usually go through the same struggles. And what I was looking for or wanted to know. Works great for helping people if they buy from you now or down the line.
Having the right solution before you write it I find helps a lot too. Your post gave me some great information if I was sponsor shopping for sure. Keep up the great work!
Rick
Michael,
solid writing advice. Perhaps I shouldn’t, BUT I do lose a lot of respect when I see Obvious grammar and spelling errors in an email or blog post. That tells me that the person who wrote the post could NOT take another few minutes to re-read their post ONE time before sending it out to the world and everyone on their email list. That’s really sad and annoying.
Thanks for the post!
— Jupiter Jim
Writing is a huge part of communicating properly to your audience, connections and customers or clients. One thing that I have learned over the past 2 years through social media is to be more aware of your market. As you write, your passion and purpose should always come through. This will attract attention and bring results.
Thank you Michael for sharing your awesome tips as they are great reminders to stay focused and be consistent when writing and communicating.
hey Michael
great advise on content writing. This will definitely benefit those people who are new to Network marketing.
~ Easther
I was not aware that SEO needed to be taken care of while writing mails, it makes sense, thanks for the info, I’ll see agin the content as far as SEO is oncerned in my e mail marketing and titles too…
Absolutely smack on, with the idea of original content (and everything else in this post, too) but that idea of original content is so good. You hear many people talking about ways to scrape content and to spin content, and yet, a reader knows right away when they look at your stuff what kind of person you are by your writing voice.
Are you telling them the exact same thing in exactly the same way that they can read in a hundred different places online? Or do you really, honestly have something original to say?
The quality of our results will vary directly with the quality of the effort we put in to get those results. And if we scrimp on the effort to produce good writing, it won’t be long before our readers will be scrimping on the attention they give us.
Great post! I find that another great way to improve your writing is to take a break after finishing it, before submitting it. After a break, read what you’ve written as if it were written by someone else, and you are the editor, looking for mistakes. Does it flow properly? Does it explain the title well? No mistakes? Then publish…
Wow, what great comments. Thanks everyone. Writing when broken down just needs to be simple and easy to understand. Write for people, not for search engines and everything will work out just fine.
Marc, that is an excellent point. I tend to write something and look at it the next day and make many improvements. Sometimes taking a break can really help out.
Thanks for the tips. Bad writing really has a negative effect on the readers, that is why aside from content, good grammar is important. Writing is a way of expressing oneself and what better way to show this is to be confident in what you are writing about.