Writing covers many fields, and unless we are a novelist, we must be willing to write in any genre if the job involves providing editorial services.
One of the most common types of writing requested by clients today is content writing. Content writing is about creating useful and informative content for the web and social media.
Content writing is a part of content marketing, the goal of which is to write in a way that draws the target audience to the site and gets them actively involved. This participation may include readers commenting on blogs and social networks, clicking “Like” and “Share” or “Tweeting” a written post or uploaded video.
According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), “content marketing is the art of communicating with customers and prospects without selling. It’s non-stop marketing. Instead of presenting your products or services, you deliver information that makes your buyer smarter. . The core of this content strategy is the belief that if we as companies deliver consistent, continuous valuable information to buyers, they will ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.”
A good content strategy often starts with using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to get more traffic to your site. The first things we need to consider and ask ourselves when writing content marketing are:
- Who is our audience? What do they want to know or talk about?
- Where do they usually hang out online? Which social network, community or forum?
- Which writing style is best for the target audience? Social or formal? For business-to-customer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B)?
- What is the goal of writing? Is it to bring awareness of a need, a message to be conveyed, a goal to be achieved or something to educate and inform?
- What keywords should be included in SEO content writing?
- Is our writing easy to read and understand? Are there technical words or jargon in the content that we need to change or remove for clarity?
- How can we measure results and know which conversations are catching fire?
The path to good content writing and content marketing requires constant analysis and evaluation of which approach suits the target audience best at a given time. However, what works best changes all the time, so there is no hard and fast rule for optimal results. The most important thing to consider in content marketing is that without good content, marketing is impossible. Unless readers find value in what we write, they are unlikely to engage in discussions to learn more. What we write in the content to generate interest and engage the audience is therefore paramount.
