Many marketers still think of content as nothing more than blogs and Facebook posts, but that’s so 2014. Content is anything that can be used to convey your marketing message. It’s multimedia, it’s trending in 2015, and businesses that don’t learn to take advantage of content in all its forms will soon find themselves losing out to their competitors.
By the same token, writers are more than just bloggers for hire. In my own experience as a freelance writer, I’ve been called upon to write many things besides blog posts, including best man speeches, book cover blurbs, printed brochures and ads, scripts, photo captions, irate letters threatening lawsuits, product descriptions for lots of things, including adult toys, and I once wrote an outline for a presentation given at the UN in Geneva.
The point is, you’re not using your writers to their full potential if they’re just writing blogs, and your content marketing will grow wings and take off if you embrace multimedia. Your stable of talented writers stands ready to deliver. Here are some ways you can start using your writers for more than just fresh blogs posts.
- Video scripts – Videos are a powerful marketing medium, whether they’re overviews of your business, products and services, or how-to videos, and they’re easier than ever to produce and disseminate. They reach a market segment that might not read text content. Videos on a businesses’ homepage have been shown raise conversion rates by 20%. Put writers to work writing compelling, imaginative scripts, and you might even get them to voice them too.
- Infographic content – Infographics are popular because they’re so effective at getting your message across in short, visual bits, perfect for today’s short attention span Internet user. Tests show that 40% of people respond better to visual images. They’re easily shared by viewers, and reusable.
- Social media posts – Marketing gurus are forecasting that social media will become even more important than it already is as 2015 progresses, especially paid advertising and promoted posts. New social platforms are on the horizon, many targeted to mobile users. Writers love writing clever, witty posts that will bring customers to your door.
- Photographic content – Who says writers have to be writing all the time? They’re perfectly willing and able to curate and manage graphic content, whether on your website or on platforms like Pinterest. Speaking of Pinterest, the site garnered more referral traffic in 2014 than YouTube, Linkedin, and Google+ combined. And 21% of users report buying and item directly after seeing it on Pinterest. The power of the visual.
- E-mail campaigns – E-mail remains at the top of the heap for marketing messages. A recent survey showed that 25% of respondents preferred marketing through e-mail. Obviously it needs to be a major part of your content marketing strategy. Most writers these days have copywriting experience, and are ready, willing, and able to design a winning campaign.
Bob P is a hermit who writes from a remote mountaintop in West Virginia. He has nothing better to do with his time but hunt, fish, and write great content. He’ll write for money, but also accepts livestock, beer, ammo, and tobacco.
