As of January 2019, Statista reports there were nearly 4.4 billion internet users and 3.4 billion social media users. Companies that blog get more traffic and an estimated 67% more leads than those that don’t. Social media is efficient at sending people to your blog. It makes sense that digital content is a high priority for Media Relations Agency’s clients.
Our writers know marketing. We churn out hundreds of pages of clear, concise Media-Grade Content® every month. Many of our clients consider us an extension of their own teams. We work hard to earn that respect. Here are five best practices for writing digital content that we follow for our clients. We believe all businesses should follow these as well.
1. Write for your chosen platforms. Each platform is unique and may require different types of content. Top platform options include:
- Your website’s blog: This is a must-have, whether you target businesses or consumers. Use your blog to generate traffic and direct visitors to other key pages on your website. Done right, blog posts establish your expertise and nurture trust in your brand. Your blog is a place to showcase earned media coverage. It’s a place where you can add value to doing business with you. Just make sure each post is clear and well-written. Poorly written blogs reflect badly on your business.
- Facebook: With more than 2 billion active monthly users, CoSchedule says Facebook sends more website referral traffic than any other social media platform. We highly recommend it for B2C companies.
- LinkedIn: This professional network is an effective B2B content marketing platform. It is ideal for sharing industry news and related content.
- Twitter: This platform is best used to draw people into your blog or website.
- Instagram and Pinterest: These highly visual platforms are best used for static content. Consider them when you want to reinforce your messaging. They are less likely to drive traffic to your website or blog than Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
2. Consistently use a unique brand voice to separate your business from your competition. Defining your voice humanizes your business. It gives your company a personality. Using one consistent voice in all your digital content will help you to:
- Define your brand in people’s minds.
- Connect with your audience on a more personal, authentic level.
- Communicate your company’s culture and unique qualities.
3. Stick with a realistic posting schedule. If it’s too ambitious, you won’t be able to keep up with it, and your followers may wonder what’s gone wrong behind the scenes. Focus on quality more than quantity. Frequency is not as important as posting consistently. While Twitter may require a consistently high volume of content, most other platforms are tolerant of less frequent schedules.
4. Give readers a good content mix. No one likes to be bombarded with promotional content all the time. In fact, posting too much overly promotional content and irrelevant content are two of the biggest reasons people will stop following you. Most of us prefer to make purchase decisions based on trustworthy information. Well-written digital content will lead people to your ‘buy now’ page without resorting to heavy-handed sales messages. Think WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). We’re a nation of headline skimmers. Unless readers quickly see a good reason to keep reading, they won’t.
Instead of wishing you had fresh digital content, call us at 952-697-5269 or use this form. Most of the business owners and marketing managers we work with put in long hours. They love what they do but their schedules are always tight. Many of them turn to us when they need fresh content and don’t have the time or resources to create it themselves. If you can relate to this, toss a project our way. You’ll like the results.
