Article writing is the backbone of an effective marketing campaign. A memorable company name and eye-catching photos are important. Likewise, written content builds an effective online presence and drives sales.
Instead of using writing as space filler, create quality content that will drive visitors to your site. This overview will explain how to transform an article into a multi-media campaign using videos, infographics and social posts and how to optimize article writing to capture more followers. Read on.
Article writing is the backbone of every marketing campaign.
How to use article writing for marketing
Part of an effective business marketing plan is communicating with clients and potential clients about your business. At first you’ll need to explain the value of your business quickly and effectively. Then you can expand on it in-depth. Using visual and written components in marketing will help build your company’s story. Photos enhance written content, but they cannot replace it.
Moreover, the words you use to convey the importance of your product or service set the tone for your business. Article writing should be a marriage of your company’s overall tone and message. If you want your company to speak to customers in a friendly, upbeat fashion, then use that voice in article writing.
Go in-depth
In-depth articles explain the value your business can bring to a client. This is why it often takes several articles to paint a complete picture of your company. If you are offering marketing services to other businesses, then use a lengthy article to describe the benefits of each service. Keeping article topics pointed is important so clients don’t have to read through thousands of words to find the information they need. Instead, they can click a link for the service that interests them and immediately be transported to an article that explains the benefits of your service to them.
Article writing is a starting point
An article can then be transformed into a multimedia message for clients, including the following:
- Video
- Infographics
- Social media posts.
One article can create a mini-campaign that encompasses all avenues of communication.
Example: If you sell a car modification product that can improve a customer’s gas mileage, then use article writing to explain the product and how it works to the consumer. The article should also explain what results can be expected. That’s the starting point. From there, you can move on to these three key elements of every marketing campaign.
Video
Incorporate video through an ‘explainer’ format. An explainer video [Link to explainer video content] is a short two to three minute video that explains through pictures and voice how to do or use something. This is where you would show graphically how the mod works to improve gas mileage. The written article will be used to create the script for this video. In that way, article writing supports video production.
Infographics
These graphics show results so clients can quickly see what to expect when using the product. This is where information related to how much gas mileage improved will be shown and, if the original article was well done, the information to support why customers need your product will be readily available. This infographic takes all of the data from the article writing stage and puts it in a colorful, easy-to-digest format.
The infographic works to draw people in. When potential customers see it, they click on the accompanying article to learn more. Infographics satisfy a person’s visual need to get information quickly, however, they still only scratch the service. Truly interested parties will want to do more research and that’s where article writing comes in! You’ve already done the research for them to create a better, easier opportunity to purchase, which is how article writing drives sales.
Infographics are also extremely shareable through social media, which leads us to the next part of the campaign.
Social media is one way to expand article writing into other marketing campaigns
Social Posts
Anything can be a social media post. Posts with graphics, videos, links and quotes have higher success rates than plain text. Share infographics and explainer videos over social media, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc. So can article writing (use a linked image on Facebook and LinkedIn to drive traffic). Quotes from the articles, key statistics and other bits of information from within the article can become their own posts. Every time you link back to the article, it increases traffic to the webpage, which is another key element for closing a sale.
Quality over quantity
Most businesses have a large range of clients to appeal to. Consider all ways the product or service can be used to benefit customers to appeal to all of them. Article writing for each is necessary. Add additional articles that play on trends, news stories, etc. to keep content fresh and timely.
It’s easy to see how this need for content can quickly pile up and feel both overwhelming and expensive. If the article writing you publish isn’t of good quality, then it can do more harm than good.
That’s not to say you can’t get quality content at a good price. You can. But going for the cheapest option based on price alone can spell trouble. These articles often come with typos and grammatical errors that cause your company to lose credibility. Remember, every bit of information you put out there about your company is a reflection on both you and the company
Quality content will be thorough and include enough information to help clients feel well informed after reading the article in its entirety. Complete the research for the customer so they aren’t using Google to answer the questions raised by your content because potential customers could find competitors in the process. Even if your product is superior, it is possible to lose customers to a competition with better article writing.
Start small
Don’t let the volume of article writing that needs to get done overwhelm you. Instead, simply prioritize. Start with the five most important articles you need to write and go from there. These articles should focus on your company’s best or most profitable services and products. In addition to these articles, subsequent pieces can be written, branching out to smaller expert pieces, niche markets, trends, complementary topics, research and more.
SEO Writing
The goal of article writing for marketing is getting your company in front of people. Boost your article onto the front pages of Google by using search engine optimization effectively. Stealing a front-page spot on Google is a great way to drive customers to your business and it makes your company look like an expert in the industry. Both of these accomplishments will drive sales.
Reference Google’s list of the most-important page optimization factors to increase search visibility:
- Use a keyword in the title tag
- Place a keyword in meta description tag on your web posting software
- Write a keyword in the headline 1 tag (and headline 2 and 3)
- Continue the use of keywords and phrases throughout the page copy
- Optimize article writing for visibility by utilizing length standards
- Duplicate content to boost its appearance rate
- Use a canonical tag
- Optimize the images used within your article, as well
DO NOT hire an article writer who does not understand basic SEO principles.