[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Menu – global” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#fce1c1″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” next_background_color=”#000000″ custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.8″ global_module=”549″][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title admin_label=”FFW2019: How Content Writing Will Change Next Year” global_parent=”549″ _builder_version=”3.8″ meta=”off” date=”off” background_image=”https://iriscontent.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/bigstock-Coloured-Explosion-66434.jpg” text_orientation=”center” text_shadow_vertical_length=”0.1em” text_shadow_color=”rgba(201,211,178,0.4)” title_font=”Aclonica|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”79px” title_letter_spacing=”17px” title_line_height=”1.2em” title_text_color=”#fdf3e7″ meta_font_size=”6″ text_shadow_blur_strength=”0.1em” /][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#fce1c1″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop”][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text text_font=”Trebuchet|500|||||||” text_text_color=”#1f041e” background_color=”#fce1c1″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” _builder_version=”3.8″ text_font_size=”18px” text_letter_spacing=”2px”]
With the current year having less than three months left, now is a good time to take a look at what the future holds for content writing and marketing. What opportunities can you leverage and what changes should you prepare for?
In this article, we’ll take a look at content trends that you can take advantage of to reinforce your online presence in 2019.
Content is Still King But Beware of Content Shock
Content, rather than advertisements, is the consumers’ preferred way of learning about products and making buying decisions. In fact, 47% of buyers consume 3 to 5 pieces of content before speaking to a sales representative. Because content marketing is simultaneously non-invasive and persuasive, investing in it will continue to drive customer acquisition and engagement, provided that an effective content strategy is in place.
Having acknowledged that, more and more businesses are investing in content marketing with each passing year. This raises the issue of content shock, the point where there is more content that audiences can process. Content marketers must take into account this challenge and find ways to overcome content shock, such as:
Developing a strong brand voice that keeps readers coming back
Building a loyal, involved community that disregards others sources of content
Improving the shareability of content to gain massive outreach
In short, drawing the finite attention of customers involves creating content that is useful, has personality, and achieves more visibility than the content of competitors.
SEO Is as Relevant as Ever, But You Should Go Beyond the Basics And Adapt to Trends
Content marketing and SEO go hand in hand. Search engine optimization has been important since the early days of the internet and will continue to do so. But basic SEO isn’t enough to gain online visibility anymore. Here are a few pointers to enhance your SEO efforts:
To come up with new, effective target keywords, try using the frequently asked questions to make content around them. By targeting keywords your clients are using to find answers to their questions, it’s more likely you’ll meet them half-way on search engines. Sites like Answer the Public do a great job of suggesting common questions around your business.
Keep voice search in mind while optimizing your content. Voice search is gaining ground, so your content – starting with headlines – should mirror the way people speak.
Optimize for local searches. Consumers are looking for businesses located near them, so you should include your area of practice within your target keywords. Moreover, if you don’t have a Google My Business page, you should set one up.
Implementing SEO trends will give an extra push to get content in front of your audience. Of course, essential pillars of SEO, like quality content and link building, will remain highly important for your overall SEO strategy.
Make More Valuable, In-Depth Content
With the majority of internet users shifting more and more towards consuming video-based content, how do you make sure your written content still engages and converts your audience?
The answer is simple: by making the best content, both in presentation and usefulness.
Granted, you are competing against different content formats, from videos to social media posts and podcasts, and you have to win over the customers’ limited time.
That said, written content still has a large readership, though it demands more quality. Readers want detailed how-to guides, up-to-date statistics, insightful research findings, inspiring stories, and opinion pieces to mention a few.
While video content is getting more and more popular, this also means the competition around that format will get fiercer. Quality written content will still succeed at finding dedicated audiences – assuming you have a solid promotion plan – with the added benefit of less noise. Of course, you can (and should) dedicate some of your marketing budget to videos, but written content is still alive and well. Readers want content that is:
Useful: solves a problem, answers a question, teaches a skill
Informative: provides information that is relevant to the audience’s interests
Entertaining: delivers value with an enjoyable voice, tells compelling stories
Thus, raising the standards for content writing is a must for any business looking to thrive in 2019 and beyond.
Make Content More Approachable and Mobile-Friendly
If you want your content to be read in 2019, you have to make it a pleasant read, and consider how well it looks and feels on mobile devices. The following guidelines should become a staple of all your content pieces:
Craft more compelling headlines
Take time to nail down the introduction – the most important part of a piece of content after the headline
Offer a summary of your key points to show that your piece is worth the reader’s time
Break up the content with subheaders, bullet lists, and short paragraphs
Complement text with pictures, infographics, screenshots, and other forms of visual content
Offer downloadable PDFs of long-form content
Content pieces that make their consumption challenging will simply be ignored in favor of more comfortable ones.
Write For Your Audience
A critical step of content creation is knowing who you are speaking to. If you can make your audience feel like you understand them, you have their attention. Before writing the first word, you need to know what topics they pay attention to as well as what motivates them to buy. Creating detailed buyer personas will help you come up with content ideas.
Effective content writing is also about publishing your pieces in the places that your readers hang out in. For example, you might want to publish on the blogging platform Medium, which has seen a significant increase in users over the last few years. Chances are your audience is already there, looking for helpful articles. Not only that; it’s not uncommon for SEO-optimized posts to find their way to the first page of Google searches, despite being relatively young. While it’s essential to have your own platform (your blog), you should also meet your audience half-way in the platforms they are using.
Hiring Top Talent Will Make a Difference
All of the above needs to be implemented by one crucial group of collaborators: content writers. Whether they are in-house or contractual, you will have to make sure that they are on the same page with your when it comes to your goals, brand voice, SEO strategy and any other aspect critical to your content strategy.
The supply of content writers is very large, but you have to be careful who you pick: not all writers can produce quality content, especially knowing that audiences are more demanding than ever.
The content writers whose work truly makes a difference know how to research, understand your audience and bring fresh angles that speak to them. They understand the stakes of content marketing and are willing to go the extra mile to craft content that stands out.
While content writing is not expected to change drastically in 2019, it will continue to evolve and marketers will have to hone their edges and diversify their arsenal to get their content found, read, and responded to. Your content strategy may be in need of a slight overhaul to adapt to the changes mentioned above. While content marketing is getting more competitive, it still drives great results for businesses that manage to publish and promote outstanding content.
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When it comes time to pick a content provider, a bargain isn’t always the best way to go. Content is more than filler; it’s what draws visitors to your site, but inspired content keeps them there. It keeps them coming back. Content is a relationship. It’s your brand. We get it. Furthermore, we can deliver it. Contact us today for a quote.
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Doctor Who is…a woman?
There is no need for “Spoiler Alerts” or alarms, because this was bound to happen sooner or later. Many Doctor Who fans and critics expected it to happen much sooner – especially when you consider the background of the character.
Keep in mind that the show aired for 26 seasons from the early 1960s to the late 1980s and 10 series (and counting) since 2005.
Since the start of the series, 12 different men stepped into the titular role. From William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee to David Tennant and Peter Capaldi, no one ever questioned the change of actor without losing respect for and interest in the show. It was only a matter of time before a woman was asked to report for duty as Doctor Who – and Jodie Whittaker is the English actress chosen for this history-making opportunity.
Whether you are a Doctor Who fan means very little, because there is a much more significant lesson that can be learned as content creators, developers and marketers. However, just like a Doctor Who episode, we’ll leave you in suspense before we initiate the “Big Reveal.”
Why So Many Different Actors?
If you are not familiar with Doctor Who, then you may not be up to speed on why there many actor changes have been so or how the show has survived with such a high turnover rate for its titular character. While addressing the elephant in the room, the first lesson in quality content creation is made crystal clear.
How? It can be summed up into a single word: regeneration.
Years ago, the basic concept was added to the script of the sci-fi drama series that the Time Lord would eventually experience too much bodily harm for a normal heal cycle – which explains why they must transform into a new person for a full recovery. That’s it!
No need for a major “jump the shark” moment filled with plot holes, unanswered questions or the vague and flawed but frequently used “just because” line of reasoning. It not only made sense, but it breathed new life into the show – allowing it to last for as long as it has on the air.
Lesson # 1: Shifting the direction or tone of your content does not need an extensive explanation, but you do need to explain.
At times, it may seem natural to shift the tone, direction or even type of your content towards a new playing field or timeline. However, you still need to find a way to bring your audience along for the transition without losing them in the details (or lack thereof). Find a simple way to explain the reasoning behind the transition that allows them to remain engaged and interested while still fully informed. Do not make the mistake of assuming that “they don’t need to know the details.”
As any fan of any TV show that experienced an unexpected and mostly unexplained cast change or “jump the shark” shift would tell you, that does not always pan out successfully. Chances are you do not want your audience to feel left behind. The truth is that they leave and replace you faster than you can say “TARDIS” if they even sense that you are not on the same page anymore.
Remember: Less is more. If you cannot find a simple way to explain the change or transition, then perhaps you are not ready to make the change at all. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line – not a page full of lines. Simplicity is essential.
Go With the Flow & Don’t Fight Against Trends
As content creators and marketers, it is important to remember that you are responsible for breathing life into your work. Breathing life into high-quality content means that it will grow, adapt and even regenerate on its own with time. You must be able to go with the flow and avoid fighting against the current.
At Comic-Con back in July 2018, the history-making actress Jodie Whittaker alluded to that natural flow by stating that “it’s the direction that [the show] was always going to go in” – especially now in 2018. She further referenced that it is only a “slight difference” since the good doctor was known for occasional regeneration.
LESSON # 2: Allow your content to grow and adapt with the time. Fighting against the current will eventually cause it to drown.
You will be able to determine where your content needs to go (or grow) to keep up with your evolving audience. Figuring out a plan to get there is the tricky part. That is where you need to be creative and connected: creative with your content while connected to your audience.
Try to fight against the current of the climate affecting your audience and your content will drown. More importantly, your audience will leave long before that happens. Fans do not wait until a TV show is officially cancelled before they stop watching it. In most cases, the lack of viewership is what leads to the cancellation.
Not All Things Have to (or Should) Change
During the same Comic-con interview, Doctor Who executive producer Chris Chibnall made it clear that there were no major obstacles or challenges behind-the-scenes with the transition to a female doctor. On the contrary, he stated that “you don’t write the Doctor any differently because she’s a woman” since “the through line of the Doctor continues.” The only thing that changed was the actress playing the role.
LESSON # 3: Accept change and embrace it, but only in moderation.
Just because you make one change does not mean everything must change. In fact, it is nearly impossible to keep your audience engaged if you change too much about your content. Do not make the mistake of starting from scratch 100% when it comes to every aspect of your content. Doing so will likely force you to start from scratch with your audience as well.
The Bottom Line
Anyone involved with creating or marketing content should be happy with the fact that Jodie Whittaker is stepping into the role of Doctor Who. This historical cast change and its impact (or lack thereof) on the continuity of the show speaks and teaches volumes about the value of quality content growth and regeneration.
Unlike Doctor Who, though, you do not have access to the Tardis. Be creative yet cautious with how you handle the future success of your content, because you will never be able to go back in time to change a past failure.
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