WHAT ISMEANT BY “CONTENTWRITING” &WHY IT’S ESSENTIAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS by Tanya Chedrawy BUILDING BRANDS
one of our treasured historical sites is L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. If you are not familiar with it it’s significant because it’s historically a Viking settlement. When we would “sell” our parks and sites to North American tour opera- tors this is how I would position that site: “It’s the oldest authenticated Viking settlement in North America.” I would see eyes light up. It’s fact. It’s part of its story and it’s far more interesting than merely stating “It’s a Viking settlement”. What qualifiers can you use to position your products or services to make them stand out? DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A HEADLINE Attention-grabbing headlines have a higher-click rate. This goes for everything-newsletters; blogs; email marketing; social media. Use irony; make a bold statement; pose a question; or use a stunning fact or figure. SOCIAL MEDIA Content writing for social media can be daunting but it doesn’t have to be. Social media experts will advise that 80% of content should be educa- tional, informative and inspirational/motivation- al. 20% should be about selling. Social media is where you build trust, relationships, and then you can sell. First, where is your audience? There’s demograph- ic statistics readily available for each platform. Find your audience and start speaking to them regularly. Plan ahead. Buffer and Hootsuite are popular for scheduling your content. There’s so many others, find what works for you. BuzzSumo is an excellent resource to help you discover key insights and popular content for your industry. There are infinite content ideas you can be writing about for your social media platforms. Here are examples: Do you have a tip of the day? An inspirational quote. A contest. A poll. Profile an employee once a week. Share a favourite podcast or book. Do you have a sale or an upcoming big event you can promote? The possibilities for social media content are ENDLESS. Always be authentic and demonstrate your exper- tise and value.
Contact information is essential and always include your website address. This is so simple yet it amazes me how many businesses don’t fill out this information, that’s the first thing I go to on any platform, I always want to know who you are and what you do and so does everybody else. This is the gateway to your brand. POWER OF STORY Stories sell. Humans are biologically wired to respond to a story. Stories are recognizable patterns and in those patterns, we find meaning. When we hear a story that resonates it fires up our brains. Literally. Oxytocin levels increase. You would be remiss to not include stories in your online platforms-especially to sell. Where can you infuse a story? A good start is the ‘About’ page on your website. It’s the perfect opportunity to tell your story of what led you to open a business. Give people a glimpse of who you are, what your values are and what drives you to do what you do. Is there a client story you would have permission to share that is powerful? How about a behind-the-scenes story about the development of one of your products or services? Stories can show up anywhere and they are a great way to get people to relate to our content and to buy. USE QUALIFIERS What qualifiers can you add? HOW we describe or position something is incredibly important. Let me give you an example. When I worked for the federal public service, The Parks Canada Agency,
W ords matter. A fellow entrepreneur once said to me, “Words are powerful, they can marry people.” That always stuck with me. Words ARE powerful—especially for your business. There is a plethora of material online about “content writing” which I think can be made unnecessarily complicated. Content is essentially words. It’s important because it’s how you com- municate with your audiences and it’s how you ultimately sell. This takes time and practice and it’s what strengthens your brand. I want you to take a step back and think about how you are presenting yourself and your orga- nization online. Are you conveying everything you are intending to convey? Does your target audience have the information it needs to make a purchasing decision about you? This includes all channels-website; social media; blog; newslet- ters; white papers; etc.
You don’t necessarily have to be a gifted writer or be able to add the finesse and polish that we do. There are simple tips you can be following right now. DON’T STAY SILENT The number one rule I would advise is NOT to stay silent online. You must communicate with your audience. For example, during the COVID-19 lockdown I saw many organizations remain silent online including brands I had previously inter- acted with. At the bare minimum they should’ve been providing updates. FILL OUT YOUR BUSINESS INFORMATION Make sure to fill out all of your business informa - tion on all of your platforms, including bios for Instagram and Twitter and the description for Facebook. LinkedIn gives you plenty of space and opportunity to provide information.
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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