Welcome to our Resident Post Series, where we feature the expertise of our Residents in-depth. This post was written by Dawn Elyse Warden, SEM Content Manager for Results Repeat. 

Ahhh, the ubiquitous, “Content is king,” proclamation… it just doesn’t seem to go away. Which, if you were banking on that happening, might be causing you a bit of angst. After all, how many blog and social media posts, downloadable white papers, eBlasts, infographs and branded articles can one company pump over the course of a marketing year?

We get it. Creating compelling, minimally time consuming, relevant and well-written content day in and day out is a chore—only fun on the days we are blessed with a creative surge, then detestable on the rest, when absolutely zero pops up in our overly tasked brains.

Unfortunately, posing as an ostrich won’t get you very far. Not when the most highly touted strategy continues to own the marketing hype and reign as the driving force behind building meaningful links and succeeding on social channels.

Keep It Relevant

There are all kinds of theories on what qualifies content as read- and share-worthy, but no matter what the ‘gurus’ say, we believe that the success (and value) of both short- and long-form copy starts with strong writing skills and flourishes by being relevant, timely, prodding and interesting to read. Isn’t this, after all, exactly why you pore over the pages of your favorite digital or print publication?

It also helps to be knowledgeable and up-to-date about your industry (and those for whom you are doing marketing) in terms of news, trends, controversies and technological advances. All of the above are excellent sources of digital fodder and allow your company to throw around a little thought leadership. Conveying credible expertise is a sure way to have your content shared and to get repeat visitors to your website and blog.

And since blogs tend to lead the content strategy for most companies, this is a good place to put your time and energy. Just remember, “If you build [write] it they will come,” does not apply. Be prepared to market your post across all digital channels and to do it in a way that gets people to read your writing, not tune it out. This means knowing your audience and not auto-posting on every platform or with the exact same lead. And tagging wisely.

Helpful Tips

Covering all the basics—and the extras—of good content writing and marketing is a hefty proposition that requires, well, a lot of other blog posts. We definitely plan to come back to this topic over and over again, and to cover other types of content aside from blogging, but for now these tips might come in handy:

• Use short line lengths as much as possible to help readers keep up with what you are saying. Easier said than done, as demonstrated in this post.
• Create an editorial calendar to help keep pace with your publishing schedule whether it is once a month or once a week. (But be flexible enough to jump in on time-sensitive conversations.)
• Read everything. You never know where a great blog idea will originate.
• Say it straight and use simple language that is easy to understand and doesn’t give the reader pause to wonder what the heck you are saying.
• Establish a clear, authentic voice that reflects your company. This will keep your writing original and allow for breaking style and grammar rules once in a while.
• Write Better Headlines. (Short ’n sweet, with a clear takeaway for your readers.)
• Up your share- and click-ability with compelling images. (And give your readers’ eyes a brief break.) Don’t forget to optimize your images to match up with your target keyword (filename, title and caption).
• Be aware of SEO but don’t let keywords hijack the quality of your writing. Keywords should be woven naturally though the text and show a little diversity.
• Lose the exclamation points.
• Proofread: Once aloud and once silently. Then give it to a coworker to check.

The content craze isn’t fading out any time soon, so whether you are blogging, inking infographs, pairing photos with clever captions, how (well) you say it—and tag it—is key to attracting people to your site. And, to your business.

Results Repeat offers professional digital marketing services, including Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, and social media management for companies with limited in-house resources. Through effective organization and consistent communication, they deliver more qualified site visits, leads, and sales.