It’s 2016, and the internet is hungover from the content overload of 2015. Thought leadership is still as relevant ever as a way to build your brand, but there’s too much of it floating around left unread.
As we mentioned earlier, the production of content is going up as engagement goes down. To ensure your thought leadership piece doesn’t get left behind, follow these six tips.
Look for your industry’s pain points. Before just writing what you know, do some research on and offline to find out what’s bothering people in your industry. As industries are becoming increasingly digital and offline activity goes mobile, there are lots of unanswered questions. Not sure what the future holds? Prediction pieces always make for great hits.
Take a stance. Having a strong opinion doesn’t mean pushing your ideas on other people, it means encouraging a dialogue and inspiring others. If there’s a topic dividing your industry, consider taking a side you believe in and go with it. As long as you know what you’re talking about it can be a positive to be a bit controversial, especially with the huge volume of copycat how-to blogs out there.
Give anecdotes. To make it seem like a really organic thought, give short windows of situations that taught you a lesson. You could also share a staff journey that can inspire others in their own careers.
Skip the cliches. Cliches can over simplify certain concepts and ideas. Using your own words and examples will help you establish your own voice that will be easier to remember.
Name drop. People want credibility in thought leaders. If you studied at a prestigious university, worked close with an inspirational leader, or worked at a Fortune 500, mention it.
Don’t have the time to produce your own thought leadership? Let our skilled content writers do it for you. Contact us at [email protected].
You have a great idea but can’t put it into words. So, you hire a content marketing professional to package all those thoughts and visions into something easily digestible to potential clients.
The thing about content marketers, is that we are wizards of words and want to read your mind too, but we can’t. At times, hours can be spent going back and forth on a piece of content because a brief wasn’t clear enough. This can cost a client and agency money, and an extra $2 for the panadol required for the headache.
To save time, here are some questions we need the answers to, in order to write the content you want.
Why do you need this? There is nothing worse than someone reading your material and going — What is the point of this? A good digital content marketer front loads your key messages because they know how impatient people are while reading online. Without your goals for the content campaign, we will be writing aimlessly.
A client should make clear what the piece of this content is beyond pure lead generation (education? entertainment?), and the piece should be part of that client’s overall content strategy.
What’s the tone? If you have the time, speak to your writer on the phone so they can have a feel for your attitude towards the topic and ghostwrite the article to sound like you.
If not, share with them an article online where you liked the tone, and show them examples of what they define as “professional, friendly, authoritative” because those descriptions can mean different things to different people.
What’s the length? If you don’t tell us, we’re going to make it a standard 600 word post. This is about the longest a post can go before people stop losing interest – this is the average, not a rule. If for some reason you would like the next great American novel published, let us know a word count. Tip: An A4 piece of paper is about 400 words.
What’s the context? Let the content writer know the other blogs you’ve done or the ones you want moving forward, that way, the article can fit seamlessly with the others. Without context, especially with a freelancer, it will look obvious your article is outsourced.
Before getting your words of wisdom out on paper, make sure you have all the information required to have an effective piece of company branding.
Give an example. To make your brief sharper than the fangs of a saber-tooth tiger, link to a similar blog, thought leadership article, website content that you thought was really well done so we have more of an idea of what you’re looking for.
LinkedIn started out as an online resume site, and it’s still one of the biggest resources for recruiters. Over time, it has also evolved into a content marketing platform, serving as a place for businesses to engage with potential clients and partners. So, how can you leverage this?
Tighten that bio:
More than half of LinkedIn’s engagement is on mobile, so tailor your message to be read accordingly. A longer, more flowery summary of yourself might be passable for a resume, but for B2B keep it short and sweet. The recipe for a good bio is:
Some personality
Clear and concise description of your service
A call to action (CTA) for people who aren’t able to send you an InMail.
Example:
Whether through written or video content marketing, I help young companies communicate their vision in the most human way possible.
Do you need more effective content? Get in touch with me directly at [email protected]
Spruce up that photo:
Nice pic from da club… but your LinkedIn profile image should be as professional as possible (avoid cheesy real estate pictures!) The photo you choose to represent yourself and your personal brand is a measure of trustworthiness and professionalism.
Tips for a good LinkedIn photo:
Choose a recent photo. We know it’s not Tinder, but if you’re already misleading about what you look like, it’s not a good start for business.
Forget the metaphorical mountain summit pic, make sure your face takes up at least more than half of the photograph.
Over exposed, blurry, poorly cropped photos are all over LinkedIn. Taking the time to take a proper photograph will actually make you stand out from the crowd.
Beef up your profile:
Now that you have the basics, it’s time to turn your details into a resource.
LinkedIn Pulse: You can’t say thought leadership’ without LinkedIn. Generously sharing your expert opinions and insights is a great way to build trust with your consumer before ultimately turning that lead into a sale. But nowadays there are a lot of opinions out there, and it’s not all being read. Make sure you have a really strong opinion on a topic that can add value to your reader’s life.
Slideshares: If you’re not the most eloquent writer but have ideas to share, use Slideshare. It’s a cost-effective way to get better traffic and ranking on Google. Make sure you have a clear idea of how you want to educate the reader.
Videos: In this crowded market, videos are dominating as the preferred way to consume content. LinkedIn lets you upload directly onto your profile, allowing you to showcase your work. If you don’t do video marketing, upload TV spots you’ve been featured in, your startup explainer video, and event coverage.
LinkedIn is growing as a content platform and it’s the first place clients and investors look to see a cohesive body of your work. Let us help you create content that best content for your profile. Get in touch at [email protected].
In this day and age of social media, the rise of influencers can no longer be ignored. Social media influencers are often a powerful channel for driving engagement. Perhaps, a personal touch is just what a potential consumer needs to make a decision. In this blog, we’ll take you through the definition of social media influencer marketing and how to best use this for your business.
What is social media influencer marketing?
According to GroupHigh, social media influencer marketing is the practice of building relationships with the people who can build relationships for you. Influencers are basically your bridge to a whole new pool of end-users. No matter the size of the following, these influencers will be able to help you reach consumers via their social networks and blogs that your brand may not be able to.
As you can see from this little diagram by Affinio, target your audience through various influencers who share the same following.
From finding the right influencer for your brand to having them represent you, you will need to identify them, market to them, market through them, and then market with them. Here’s how:
Identifying influencers – rank them in order of importance and relevance.
Marketing to influencers – increase awareness of the brand amongst influencers.
Marketing through influencers – using influencers to increase market awareness.
Marketing with influencers – turn influencers into brand ambassadors.
Why social media influencer marketing?
Because a whopping 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations and only 33% trust advertisements!
In the eyes of the consumer, a social media influencer is that cool kid in high school and whatever he or she is into is the next cool thing. Most importantly, there is an authenticity and trustworthiness that comes with your influencer’s recommendation that advertisements lack.
How to get into social media influencer marketing?
Develop and build your relationships with the social media influencers that you think will best represent your brand and reach your target audience. Simply drop them an email with what you have in mind for your collaboration. Here’s how to find the right influencer for your brand:
Find an influencer who is pretty much already an ambassador
That means that the influencer’s content is already aligned with your brand’s message. Look through an influencer’s archived content to find out what kind of consumer they are.
Engagement vs. reach
Your choice of influencer should not only be able to reach a great number of your target audience, but should also be able to engage them to respond, comment and share. The relationship between your influencer and his/her readers should be meaningful and not just superficial.
Look out for authentic and organic content
The more organic the content, the more likely your target audience is to trust his/her recommendation.
The key is to find a social media influencer that allows for a mutually beneficial relationship. And don’t forget, a great relationship between your brand and your influencer of choice will definitely make activating your marketing goals more seamless and effective!
Need help with your social media? Drop a message to[email protected]
With the intense competition for businesses that promote online, the web content you use to talk about your company has to be easily digestible. Here are some key tips for killer site content.
Strong info hierarchy. Before typing your first letter, ask yourself whether the headers on your site are in the right order and easy to find. Depending on the type of company you have, do some research to determine what information people want to know first. If your concept is really complicated, make sure your “About Us” page is within easy reach (i.e. Should what you’re doing come before why you’re doing it?). Today’s app generation is also very impatient; if you’re going to boast about a feature, make sure the reader can act on it immediately by sprinkling calls to action throughout your home page.
Consistency. This is your credibility. There needs to be one style and format to all of your text. If you’re switching from American to British English and the tones of each subject are different, it’s going to look like your content was farmed out to freelancers around the world. If you remember from our article “What is a content strategy”, this doesn’t mean just one blog and that’s it! A content strategy refers to how your content looks as an entire body of work.
Break it up, people. Do you ever just read the first line of a paragraph and wish the rest of it never existed? That normally happens when you have a “wall of words” – an unbroken piece of text that’s normally more than five lines long. This makes people automatically want to skip to the top or bottom of the page.
One sentence paragraphs. The best part about writing for online compared to print, is we’re allowed to have one-sentence paragraphs.
That’s right, you can change the rules.
We went there.
Fragments. Another cool thing about writing for web is you’re occasionally allowed to have sentence fragments because the web content should be conversational. Use these wisely, otherwise your blog is at risk of reading like a tumblr account.
Economy of words. “So, there was this guy who had been going over to the back of the store to get boxes” vs “This guy got boxes”. Feel the difference? Imagine every time you’re writing for the internet, you get fined $1 per word. Use your words wisely, because the more wordy, the sooner your reader will lose interest.
Killer headlines with keywords. We know, balancing between a catchy title and making your content SEO friendly is tricky, but if it comes down to the two, always pick a clicky title. Think about creative ways to phrase your story. Instead of “Speedo cup sales increase in China,” how about, “China’s economy isn’t the only thing getting bigger”?
Connect. Write about issues that are concerning your audience and make sure your content connects with other people. Content isn’t just content anymore – your content can actually come alive. Don’t be shy to imbed posts, share, tweet at someone, and make it easy to connect your media.
Make it easy to scan. Upon first skim, can the reader figure out who’s doing what, when, where and how? With first time bloggers, there is a tendency to yammer on about your internal thought process. That’s alright, just delete it all once you’ve figured out your point and place it at the top of your paragraph.
Don’t miss a Call-To-Action. Now that you’ve proved you can truly help people, it’s your chance to direct people to the next step. Don’t let your reader leave the page without signing up, subscribing, sharing, commenting, clicking, or coming back.
The “About me” section in your professional Twitter profile is like a little digital business card. It’s one of the first things that comes up when potential customers search for you, so when writing your bio, think about your ideal client and how you can explain how you can help them.
Here are 3 key things to keep in mind with your Twitter bio. We’ve paired our tips with tech companies that nailed theirs.
Have laser focus
What are you a master of and how can you help? An overly descriptive explanation of many things your company does doesn’t sound reliable. State the key skills or services you’re are really good at and say why you’re qualified to gain their business.
Likewise, if you’re an individual, listing off a bunch of professional fields you’re into will make you sound like a jack of all trades and master of nothing. i.e. “Writer, yoga instructor, DJ, singer, tech genius, ad tech expert.”
This bio from travel data analytics company, Sojern sums up what they do succinctly:
Write to attract leads, not followers
Followers you can buy, engagement you can’t. Don’t hard sell on your bio, make it conversational. If you can’t think of one, imagine how you would introduce your company to a stranger at a conference. Hammer in your key messages and keywords. Then, leave enough space for a call to action with your contact.
Check out this bio from Eyeota:
Lay off the superlatives
Likewise, don’t over compensate. Are you really “The world’s leading…” with just 300 followers? Twitter has only been around for a decade, but it’s already riddled with cliches. It’s better to be understated than exaggerate. If you’re an individual doing a professional bio, for cliche sakes don’t be a “guru”, “junkie”, or “ninja” of anything.
Here is a perfectly understated bio by one of the world’s most successful startups:
The square bracket takes the smoothness out of the bio, just pretend it’s not there.
Beyond Twitter, have consistency across social media channels, but change your tone. LinkedIn is business, Twitter is engaging with strangers, and Facebook is about friends – but everyone is a potential client. Don’t have the same tone for each platform; pick a key consistent message you really want to push and repeat its in each bio.
Most of all, have fun with your Twitter bio! Here is our personal favourite Twitter bio:
Stand out from the crowd and let us help you create an amazing bio. Contact us at [email protected].
More and more companies are starting to subscribe to happiness as a business philosophy. These firms are focusing on happiness from the inside out and with happiness comes creativity. In our industry, creativity is a crucial element when it comes to creating content or communicating information and strategies. A happy employee is one that is productive and engaged, and owns their own tasks. Similarly, creativity is stimulated in a productive and engaging environment.
There are many solutions to achieving happiness for oneself, and here are just some which you can also implement at your workplace:
1. Take a breather. Go for a walk!
According to Stanford study by Opezzo and Schwartz, walking triggers a free flow of ideas and improves work performance by an average of 60%. And even after your walk, the positive residual effects can still be felt long after you are back at your desk!
2. Spend your money on experiences
This Harvard study, aptly titled ‘If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren’t Spending It Right’, tells us to spend our money on experiences and not on things if we want to be happy. Simply because 83% of people mentally revisit their experiential purchases more than material purchases. You remember exactly how you felt the first time you had a cronut on the streets of New York City and when you rode a donkey up a hill in Santorini, but do you remember how you felt when you bought that Prada bag?
Staff lunches, employee days and events can all create a feeling of gratitude, and the friendships created as a result will make for happy employees in a happy office!
3. Control over your own workspace
By allowing employees to have more control over their workspace, productivity can be increased by up to 32%! Read all about it here. You never know how much more you can get out of your employee when you allow them to decorate their work desk however they like with limited rules.
Focusing on employee satisfaction and happiness can provide great returns for the companies who have hopped on board the happy train. Jump on, and we will see you on the other side!
Writing one epic post isn’t enough anymore. In order to reap the benefits of a content marketing strategy, you need an entire body of work that serves to tell your brand story to the right audience, while adding real value to their lives. Tricky, isn’t it?
There isn’t enough word count to wax on about how disruptive your company is, so focus your message around what your company can do for its target audience.
Why is content marketing so hot right now?
The offline world has moved online – from booking a taxi or a housekeeper, to fixing a light bulb or searching for holidays – and people are receiving too much information. Ad blockers are making it harder than ever for display advertising, so smart and creative content marketing is the solution to all of this.
A strategy isn’t simply sending out a company-wide shout-out for a blog post. It starts with a goal and an overarching theme over a longer period of time.
For example, content you need to think about might include:
Your Twitter Bio
Your LinkedIn Summary
LinkedIn account and activity
LinkedIn Pulse strategy
Website copy and tone
Thought leadership articles
Over the next few articles, we will go more into depth on individual content pieces. Stay Tuned!
Need help with your content strategy? Drop a message to[email protected]
Content marketing works, but there’s too much of it out there and engagement is dropping.
The world of content marketing is saturated and people only have time to read insightful articles tailored just for them. This is what we do at Words.
We help businesses engage professional copywriters for services ranging from website content to proofreading and editing. Our parent company, Mutant Communications, is a leading public relations and content marketing agency. However, the digital consumer is evolving, so we’re adapting with a site solely dedicated to your Words.
So, why should you trust us with your content?
To save you time, Words Content Manager, Jane Leung, sat down with Words CEO, Joseph Barratt, to grill him on why clients should be using our service.
JL: Joe can I bother you for a sec?
JB: Well, I’m actually-
JL: It’s about Words!
JB: Oh, what’s up?
JL: Can you tell me why you started Words? How does it differ from what we do at Mutant?
JB: Well, Words is targeted for clients who need ad-hoc and on-demand content. It’s for businesses who don’t necessarily want to jump into a full-blown PR package immediately, but could still use the wit of our wordsmiths to better articulate their brand messages.
JL: Sounds good. Remind me why we’re the best again?
JB: The content at Words can be produced quickly, with an average turnaround of 3-5 days. We only use in-house, experienced former journalists and media professionals like yourself, who know how to research content to help brands scale their content marketing strategy.
JL: What’s special about Words?
JB: You tell me, you’re the Content Manager
JL: Well, we’re real human beings writing words for real human beings.
The concept of personal branding has been thrown around the web a fair bit in the last few years. But how much do we actually know about it? What does it mean? Why would someone need it? And how do we create it?
Put simply, your personal brand is how others view you and what they associate you with. Think about your favourite (or least favourite) celebrity, and then ask yourself why you like them. Or, why do you dislike them? Essentially, it all comes down to the image and aspects of their lives that they put forward for us to see. In the celebrity world, personal branding is a very strategic game –their brand is how they get work and become successful. We could all learn a thing or two from them.
My personal favourites include Jennifer Lawrence and David Beckham.
Over the past 12 months, Jennifer Lawrence’s profile and career has simply skyrocketed. With leading roles in some of Hollywood’s top blockbusters, Ms Lawrence is the talk of Tinsletown. She has worked so hard to create this lovable, girl-next door image for herself. She loves pizza, she loves wine and is just an all-round cool chick… an ideal friend. We feel we can relate to her on a deeper level, and as well as her killer acting skills, she is an absolute delight in interviews and on the Red Carpet.
Watch this video – she’s fantastic:
But what’s important to know, is that her publicist plays a key role in what we think of her. Her team will strategically craft what she says and how she says it and through this, she’s clearly shown us all that she has brains, beauty and great banter!
On a similar level, we have David Beckham. I know I’ve written about him before, but he is seriously on point when it comes to his personal branding. Ex-football superstar, husband to Posh Spice and loving father of four beautiful children – life as Becks seems pretty darn sweet.
I was watching a documentary the other night called Into the Unknown. It was about his recent travels into the Amazon where Becks and his three good mates rode through Brazil’s remote lands on their motorcycles. The footage delved into a side of him that you don’t normally see, but what stuck out to me the most was the footage and commentary surrounding his family.
Becks heavily brands himself as a devoted family man and in the documentary, they made room to show him emotionally reading some letters from his children and placing pictures of Victoria and the kids on his bedside table. He also made a point to say that he carries family letters and pictures everywhere he travels.
Then it got me thinking – of course his PR team made sure that this was clearly shown. Beckham’s team have found a sweet spot, and have trained him to portray this everywhere he goes. And because of this, the Beckhams remain a global power couple, and have done so for at least the last ten years! They are the ideal couple – classy, sophisticated and timeless!
Through great personal branding, celebrities create a myriad of opportunities for themselves, ranging from endorsements, to top movie deals, right through to all sorts of collaborations. They are selling their ‘personality’ to better their careers.
So what about the corporate world? In an ideal world, everyone should have a strong personal brand. We should always be looking at creating new and exciting opportunities for ourselves.
Personal branding is a result of who you are, what you stand for, what you want to be known for and how you express yourself. The trick is to be strategic with the information you share with your target audience and how you position it.
Here are three quick ways to help you make a brand for yourself:
Discover yourself
Like a company brand, a personal brand should also have a clear set of objectives, goals, interests and areas of expertise. Work out what you want to be known for and where you can contribute – what is your niche?
Once people know who you are, they will begin to identify you with a specific area of understanding or expertise. You will likely be the go-to person for industry commentary and knowledge.
Create your brand
The next step is to create your brand. Start by having an online presence. LinkedIn, for example, provides a great platform to share your pearls of wisdom and connect with like-minded individuals. Set up a website or blog, update your resume, partner with businesses or industry groups that align with your values and remember to assess your wardrobe – your image counts.
Share your personality
So you’ve decided how you want to be perceived, now it’s time to show the world what you’re made of. Start writing content, secure relevant speaking slots, introduce yourself to the media and any industry groups, network with relevant people, and contribute your knowledge to topics that you specialise in. Essentially, become a thought-leader in your field. It can do wonders for your personal opportunities but also for the company you work for, or the brand/s you align yourself with.
If you need help building your personal brand please get in touch with us at [email protected].
At the speed of digital trends, do you want a PR agency that’s agile like a fox or sturdy like a buffalo?
Big PR firms have the manpower, resources, and contacts to execute campaigns quickly, but advances in technology means brands need the flexibility to pivot to suit the mood of today’s on-demand audience.
Here are a couple reasons why you should hire a boutique agency over a big firm:
Skilled Staff
More manpower doesn’t mean a higher quality of work. At some larger agencies, smaller accounts may be handed down to junior members or even interns.
At a boutique agency, there is a specialist for everything. By nature, these smaller companies follow lean organisational structures stripped of multiple management levels and stringent systems and constant revision. This makes the team more nimble, enough to weave past unnecessary approval processes that eat up your billable hours.
They’re part of the ‘hacker generation’
Smaller companies tend to have a startup mentality: Fearless, resourceful, unorthodox problem solvers.
They are known to approach barriers from the outside and sometimes, through the backdoor instead of waiting for the higher-ups to approve a solution. On top of that, staff at leaner agencies enjoy taking the unconventional routes that keeps them on track with or sometimes even ahead of the consumers.
They thrive on change
Change is the constant of boutique PR firms, and they are well-equipped to move along with key industry trends and developments. Rather than fearing new technology, smaller agencies race to be the first to use a new platform or tackle a new social media trend.
With fewer people, revisions are also easier for boutique agencies. If an internal structure is holding back results, managers at small agencies will not hesitate to remove or reform them, to power your business and theirs forward.
Skilled Staff
With the internet bubbling over with too much information, brands need more creativity, quicker.
It’s become clear that advertising is no longer just the business of selling your product or services. Instead, it is now all about making their brand a part of the customer’s everyday life. In order to be there with the customer every step of the way, brands need to be able to tailor strategy at the very last minute.
This is typically where the big players have struggled to keep up, given their internal business reglementations put in place to ensure consistent organisational structures.
What I feel is imperative for businesses today, is to steer themselves away from the traditional view of how bigger or more is better. This can be done through re-evaluating business goals and looking further into what the boutiques can bring to their table, helping business owners get the best bang for their buck.
Need more advice on choosing the right agency for your business? Contact us at [email protected]
Media pitching takes tact and research. It’s a means to much of what the public sees today, whether it’s a published news story, a successful media event or the general hype surrounding a brand or product.
Securing a media placement can be the best feeling in the world, but here’s what happens along the way that no one will tell you about:
Journalists want to know how you can help them
Not the other way around. When pitching a story make sure you tell the journalist how your product or service can benefit their readers. With multiple editorial deadlines looming above their heads, journalists are no-nonsense individuals.
To make things easier for both of you, avoid engaging in too much small talk when you’re on the phone. Cut to the chase on what you have to offer.
Don’t pitch between 9 and 11am
You’ve got a piece of news you’re so excited about and you just want to pitch it over the phone first thing in the morning. But guess what? The newsrooms are the busiest in the morning, as editors and journalists come together and work hard to gather all the news to be published or broadcasted.
This also means that no one’s going to be available to pick up your call – for a couple of hours at least.
The trick to get around this is to drop a pitch email early enough in the morning, so journalists can pick the story up and bring it into the newsroom. Who knows this could even mean your story gets picked up without much pitching or following up!
Skip the pitch on a Friday
Like you and I, journalists wrap up for their week on Fridays, getting themselves ready to wind down for the weekend. Even if it’s just a pitch email, a seasoned PR pro will know to stay clear of Fridays.
Unless it’s breaking news, the probability of journalists looking into your pitch is almost non-existent. By Monday, your pitch would have been drowned out by hundreds of other fresh pitches for the week.
Pitch at your own risk!
A friend on the inside helps
Cultivating a healthy friendship with a member of the media can help with achieving far greater results in a shorter amount of time – think picking up the phone and sharing a story with a friend.
When you’ve established that relationship, your media friend will be more open about sharing with you the reasons your pitch wasn’t picked up, or even what they’re looking for to supplement their stories.
Do however be mindful that not every journalist is comfortable or open to becoming your best buddy. Respect their boundaries when the time comes and remain professional.
Tailor your pitches like an Armani suit
Before picking up the phone, write down the name of the journalist, their title, their beat, the publication, and your angle.
The secret formula to landing a news story is to never get started without any prior research about whom you’re calling. By research, I mean reading up about the journalist you’re pitching to, learning more about what they write about, and what they’ve just written about.
Grow thicker skin
Rejection can be a tough pill to swallow, but it’s nothing personal. There are a number of reasons why you got turned down: The angle doesn’t fit with the editorial brand or audience, it had already been covered, or there is just no sellable angle.
At the end of the day, this will all mould you into the toughest PR pro who can remain unfazed in face of rejection. Don’t be dejected, pick up the phone and keep dialing.
Need advice on pitching your next big story?
Get in touch with us at [email protected] for help with your next pitch!
