You have spent the last six months working on an exciting new product. The execution is flawless. The features make your product stand apart and deliver true value to your prospects. Honestly, it’s a work of art.
And, then it hits you. You need to create user manuals that outlines the functionality of the product and provides instructions to users. So, you ask your developers to do it since they’ve worked on this project for the past couple of months and understand it best.
Big news, everyone! We are entering a brave new world in SEO!
For years, Google’s algorithm updates have dominated the world of search engine optimization. Every time marketers would feel like they’ve got an algorithm figured out, a new update would roll out, forcing them to audit their websites and make a number of changes to prevent a dangerous drop in ranking.
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. Just when you were starting to forget about jack-o’-lanterns and trick-or-treaters, it hits you: the holiday season is just around the corner and you need to start thinking about your holiday content plan.
The truth is that the holiday season serves as the perfect time to stand above the noise and reach out to a wider audience. According to a new research from Outbrain, cited by cyberalert.com, in 2014, holiday related content consumption increased at the beginning of November. The study also shows that not only the demand for content increased during this period, but the demand exceeded supply.
When it comes to writing persuasive copy, savvy content writers know that the devil is in using cognitive biases to their advantage.
What do I mean by this? Let me explain.
Read the following sentence:
A BIRD IN THE
THE HAND IS WORTH
TWO IN THE BUSH
One of my favorite jokes of all time is actually an anti-joke. Here it is:
Q: “How do you keep an idiot in suspense?”
A: “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
It is a pretty silly anti-joke, but it tells a lot about human nature. We love suspense. An unresolved ending keeps us glued to our favorite TV show or makes us turn page after page instead of stopping at the end of the chapter.
Picture this: You’ve written an amazing piece of content that is being shared all over the place. Your traffic is skyrocketing, and you are having a great time watching those numbers climb.
There’s just one problem: all those people are reading your blog post, and then leaving your website without taking any action.
You’ve done everything right. You wrote quality content, targeted the right keywords, optimized your article, and shared your content on all important social networks. You’ve put all your efforts into it, but you just can’t seem to drive conversion.
Quick Q: What type of content performs best in terms of engagement and social sharing – long form or short form?
“Long form content, obviously” I hear you say pointing at a bunch of studies.
But, imagine with me if you will, a text message from your best friend that reads: “Good afternoon. I would like to request your opinion in respect to a date this evening.”
This long and overly complicated way of communicating seems tiring and unnecessary for both the person typing and the person reading.
How many content writers does it take to change a lightbulb? No, I haven’t started telling jokes (yet), but I do have some tips from stand-up comedians that will help you write better content.
Stand-up comedy is a performance art that relies heavily on quality writing. Good comedians are able to write jokes that make the audience burst out laughing. They master the art of storytelling and know how to transition from one idea to another with grace.
Emojis have taken over the way we communicate. When words are not enough, we use broken hearts, smiley faces or a monkey covering its eyes to express our feelings. People have become so obsessed with these cute graphic icons that July 17 has become the World Emoji Day.
According to Swift Media, 74% of people in the U.S. regularly use app stickers or emojis in their online communication, sending an average of 96 emojis or stickers per day. To put this into perspective, there are 6 billion emoticons sent around the world every day.
We pride ourselves on being rational creatures. But, the truth is that we are largely driven by our emotions. We decide first based on how we feel, and then we justify our decision through logic and reasoning.
They give facts and numbers and talk about features. But it’s not necessarily the facts that get people to click on a headline or share a story. It’s very often the emotions triggered by the story that motivates them to take action.