Tag Archives: content marketing

January 19, 2023 · 12:54 pm

10 Email Marketing Terms Small Business Owners Should Know

Chances are, you get a high volume of marketing emails in your inbox each and every day. These emails may take different forms, from promotional offers to monthly newsletters, which hints at the breadth and diversity of email marketing as a discipline.

Indeed, email marketing is much more complicated than it might first seem, providing a range of strategic options for marketers and small business owners to choose from. A good first step, particularly for those who are new to email marketing, is to become more familiar with some of the basic terminology.

Email Marketing: 10 Terms Every Business Owner Needs to Know

Here are just a few of the terms and concepts we’d consider to be essential for properly understanding email marketing.

  1. A/B testing. The premise of A/B testing is pretty simple: You develop two unique versions of your marketing message (perhaps experimenting with different copywriting, different subject lines, images, and/or calls to action) and send each to a different segment of your audience. You then analyze the data from each campaign, determining which version of the email was more effective.
  2. Acceptance rate. The acceptance rate refers to the percentage of your emails that actually reach your audience’s inboxes (as opposed to getting shut down by spam filters, or bouncing back for any other reason). A high acceptance rate is obviously good, but keep in mind that it’s no guarantee of the email being opened, read, or even ending up in the user’s primary inbox.
  3. Click-through-rate. Most of the time, your emails are going to include a call to action, inviting the reader to visit your website, read a blog, or browse a product page. The click-through-rate, or CTR, refers to the number of readers who actually take this action, opening one of the links you’ve provided them. As such, it denotes a high level of engagement with your email.
  4. Conversion rate. The conversion rate is similar to the CTR, denoting the number of readers who take a desired action. This may be clicking a link, but it may also be calling your business to set up an appointment, or simply subscribing to receive further email correspondence. Proper A/B testing can be an effective way to improve your conversion rate!
  5. Hard bounce. A hard bounce means your emails cannot be delivered to the address in question, usually due to a technical issue (e.g., you got the email address wrong, or the address is no longer operational). A hard bounce can result in your emails getting flagged as spam, and it’s just generally a sign of inefficiency, so we recommend doing whatever you can to maintain an accurate and up-to-date subscriber list, pruning or correcting the addresses that result in a bounce.
  6. Landing page. Often, the best email marketing strategy is to send readers to a landing page, which is highly targeted to convert. A landing page will usually focus very narrowly on one product or service that you offer and will include several strong CTAs. Effective landing pages are essential to any email marketing strategy.
  7. Lead nurturing. The process of lead nurturing involves carefully building a long-term relationship with a potential customer, ultimately turning them into a sales lead. Email marketing is a good way to nurture leads, as you can provide enriching or educational content before transitioning into more of a “hard sell.”
  8. List segmentation. Just because you have 1,000 people on your email marketing list, it doesn’t mean you should send every message to the entire list. You may wish to break down your list into individual segments, based on interests or demographics, so that you can tailor your messaging accordingly. For example, you may have a list for leads and another list for loyal customers. At Grammar Chic, we might send some emails to content marketing clients, and others to resume writing clients.
  9. Open rate. The open rate denotes the percentage of people who actually open (and presumably read, or at least skim) your email message. An opener rate is a very good indication of your overall engagement level, and also attests to the quality of your subject line.
  10. Spam. Also known as junk mail, spam denotes unwanted emails that seldom make it into the user’s primary inbox. To avoid your emails getting labeled as spam, it’s critical to provide real value and high-quality content. Also make sure you’re judicious in how many emails you send. A/B testing and list segmentation are both important ways to avoid having your emails flagged as spam.

Go Deeper into Small Business Marketing

Looking to revamp your business’ email marketing campaign? Reach out to Grammar Chic today to learn more about our content and email marketing. Contact us at www.grammarchic.net, or 803-831-7444.

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July 15, 2022 · 11:52 am

Connecting with Gen Z’ers Through Content Marketing

Gen Z typically encompasses individuals born between 1997 and 2012. They have never known a world without social media and are digital natives. They know how to navigate different technology platforms with ease and embrace ecommerce and social commerce. This can make marketing to this tech savvy generation challenging.

While older generations prefer to spend their time on Facebook or Twitter, Gen Z migrates toward TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. This younger crowd thrives on engagement, interaction, and discovering the next best thing. Refining your content marketing strategy to appeal to Gen Z is a must if you want to attract their business. Here are some tips to build connections with this next generation of customers.

TikTok

Gen Z is drawn toward short, eye-catching content. Videos need to immediately attract their interest and go beyond traditional sales tactics. Shift your focus to real-world examples of how your products can impact their lives and daily routines. Think “show, don’t tell.” Why do they need what you have to offer? What can it do? Showcase diversity while being authentic and genuine. Skip the gimmicks, as Gen Z will see right through them and move on to something else.

Snapchat

Timeliness and relevancy are key to marketing on Snapchat. Posts disappear in 24 hours, so create a sense of “act now” urgency – and give them a way to interact. Gamification and VR are popular ways to connect and draw users in. Be strategic with your posts, or it will be “out of sight, out of mind.” Share content regularly and leverage feedback and recommendations from Gen Z to tailor posts to what they want to know and see.

Instagram

If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Gen Z is very visually oriented, be it pictures or videos. But building an Instagram following means creating a refined image and sticking with that theme. Images and videos should be carefully curated to align with your brand, mission, and vision. Partner with influencers who are real-life users that Gen Z will relate to and trust. Share user-generated content and show your products or services in action, giving different ideas for how they can be used.

Be Authentic

Gen Z doesn’t want the traditional gimmicky sales pitches. They have a more vested interest in a company’s values and what they stand for. Don’t be afraid to be vocal about what your brand believes in and the causes it stands behind. Building meaningful connections can attract more business and increase customer support in your brand.

Focus on Engagement

Gen Z’ers are constantly clicking, swiping, and tapping. Make sure your content is interactive and generates action. Use targeted hashtags, post quizzes and polls, create contests around tagging and sharing, and make completing purchases a seamless process. Gen Z is used to having information at their fingertips 24/7. Old-school marketing tactics can mean you’re missing out on a wealth of opportunity.

It takes the correct approach to create content that will ultimately connect with your Gen Z customers, and Grammar Chic’s team can help you develop it. Contact us today to discuss any of your content strategy needs.

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June 8, 2022 · 5:15 pm

Content Refresh: 7 Post Ideas to Revive Your Social Media Strategy

It can be easy to fall into a rut when developing content for social media. You get into a routine creating the same types of posts and sharing variations of the same information. This repetitiveness can cause users to keep scrolling past and reduce overall engagement.

It’s time to shake things up and give your social media strategy a much-needed refresh. Here are a few post ideas to revitalize your social media marketing and attract your audience’s attention whether you’re posting on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

  • Break Things Up with Photos and Videos

Line after line of text gets boring. Brighten up your page with photos that show your products or services in action, highlight product benefits, or give helpful how-to insight. Create short videos to increase engagement by demonstrating how your product works, what it offers a user, showcasing attractive features, or introducing new items.

  • Ask Questions

Encourage users to interact by asking for their feedback. You can create a simple poll with multiple choice answers, post two choices and have users pick A or B, or ask people to fill in the blank to complete a statement. This can also be a great way to conduct informal research and gain insight into what your customers like.

  • Share Testimonials

People love to hear what real customers think about a product or service. Create attractive graphics that incorporate reviews from satisfied customers. Pick statements that offer valuable insight and entice potential customers to take action themselves.

  • Incorporate User Generated Content

What better way to promote your business than by sharing posts from your customers? It could be a photo, video, or graphic where they express their thoughts in a relatable, authentic way. Don’t forget to ask permission and give credit to the original creator!

  • Answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Your team probably fields a lot of the same questions every week. Use this as an educational moment and create a fun post that publicly answers a question or two and gives customers more information. This can speed up their decision-making process because you’re answering what they want to know.

  • Take Users Behind the Scenes

How is your product really made? Who are the people making it happen? Spotlight a different employee or department each week. Make a video showing part of the design or production process. Snap a picture of everyone enjoying a company outing. Give insight into what goes on behind the scenes and humanize your business.

  • Go Live.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all have options for live streaming, or you can share a link to a live event on another platform. Give customers the opportunity to interact, ask questions, listen to thought leaders, or watch a panel discussion.

Consider your business and audience to decide what approaches might be a good fit, and then get started! Experiment and see what works well and what doesn’t. Give new strategies a few tries to allow them time to gain traction and boost engagement. Keep your content marketing fresh so customers want to stay connected and know what’s happening.

Is your business’ social media strategy in need of a refresh? Contact Grammar Chic today to learn more about how we can assist you.

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October 22, 2021 · 4:28 pm

6 Reasons to Invest in Professional Content Creation

Most business owners don’t need to be convinced of the value of online content. By now, the bottom-line benefits of content marketing are well-documented. The right content can lead to greater Google visibility, it can attract qualified leads, it can establish trust and rapport, and it can even ensure that customers are well-educated about your product and service offerings before they get in touch with your sales team.

No, the problem isn’t a perceived lack of value. The problem, in our experience, is a simple lack of time. Small business owners constantly have full plates, and as they get more and more swamped, blog-writing and content refreshes are usually the first items erased from the to-do list.

The solution? Hire a team of pros. Indeed, there are a number of benefits you can anticipate from investing in professional content creation.

Why Invest in Professional Content Creation?

  1. You lack a consistent online presence. Do you ever feel like your business is lost in a sea of competitors? One way to stand out, and to attract more attention from potential clients and customers, is to invest in blog posts, which in turn fuel your social media efforts. Regularly generating content allows you to cultivate a real presence on the Internet, potentially drawing in people who want to benefit from your thought leadership.
  2. You’re not feeding the beast. By the beast, of course, we mean Google’s algorithms, which constantly crave fresh, original content. If you’re not feeding the beast on a regular basis, sooner or later it will cause your SEO rankings to tumble.
  3. You’re creating content without an overarching strategy. Creating content just for content’s sake is a rookie mistake. A better approach is to build out a full strategy, including carefully defined goals and laser-focused buyer personas, then to create content that is tailored to move your bottom line. A professional content creator can help you with that.
  4. You’re not a great writer. Hey, there’s no shame in admitting that writing isn’t your strong suit. Whether you lack experience or simply aren’t able to write quickly, the last thing you want is for your brand to be tarnished with suboptimal content. Hire a team of pros to ensure the right level of polish and professionalism.
  5. Your content exists in a silo. Content isn’t supposed to live in a vacuum. Ideally, your content is developed to fuel your social media activity, to provide fodder for an email newsletter, and perhaps even to lay the groundwork for some compelling videos. A good content developer can help you bring all the pieces together into something coherent and strategic.
  6. You just don’t have time. We’ll say it again: Small business owners have a lot on their plate. We get it. And that’s why we love providing small companies with our content writing services, allowing their busy leaders to focus more time and attention on growing their business and developing their employees.

Questions About Professional Content Creation? Contact Grammar Chic, Inc

We’d love to tell you more about the advantages of choosing Grammar Chic, Inc. as your content creation partner. Reach out and schedule a consultation with us: Call 803-831-7444 or visit www.grammarchic.net.

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July 1, 2021 · 1:07 pm

5 Ways to Repurpose Your Content

Your written assets are invaluable pieces of marketing collateral, often representing a significant investment of time and labor. And yet, all too often, we treat content as though it is disposable. A blog post that takes days of research, writing, and optimization may be heavily promoted for a month, but then it’s all but forgotten.

To ensure you’re getting the maximum benefit from each piece of content you develop, consider some methods of repurposing. Here are just a few tips to improve your content mileage.

Effective Ways to Repurpose Your Digital Content

1. Update your longform blog posts regularly. If you take the time to write 2,000 words about email marketing trends, then you should be prepared to update the post every six months or so, reflecting how those trends change. After all, long-form content can be invaluable, both in terms of SEO and brand authority, but you’ll squander all that value if you allow the content to become dated or obsolete.

2. Use video to tease your content. When you develop a new piece of content, consider making a short video to promote it. For example, you can make a YouTube video or even an Instagram clip to summarize some of the main points of your most recent blog post, and end by inviting your viewers to read the post (and then share it).

3. Summarize your blog posts in email newsletters. At Grammar Chic, our monthly newsletter includes a rundown of all our recent blog posts, along with some short summaries of each. You don’t need to rehash the entirety of each post, but you can definitely use your long-form content as fodder for future emails.

4. Turn bullet points into tweet storms. Sure: Tweets are by their nature fairly ephemeral. But if you have a blog post with plenty of stand-alone points, quotes, or observations, it’s pretty easy to convert them into short blasts to your social media followers, potentially shoring up your thought leadership credentials.

5. Combine shorter posts into an e-book or downloadable guide. One final option to consider: If you have a number of shorter posts on a related topic, work with an editor to combine them into a single document, which you can then promote as a downloadable resource.

Increase Your Content ROI

These are just a few ways to improve your content ROI, particularly for longer and more in-depth pieces. We’d love to talk to you further about how these repurposing methods can fit into your overall content strategy. To speak with one of our writer-editors, contact Grammar Chic, Inc. at 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.

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April 30, 2021 · 2:12 pm

How COVID-19 Changed Content Marketing

At this point, it feels like the height of cliché to talk about how COVID-19 has changed everything. As with most clichés, however, this one carries a kernel of truth. After all, virtually every aspect of our lives has been impacted by the pandemic. Content marketing is no different. Not only have marketing workflows had to adapt to life in lockdown, but consumer behaviors and preferences have changed, too. And as with many other COVID-related disruptions, this one may prove durable: For as much as we all hope to “return to normal” soon, the reality is that COVID will continue to echo through our lives for a long time to come.

So, even as most of us get vaccinated and shift back toward our pre-pandemic patterns, there are some significant ways in which content marketing will bear COVID’s imprint. Here are a few of the changes that marketers and small business owners should keep in mind.

Uplift Will Win the Day

Pretty much all of us would agree that 2020 was the year from hell. Thus far, its successor seems like it is moving in a much healthier direction (knock on wood), but the fact remains: There’s plenty of bad news to go around. Do not believe us? Just turn on the news or switch over to your Twitter feed.

There is so much bad news out there, in fact, that a lot of consumers are frankly numb to it. Content that is negative or pessimistic in tone is increasingly at risk of being tuned out, while content that’s more positive in its tone stands a greater chance of breaking through.

In short, consumers crave uplift, and that is something a good content marketing plan can deliver. Do not just focus on pain points. For your content marketing efforts to succeed, you may need to double down on problem-solving potential, on inspirational messages, and on anything that helps people feel good.

As you begin to feel a little optimism, a sense that COVID is finally beginning to fade, channel that optimism into your content marketing.

Honesty Will Be Rewarded

Pre-COVID, none of us had any experience navigating pandemics. We have all been doing the best we can, and as business owners have been forced to adapt, it has required a new level of transparent communication with their customers and clients.

In fact, the companies that have been the most honest and forthcoming with their customers, showing real candor about how they have been handling the pandemic, are the ones that have seen the greatest groundswells of support. As it turns out, consumers really value businesses and brands that are willing to shoot straight.

There is no reason that should end just because the pandemic does. Continue to make candor your policy, communicating with your audience in as direct and authentic way as you can. The alternative is to risk finding out just how little patience people have for content that obfuscates or beats around the bush.

SEO Will Be a Big Deal

To be fair, SEO has been a big deal for a while now. And yet, ever since the start of the pandemic, its importance in the marketing world has only grown. And we think that trend is likely to continue.

Why is this? For one thing, the pandemic led to a surge in e-commerce, for reasons that are probably obvious. And even now that people are feeling more comfortable in brick-and-mortar stores, a lot of consumers still prefer to do their research in advance, Googling around for local businesses to verify that they are still open, that they have good reviews, and that they seem reasonably safe.

As such, for any brand to succeed, it will need content that wins rankings in Google. To that end, we recommend a value-focused content marketing campaign that will provide something relevant and useful to search engine users, and thus find the favor of Google’s algorithms.

One Thing That Hasn’t Changed? Grammar Chic’s Commitment to Quality

As you consider what your content marketing endeavors might look like in a post-pandemic world, keep in mind that Grammar Chic has been creating authentic and original content campaigns on behalf of our clients throughoutthe COVID crisis. We would love to talk with you about developing quality content that meets the moment. Reach out any time at www.grammarchic.net or 803-831-7444.

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May 11, 2020 · 1:28 pm

Why Content Marketing is Going to Be Hot in a Post-COVID World

We’ll start with the ubiquitous cliché: COVID-19 has changed everything. In the weeks, months, and years to come, we’ll all see even more clearly how it’s disrupted our world and changed our behavior. The marketing world is by no means exempt; it may be a good long while before we have a full reckoning of how the pandemic has impacted consumer behavior, and what that means for our efforts to advertise and promote.

Marketing After COVID

With that said, we can certainly make a few preliminary hypotheses.

  • Traditional advertising is going to become all but gone. Many of us are going to be spending more time at home, fearful of too much exposure to the open air; as such, things like highway billboards just aren’t going to offer the same return on investment. Similarly, in a culture increasingly germ-aware, physical totems, such as direct mailers, are going to become obsolete.
  • Traditional TV advertising is also likely to shift toward a digital, programmatic model… if only because the quarantine has led more people to start consuming content on their devices, focusing more on streaming services, YouTube, and short-form social media content over broadcast TV.
  • In light of the pandemic’s economic fallout, many of us are going to have tight budgets. We’re not going to want to part with our hard-earned money just because some ham-fisted sales pitch tells us to. Traditional sales tactics are going to become less and less effective.
  • For a long time, consumers are going to have questions about whether their favorite businesses and restaurants are still in business and about whether the new businesses that have sprung up are worth going to. Most of us will turn to Google to do some research before we physically venture to these businesses. Again, you can anticipate a lot of reluctance about heading away from home needlessly.

These are just a few of the changes we foresee to the marketing landscape… but what are the practical implications? For one thing, we think content marketing is going to become hotter than ever.

The Argument for Content Marketing

There are a few reasons why we suspect content marketing will thrive in a post-COVID world.

  • These days, we’re inundated with voices from the news, voices from politicians, voices from the medical profession… and at times, it can be hard to know who to listen to or who to trust. The most successful brands will be those that develop a reputation for clear, candid, and honest connection with their audience. Content marketing and thought leadership create that connection.
  • While the general public is going to be increasingly wary of being “advertised to,” we’ll arguably be more ready than ever for stories, which help us to empathize and to make some sense of a chaotic world. Content marketing is one of the best ways for brands to tell their stores… stories of who they are, who they serve, and what they value.
  • More than anything else, content marketing is poised for success because it meets people where they are. Sure, we’ll likely reach a point where people are once again eager and ready to spend time outside their homes, but it may be a good long while before we flock back to movie theaters and concerts. So how will people occupy their time? One answer is content that can be enjoyed anywhere, from the convenience of a phone, tablet, or other device.
  • As consumers seek information about their favorite old businesses, or try to discover favorite new businesses, content marketing provides a way to engage them, to inform them, to win their attention, and ultimately to gain their trust.

Nobody can predict for certain what the coming season will bring; not for the economy, not for COVID-19, not for marketing. But if you want to place a bet on something, content marketing looks right now to be a pretty safe choice.

Curious to learn more? We invite you to contact Grammar Chic, Inc. via 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.

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March 12, 2020 · 2:50 pm

What the Coronavirus Teaches Us About Content Marketing

Kind of an odd headline, huh?  I know—I am well aware that it seemed like a stretch when I started pondering recent current events and their correlation to the topic of content marketing.  On the surface (no pun intended, and I have been wiping everything down with Clorox wipes around here, FYI) it might appear that this pandemic and the content marketing practice have nothing in common. However, as I have tried to digest the seemingly constant and ever evolving stream of information that we all have been inundated with, I started to realize something.  Ultimately, the overall handling of the Coronavirus is essentially a lesson in what not to do when it comes to content marketing.

The Handling of Coronavirus is a How-To Guide for Bad Content Marketing

Below, you will find a couple of themes I have noticed as it relates to the communication strategy (or lack thereof) and the “Corona Crud” as I have taken to calling it:

  1. Have you noticed that there doesn’t seem to be anyone actually in charge of the overall messaging? Have you realized that at any given point in time, varied streams of information (as well as misinformation) come at us faster than we can say “Wash Your Hands!”? Indeed, it’s been dizzying to keep up with and hard to essentially figure out what is true and trustworthy (and if it comes from a reputable source) and what is just plain nonsense.

The Lesson: When it comes to content marketing, having too many proverbial scientists handling the petri dish is a recipe for disaster.  It is necessary to put one person who is knowledgeable, confident, and focused in charge and discourage involvement from other people who want to interject their own messaging or create alternate information streams. There is too much room for error in this regard.

  1. Writing for the sake of writing is bad news. And this has definitely been true with regard to Coronavirus. Hearsay and speculation have run rampant; rumors about miracle treatments, secret labs, and even the CDC’s need for men to shave off their beards to prevent the virus from spreading have abounded. News outlets have worked overtime in producing “click bait” articles that provide little new information but attract the attention of anxious readers eager to learn more. At the end of the day, the agencies in charge have struggled to keep up and have even noted that it’s possible that we are facing an “infodemic.”

 

The Lesson: Producing content for the sake of producing content is a terrible approach. In content marketing, the content that is made public should have a purpose and you have to work to control the spread of information that hurts rather than helps. Admittedly, the WHO and CDC have a big job—they are trying to ensure the public has good information, but they have found themselves unable to control bad content leaking and multiplying from other sources (and some of those sources, frankly speaking, come from the very highest levels of our government).

 

  1. Negative associations can hurt your brand. This isn’t so much about Coronavirus as it is about Corona—the beer. There is a lot in a name. And what’s worse than loose associations centered around a name? Ill-timed marketing campaigns that promise “coming ashore soon” at the exact same moment as when the first cases of Coronavirus started popping up on the U.S. Pacific coast.  Yes, Corona (the beer) actually released a campaign like this—just recently—for its hard seltzer.  The company has tried to reinforce that there is no correlation between their beer and the virus, but bad messaging and misinformation, coupled with consumer fear has the ability to hurt the brand.

The Lesson: Believing that an audience will form logical conclusions without your help, guidance, and reassurance isn’t the best strategy.  If something damaging could be associated with your brand—no matter how far-fetched—work to stop the issue proactively and ensure that your own marketing efforts aren’t being used to reinforce an already ridiculous theory or belief. Again, it’s necessary to remain constantly aware of what is being communicated—no matter if it’s coming from you or another source.

A Good Content Strategy Promotes Real Information

At the end of the day, Coronavirus is a serious situation—and people deserve to trust the information that is being published about this virus. The people and agencies who have microphones, global platforms, and Twitter accounts have a responsibility to share truthful and reliable information. There is a great responsibility placed upon the people in charge of a communication strategy to be transparent and knowledgeable about the content they share.  The conveying of misinformation or messages that negates expert advice is not only a disservice to the public, it is unethical—and this is true no matter what your content strategy is looking to communicate or promote.

At Grammar Chic, we fully subscribe to the idea of creating content that goes viral (no pun intended). However, that content must be based on facts, clear messaging, and benefit the end user. For more information, contact us today by visiting www.grammarchic.net or call 803-831-7444.

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January 3, 2020 · 12:55 pm

How Can You Optimize Content for Voice Search Queries?

The way people search for online information is fundamentally changing… and that has some seismic implications for content marketing professionals. Arguably the most significant shift of all has been the rise in voice search. These days, it’s as likely as not that a Google or Bing search query will come through a voice assistant (think Siri or Alexa) as opposed to physical typing. Indeed, some studies have speculated that, by the end of this year, more than 50 percent of all search queries will be voice searches.

So how can you ensure that your content shows up in these Siri and Alexa searches? How can you fully optimize to address new search engine user behaviors? Here are a few quick tips from the Grammar Chic team.

How Has Voice Changed the Way People Search?

The first thing to consider is how voice search queries differ from text ones.

Here’s an example. Say you wanted to see some movie showtimes for your favorite Charlotte movie theaters. If you were typing your query into a Google search bar, you’d probably keep it short and sweet: Charlotte movie times, or something similar.

But if you were using a voice search assistant, you’d probably phrase it more like a question, e.g., What are today’s Charlotte movie show times, or what movies are playing in Charlotte?

When developing content, it’s critical to accommodate these long-tail keywords, which can be as simple as writing conversationally; avoiding the “keyword stuffing” practices of the past; avoiding stiff, unnatural-sounding keywords; and, when possible, framing your content in question-and-answer form.

Something else to consider is the reality that many voice search queries are finely-honed and specific in nature. Simply put, most search users don’t ramble on to their voice assistant. They know what kind of information they’re seeking, and phrase their query accordingly. Some examples: Where is the nearest tire store? Or, find a Mexican restaurant near me.

Again, savvy content will address these more specific queries. An FAQ page is invaluable here. We’d also recommend blog posts that are designed to provide authoritative answers to these very particular questions.

Finally, be aware that most voice search queries are localized in nature. If you’re using a voice assistant, it’s likely because you want to find the closest coffee shop, the nearest oil change service, etc., specifically in relation to your current location.

Good content should be localized as much as possible. Include your business name, address, and phone number on each page of your website. Make note of the specific shopping center you’re in or a major intersection that’s nearby. (“Find us at the corner of…,” “we’re conveniently located behind the mall,” etc.) Also include information like your hours of operation, holiday closings, and so on.

Content That’s Made with Voice Search in Mind

The way people search is changing. It’s important for your content creation to adapt accordingly. That’s something the Grammar Chic, Inc. team can help with. Reach out today and set up a content marketing consultation with us. Connect at www.grammarchic.net or by calling 803-831-7444.

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December 31, 2019 · 2:42 pm

Why Content Marketing is the Best Bet for Your Startup

Launching a brand new enterprise can be plenty exciting, but also a little bit intimidating. Startup entrepreneurs will always face some uphill climbs, and one of the steepest is getting the word out about your business. Building a marketing presence from scratch is not just daunting, but potentially costly; without it, though, there’s little chance of the company ever developing the customer base it needs for success.

Of all the marketing activities available to your startup, there may be none that fit more seamlessly than content marketing. Indeed, content marketing has a few intrinsic benefits that make it ideally suited for newly-launched or soon-to-launch businesses.

Content Marketing and Your New Business

Here are just a few of the reasons why content marketing works so well in startup or new business contexts.

  • It’s easy to scale. One of the most valuable traits of content marketing is that it’s incredibly simple to start small and build from there. You can begin with a small budget, doing a lot of the work yourself, engaging through a few carefully-chosen channels, and expand as your audience grows and your company finds its footing.
  • It’s easy to customize. With something like broadcast TV ads, you wind up paying a lot of money to reach a general audience. With content marketing, you can spend less money to reach a more precisely-targeted audience. With the right data and analytics, you can ensure your content is being directed to the people you’re most eager to reach.
  • It helps you build a brand identity. A new business is sort of a blank canvas; it’s up to you to paint a picture of what the company is and what it stands for. Through content marketing, you can do that, providing thought leadership that exhibits your expertise, your values, and the basic proposition you have for your audience.
  • It’s conversational. Content marketing is as much about listing as it is broadcasting. Through social media, for example, you can generate real dialogue with your audience, then use their comments and feedback to fine-tune your marketing message as well as your product offering.
  • It allows you to earn attention. There’s definitely a time and a place for paid ads, sponsored social media posts, etc. With that said, carefully-crafted content can give you an opportunity to earn shares/likes/retweets/forwards organically, which can in turn help you generate word-of-mouth buzz.

These are just a few of the attributes that make content marketing a smart option for new businesses… so what’s the next step? We welcome you to reach out to the Grammar Chic, Inc. team to discuss some specific ways in which content marketing can help your young business grow. Connect at www.grammarchic.net or 803-831-7444.

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