Zerys For Agencies Blog

How a Checklist Helps You Develop the Perfect Agency Content Strategy

Nancy M Ruff — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 15:05:00 GMT

There’s real psychology behind the effectiveness of checklists: setting smaller, incremental goals motivates us to accomplish bigger things.

Small Steps Lead to Big Achievements

Big goals, such as an effective content marketing strategy, are important. But how you achieve them doesn’t happen in one giant leap. Setting small, achievable tasks helps lessen the stress that comes from trying to accomplish something complicated, challenging, and complex overnight.

The “SMART” method is a great model for setting up a workable checklist you can tick off as you move towards completing your agency content strategy goals:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

The science behind SMART’s success is simple: when people experience even a little bit of success, their brains release dopamine which is connected to feelings of, among other things, motivation. Brains love the dopamine high they get from success, so they motivate their owners to repeat the successful action. Known as “self-directed learning,” this process helps successfully drive long-term projects.

A SMART Checklist for Agency Content Strategy

Ready to get smart about developing agency content strategy goals? Here’s how to get started.

Have You Set Specific Goals?

This is the “why” of your agency content strategy. Why are you creating specific content and who are you creating it for? How does your solution help your audience in ways other brands’ solutions don’t? Make a list of what you hope to achieve. Increase revenue, lower costs, and/or better leads and customers, be clear on the result you want to attain.

Is Your Agency Content Strategy Measurable?

If you can’t measure your ROI, how will you know if your strategy is working? Because there’s no one way to measure success, it’s sometimes difficult to do, but if your clear strategy is in place, it’s a lot easier than you might think. Some people use numbers based on AdWords results, others look at social media shares or lead generation metrics. You’ll need to experiment to find the one that works best for your brand.

Does Your Content Help Attain Results?

Or are you producing content for content’s sake? It helps to know, of course, just what you’re trying to attain. Brand awareness? More customers? Increased conversions? Randomly posting content that is vague and/or unfocused will not get you the results you’re looking for. You may reach a wider audience, but if your content doesn’t connect your brand with the people who need it most, you’re failing at one of the most important aspects – and benefits – of content marketing.

Are Your Goals Relevant?

A good agency content strategy aligns with a brand’s overall goals. It’s vital to understand what types of content will be the most relevant to your target audience. There are dozens of types of content marketing services you can employ to get your message to the right people. Blog posts, social media, white papers, eBooks, newsletters, case studies, videos, and infographics are some of the most popular. Many marketers worry about not covering all their bases, but it can be dangerous to spread yourself too thin. Take a cue from baseball and focus your effort and resources on 3 bases, or types of content. You stand a much better chance of hitting a home run.

Are Your Goals Time-bound?

If specifics are about the why, time limits are about the “when.” Each goal of your agency content strategy should have an endpoint. Too-vague goals keep you on a path that it might be best turning off from. Remember, too, that it’s easier to stay motivated when there’s an end in sight. Setting time-bound goals to your content marketing strategy also helps establish regular periods of measurement, evaluation, and retooling.

The Bottom Line

A cohesive agency content strategy is needed to establish a strong brand identity, increase content marketing productivity, analyze success rates, and maximize a brand’s ROI.

Create a SMART checklist to help you better understand the whys, whens, and hows of your agency content strategy principles and goals. It will help you eliminate risk, doubt, and guesswork while developing a strategy for your B2B ad agency that helps make your customers’ lives easier and your brand more successful. To learn more, check out our white paper, "How the Right Blog Content Strategy Can Power and Simplify All Your Online Marketing."

5 Game Changing Article Marketing Tips

Ryan Lym — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 15:05:00 GMT

You've probably heard the phrase "content is king," approximately a million times before, but it bears repeating. If you're an SMB marketing agency, your goal should be to provide killer content for your clients that ups traffic and then turns that traffic into conversions. If you're looking to up your game, consider these five article marketing tips to keep things fresh:

1. Start at the Beginning

Far too often, clients will want to focus on adding content -- before you've even helped them make sure their website is user-friendly. One of the biggest article marketing tips anyone can give you is to make sure that you build a quality website first, then add a blog later. Think about it: if the website isn't really ready for conversions, all you've done is invite a lead only to make them frustrated. Not only have you upset one potential customer, but you've probably alienated their friends as well.

2. Keep it Simple

Article marketing is about providing high-quality content that people actually want to read. However, they're probably not going to want to read the entire thing if it's too long. In fact, not only should you keep things under 700 words, you should provide subheadings for the skimmers. Remember: generally, your readers are coming looking for answers. So make them easy to find, or else you're likely to once again leave someone frustrated.

3. Don't Post for the Sake of It

If you ask the internet how often business blogs should post, you'll get a plethora of answers. However, there's one thing that's for certain: you don't want to create bad content for the sake of posting. A huge rookie mistake is thinking more content is better, when in fact, it's the quality of your content that matters. If you and your client are honestly having trouble coming up with something that's valuable, make sure your client understands that nothing is better than something poor. A bunch of mediocre content could actually hurt your clients, rather than help.

4. Understand the Industry

As an SMB marketing agency, you're likely to attract clients from all sorts of industries. If you plan on creating content for them, you'll need to roll up your sleeves and do some research; after all, you need to sound like you're an expert. One of the article marketing tips that's often looked over is making sure you not only know, but can use industry-related jargon when appropriate. After all, an expert in the industry would, and you want your client to be trusted.

5. Find Some Balance

No idea is entirely original. However, you probably want to make sure that you're not simply repeating what everyone else has been saying. If you want your client's blog to stand out, you need to make sure that you're actually providing something of interest. But be careful! If you get too esoteric, you might find that the reason no one else has really written on this is because no one wants to read about it. You'll need to strike a balance. You want fresh content that's targeting keywords that are actually used. This is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do in article marketing.

By following these article marketing tips, you'll find that you provide a better service for your clients. Of course, there are plenty of tips out there -- many of which are conflicting. There are really only a few "one size fits all" solutions these days because every industry is looking at attracting different demographics. The best thing you can do for your client is help them understand what you're doing with your marketing plan, and why it works. After all, they have likely done some research themselves and will probably have some ideas of their own. It's up to you to work with them to find out what article marketing tips will work best for their website and target demographics.

To learn more, check out our white paper, "How to Build A Profitable Content Creation Agency."

Action! Why Video Content is One Huge Slice of the Content Marketing Pie

Nancy M Ruff — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 15:05:00 GMT

Video content is hot. It’s a powerful storytelling medium that supports a brand’s marketing campaigns and helps create deeper, more satisfying relationships with an audience. As digital marketing has evolved, video has moved to the forefront, reaching more people every day.

First, some stats. Over 80% of Twitter users watch video content posted there while 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook and/or YouTube videos a week. And experts predict that in just a couple years online videos will make up to 85% of U.S. consumer internet traffic.

Worth 1.8 Million Words

Ready for one more stat? Forrester Research estimates that just one minute of video is worth 1.8 million written words!

While all these numbers are pretty impressive, video as part of an overall marketing strategy is only successful if it entertains and provides value to viewers, just like the written word. Still, video marketing is now one of the best tools at your disposal, so it’s worth understanding what it can achieve, and how you can make it work for your campaigns.

Video Content and the Buyer’s Journey

Video's an exciting medium, so it’s easy to forget its purpose is the same as with all inbound marketing strategies: to identify your audience’s needs and then determine which message your content should contain. A great way to do this is by focusing on the buyer’s journey and creating your videos accordingly.

In the awareness stage, your viewer realizes she or he has a problem that needs to be solved. This is the time for educational videos that increase visibility and build brand awareness. Short narrative commercials and social media videos also increase engagement and drive visits to a website.
In the consideration stage, your lead begins their research and evaluates possible solutions. Videos in this stage are for providing solutions. Explainer videos catch the audience’s attention and give them the information they need in just a few seconds. Explainer videos are perfect YouTube vehicles, helping you boost leads and increase conversions. Webinars and how-to videos are also effective at this stage.
In the decision stage, the customer decides to purchase your product or service. What better way to achieve that outcome than through customer testimonial video content? People love hearing from other people who have used your product or service. This type of video helps generate brand trust and close deals. FAQ, company story, and product features videos can all help bring your leads to a final purchase.

Video Content and Influencer Marketing

As a marketing pro, you know that people are more likely to buy a product or service that’s recommended by someone just like them. Consumers put great weight in the opinions of their peers and are much more influenced by their reviews and endorsements.

Video content offer endless new ways to connect with your audience on social media, engaging them in a quick, captivating way. If your brand offers a consistent stream of helpful content and insights, you can accelerate your influencer status much more quickly than with written content alone.

The Bottom Line

Video content creation can be a powerful tool, but it’s not the easiest marketing technique to master. As you might suspect, the video landscape has become a noisy and competitive one. With so many videos competing for eyeballs, there’s no guarantee how quickly you’ll see a return on your investment, if at all. But with the right plan and a little creativity, just about any brand can benefit from using video to tell engaging stories and motivate their audience to take action. To learn more about video content marketing, check out our white paper, "What is Content Marketing? And Why Is It So Important?"

Helping Your Clients Develop a Strong Content Blog Strategy

Ryan Lym — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 15:05:00 GMT

It's pretty common knowledge these days that creating a content blog strategy can do more for a business than many traditional marketing strategies, but actually developing a blog that is successful takes more than scribbling down a few words. There are a lot of resources out there to help you start up and write a blog, but unfortunately there's less information out there about how to develop a surefire content blog strategy. By following these steps, you can make sure that your client's blog does more than sit there.

1. Set Goals

Most business owners know that they should have a blog, but why do they want a blog for their website? Sitting down with your clients and coming up with goals is imperative. Do they simply want to increase traffic for their website? Do they want to develop their brand? Do they want to help educate customers about their products? Or do they want to convert more leads? Whatever they want, they need to start with that when developing their content blog strategy. It's almost impossible to get what you want out of a blog if you don't know what you want to begin with!

When sitting down with your clients, you'll want to make sure that they choose measurable, specific goals for the content blog strategy. If they're having trouble understanding what they want, help them by asking questions. If goals aren't measurable and specific, it's impossible to use analytics to see if the blog is meeting their needs.

2. Choose Your Demographic

It's easy to think that you want more traffic for your clients, but that's just not true anymore. You want to get website traffic from people who are actually willing to convert. More traffic but fewer conversions is just a waste of everyone's time. So narrow your target audience down to the demographics you're looking at, and then do your research. See what kind of social media platforms they use, so you know where to share your blog posts. Ask yourself what barriers keep them from buying your clients' products so you can address them in your content blog. And of course, ask yourself what kind of content your targeted demographic enjoys reading the most, so you can supply it to them.

3. Keyword Research

One of my favorite things about doing keyword research is the number of ideas it gives me for doing blog posts. Take a moment with your client to find out what kind of (high volume with relatively low competition) keywords they'd like to use for their blog posts. Once you have a keyword, it's usually easy to come up with a blog post that can use it. Of course, you'll want to make sure that any content blog posts use keywords naturally -- the last thing anyone wants to read is something awkwardly worded for SEO rather than the reader, and Google will most likely penalize you for trying.

4. Create a Schedule

The biggest fear a lot of clients have about adding a content blog to their website is knowing that they have to keep it up to date. Alleviate that fear by planning ahead and having a schedule for when blog posts are supposed to appear. There are many plugins that even let you publish on a timeline, so the blog basically runs itself once you have the content. This is great, especially for clients who want less to do with the marketing and more to do with their business.

5. Repeat

Eventually, you're going to have to have to repeat the whole cycle for your content blog strategy. You'll need to set new goals, redefine your target demographics, research new keywords, and schedule in more blog posts. However, by developing a strong content blog strategy, this whole process will feel natural and not overwhelming. You may find that the more you do it, the more your client will be able to come to the table knowing what they want, with new ideas and blog content examples.

Creating a content blog strategy that's successful may take a bit of work, but in the modern age, there's no better way to attract new leads. Working together with your clients, you can make sure that the process is not only smooth and easy, but even better, gets them the results they desire. If you want to learn more about creating a content strategy, check out our white paper, "What is a Digital Content Strategy? And Why You Need One."

The Skinny on Business Blog Writing

Ryan Lym — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 15:05:00 GMT

One of the most powerful things you can do as a marketing agency for business owners is to help them create and maintain a business blog. But business blog writing differs a bit from keeping a personal blog, and it's important to help your clients understand how they can turn their blog into a tool to effectively convert visitors. Here are some of our top tips for maintaining a business blog:

Plan Ahead

One of the biggest reasons a lot of business owners shy away from keeping a blog is that they understand the kind of time commitment it can take. However, it's often easier to create content ahead of time, instead of trying to come up with it on a weekly basis. By planning ahead, you can make sure that your clients have enough content for weeks or even months to come, making business blog writing the least stressful thing on their plates.

Post Business Blog Writing Regularly

There are a lot of mixed opinions when it comes to how often you should post, but the key is making sure that you post regularly, if not frequently. You'll want to make sure that readers know when to expect a new blog post from you, especially if you plan on providing quality material that brings readers back. Of course, this can also backfire if you don't plan ahead -- posting low-quality content just so that you have content will likely bring your rankings down, rather than up.

Keep it Short

There are a few reasons you want to keep business blog writing short, but the biggest one is that people are usually just looking for an answer to a question. If they can't quickly get it, they'll likely move on to a competitor. The other reason is that attention spans simply aren't what they were, and people aren't interested in reading through a lot of fluff to get to the meat of the content. Aim to keep your blog posts between 400-700 words, and more often closer to the former than the latter.

Share, Share, Share

Not only will you want to make sure your clients' business blogs are being shared on their social media platforms, but you'll also want to make sure that it's easy for readers to share content they like. People respond more positively to brands they see shared by their friends, so you absolutely want to make it easy for people to put your clients' content on their feeds.

Get Analytics

What makes a good business blog? Of course, it's important to see whether or not your business blog writing is creating conversions, but there's another huge reason you'll want to make sure that you have analytics running on your clients' websites: it's a great way to see what's working. And if you can see what's working, you can create more content like it. Perhaps my favorite way of coming up with content is going back and seeing what I can add to old posts that got the most views or interactions. It's a surefire success for new content.

Hire a Writer

While it may seem tempting to save a few pennies by doing it all in-house, hiring someone to do business blog writing for you can make a world of difference. Business blog writing isn't something that comes naturally, and if you can find a good writer, it will increase your quality. Furthermore, if you can develop a team, you can make sure that fresh content is regularly being delivered, and as stated before, keeping a blog frequent is important for SEO and reader retention. This can also alleviate many clients' fears that a blog will be too difficult to maintain.

What will a blog do for a company? If your clients are still unsure about developing and maintaining a blog for their site, bring up these ideas with them. They might realize that the benefits of blogging for business will surely outweigh the commitment, especially if you hire a writer or manage it for them. By doing a little bit of planning, keeping good analytics, and choosing the right keywords, you can make sure that their business blog writing is a self-maintaining success that helps them grow. Does your business need a blog? To learn more, check out our white paper, "How the Right Blog Content Can Power and Simplify All Your Online Marketing."

How to Become a True Article Marketing Expert

Ryan Lym — Fri, 25 May 2018 15:05:00 GMT

While there have always been trends in marketing, it's only in the age of the internet that they change so quickly. Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, new technologies are constantly being invented, and people's attention spans seem to be getting shorter, so what can you do to make sure that your agency isn't just delivering content marketing, but aligning businesses with an article marketing expert? It takes a bit of effort, but if you follow these steps, you can make sure that you stay on top of the game:

Never Stop Learning

Whether you have finished school or not, if you're in marketing, you can't stop doing everything in your power to keep your information up-to-date. The best way to do this is to join sites like LinkedIn, where you can follow marketing influencers and other marketing experts. Make a list on Twitter of people you'd like to keep on an eye on, so you can benefit from their advice. Listen to podcasts on digital marketing or read articles about marketing in your spare time. Some say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in something, so start now and get those hours in. It may sound like a commitment, but no one becomes an article marketing expert overnight.

Participate in the Community

You may be tempted to just soak in all of the information, but if you really want to become an expert, you need to be social. Marketing is about understanding how people think, so if you aren't actually spending time with people, you're not going to be as successful. One way you can double up your time is by simply asking why. If someone says something is true in digital marketing and you're not completely sold, don't be afraid to ask them to explain themselves. Not only will you be learning from an expert, but you'll possibly be given a chance to see inside the "black box" and truly understand the reasoning behind their thinking.

Furthermore, try to find groups on digital marketing that you can meet up with. It's a growing field, and you might be surprised and how many people in your area are part of your niche. Check websites like Meetup for events like social networking opportunities, presentations, and more.

Don't Be Afraid of Numbers

While you might think that an article marketing expert doesn't need math, they definitely do need to be looking at numbers. The biggest mistake anyone can make is resting on their own laurels and saying that they don't to track their success. Analytics are an incredibly powerful tool, but only if you know how to use them. This is perhaps one of the biggest differences between an article marketing expert and a content marketer. An expert uses the scientific method to hone their craft, while a marketer might just be happy with a satisfied client.

So how do you use the scientific method in marketing? Just like you would in any other science. You start by finding the problem you want to address -- for instance, you might want to increase user retention by a certain percent. You do some research and come up with a potential solution -- your hypothesis. You then test your hypothesis using analytics. Numbers are important here because they can show you whether or not your marketing technique is truly working. If it isn't, it's time to go back and formulate a new plan. If it is, you need to document it, so you can use this marketing technique in similar situations.

So it's really not just a difference of a number of hours put in. A large part of being an article marketing expert is having done many experiments, many times, with many results. By documenting all of them, experts have the ability to pull on a large number of successes and can provide their clients with solutions faster than others. Experience is key, but at the same time can be a bit of a drawback, too. Even experts have to continue to learn because digital marketing is so dynamic. Simply relying on past results without considering changes in the industry simply foolhardy. Remember: the only true comparison you can make for you and your clients is to yourself. Anyone can call themselves an article marketing expert. All you can do is strive to provide top-notch services for you and them.

To further your education about article marketing and content marketing, check out our white paper, "What is Content Marketing? And Why It Is So Important."

Listen to the Expert: What Article Marketing Isn't

Ryan Lym — Sat, 19 May 2018 03:05:00 GMT

With so many terms and acronyms, it can be hard for everyone, even those in the industry, to keep track of what digital marketing terms mean. Perhaps one that gets a lot of confusion is "article marketing." People seem to be of two minds about this one. Some think that article marketing is about writing and submitting articles to other sites. In fact, if you Google article marketing right now, you'll see the idea brought up.

Right now, you might be thinking that's a great way to get backlinks and help bring your clients' rankings up. Stop. Right. There.

It's not. And here's why, according to pretty much every article marketing expert.

1. Quality Matters

Before you jump on the bandwagon and head to one of these so-called "article banks," check out their content first. Chances are, there is absolutely nothing on them that is worth your time. There might be a few gems you can mine out, but the truth is that there's so much trash on these sites that even if someone does manage to find one of your articles and head to your site, it's going to do almost nothing for your clients' SEO. Google rewards quality, and almost none of these sites are worth Google's time. Therefore, they're probably not worth your time either.

Links in and of themselves, especially post Panda, aren't worth anything. If you really want to generate some quality links, you need to provide quality content, not just article bank fodder that no one cares about. It's a waste of time, effort, and money.

2. More Traffic Isn't Necessarily Better

One of the most important things to realize in digital marketing is that more hits doesn't necessarily mean more conversions. If you are a sandwich shop, it might do to go hand out coupons next to a train station -- everyone gets hungry -- but we'd consider it weird for an HVAC company to do so. Why? Because most people only call an HVAC expert when they need one. The Internet is very similar. It doesn't pay to advertise to everyone. In fact, it can cost you quite dearly. It pays to be advertising to people who will convert -- generally a much smaller demographic -- and costs you to advertise to those who won't.

Which brings us back to article marketing, or rather, why article banks don't work according to pretty much every article marketing expert. Such a generalized site doesn't really allow you to hone in on the demographic you wish to be pursuing. Focus on conversion, not on just "ranking up" on Google. You want to have the right keywords, so you're not getting click-throughs that don't benefit you. Just as you wouldn't want your time to be wasted, others don't want their time wasted with results that don't match their needs. Just focusing on traffic is a lose-lose for everyone.

3. That's Not How People Choose Brands

If you're not convinced that article banks are a bad idea by now, you might be persuaded by numbers. One article marketing expert points out that 93% of people's shopping choices are guided by social media. That's an alarming statistic and shows that you should be focusing on your social media presence, not how many articles you've banked. In face, if you ask an article marketing expert, but they'll tell you is that you should write articles, but instead of putting them on forums or in article banks, you should be putting them on your clients' own blog...then advertising them on Facebook and Twitter.

In fact, another huge statistic brought up in the same article is that 87% of internet users now have a smartphone. If you're not taking advantage of Apps, you're probably losing out on conversions. Some of the biggest content your clients could use might not be articles at all, but pictures. Advertising on Snapchat was shown to have tremendous results, with 92% of campaigns showing positive results.

So, if you want to add that your agency provides an article marketing expert, you need to make sure that you've kept up with the times. Google has never approved of any strategies that involve little work for massive gains. Even if it's worked for some (which is doubtful, considering all of the above) it's definitely not going to work now that Google has updated their algorithms. Article marketing has evolved, and its so-called experts need to, too.

To learn more about the latest trends in content marketing, check out our white paper, "What is Content Marketing? And Why It Is So Important."

What to (Not) Look for in a B2B Copywriter

Ryan Lym — Fri, 11 May 2018 15:05:00 GMT

Anyone who thinks copywriters are a dime a dozen hasn't tried to find a good one. There is a massive skill difference between poorly written copy and well-written copy, and it doesn't take a professional to notice bad copy. It does, however, take a trained eye to tell exactly why copy feels poorly written. With that in mind, here are some red flags you should look for when you're auditioning a B2B copywriter:

Purple Prose

Purple prose may be a term from the literary world, but it applies to copywriting as well. Google defines it as, "prose that is too elaborate or ornate," and it's often a hallmark of low-quality writing. It's bad enough in fiction, but in copywriting, it's a complete killer. If your B2B copywriter is focusing too heavily on the quality of the writing, rather than its ability to convey information, they're likely going to be a bad fit for the job. The last thing you want is a writer who gets too "creative."

Dead Voice

This is perhaps the opposite of the purple prose writer -- the writer with absolutely no voice at all. You can tell these writers from the fact that their writing lacks any engagement at all. In fact, you probably want to stop reading before you've had your question answered. It's dry and clinical. It perhaps reads like it might have been written from a template. Make sure your B2B copywriter understands that (especially in the digital age) they need to grab the reader's attention, not bore them to death.

The Fluffer

If you're paying a B2B copywriter by the word, it may be tempting for them to pack in as many words as possible. A good B2B copywriter knows that this makes bad copy, bores readers, and will likely lose them work. There are a variety of reasons someone might fluff an article, however, varying from bad to worse:

Money

If you pay by the word, money may be an influence. However, there's an easy solution: make sure the writer isn't paid for words that don't make it into the final copy. You might find that you can turn a "bad" B2B copywriter into a better one.

Voice

What you see as fluff, a copywriter might see as their "voice," especially if they have very little experience at B2B copywriting. The best thing you can do in this situation is ask them for revisions to their work, specifying your issues, and see if they come up with something that's more appropriate copy.

Laziness

This is honestly the worst scenario. One of the reasons many copywriters will write fluffy articles is because they have no experience with your client's industry. There is very little you can do to reform these kind of writers. If they can't or won't do the research they need to write compelling copy, then they aren't worth your time.

One-Size-Fits-All

This type of B2B copywriter can be the most difficult to recognize because they are likely to write you a great audition piece. Things are great for a while. Then, you try to get them to change something up, and they hand you something that's exactly the same as everything else. They only have one voice. This is theoretically better than having no voice at all, but can be incredibly frustrating for both the copywriter and you because you've already established a relationship. Either you can continue to supply them with work you know they'll be good at, encourage them to develop more varied writing, or you can look for a new writer. No matter what you choose, it's difficult.

You've probably run into some of these types of writers in the past. You may even have had to turn plenty of them down. Sometimes, that's the best thing you can do. Remember that it's not your job to "fix" every B2B marketing copywriter who auditions for you -- your job is finding the right copywriter for your client. However, sometimes knowing what the problem is can take a mediocre writer and transform them into a much stronger one that is just right for you.

To learn more, check out our white paper, "Using Auditions to Find the Best Freelance B2B Copywriters."

Getting More Out of Your B2B Copywriting

Ryan Lym — Sat, 05 May 2018 03:05:00 GMT

Does something just feel off about your B2B copywriter's writing? It might not be quite where it needs to be, but you can't put your finger on why? Don't worry! We've got some killer tips to help you get more out of your agency's B2B copywriting.

It's Not About Your Client

This is one of the hardest things to remember when writing B2B copy. After all, you're writing about a business, right? Wrong. You should be writing about what the business can do for its clients. You want to stress the personal benefits that will be gained from using their services first. Consider pointing out how much time can be saved by choosing your client. Then point out the business benefits. By doing this, you can make sure that people are thinking about your client's company in positive ways from the start.

Give the B2B Copywriter Three Things

One of the major reasons B2B copywriters produce mediocre copy is simply because they don't know what you're trying to get out of it. That's #1. Make sure that right off the bat, before a single word is written, the B2B copywriter knows what the goal of the B2B copywriting is. Secondly, make sure that the copywriter knows what you want the reader to get out of it. And finally, you want to make sure that your copywriter knows what action you want the reader to take.

By telling them these three things, they can fine-tune their B2B copywriting to achieve these goals. After all, if you don't communicate it to them, how are they supposed to know?

Ask for Less

One of the biggest mistakes any copywriter can make is rambling on a bit too long, especially in introductions and conclusions. An almost foolproof method to making sure that they don't is simply asking for fewer words, but just as much content. By doing this, you can make sure they trim the introduction and conclusion so that they can get everything else in. Basically, they'll be forced to get to the point in their B2B copywriting.

There are situations where this won't work, so it's important to ask for revisions as needed. You may also sometimes run into situations where you need to extend the word limit based on the content. But if your B2B copywriter knows that less is expected, not more, they'll give you exactly what you ask for.

Provide Proof

Does your client have any data or numbers backing up their claims? Then provide them to your B2B copywriter. It takes time to do research, and if the client can already prove their superiority, it's a waste of everyone's time not to just hand it over. In B2B copywriting, this kind of proof is especially important.

Give Them Time

One of the hardest things about working in a new industry is picking up all the jargon. And that's a major part of writing compelling B2B copy. Unfortunately, most writers don't know the industry inside and out when they start, and it can be difficult to find a writer who's especially qualified. One of the best things you can do is simply give your writer a bit of time so that they can do the research and work they need to sound like an industry expert.

Perhaps one of the most important things to remember is that you're working with a person, and people aren't always going to provide exactly what you're looking for. However, with communication and work, you will find that your agency provides much better B2B writing for your clients. It's a give and take: you can't expect to give vague instructions and come back with anything but mediocre work.

To learn more about hiring a top B2B copywriting expert, check out our white paper, "Content Writing Outsourcing vs. In-House Writers."

3 SEO Myths Your Clients May Believe

Ryan Lym — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 15:05:00 GMT

Since the advent of search engines (some of which are names forgotten in the past: HotBot and AltaVista come to mind) marketers have been trying to figure out how to game the system. And in return, search engines work hard to make sure that they're picking up quality content, not regurgitated fluff. It's been over 10 years since we heard the words "SEO," and it's easy to believe it just can't be relevant anymore.

But that's just not true. Does SEO matter? Today, SEO copy is perhaps even more important than it was 20 years ago, when many people didn't even know how to use a search engine. But now, everyone does. In fact, a recent study showed that search queries beat out social referrals for site traffic, something that hasn't happened in four years. Which I guess means that search is king again, and it's time to dust off the old SEO copy skills. So let's clean up by busting some popular SEO myths and misconceptions people still believe:

SEO Myth #1: It's not a "Trick"

You might have had many clients who were skeptical about adding SEO copy to their website, simply because, well, sometimes SEO gets a bad rap. A lot of people think that it's about "tricking" search engines into ranking you higher. What they don't understand is that it's about creating enough quality content that you deserve a higher ranking. That content still needs to be noticed, so keywords are still key, but SEO isn't about stuffing so many of them in that the content suffers. In fact, the more you try to manipulate with SEO, the worse it often gets. Remember: good SEO is about providing something to your clients' customers. In return, you get rewarded with higher search ranking because your clients' website has simply become better.

Related: Top 5 Busted Blogging Myths

SEO Myth #2: Not All Traffic Is the Same

When a person searches for something, they're generally looking for a solution. They're being targeted, as if they're on a mission. So what you need to do is make sure that you target them back. This is exactly why SEO copy is so important. When someone shares something about your clients' businesses on social media sites, you're likely getting a lot of traffic, but it may not be the kind of traffic you want. You want to bring in people from search engines because these are the people who are likely to close the deal. Searchers are motivated, more so than someone browsing Facebook and stumbling across your site.

SEO Myth #3: We Did SEO

This is perhaps the most common SEO myth you will ever encounter. Someone will work on a website and declare it "done." Your client will perhaps even repeat to you that they've already "done" SEO. What they don't realize is that SEO is an ongoing process and there's more to do than just creating good SEO copy. It's crucial that you maintain your SEO because content and links become out of date, because search engines change and you may want new content. But most of all, you want to keep your SEO up-to-date because if you aren't, you can bet that your clients' competitors are.

While you might not be falling prey to any of these misconceptions, it's important to remember that your clients may not be as well-versed in SEO. By showing them how important SEO and SEO copy can be, you may be able to help them realize that SEO is just a form of modern day advertising. It's not a trick and it's more than just utilizing social media. SEO is an entire strategy for a website, using the tools given to try and make sure that their visitors get exactly what they were looking for when they stumble upon a site.

To learn more about SEO myths and the future of SEO, check out our white paper, "What's The Future of SEO?"