Although content marketing is making its way to the forefront of advertising, it's important as a marketing writer to make sure that the content still sounds genuine because consumers don't want to read plain old advertising copy. As a marketing writer, your job is to make sure that you write good copy that also grabs a reader's attention.
Blog posts such as "6 Ways to Relieve Stress With Exercise" and "14 Reasons to Exercise Daily" can both easily conceal a sales pitch from a gym while also giving readers an opportunity to learn something new or get inspired.
When writing content like this, you must always be careful that you don't end up sounding like a salesman. Follow these tips for writing marketing content that is still authentic and real.
1. Tell a story.
You may not realize that your tone is coming off as sales-pitch-y during your call to action, but your readers automatically will. One good way to keep your tone sounding natural is to tell your readers a story. It doesn't have to be a long story--it can just be a quick paragraph, or maybe even a sentence or two, that emphasizes a point. Something that your reader can relate to. Something that can be drawn into the point you're trying to make and will help you and your article sound more real.
2. Read your content out loud.
How does it sound? If it sounds like you're holding a normal conversation with your potential reader, then you've got a winner. But if you sound stiff and like you're trying to sell something, you need to do some editing.
Write your content like you speak. Write like a human and not like a robot or a crappy old radio commercial. Imagine yourself having a conversation with someone as you write. Then read your content out loud again to see if you've solved the problem.
3. Be funny.
Not only will this help your writing to be more natural and much less sales-y, you'll be able to win trust more easily by implementing humor. Don't try too hard to incorporate a joke into your article, but if it comes, by all means, let it come.
4. Help your audience.
As a marketing writer, you will know exactly who the audience you're writing for is. Think to yourself, why do they care about what I'm trying to say? When you've asked yourself this question enough times and have come up with a real, genuine answer for why your readers care, you've got yourself the perfect start.
Advertising used to be about making a sale. The switch to content marketing is simply making it more important to build a relationship with your audience. Write content that will help them solve a problem or answer a question they may have about the product. Don't sell. Help and solve problems.
5. End with a call-to-action.
Don't write your entire post centered around a call-to-action. Your post should be your story, your jokes, or your problem-solving. Other than interlinks, you shouldn't relate your content back to the product or other aspects of the business at all. This should be saved for the end, when you should have a strong one- or two-sentence call-to-action.
For example, if you wrote an article on decorating for Christmas for a craft store, you could end with, "If you want to make a puff-paint Santa Claus, we'll help you find everything you need." Or if your article is about the top five ab workouts for a gym, end with something similar to, "Our personal trainers would love to help with your quest for ab definition. Contact us today!"
Be specific with your call-to-action, keep it relevant to your article, and tell your readers exactly what you want them to do.
A job as a marketing writer can be tough when you're faced with the challenge of writing marketing content without actually trying to market. But by keeping a conversational tone and telling a story to your audience, you will write great content and you won't sound like a salesman.