Content Marketing Archives - Page 6 of 9

Everything you need to know about copywriting and SEO

So, you’ve nailed down your content – now what? Maybe you’re struggling with content optimisation and how to get the most out of your copy. Perhaps the thought of keyword planning and SEO makes you nervous.

Very few of us actually understand the mechanics behind search engine optimisation (SEO). After all it is a beast, and Google’s search ranking algorithm doesn’t help the situation either. Unless you are an SEO specialist, leave this task to the experts – they are at the forefront of all the updates and latest tricks, and you should concentrate on producing quality content.

With that in mind, here’s what you need to know:

What exactly is content optimisation?

Content marketing should play a key role in any marketing plan. To optimise content simply means to a) make it search engine friendly and b) drive action that ultimately leads to a sale.

It combines a mix of your chosen keywords and an opportunity to build brand trust and authority. Brand trust and authority are not built through a pushy sales pitch, but instead a long-term series of informative and educational content pieces.

Ok, so where do I start?

If you have hired an SEO agency, make sure you work closely with the team to identify your top keywords that will help your content rank. Next, put together a content calendar of topics that are related to your business and be sure to run these past your agency to see how they fit with the overall plan.

If you don’t have an agency and are working alone, make use of the free Google Adwords Keyword Planner and work out which keywords you’d like to rank for, then plan your content accordingly.

Next, try and feed in the keywords into the title and body of your content piece, but don’t go overboard and use it five times in one sentence. Your content will not only read poorly, but there is no additional benefit for your SEO.

The trick is to distribute keywords sporadically across the piece and feed them in a few times, as and when its applicable to mention. Never compromise on the quality of your piece for the sake of SEO – find that happy balance.

Suggested Read: 3 steps to creating targeted content that sells

Your last content optimisation action should engage the reader with a call-to-action, or CTA. This is something that prompts action from the target audience, It can be in the form of a downloadable resource, a link to enter a competition, or whatever you feel is necessary to move that person further down the sales funnel.

TIP: Avoid actually selling. Give your reader an incentive to click and download, or contact you directly.

Add visual content

Images are just as important in your blog as the words themselves. We are a very visual generation and your content marketing plan should incorporate a healthy mix of written and visual content. Always make sure you have a great image to accompany your content, which should help drive click-throughs and engagement.

Remember that when you are uploading content online, your images should be titled with your keywords in mind – both Title and ALT tags. This will increase your chances of ranking higher on Google.

Making it all work

Make it a priority to write each piece of content with your target audience in mind, and then tie it in with your chosen keywords. You should never write anything without thinking about who it’s meant for, and why your content will help them. Be smart and kill two birds with one stone by mixing great content that is also search engine friendly and optimised for a sale.

Your content should give readers a sense of trust for your brand and have them coming back for more.

Get in touch with us if you need help in creating content that works for your business. Drop us a note at hello@mutant.com.sg.

Less text, more visuals: Why infographics are important

Whether you’re a business owner or digital marketer, it’s getting increasingly difficult to produce unique content that excites readers. You write more, publish more, but so does everyone else. So how exactly do you make your content stand out and and engage with your audience?

One of the most effective and popular ways to capture attention these days is by creating visual content in the form of infographics. These highly informative graphics strategically combine text, images, and icons to present the most important information in an easy-to-understand manner, and here’s why you should use them:

They easily capture attention

Humans are impatient and visual creatures. This means we want the facts fast. Infographics do the job perfectly because they effectively summarise important messages and statistics. Figures are made bigger and bolder, text is significantly reduced, and images are placed in all the right places. Not only is this aesthetically pleasing, but it also doesn’t put us to sleep. We no longer need to scroll to the end of a five page article to understand the main message — we get everything in just one glance. Check out this great example below:

They increase your brand awareness

Infographics are designed to showcase relevant messages and information, and nothing else. More often than not, they also include the company’s logo, introduction, website URL, contact information, etc. Even if your target audience may not read every single word they will definitely remember your brand’s unique visuals and key takeaways.

Take a look at the example below where LinkedIn highlights the benefits of using the platform. The graphic is simple, to the point, and easy to digest – it’s much clearer than having to read a 1000 word piece of content.

DID YOU KNOW? When used properly, infographics can help to increase your web traffic by at least 12% because people become more aware of your brand and its online presence.

Others want to share them

One highly commendable characteristic of infographics is that the inherent design allows them to be portable and easily embeddable. Including an embed code along your infographic enables it to be shared on any platform, whether it’s a blog, news article, powerpoint deck, or even your own website. The embedded infographic is linked back to your site automatically, which also helps to increase traffic and click throughs.

Infographics may require slightly more time to plan, create and execute, but they’re definitely worth the effort. With the advancement of technology, it’s crucial for your business to hop on the digital bandwagon and capture readers with exciting and informative visuals.

Need help with your visuals? Drop a message to hello@mutant.com.sg

Emoji Marketing: Using tiny images to send a big message

The way we communicate with each other is constantly changing, thanks to technology. I mean, 10 years ago, would you have been able to decipher this sentence?:

OMG, IDEK. LOL IDC… actually, IDGAF TBH. BRB, TTYL.

Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the way we speak to each other is constantly evolving. Abbreviations are one thing, but in today’s social landscape emojis are taking over, too.

The popularity of social media has promoted the use of visual media. Our words are becoming substituted with small emojis, or digital images, that represent faces, animals, fashion, accessories, hearts, weather, food, sports…and the list goes on.

Emojis can tell a story. In fact, you could send a message to a friend filled entirely with emojis and chances are they would understand what you were trying to say.

Take a look at this creative text message:

Source

A new way to communicate

Could our shortening attention spans and love for visual media be the cause of this phenomenal obsession with emojis? Is this the future of content?

A picture says a thousand words and as we all seem to be so time poor, it just seems easier to use pictures instead of words.

Emojis have only previously been used for social purposes, but nowadays many brands are beginning to adopt emojis to add flavour to their communications.

Why are we so obsessed?

These miniature images suddenly appeared in our phones and, as a society craving constant change and new ways to communicate, we pounced. It simply proves that great content is about so much more than just words.

In fact, some of the most lucrative content out there is solely emojis. Kim Kardashian changed the game when she released the ‘Kimoji’ app you can buy from iTunes. Even bad boy Charlie Sheen has released his own ‘Sheenojis’. It’s truly becoming an obsession led by many famous and influential figures.

The use of emojis is relentless – but it’s simply a representation of our need to not only “tell” content, but “show” it. While emojis have become a ubiquitous part of social media and Internet language, it’s worth considering how you might be able to incorporate them into an appropriate campaign or messaging.

(PROTIP: Just be sure you know what the emoji means so your message doesn’t backfire! For example, the eggplant emoji does not simply represent an eggplant anymore… be careful!)

It’s fair to say emojis are here to stay, and we will continue to see them evolve in content both online and offline.

Now, go ahead and take this test and find out which emoji best represents you. Have fun!

Do you need help creating some crafty content? Drop us a note at hello@mutant.com.sg.

The do’s and don’ts of social media

It should be no surprise that in this day and age our eyes are glued to anything that is square-ish, has a touchscreen, and fits comfortably into the palms of our hands. Chances are, the opened apps include Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat – the works, if you will.

If we’re going to be spending this much time browsing through social media, we might as well do it right. And to all the millennials who think they’ve got it down – think again.

Social media can be used by almost everybody. You don’t need to have 10 social media accounts or post something every half an hour to be deemed active. To obtain and sustain a successful social media presence and witness the results you really want, first understand the following do’s and don’ts:

Don’t focus on the number of likes

What an outrageous thought, but let me explain why. What really matters isn’t how many likes you receive, but rather who liked your post. If you scroll through a list of ‘likes’ and realise that you really only wanted to reach 5% of them, the rest are as good as none. This is because you’ve attracted the wrong audience, resulting in a lack of engagement.

To put it simply, let’s say you run a small ice cream cafe and post on Facebook announcing that chocolate scoops are 10% off, praying silently that your customer numbers will magically double overnight. But instead of dessert enthusiasts, you realise that the ‘likes’ came from your co-owner, boyfriend, and mother. Sure, these are all people extremely dear to your heart, but they’re not who you’re targeting. The ‘likes’ may look impressive online but they’re not serving your business’ purpose.

Reach out to YOUR target audience

Some posts on Facebook may be boosted to become ads, meaning that you pay to reach a wider audience. Boosting essentially means selectively choosing the audience who sees your posts on their News Feed. It’s a very cost effective way to reach the right people, and Facebook’s Business Manager page gives you the complete rundown on how to fully utilise the functions to effectively promote your business.

Take a look at the example below:

As a frequent budget air flyer who’s always looking out for cheap deals to Taiwan, this FlyScoot ad definitely appeals to me. FlyScoot consistently monitors footprints on their social media pages and website, and effectively churns this data to target audiences who need to save a buck or two but still loves to travel around Southeast Asia.

Don’t slap on texts and links

Humans on social media have attention spans even shorter than that of a goldfish – an incredulous three seconds. This disturbing yet very real fact should make you think twice about how you post. If you want to share a blog on your company Facebook page, you pretty much only have one shot to get it right.Just think about all the other pieces of content which you are competing with – you need to make your post stand out!

Customise the appearance of each post

Spot the differences between these posts. Which would you rather click on?

There is so much flexibility with social media these days. Certain functions allow you to not only enhance the visual appeal of your posts but also increase your readership.

For example, posting as the Page Admin on Facebook allows you to:

Edit the post caption to remove any URLs
Replace the default photo that automatically comes with the link
Rewrite the main header of the link
Change the subtext of the link
And so much more

These simple yet effective tweaks transform a boring, black and white post into one which really displays the most attention-grabbing information. Remember, you’ve only got three seconds to reel in your audience, so make it count.

Don’t be the same

Companies usually make the common mistake of posting the same content across all their active platforms – meaning the exact same captions, hashtags, and images. Sure, you’re getting the word out, but you’re also annoying your audience. Don’t get me wrong, it’s alright to share the same information across all your social media, but be creative about it and tweak it to match your audience.

Be selective and get creative

It’s important to understand how each platform works. Instagram for example, leverages on jaw-dropping photos and hashtags to capture the right audience. While Facebook extends beyond this by allowing users to share their reactions or emotions.

Look at this example below from The Yard:

Both of these posts talk about the same thing: new trampolines. But, they’re customised to sit well within each respective platform. Doing this will allow you to reach the maximum number of users without turning anyone off.

Now it’s your turn – go create magic on social media.

Need help with social media? Drop a message to hello@mutant.com.sg

Drop the mic – The structure of an inspiring speech

Speeches, as with presentations and important announcements can be a pretty daunting task. It is something that becomes unavoidable as you climb higher up the corporate ladder.

Being a good speaker is one of the common traits of a thought leader. Confidence, coherence, and finesse may sound like a piece of cake, but are a lot harder to execute in reality. Most of us tend to get caught up with stage fright and forget about the actual preparation.

Like most things, it takes a little time, patience and personality to ace the speech, so here are some tips to help you drop the mic and kill it.

Be aware of your audience

Know who you are speaking to – students at a study hall, media guests at a launch event, or corporate VIPs at a business convention. Who ever it may be, being aware of your audience will help set the tone and delivery of your speech.

Check out this great speech from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg as she discusses why fewer women reach the top of their professions. You can guess her audience is women, and Sheryl addresses her points so well.

Understand your topic

It’s easier to explain something that you are passionate about. Knowing and understanding the topic of your speech will give you the confidence to express yourself better and do a phenomenal job at delivering the message.

Watch as Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson movingly talks of growing up in ‘lower-income-housing’ and about the people she knows who still rely on the state for healthcare. Clearly she knows her topic, and can relate to it, and is using her experience and knowledge to educate others – it’s powerful:

Brainstorm

List down as many potential talking points as you can. Take a minute to review that list and pick out the relevant and important points to go into length about.

Structure

Focusing on the important points will provide some structure, maximising the delivery of your speech. Your audience will appreciate the pacing and flow, which will engage and prevent them from tuning out and getting bored.

One killer line

Put some thought into that one killer line that encapsulates your speech – it packs in a punch and makes it thoughtful and memorable.

Think about Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”, or John F Kennedy’s “…ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can for your country” – both were delivered with passion and punch:

Repetition

Build on your intensity and impact by repeating the important points.

Martin Luther King boldly repeated, “I have a dream”, but if you find that repeating your killer line may be too much of an overkill – try instead simple repetition of brands, names or important points that you want your audience to remember.

Introduction

Grab the audience’s attention from the start – make a joke, share an interesting fact, tell a story or a personal experience. Get the message across in three points or less. This will avoid unnecessary droning.

Body

Keep it short, simple and to the point. The key is to keep things as succinct as possible. This is easier said than done, but using the structure as a guide will help focus on the messaging.

Conclusion

There is no need to stress too much about ending with a bang. Try leaving it up to the audience. Open the floor to questions as this is one of the best ways to discover how effective your speech was. It gives you an opportunity to sense the energy of your audience – do they seem excited and eager to ask more questions? Or are they slumped in their seats, eyes glazed and lifeless?

There is always something to take away from the end of your speech so use this as a lesson for your next one.

Practice makes perfect

Read your speech out loud alone, practice in front your friends and record yourself. Listen to constructive criticism and feedback, and take everything onboard.

Do you need help writing your next speech? Our team is ready to make your words work for you. Get in touch at hello@mutant.com.sg.

3 easy steps to speaking fluent Instagram

The subtle difference between a double tap and a scroll-through could lie in the caption. Instagram is full of well-lit, pretty images, but it’s the caption that anchors the image to your audience’s life

Using the right voice

The voice is the personality behind the account. The trick to achieving the right pitch is by establishing who your target audience is and mixing that with the nature of your business. You need to establish your own voice and Instagram is a social platform, so be social!

Consistency in format (both photos and choice of language)

Look at big companies like @generalelectric, you’d notice that there is a strong consistency in how the photos are all professionally shot. More importantly, there is consistency in how the captions are crafted. In the case of GE, their Instagram is all about inspiring people and sharing their research work to the world.

Ask the right questions

Look at @Sharpie’s instagram. There is a lot of art, which is great because it shows what the product can do – but the captions are conversational and show a personality behind both the brand and the images.
Here’s an example:

What would you create with an everlasting supply of the world’s greatest marker**? **Personal opinion

A photo posted by @sharpie on Aug 13, 2013 at 3:27pm PDT

The picture is not great, and well that filter should be reserved for a Lana Del Ray music video, but the caption opens up the creativity of the reader and it follows the most important branding lesson we learned this year: advertising is about your audience not you.

Using the right lingo and hashtags

No matter who your audience is, Instagram is about getting people talking. There is a ton of Instagram lingo out there, and we don’t know where it comes from (either Reddit or the Kardashians) but it goes viral quickly, with short life cycles. Here are a couple we came across just looking today:

#transformationtuesday: self-explanatory. Used for weightloss but you could get creative with it for companies if you have a new product update.
#smh: shake my head
#fam: your peoples, someone you would consider family member
#wyd?: what would you do? Hypotheticals used to create conversation
#squadgoals: aspirations with your crew
#af: as heck

By now you should be speaking Instagram perfectly. If you’re a business that needs help speaking this foreign language get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.

Distributing content to the right people

Great job! You’ve created a lot of content that’s just waiting to be read. Now the next step is to identify what you want to share, how and when.

Suggested read: Content Distribution 101

Ask yourself these important questions:

Why are you sending out content?
How will it support business goals?
Who are you targeting?
What can you offer your target audience at each stage of their journey?
How will you be different?
How will they find the content? Where will you publish it?
When and how will you measure results

Answer these, and then begin to work your content selection and distribution around the buyer journey.

The buyer journey

Following the buyer is key to a successful content marketing strategy. A content distribution strategy should begin with the awareness stage, followed by lead generation, then to nurturing, and finally the sales push. You will find that different content pieces will be suitable to fulfill each stage, which will ultimately determine the distribution channel/s.

Here’s a great representation of the buyers journey (and what you need to do at each stage):

Source

During the discovery or awareness stage, you’ll likely be sharing fun and light information to capture initial interest, and hoping people download your lead generation call-to-action. Following this, you can take it up a notch and delight them with more informative content pieces, personalised emails, demos or deals. This is the nurturing stage, and when your prospect is ‘considering’ a purchase – so an important stage.

Next, if they look like a hot lead, you can give them more detailed materials about your business. This is generally done by the sales team, and includes content in the form of product sheets and pricing guides. By this stage, this prospect should be on their way to becoming a paying customer.

Distributing your words

Now let’s look at the how you will get your content seen.

Each stage will require unique content as you are targeting the buyer at different stages in their decision process. The key is to target the buyer’s emotions and help them identify their need for your product or service nice and early.

This table provides examples of the type of content and channels suited to each stage in a buyer’s journey.

You will need to remember that your industry, product and sales lifecycle will all determine the length of your campaign and the type of content you produce. Only you know your target audience and how they respond to different information, so each content distribution plan should be unique and tailored to your business – not a carbon copy of any other business.

From planning to performance

Any strategy needs to be measured to assess its effectiveness. Without proper measurement, you will have no idea if your content is working.

Run your campaign and at its conclusion look at each stage of the buyer journey separately.

Here’s an example of a typical campaign measurement system:

Step 1: 20-30 days after end of campaign

How much traffic was generated to your website?
How did your social channels perform (likes, shares clicks etc..)?
Any initial leads?

Step 2 – 45-60 days after end of campaign

How many qualified leads have you got?

Step 3 – 90-120 days

How many leads have you converted to sales?

Of course, not each campaign has the same sales cycle length, so as I previously mentioned, this should be unique to your business. Through this you can see how each buyer stage performed, and where any content adjustments need to be made for your next campaign.

Need help with your content? Drop a message to hello@mutant.com.sg

How to create killer content

Do you wonder if your marketing budget is being spent in the right places? Or whether your dollars are delivering maximum ROI? Content marketing has far surpassed traditional advertising in today’s social-media driven world. Viewers channel-hop during television commercials and ignore ad placements in newspapers and magazines. Instead, they actively seek out content they are interested in.

With the human attention span getting shorter by the minute, the competition for audience attention is intense. How exactly do you set your writing apart from the increasingly saturated blogosphere of content?

Use compelling titles

People scan more than they read. A huge wall of text often turns readers off and you’ll find them scrolling past your content in a jiffy. Your title represents your content on keyword searches and social media. It practically sells it and 8 out of 10 readers today don’t look past post titles. With an interesting title, you are more likely to attract your audience to at least scan through your words. Include subheadings that stand out so that your readers have an idea of what to expect next.

Here is a an example from Hootsuit of a great headline:

Be consistent

It isn’t enough to merely schedule your content for a couple of times a week. Sure, that is consistent frequency, but the key to retaining your readers and attracting them to read post after post comes down to a lot more than just timing. Your tone should be streamlined across each platform you utilise to engage with your audience. To leave a lasting impression, you’d want to give your brand a unique personality. Start off with an overall content strategy and consolidate a fixed tone in order to set the foundation.

Go visual

As mentioned earlier, readers often switch off when they face a wall of text. Imagine scrolling through paragraphs of Times New Roman size 12 font (boring right?!) and then something colourful catches your eye. Of course you would stop to look. Not only do visuals help to illustrate your content, but statistics show that visual content is processed 60,000 times faster in the brain as compared to text. Integrate colourful infographics and videos when you’re creating your content to increase the chances of getting your content read.

Here’s a great example from Deliveroo. They have provided mouth-watering mac and cheese images that makes reading the content a whole lot more exciting –Who’s hungry?

Involve your audience

Engage your readers by speaking directly to them through your content. Posts need to be relatable and readers should never feel detached from the narrative. You can also leave your readers with questions and perhaps address them in the next post. Your content should ideally spark a wave of comments, increasing its reach to a wider audience.

Check out this great example from The Smart Local:

Take your sales hat off

Today’s tech-savvy consumers are so used to viewing content that promotes a branded products and services they are practically immune to direct sales. Aggressive overselling only turns potential consumers away because the more you try to sell, the less interested they become. Instead, focus on building your voice and influence within the industry. Be genuine and convey your ideas directly in your content. This not only creates a brand impression in the eyes of your readers, but interests them to patronise your content because they know that there will be no hard-selling involved.

Adidas has nailed it. The article has no mention of buying Adidas clothing but indirectly implies fit parents need cool workout gear. (If you have’t got it, they want you to go buy Adidas workout gear!)

Content marketing is a powerful way for businesses to reach out to their target audience. The best kind of content is captivating, makes audience want to continue reading and most importantly, makes them want to share it on their social media platforms. Don’t forget to leave a call-to-action to guide your readers on what to do next!

Need help nailing your next content piece? Get in touch with us at hello@mutant.com.sg.

4 steps to simplifying your fancy shmancy software pitch

How many times have you attempted to explain your software platform or application and start blubbering out a list of features before flatly declaring, ‘Well, it’s an Uber for…’

Every time you fumble with your pitch, you lose out on potential clients, investors, customers and partners. ‘Geek speak’ won’t help you scale your business to billions. So how are you going to explain deep tech to the masses?

Even if you are able to sell it to a potential customer well-versed in jargon – sales people won’t be able to sell the jargon, they need something easily digestible.

Whether you’re working on a deck, elevator pitch, sales pitch, or just talking to someone at a party – you’re going to want take the lingo down a notch.

Here are four steps to simplified success:

Before you start, think of your product, answer these questions, and look to them often for anchors.

1. Why does this exist?

Most people tell the ‘what’ before the ‘why’, and the listener loses interest. Answer the question, ‘so what?’ before some even asks it.

Let’s take a great example. If you watch HBO Silicon Valley, here is the product elevator pitch before (By the CTO, Richard) and after (The Visionary, Erlach):

The what (Richard): “Pied Piper is a loss-less middle-out compression algorithm.”

The why (Erlach): “Today’s user wants access to all of their files, from all of their devices instantly. That’s why cloud-based is the holy grail. Now Dropbox is winning, but when it comes to audio and video files they might as well be called Dripbox. Using our platform, Pied Piper users would be able to compress all of their files to the point where they truly can access them instantly, we control the pipe they just use it. ”

2. Replace jargon with how it works

What’s the point of sounding smart if no one knows who you are? The best leaders are ones that show people what they are doing. Particularly in ad technology, it’s a really really crowded space and everywhere you turn there’s a new best practice article about what all these acronyms stand for.

3. If you’re struggling, use metaphors

If you’re not able to identify a problem that you’re solving, try to explain how your product works using metaphors. This works best when you’re talking about your product at a networking event. If you’re talking to a total stranger with no knowledge of their background, it’s an easy way to get people on the same level before hitting them with the facts. Here’s an example:

Ad impression

Jargon: When an ad is fetched from its source and is counted whether or not the ad is clicked is not taken into account.

Translation: An ad impression can represent an employee that showed up to work but didn’t really do anything, and still got paid. When an ad is loaded onto a web page, and there’s a chance that someone will view it, it’s counted as an impression even without clicks. (Jargon translated from www.mediaratingcouncil.org).

4. Write an email

If you’re having trouble writing an email about what your product does write it, then delete it, and write the entire thing again — it is guaranteed to be clearer the second time around.

The first time you write it out, your mind is just working through how it works – rather than the bigger picture. When you clear your physical space and write it again, it will come out with more brevity and clarity.

Need help simplifying your message? That’s what we do. Write us at hello@mutant.com.sg.

Are your words too serious?

We are not living in a world populated with robots (well not yet anyway), and people are becoming less and less receptive to the direct sales approach. Instead, it’s all about conversational content. Readers don’t want to be spoken to – they want to feel like they are speaking with you.

Think about the last conversation you had. How was the flow? The tone? What about the language you used? This is how you want to ‘speak’ to your readers, and your words alone should be enough for them to want to engage with your brand.

As many of us do struggle with writing in a conversational manner and actually making it sound good at the same time, here are some tips on how to sound less like a robot and more like a human:

It’s time to get real

Remember you are talking to other humans. Be real and be yourself. It’s ok to sound knowledgeable and professional, but come on, no one will understand that fancy terminology, nor will they care to be honest.

People want to get excited by what they see and read. Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, and so many new things constantly distract us. It’s so important to make every word count. Get to the point and remove all that fluff and technical jargon.

Tell a story

Every piece of content you write should tell a story. Let’s take a look at bios. If your personal or company bio is too serious, with too many big and important-sounding words, it’s going to drive people away.

You want to avoid intimidating people. Not everyone will have a full understanding of your trade, so if you are talking about a high tech solution without explaining it in layman’s terms, people will be interested (mainly because they won’t know what it is you actually do). Instead, they will move on and well, that there is the loss of a potential lead.

State what you do, and state it clearly. The trick to inspiring your readers is of course with great content, but equally as important is how easy it is to absorb.

Check out this great example from Google:

Everything on their website about Google is so easy to absorb. It has a friendly tone, is brief and to the point, and is simple and easy to understand. Yes I know, we all know what Google is and what they do, but if you had no previous knowledge of the company, this would be enough information to get you there.

Google could have easily started trying to explain the tech side and the algorithms, and…. Oh look a squirrel (that’s us getting distracted by something more interesting).

Here’s a personal bio that we love. Note the light tone and sense of humour used in this one. Yes, this is obviously a fake profile, but we really do need to appreciate the creative content.

And finally, if Hillary Clinton can make politics sound fun, I’m sure we can make our jobs sound equally as exciting, if not more.

Get Inspired

Ok so if by now, Google, Darth Vader and Hillary Clinton haven’t inspired you to rethink your content, then perhaps try someone that will. What do you like to read? Who or what inspires you? Why do they inspire you? Is it the language, the content, the voice – Or all three?

Read some different blogs, bios and articles, and apply what you like to read to your own content.

Read it out loud

This part is particularly important. When writing our own content – whether for yourself or for a company – you are going to be too close to the subject. Try to avoid selling and have a bit of fun when writing (we don’t always need to be so serious). Trust us – with the right tone, even serious topics can sound fun!

Once you’ve written your content, read it out loud. How does it sound? If you are bored, start again. It’s also great to ask someone that isn’t familiar with your product or service to read your work. This is the best way to know whether you’re on the right track.

Now it’s your turn – go out and inspire someone with your words!

Need help with your content? Drop a message to hello@mutant.com.sg

Content distribution 101

You have written all this content, but what’s next?

You may have read our recent post which talks about making the most out of your content, and stretching it that extra mile, and in this post I’m going to go a bit further and explain what content distribution is and how to develop a clear strategy.

Content is all the rage, but if you publish it on your website and leave it at that, it’s very unlikely that many people will ever see it. This subsequently becomes a waste of your time, resources and money. Any marketing activity needs to be backed up with a clear strategy that best matches your goals. Content is no different and there are many avenues that brands can take advantage of to gain their worth in words.

There are three main ways in which content can be distributed.

Through paid channels – when you pay for you content to be distributed (i.e. Advertorials, social ads, Google ads etc.)
Via your own channels – the channels that you have direct control over, such as your website social media, and newsletters. Basically, anything your have direct control over.
With shared opportunities– when other people share your content through PR channels, to include media coverage, social shares, reviews etc.

Below is a chart showing the activities falling under each category. Interestingly, it shows us that all three distribution channels are connected. This simply means the same piece of content can in fact run through multiple channels.

(Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/content-distribution-tools)

The more visibility your content piece has, the more people are going to see it, which ultimately means you will have more success in delivering your message, and evoking a response.

However, I do need to stress that a great content distribution strategy means very little if the piece of content is not suitable for your intended audience or is poorly written – so firstly get that right. (Check out our blog to help you create quality content)

Work out a strategy that best suits your budget and goals. Incorporate as many channels as you feel are necessary in reaching YOUR target audience. Ask yourself: Where are they looking for content? How do they engage? If you are targeting a younger female audience, say 25 and under, with your latest beauty product and tips, it’s fair to say they are very active on social media, so competitions, mentions, shares and reviews will be most effective, as will engaging with influencers and running targeted social ads.

Your content strategy should ultimately help drive sales, and in-between help educate and inspire your target audience. Be smart and never compromise on quality.

Part two of this topic will show you how to set up a content plan and distribution strategy – so stay tuned.

Need help with your content? Drop a message to hello@mutant.com.sg

Stop using these words

I know, it’s hard to write good copy. You know what your product is about, you understand the ins and outs of it all, but can you actually put the right words down on paper? Remember that your readers are real people. They are not going to respond to cheesy sales talk – this will turn them off.

Overtime, content has evolved and is now one of the more popular marketing tools out there. However, with lots of content, comes a stream of overused and annoying words and phrases.

Here are some of the top words that frankly, in my opinion, should be banished.

1) The very best

State-of-the-art
Best-in-class
First-rate

Unless you have solid proof then stay far away from them as they mean nothing to your readers and cheapen your brand. I understand that your product is your baby and to you, it is the best, but sadly your customers don’t care. Look at it from another angle – no business is ever going to claim that what they are offering is rubbish, so claiming that you are “first-rate” just devalues your brand.

2) The visionary

Revolutionary
Innovative
Next generation

Really? Are you? Ok, if you talk about Steve Jobs and Apple – yes! But most of us are not Steve Jobs, so stop trying to amplify your product. Remove all that fluff from your content and tell people what you actually do and how you can help them. It’s that simple!

3) The vain

The best
Amazing
Superior

Again – really? Using words like this to describe your company or product generally don’t get you anywhere. If your product is indeed superior and the best – show us, don’t tell us! Use vanity with caution as it can really disrupt your credibility, and like I’ve already said…no one really believes or cares that you say you are amazing. Actions speak much louder than words.

The main takeaway for this is that content is a lot more than just a few words that explain your product. You need to inspire people and spark an emotional reaction from them with your words, graphics or videos. Be real and be honest, and stop using all that fluffy sales talk. We are all human, so remember to write words that you, yourself would want to read.

Need help creating compelling words? Need help with your content? Drop a message to hello@mutant.com.sg