On a wintry day in January 1996, more than 20 years ago, the software king relinquished his title and announced to the world that he had developed the past while the future was out of his hands. That night, Bill Gates declared that “Content is [THE] King.”

Bill Gates predicted that the age of content had begun over two decades ago, and he was never wrong. Today, your business needs content marketing to reach its target audience; it is the most effective low-cost marketing technique to retain your existing customers and attract potential ones.

Let’s dive deep and better understand what content marketing is, why it’s important, and what the best content marketing strategies are.

What is Content Marketing?

The year was 1996 (a big year for content, apparently!) when a spur-of-the-moment discussion between John F. Oppedahl and journalists at the American Society for Newspaper Editors led to the birth of one of the most important terms in marketing, the famous “Content Marketing.”

That’s when the term was coined, but the act of producing content marketing dates back to 1895, when John Deere began printing its quarterly magazine “The Furrow,” which signaled the early days of connecting the brand with customers. Before that, almost all advertising was focused on selling a product rather than connecting with clients.

The Furrow was the first piece of corporate content that wasn’t a catalog or product sales-oriented but had pages filled with articles and tips offered to the reader, mixed in with a few ads for John Deere products. It was so successful that it reached a readership of four million by 1912 and eventually made many companies embrace the idea of using marketing to create brand awareness and bond with customers.

“In short, instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent.” 

Content Marketing Institute.

Content marketing is the creative process of creating and sharing valuable and meaningful content to attract, acquire and engage your target audience.

This marketing strategy builds brand expertise, increases brand awareness, and keeps your business high in the forefront of your customers’ minds.

Content marketing comes in the form of articles, videos, podcasts, blog posts, newsletters, white papers, social media posts, and emails. At its most effective, this content builds and maintains relationships with potential and existing customers and transmits your company’s identity and values.

Why Content Marketing?

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the internet, just as it was in broadcasting.”

Bill Gates

Content marketing is the best possible strategy for any business, whether it is a business-to-business (B2B) or a business-to-consumer (B2C) company, to improve its search engine optimization page (SERP) ranking and reach its target audience.

This marketing strategy will help you attract and retain potential customers, build a relationship and connection with them, and provide information about the benefits of your products and services, which will create a loyal community for your brand and ultimately drive sales.

Statistics show that 88% of B2B companies and 90% of B2C companies have implemented content marketing as part of their marketing strategy and that on average, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and brings in 3 times more leads!

Best Content Marketing Strategies:

It is commonly acknowledged that any content marketing strategy is divided into three distinct stages with different types of content:

1 – Build brand awareness

• through social media posts, advertisements, blogs and Vlogs, press releases, and informative web pages.

2 – Educate and attract attention

•  through eBooks, email campaigns, newsletters, webinars, and infographics.

3 – Convert

• through testimonials, case studies, reviews, and email campaigns.

“The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty” 

Content Marketing Institute.

With that being mentioned, let’s take a look at the top three content marketing strategies.

Social Media Marketing Strategy:

This is most likely the leading form of content marketing. It is very popular and commonly used by all ages, making it the best place to connect with your target audience and provide the most tailored and relevant content.

Email Marketing Strategy:

With 333 billion emails sent and received every day in 2022, email marketing is indeed one of the most effective and least expensive marketing strategies, allowing you to reach your target audience in a highly customized way, improve engagement and drive sales.

Video Marketing Strategy:

TikTok, Reels, Stories, Shorts, and all forms of video on the web are a great and very powerful tool to increase your audience engagement dramatically, attract potential customers, and communicate your brand values; for example, video landing pages can significantly raise conversion rates by up to 80%.

Need help with Content Marketing? Our team of experts at Nfinity8 got you covered!

Talk to us here!

It’s no secret that blogging is the second most used form of digital content marketing and that blogs can help your website attract up to 55% more visitors.

However, the big secret is how to create your blog flawlessly, structure it correctly, and the optimal blogging tips.

Here is the best blogging routine to save you time and energy and avoid some writing pitfalls from one blogger to a fellow blogger.

Just keep reading to find out the necessary steps and tricks to help you write an excellent blog post.

1. Find your idea:

Steps:

There are many ways to generate ideas for your blog. You can always start with a traditional marketing research technique; conducting a survey asking your customers what they want to learn or a poll on a suggested topic and then email it to your subscriber list; you can also find ideas by keeping an eye on questions and comments on social media and forums, as well as feedback and reviews on websites, or by staying on top of industry trends.

Our personal favourite: you can easily find inspiration for your next blog topic when you are doing your research for your current blog or other content.

Tricks:

• Use Google’s autosuggestion: perform a Google search on the topics you’re interested in, and Google will automatically suggest keywords that people are already searching for.

• Create a “blog folder” on your phone: every time you browse your Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social media platform and notice a good blog idea, take a screenshot and keep it in this folder; you’ll always be ready for your next blog with multiple ideas.

2. Research, Research & Research:

Steps:

Now that you have your blog post idea start researching the topic thoroughly.

Research is the most effective brain exercise for any writer. It is an excellent source of inspiration, educates you on various topics, and keeps you open-minded and up to date on what’s going on in your industry and the world.

Extensive research will also give you insight into the opinions and thoughts of experts in the field, enrich your vocabulary and improve your terminology while stimulating your curiosity and creativity.

Tricks:

• When researching a specific topic, check out the first three websites listed organically on Google, browse through them, and you’ll discover the top ideas, questions, and keywords that people are currently looking for on that topic.

3. Compose a Headline:

Steps:

Choose a catchy, brief, and descriptive title in line with your blog’s content.

The headline is essentially the gateway to your blog post, so make it clear, direct, and relevant to your readers’ needs and what they are looking for.

Tricks:

• In your headline, include numbers and questions and ensure the title is speaking straight to the reader; for example: instead of writing “ways to write the perfect blog”, use “10 ways to help you write the perfect blog”.

4. Set out the Main Points and Subheadings:

Steps:

Let’s recap! Okay, you’ve got your idea, done your research, and came up with a catchy, punchy title; what’s the next step?

Many would say that the ideal immediate next step is to write your introduction. We disagree for a straightforward reason: have you ever witnessed the construction of walls, a front door, or any other part of a building without a detailed floor plan? We hope not.

So, if you wouldn’t build part of your house without first having a complete house plan, why would you build part of your blog without having a clear structure?

We believe your best next step is to make a list of the main points you want to cover in your blog, these points will structure your entire blog, and they will be your main subheadings.

Tricks:

“If you want something stuck in someone’s head, put it in a sequence of three” Brian Clark.

• The Magic of Three: Let’s go back in time, when we were in school, precisely in a literature or language class. Are you there yet?

Great, now do you remember Miss Smith telling you to divide your essay into 5 paragraphs? The introduction, the 3 body paragraphs, and the conclusion? Exactly, that’s the tricolon rule our writing teachers taught us in school, and it’s the “magic of 3” trick we’re referring to in this particular section.

Using the magic of 3 in your blog makes it readable, understandable, and memorable. This applies not only to main points and paragraphs but also to word selection and phrase structure.

So do your best to apply it in your blog whenever possible.

5. Write Introduction:

Steps:

Intro time!

After structuring your blog and getting your subheadings, it’s time to turn those subheads into introductory questions and sentences based on the keywords you found on the first three sites that came up on Google when searching for your idea. It’s as simple as that.

Tricks:

• The trick is to use the tricks you already learned in steps two and four!

6. Research, Research & Research 2.0:

Steps:

Yes, more research!

At first, you did some basic research on the topic of your blog post, but now with your main points defined, you’re going to research your specific points one by one to find more comprehensive and articulate sources that touch on the particular areas you want to cover, which will help you uncover additional details, citations, and statistics.

Tricks:

• Open as many research tabs as you need. This will make it easier for you to copy and paste expert quotes and valuable statistics and keep all the necessary information at your fingertips.

7. Know your Audience:

Steps:

This is an essential step that you should never overlook.

You must know your target audience and speak their language before writing to them.

Would you use complicated terminology if you were writing for children? No.

Would you use slang, gaming terms, or meme vocabulary if you’re writing a science blog or a blog for older generations? Most likely not.

That’s why you need to understand your audience correctly, talk their lingo, and mimic their generational hook phrases – it’s almost as if you’re impersonating them.

Tricks:

• Let’s say you’re a millennial blogger and you’re writing a blog post for Gen Z or Gen X.

To make sure your writing is relevant, reach out to your older or younger family members and ask them what their favourite social media accounts are, their top website for information, or just watch their most liked show with them. This will help you spend quality time with your loved ones and learn the best language and terms you might need when blogging for any of them!

8. Fill in the blanks:

Steps:

Let’s review what we have got so far: We came up with the idea, the title, the sections, the intro, the correct language, and lots of search tabs.

So as mentioned in the subtitle, all you have to do now is fill in the blanks of these attractive sections with the appropriate content using the proper wording.

Tricks:

• Sometimes, when you are researching your blog, you get unwittingly impressed with the knowledge and information that experts offer and forget about the expert in you 😎.

Always consider your own approach and thoughts when writing!

9. Use Storytelling:

“Storytelling is the process of using fact and narrative to communicate something to your audience” HubSpot.

Steps:

Have you ever had the opportunity to explain something complicated to a child? If you were lucky enough, then congratulations, that’s the best and easiest way to get the storytelling skill!

When you write your blog, try not to throw away soulless facts and dry phrases; instead, envision yourself presenting this content to someone face to face and notice how you would do it.

Would you be reciting icy words without any personal touch? Would you be narrating a lifeless text without any emotion? I suppose not.

Apply this method when you create your artworks, ask questions, explain the complications, and add some emotions.

Tricks:

• Never had the chance to explain things to a little kid? No worries, look in the mirror and explain all you want to your inner child; the most effective way to do it is by learning something beyond your understanding and then self-explaining it. You’re welcome 😉.

10. Add visuals, Statistics, and Quotes:

“All primates, including humans, are highly visual creatures.” National Library of Medicine.

Steps:

Humans are visual beings by design. About half of the human brain is directly or indirectly devoted to visual processing information, so why not give your readers’ brains the visual delight they deserve?

Add images, videos, and graphics to your blog; it will make it easier for your readers to grasp your content and help you tell a story. Add quotes from experts and statistical figures to make your blog meaningful and credible.

Tricks:

• Canva is an excellent tool for creating images that convey the story you want your readers to experience and contribute to your blog’s aesthetic. It’s also beginner-friendly and straightforward to use.
• Bonus: Add bonus material and conclude your blog post with a question and a call-to-action 👇

Need help writing a blog? Our team of experts at Nfinity8 got you covered!

Talk to us here!

With the rapid rise of digital marketing and social media, many functions – traditionally reserved for insiders – have surfaced and are now widely known to the public, including copywriting.

In light of this, let’s explore copywriting further, what it really is, what a copywriter does, and the many types of copywriting.

A. The Story: Who started it?

While it may seem like a new career direction, copywriting is one of the oldest professions in the world, with some resources suggesting it has been around since Babylonian times.

Moving from antiquity to relatively recent times, the first person known as a full-time copywriter was the “father of modern creative advertising,” John Emory Powers (1837-1919).

John Powers was a brilliant writer who influenced how advertising was done with his style and philosophy.

His language was simple, straightforward, and tailored to the average person.

He kept his copy to a maximum of 100 words, with headlines of one to three words in length, using his unique style of “selling the truth”, which later became known as the “Powers style”.

Here are some examples of Powers’ print ads:

“We have a lot of rotten gossip and things we want to get rid of.”

“They’re not as good as they look, but they’re good enough for 25 cents.”

Wow! Bold of you, John!

B. The Role: huh? A copy… what?

“Just Do It” Nike.

“Think Different” Apple.

“Open Happiness” Coca-Cola.

“I’m Lovin’ It” McDonald’s.

“Red Bull Gives You Wings” Red Bull.

“Maybe She’s Born with It. Maybe It’s Maybelline” Maybelline.

Do these slogans sound familiar? They certainly do.

This is just one part of the art of copywriting.

Every time you watch/hear an infomercial or commercial, scroll through your social media and spot an ad, stand in front of a billboard, look at a product description, know that a copywriter crafted those words.

A copywriter is essentially an Ads writer; in other words, they write to sell, but is it that simple? The answer is simply NO.

You may think that all you need to be a copywriter is a language degree or at least a good knowledge of grammar and millions of terms and words; it’s almost that, but not enough.

Mastery of language is an absolute necessity for any writer, but for copywriters, language is just a tool; it’s about knowing how to use it, manipulate it, and be creative with it to get the attention of the target audience.

A copywriter’s journey to produce attention-grabbing copy includes:

• Researching the sector, products, services, customers, trends, and competitors.
• Brainstorming.
• Crafting the brand voice and tone or matching the copy to existing ones.
• Drafting a brief.
• Creating a concept.
• Writing, rewriting, editing and proofreading.
• Analyzing ad/campaign results.
  

C. The Types: Oh! There are different types?

Oh yeah! There are many types of copywriting (and copywriters as well); experts claim that there are between 6 and 14 different styles of copywriting, so we decided to pick 9 of the most popular for you:

1. Marketing & Digital Marketing Copywriting:

It is the most popular type of copywriting, as it is mainly anything that the public receives in a promotional way, from traditional marketing right through to digital marketing, such as magazine and newspapers ads, billboards, online ads, direct mail, brochures, and flyers…

2. Creative Copywriting:

Creative copywriting is the magical process of creating unforgettable text using highly innovative and consistent language and tone in advertising copy, blog posts, website pages, and emails.

3. Social media Copywriting:

Social media copywriting is a specific form of writing that includes emojis, an informal tone, and relatable text and is designed to communicate and engage an audience through social media.

This type of content should be brief, easy to grasp, and shareable.

4. Search Engine Optimized Copywriting:

SEO copywriting is the art of skilfully using keywords, key phrases, numbers in titles, questions(etc..) to create web content such as blogs, headlines, meta descriptions, and website navigation text to attract users’ interest and make the content more discoverable by search engines.

5. Radio & Television Copywriting:

Whether on radio or television, all ads are written by a copywriter.

Radio copy is auditory, which means it focuses more on engaging text to be read on-air, while television copy is both auditory and visual and consists of a script that relies on beautifully written words and slogans, body language, facial expressions, and sound effects.

6. Public Relations Copywriting:

PR copywriting is the art of writing articles, press releases, advocacy reports, and statements to gain the attention and trust of an audience.

It focuses on writing newsworthy articles to create positive publicity and draw media attention to the company.

7. Technical Copywriting:

User manuals, “how-to” blog posts, online FAQs, case studies, brochures, website copy, product guides, and white papers are part of the technical copywriter’s craft.

Technical copywriting is the practice of selling a product or service by explaining to customers its technical details and the technology behind it.

8. Brand Copywriting:

Brand copywriting is the narrative version of the visual elements of any brand, focusing on communicating the brand identity through storytelling.

The brand copywriter’s mission is to humanize the brand and create an emotional connection with customers by writing the company’s team, mission, vision, and values pages on the website, the “our story” section on all social media platforms, and any message the company chooses to deliver using consistent language, voice, and tone.

9. User Experience Copywriting:

UX copywriting is the process of writing and styling copy and microcopy in apps, websites, and all digital products that help consumers navigate the product.

UX copywriters are members of an app or website design team and are responsible for creating buttons, error messages, notifications, CTA microcopies, as well as copies for virtual assistants, chatbots, and bot-managed phone calls.

Need help with Copywriting? Our team of experts at Nfinity8 got you covered!

Talk to us here!

What exactly do you sell? Broom, Broom, Broom.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) & Emotional Selling Proposition (ESP).

Have you ever heard the expression “Sell the sizzle, not the steak”?
This phrase from Elmer Wheeler has become a very common piece of advice given to novice marketers, but if I told you, “Sell the sizzle AND the Dopamine released after eating the steak, but not the steak itself,” would that make sense?
Whether it makes sense or not, it’s no problem, let’s cram that steak down!

1. The Steak (Your Product)

“In marketing, a Product is an object or system made available for consumer use; it is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer”.

“To satisfy the desire or need of a customer”, you must be convinced that the only way to do this is through the product and that your success is the product of your product.
Don’t get me wrong, your product is essential and it is crucial to give a lot of importance and delicacy to the manufacturing process because your product is indeed the essence of your business, it is what you are going to offer to your customers but it is not quite what you are going to sell. Bear with me, we’ll get to that!

2. The Sizzle (The USP)

What is your unique selling proposition or point?

“In marketing, the unique selling proposition also called the unique selling point or the unique value proposition in the business model canvas is the marketing strategy of informing customers about how one’s own brand or product is superior to its competitors.”

In other words, your USP is what makes your product unique, what differentiates it from other similar products.
Your USP is what will motivate your potential customer to make the decision to buy your product, it’s your promise to offer them what others can’t.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you sell brooms and you’re targeting vegan, environmentalist, and nature-loving buyers. Do you want to sell them your product or their values?
Your Eco-friendly broom made of sorghum fibers and wood is definitely an environmentally friendly product, but will you use its features to promote it or will you highlight its positive impact on nature?
If you answered yes to the last question, let me congratulate you, you are taking the first step towards selling the sizzle and not the steak.
Speaking of selling, you know that purchasing something is a logical, brain-made decision, right? But what exactly is it that drives our brain to make this decision?
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s our friend Mr. Dopamine! Does that make sense now? Cool then, let’s have that ESP talk (my favorite)!

3. The Dopamine (The ESP)

“An emotional selling proposition (ESP) defines all the emotional triggers that prompt a person to buy. … Emotion is the one thing that influences consumer behavior the most. So, to be successful in your marketing efforts, sell the feelings your product provides, rather than selling the product explicitly.”

Mesdames et Messieurs; be an amateur psychologist.
Yes, be an amateur psychologist or better yet a professional and dig deep into the psyche of your potential buyers, their values, their lifestyle, their emotions, and even their insecurities.
Get to know them, try to imagine how they will feel when they buy your unique product, and hand it to them.
Figure out what feeling your customers are craving and shower them with THAT feeling.

I believe this is the simplest and most direct way to explain ESP as it is.

Getting back to your Eco-friendly broom, you’re already selling a unique product that matches the values of your target customers, why not spice it up a bit and try to sell them the feeling they’ll get from making that purchase.
Please picture that you have these possibilities, which one you will choose:

1-Dear customer, here is a fancy broom made of the best wood mother nature can produce, and the finest kind of sorghum fiber, will you give my broom the honor of being yours for better or for worse? (Nope! Your broom deserves better ?).

2-Hello Environmentalist, I see you and share with you the love of nature, that’s why I have dedicated years of my life to make for us, Bio fellows, an Eco-friendly broom made from cruelty-free and safe materials, and that has no negative impact on our earth, help a greenie and spread the word in the community. (That’s good, but you can do better?).

3-Hola Jane, what’s up Joe? how does it feel to get up every day and go to the trouble of finding a product that aligns with your values?
I know it’s hard, bizarrely hard, when taking care of our planet should be a basic thing to do and the most logical way to live our lives, some people still make it hard for us, nature lovers.
But hey, I feel you and I know the challenges you face in your daily life to keep this promise of being one of the guardians and saviors of the earth.
I’m so proud of you, and for that, I tried to do my part to be a warrior like your brave self, and I made us a broom that won’t hurt our one & only home and that will certainly help us save time in the search of products that have respect for our planet. (Here, Jane and Joe have already bought the broom and a few others for their beloved friends before you finish your speech, I guarantee it?).
I have made it clear, now it’s up to you!

Need help identifying your USP & ESP? Our team of experts at Nfinity8 got you covered!
Talk to us here!