When you’re performing content marketing, there is one goal you have in mind: attracting the target audience with something different and better than the competition’s offer.
\r\nEven if the business doesn’t offer something really unique, a creative copy can make it the first choice of the consumers.
\r\nIf you’re not a great writer, that doesn’t mean you can skip launching promotional texts for your business; it just means that you’ll outsource the writing part to talented writers, and you can locate them through NSW Writers.
\r\nBefore we go any further, let’s explain what custom content is. First of all, it’s content that’s free of plagiarism that Google can detect.
\r\nHowever, plagiarism-free means much more than avoiding detection: it means that the content has unique ideas that the audience hasn’t heard of before.
\r\nCustom content needs to be targeted toward a specific audience, and it should increase the awareness for your brand among them. The 2011 survey for the Custom Content Council proved what we already knew: 61 percent of consumers get a better impression about a company that delivers custom content, and 90 percent of the consumers find such content helpful when making decisions about a purchase.
\r\nThere is a subtle difference between content marketing and custom content, although these terms are being used interchangeably. Custom marketing serves by attracting your audience, and custom content is meant to meet the expectations of the base of audience you’ve already built.
\r\nWhether you’re interested in hiring the best writers or developing writing skills that will help the business grow, you can read on. We have the tips you need.
\r\nEverything starts with a plan. You are aware of the fact that your content writing plan can go nowhere if you don’t have a progressive plan that leads to specific results.
\r\nHere is how to craft each promotional text you’re about to write:
\r\nRelated Article: How to Create Content Both CMOs and Audiences Will Love
\r\nYou would think that promotion specialists know everything about their target audience, but you can see their lack of effort when you see “creative” texts written in style that has nothing to do with the slang of that target group. If an average user of the product or service cannot understand every single word written in that text, then you’ve missed the whole point of advertising, which is to bring the brand closer to the audience.
\r\nThe needs, interests, and attention span of your audience determine the type, style, and length of the promotional piece. Observe the way your target users communicate their ideas and engage in conversations through social media and forums.
\r\nWhen you get the pattern of a standard buyer, you’ll understand what type of promotions they are most attracted in. Here are a few tips that always work:
\r\nEvery piece of content needs an outline. After the process of audience analysis, you probably have few ideas on how to approach the campaign. Write them down. A brainstorming session is always a nice way to start the writing process.
\r\nTake the best idea and develop it into brief points. The way you outline the content depends upon its distribution. Which media will you use to promote the products or services? Are you going to submit articles to online newspapers and magazines?
\r\nMaybe you’re going to blog about the way people can use those products? Think about the final distribution of the promotional texts and write an outline that meets the final goal.
\r\nThe outline serves an important purpose: it keeps you focused on the main idea.
\r\nRelated Article: 5 Steps for Success with Facebook Ads in 2016
\r\nYou may get the wrong impression that custom content means expressing yourself like you’re speaking on a public forum, trying to explain why your target customers should trust your brand. Yes, you can take that approach because the content should seem natural, but you should also make sure to make it \"detectable\".
\r\nYou can’t skip the step of locating the most relevant keywords your target customer uses when searching through Google’s results. Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool gives you access to those keywords, so you’ll need to pick some that are relevant to the topic you’re working on, and infuse them into the custom content in a way that seems completely natural.
\r\nYou use the methods of business writing to share important information with your audience and emphasize the advantages of the brand, products, and services you promote.
\r\nYou use the right words, tone, and style the target audience appreciates. You find a way to awaken their interest and convince them to make the deal. Without creativity, all these tactics will leave you with a dry piece of text that won’t make a great difference in the marketing campaign.
\r\nCreative custom writing is all about sharpening your message. Although you’re still offering facts through the text, you find an angle that makes it different from similar messages that competitive businesses are using.
\r\nThat angle can be the way of distribution. For example, you can use Pinterest, Instagram, or Tumblr as hot points where you attract the audience. The format (article, blog post, infographic, series of videos), or a unique story that shows how someone benefits from your offer.
\r\nThe format of your content is the aspect that adds the greatest element of uniqueness. Conduct a research or launch a survey to find out what content format your target readers enjoy. Do they prefer videos, blog posts, ebooks, articles, infographics, or presentations? When you become aware of their preferences, always stick to the most successful format.
\r\nRelated Article: Make It Work: Applying the 6 Top Trends in Content Marketing At Your Business
\r\nRevisions are an important part of the process, so make sure to take them into consideration. A commercial text is powerful, short, effective, and memorable. When you’re too attached to the content you wrote, you’ll have difficulties noticing all flaws that make it lukewarm. Once you write the initial draft of your text, you need to take some time away from it. If you get the content written by a professional writer, that doesn’t mean you can skip the revisions.
\r\nGet back to the text few hours later, and think about the way your potential customer would read it. Put yourself in the role of a user: what impact would this text make? Get rid of the weak points and replace them with action verbs. Remember: the text must contain a call-to-action, otherwise you’re leaving the readers hanging, not knowing what to do next.
\r\nFinally, check the spelling, grammar, and syntax of the piece and make sure everything makes sense.
\r\nThere is no particular point in the plan reserved for the “creative” stage of the process. That’s the whole point of custom writing: you intertwine creativity throughout it.
\r\nWith practice, your creative texts will become more powerful. All you need to do is set your ideas free and follow their lead, but put the content in the format your audience prefers.
\n","docType":"article","guid":"articles_4d23d3f254ba23637130b96c39a8f8d7","lastModified":"2016-05-12T14:00:00.000Z","published":"2016-05-12T14:00:00.000Z","structuredData":null,"subtitle":null,"template":"legacy","title":"How to Build a Creative Writing Plan That Grows Your Business","type":"article","author":{"avatar":null,"bio":"I love business authors, publishing, and talking incessantly about them. My passion is partnering with authors to bring worthwhile content to publication. I started this blog as a way to create a community of writers, both published and seeking publication.","name":"Faizan Raza","image":null,"slug":null,"social":{"facebook":"https://www.facebook.com/fazi4it","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/faizan4it","twitter":null,"website":"http://www.samurais.co/"},"status":"disabled","title":null,"type":"Old BDC Member","user":{"imagePath":"https://staging.business.com/images/undefined","profile":{"company":"","jobTitle":"","website":""}}},"breadcrumbs":null,"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Business Basics","slug":"business-basics"},"sub":{"name":"Strategy","slug":"strategy"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Custom content needs to be targeted toward a specific audience, and it should increase the awareness for your brand among them.","title":"Creative Writing Plan that Grow Business - business.com"},"parsedContent":{"toc":[],"json":[{"component":"p","children":["When you’re performing content marketing, there is one goal you have in mind: attracting the target audience with something different and better than the competition’s offer."]},{"component":"p","children":["Even if the business doesn’t offer something really unique, a creative copy can make it the first choice of the consumers."]},{"component":"p","children":["If you’re not a great writer, that doesn’t mean you can skip launching promotional texts for your business; it just means that you’ll outsource the writing part to talented writers, and you can locate them through ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://nsw-writers.com/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["NSW Writers"]},"."]},{"component":"p","children":["Before we go any further, let’s explain what custom content is. First of all, it’s content that’s free of plagiarism that Google can detect."]},{"component":"p","children":["However, plagiarism-free means much more than avoiding detection: it means that the content has unique ideas that the audience hasn’t heard of before."]},{"component":"p","children":["Custom content needs to be targeted toward a specific audience, and it should increase the awareness for your brand among them. The ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://thecontentcouncil.org/files/galleries/final_2011_cmos_attitudes_toward_custom_content_report.pdf","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["2011 survey for the Custom Content Council"]}," proved what we already knew: 61 percent of consumers get a better impression about a company that delivers custom content, and 90 percent of the consumers find such content helpful when making decisions about a purchase. "]},{"component":"p","children":["There is a subtle difference between content marketing and custom content, although these terms are being used interchangeably. Custom marketing serves by attracting your audience, and custom content is meant to meet the expectations of the base of audience you’ve already built."]},{"component":"p","children":["Whether you’re interested in hiring the best writers or developing writing skills that will help the business grow, you can read on. We have the tips you need."]},{"component":"h3","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Crafting Custom Content for Your Business"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["Everything starts with a plan. You are aware of the fact that your content writing plan can go nowhere if you don’t have a progressive plan that leads to specific results."]},{"component":"p","children":["Here is how to craft each promotional text you’re about to write:"]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Related Article:"]}," ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"http://www.business.com/content-marketing/how-to-create-content-both-cmos-and-audiences-will-love/"},"children":["How to Create Content Both CMOs and Audiences Will Love"]}]},{"component":"h4","children":[{"component":"em","children":["1. Think about the audience. Understand the customer’s personality"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["You would think that promotion specialists know everything about their target audience, but you can see their lack of effort when you see “creative” texts written in style that has nothing to do with the slang of that target group. If an average user of the product or service cannot understand every single word written in that text, then you’ve missed the whole point of advertising, which is to bring the brand closer to the audience."]},{"component":"p","children":["The needs, interests, and attention span of your audience determine the type, style, and length of the promotional piece. Observe the way your target users communicate their ideas and engage in ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/02/for-many-brands-social-media-conversations-are-only-whispers/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["conversations through social media"]}," and forums."]},{"component":"p","children":["When you get the pattern of a standard buyer, you’ll understand what type of promotions they are most attracted in. Here are a few tips that always work:"]},{"component":"ul","children":[{"component":"li","children":["Keep the text brief and consistent. No one wants to be bothered with promotions for too long, so focus on the facts and leave out every unnecessary detail"]},{"component":"li","children":["Use short, powerful words that the reader/listener can easily remember"]},{"component":"li","children":["Avoid adverbs and adjectives; they make you sound too promotional and the potential users will think you’re lying"]}]},{"component":"h4","children":[{"component":"em","children":["2. Plan how to write the content"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["Every piece of content needs an outline. After the process of audience analysis, you probably have few ideas on how to approach the campaign. Write them down. A brainstorming session is always a nice way to start the writing process."]},{"component":"p","children":["Take the best idea and develop it into brief points. The way you outline the content depends upon its distribution. Which media will you use to promote the products or services? Are you going to ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://www.inthenewsonline.com/blog/bid/89561/How-to-get-articles-published-in-newspapers-or-magazine-publications","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["submit articles to online newspapers"]}," and magazines?"]},{"component":"p","children":["Maybe you’re going to blog about the way people can use those products? Think about the final distribution of the promotional texts and write an outline that meets the final goal."]},{"component":"p","children":["The outline serves an important purpose: it keeps you focused on the main idea."]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Related Article:"]}," ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"http://www.business.com/social-media-marketing/5-steps-for-success-with-facebook-ads-in-2016/"},"children":["5 Steps for Success with Facebook Ads in 2016"]}]},{"component":"h4","children":[{"component":"em","children":["3. Use the right keywords"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["You may get the wrong impression that custom content means expressing yourself like you’re speaking on a public forum, trying to explain why your target customers should trust your brand. Yes, you can take that approach because the content should seem natural, but you should also make sure to make it \"detectable\"."]},{"component":"p","children":["You can’t skip the step of locating the most relevant keywords your target customer uses when searching through Google’s results. Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool gives you access to those keywords, so you’ll need to pick some that are relevant to the topic you’re working on, and infuse them into the custom content in a way that seems completely natural. "]},{"component":"h4","children":[{"component":"em","children":["4. Combine business writing with creativity"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["You use the methods of business writing to share important information with your audience and emphasize the advantages of the brand, products, and services you promote."]},{"component":"p","children":["You use the right words, tone, and style the target audience appreciates. You find a way to awaken their interest and convince them to make the deal. Without creativity, all these tactics will leave you with a dry piece of text that won’t make a great difference in the marketing campaign."]},{"component":"p","children":["Creative custom writing is all about sharpening your message. Although you’re still offering facts through the text, you find an angle that makes it different from similar messages that competitive businesses are using."]},{"component":"p","children":["That angle can be the way of distribution. For example, you can use Pinterest, Instagram, or Tumblr as hot points where you attract the audience. The format (article, blog post, infographic, series of videos), or a unique story that shows how someone benefits from your offer."]},{"component":"p","children":["The format of your content is the aspect that adds the greatest element of uniqueness. Conduct a research or launch a survey to find out what content format your target readers enjoy. Do they prefer videos, blog posts, ebooks, articles, infographics, or presentations? When you become aware of their preferences, always stick to the most successful format."]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Related Article:"]}," ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"http://www.business.com/content-marketing/how-to-apply-the-6-top-trends-in-content-marketing-at-your-business/"},"children":["Make It Work: Applying the 6 Top Trends in Content Marketing At Your Business"]}]},{"component":"h4","children":[{"component":"em","children":["5. Ruthless revisions"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["Revisions are an important part of the process, so make sure to take them into consideration. A commercial text is powerful, short, effective, and memorable. When you’re too attached to the content you wrote, you’ll have difficulties noticing all flaws that make it lukewarm. Once you write the initial draft of your text, you need to take some time away from it. If you get the content written by a professional writer, that doesn’t mean you can skip the revisions."]},{"component":"p","children":["Get back to the text few hours later, and think about the way your potential customer would read it. Put yourself in the role of a user: what impact would this text make? Get rid of the weak points and replace them with action verbs. Remember: the text must contain a call-to-action, otherwise you’re leaving the readers hanging, not knowing what to do next."]},{"component":"p","children":["Finally, check the spelling, grammar, and syntax of the piece and make sure everything makes sense. "]},{"component":"p","children":["There is no particular point in the plan reserved for the “creative” stage of the process. That’s the whole point of custom writing: you intertwine creativity throughout it."]},{"component":"p","children":["With practice, your creative texts will become more powerful. All you need to do is set your ideas free and follow their lead, but put the content in the format your audience prefers. "]}]},"resource":null,"sponsorship":null,"thumbnail":{"path":null,"caption":"NanoStockk / Getty Images","isBlurred":true},"bestPicks":null},"related":{"relatedArticles":[{"title":"How to Build a Creative Writing Plan That Grows Your Business","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/creative-writing-plan-that-grows-your-business/","slug":"creative-writing-plan-that-grows-your-business","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/channel/business-basics.jpg","dek":"Custom content needs to be targeted toward a specific audience, and it should increase the awareness for your brand among them.","lastModified":"2016-05-12T14:00:00Z","published":"2016-05-12T14:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Come Together: 6 Web-Based Collaboration Tools for Writers and Content Marketers","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/6-web-based-collaboration-tools-for-writers-and-content-marketers/","slug":"6-web-based-collaboration-tools-for-writers-and-content-marketers","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5e9/5c2e75a215e1d118b4582/1500-0-","dek":"There are great benefits to combining the efforts of numerous experts. Expand your ideas by working together. Tools to help inside.","lastModified":"2016-01-21T16:00:00Z","published":"2016-01-21T16:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Come Together: 6 Web-Based Collaboration Tools for Writers and Content Marketers","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/6-web-based-collaboration-tools-for-writers-and-content-marketers/","slug":"6-web-based-collaboration-tools-for-writers-and-content-marketers","thumbnail":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/569/fda403187b1287866992c/1500-0-","dek":"There are great benefits to combining the efforts of numerous experts. Expand your ideas by working together. 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