7 Essential Skills Digital Content Writers Need

Summary

The video emphasizes the importance of concise writing for content creators, highlighting the role of tools like Google Analytics in understanding audience behavior. It discusses the need for a solid content strategy, differentiating content in a saturated market, and focusing on end goals like lead generation or sales. The value of storytelling, video content, and bite-sized educational content is emphasized, along with leveraging email marketing and voice search trends. The speaker suggests quick and targeted approaches to maximize engagement and conversion in today’s digital landscape.

Takeaways

• 📝 Writers need to focus on concise statements to keep their audience engaged.
• 🔔 Subscription and notification reminders are essential for YouTube creators.
• 📊 Google Analytics is crucial for writers and marketers to understand what content works and what doesn't, helping them optimize for conversions.
• 🌐 With over a billion blogs, having a content strategy is essential to stand out and create valuable, purposeful content.
• 📈 Tools like Ubersuggest can help identify popular content ideas based on social shares, traffic, and links, guiding content creation.
• 🎯 Content strategy should align with specific goals, whether it's generating leads or making sales, requiring different types of content.
• 📹 Video content is a must for marketers, as it's an effective way to connect with audiences on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
• 📖 Storytelling is a timeless and powerful tool for engaging audiences and building an emotional connection.
• ✉️ Email marketing should be quick and tailored to where the recipient is in the customer journey to increase conversion rates.
• 🎤 Voice search is growing, with over 50% of searches now being voice-based, making concise content crucial for success.

Q & A

Why is Google Analytics important for writers, marketers, and companies?

Google Analytics helps writers understand which content performs well by tracking metrics like audience engagement, bounce rates, and conversions. This information is crucial for adjusting content strategies to effectively attract and convert customers.

How can writers benefit from having a content strategy?

A content strategy helps writers differentiate their work, focus on topics that address customer pain points, and ultimately produce content that converts and provides value to the audience, rather than blindly creating similar content as others.

What is the first step in creating a content strategy?

The first step in creating a content strategy is to identify what content is already popular in your niche. Tools like Ubersuggest can help you understand which topics are performing well based on social shares, search traffic, and backlinks.

What are some key goals of a content strategy?

Key goals of a content strategy include attracting attention, solving customer pain points, converting leads into customers, and differentiating content from competitors by creating content that is better and more valuable.

How can writers make their content stand out?

Writers can make their content stand out by creating something that is significantly better than existing content. This can be done by adding unique insights, expanding on popular topics, and creating more comprehensive, engaging pieces that offer more value to readers.

How does storytelling help in content creation?

Storytelling creates an emotional connection with the audience by bringing them through ups and downs. This emotional rollercoaster makes content more engaging, helping to build trust and eventually convert readers into customers.

How does email marketing fit into a content strategy?

Email marketing can nurture leads and convert them into customers by providing targeted and relevant content at every stage of their journey. Customized emails based on user actions increase the likelihood of conversions.

What changes are taking place in content creation in 2020?

One major change in content creation in 2020 is the rise of voice search, which means writers need to produce concise, clear responses to answer questions quickly and effectively to cater to the way users interact with voice-activated assistants.

What is the benefit of using bite-size educational content?

Bite-size educational content provides quick and actionable information, catering to people’s shorter attention spans. It allows audiences to learn something useful in just a few minutes, which is becoming more popular in today’s fast-paced world.

Why is leveraging video content important for writers and marketers?

Leveraging video content helps build a deeper connection with audiences, which in turn builds trust and increases conversion rates. Videos are a popular medium on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, and provide a visual aspect that enhances user engagement.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Importance of Google Analytics for Writers and Marketers

The speaker emphasizes the necessity for writers and marketers to understand Google Analytics. It provides insights into which content performs well, what causes user bounce rates, and helps writers focus on creating content that drives conversions. Relying on data, rather than personal opinions, ensures that content is optimized for engagement and revenue.

05:01

📚 The Role of Content Strategy in Today's Overcrowded Market

In a world with over a billion blogs, the speaker highlights the importance of a content strategy. Without a clear plan, writers risk creating content that doesn't stand out or convert. A good content strategy involves understanding customer pain points, focusing on differentiating content, and aligning with long-term goals to ensure the effort leads to measurable results.

🔑 Steps to Create an Effective Content Strategy

The speaker introduces Ubersuggest as a tool for writers and marketers to identify successful content. By analyzing popular topics, social shares, search traffic, and backlinks, creators can tailor their strategy to what resonates with audiences. The goal is to create unique, superior content that outshines existing content, much like how taller skyscrapers are built to surpass previous ones.

📈 Defining Different Content Goals for Different Stages

Different types of content serve different purposes. The speaker explains that content aimed at lead generation can be simpler and educational, whereas content designed for sales must address more objections and provide extensive proof. It's crucial to understand the audience's stage in the buying process and tailor content accordingly.

🎥 Leveraging Video Content to Build Connections

The speaker suggests using video to engage with audiences. Platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are popular for video content. The key is to start simple, even using a phone, and focus on building connections. Video content fosters trust and can be a powerful tool for converting viewers into customers.

📖 The Power of Storytelling in Content Marketing

Storytelling remains a timeless and effective marketing strategy. The speaker discusses the importance of taking audiences on emotional journeys, which enhances engagement. Like in reality TV, people are drawn to stories with ups and downs, making storytelling an essential skill for writers and marketers.

📧 The Role of Email in Modern Marketing Strategies

Email marketing is experiencing a resurgence, according to the speaker. Quick conversion is key, and custom-tailored emails based on where the recipient is in the sales journey are more effective. Marketing automation allows for personalized emails, which significantly improve conversion rates.

🗣️ The Rise of Voice Search and Concise Writing

The growing popularity of voice search, which now accounts for over 50% of searches, requires writers to focus on concise statements. Users expect short, clear answers, especially when interacting with voice assistants like Alexa. Lengthy, complex content won't meet the needs of voice search users.

⏱️ The Demand for Bite-Size Educational Content

The speaker emphasizes that consumers prefer quick, actionable insights over long-form content. In today's fast-paced world, shorter educational content, like five-minute podcasts, performs better. The key is delivering valuable information quickly to match the short attention spans of modern audiences.

Keywords

💡Concise Statements

Concise statements refer to expressing ideas clearly and in fewer words. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of concise writing for better communication, especially in the context of voice search and digital content. For example, the speaker mentions how platforms like Quora thrive because they offer short, to-the-point answers, which are more suitable for today’s digital audience.

💡Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service that provides statistics and analytical tools for search engine optimization and marketing purposes. In the video, the speaker explains that writers and marketers can use Google Analytics to understand user behavior, such as which content is popular or causing high bounce rates. This helps writers create more effective content with the goal of generating leads and conversions.

💡Content Strategy

Content strategy involves planning, creating, and managing content with the aim of achieving specific business goals. In the video, the speaker discusses how having a clear content strategy helps writers and marketers produce content that solves the target audience’s problems, stands out in a saturated market, and ultimately drives conversions. Without a strategy, content creation becomes aimless and less effective.

💡Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a keyword research and SEO tool that provides insights into content performance based on metrics such as social shares, search traffic, and backlinks. The speaker references Ubersuggest as a way for writers to identify popular topics and create content that outperforms existing content by offering unique and valuable information.

💡Voice Search

Voice search is a technology that allows users to perform searches by speaking into a device instead of typing. The speaker mentions that over 50% of searches are now conducted via voice, making it crucial for writers to craft concise and direct content that addresses user queries quickly. This trend emphasizes the need for clear and succinct answers that cater to voice search behavior.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is a technique used to engage audiences by narrating a sequence of events or experiences in a compelling manner. The speaker highlights that storytelling helps create an emotional connection with the audience, guiding them through various emotions similar to reality TV. This tactic is effective in content marketing, as it keeps readers engaged and more likely to convert into customers.

💡Bite-size Educational Content

Bite-size educational content refers to short, easily digestible pieces of information that provide quick insights or solutions. The speaker points out that people prefer consuming shorter content due to shrinking attention spans. He gives the example of a successful five-minute podcast series, showing how quick, actionable insights cater to modern audience preferences.

💡Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting prospects into someone who has indicated interest in a company's product or service. The speaker discusses how different types of content can be tailored to generate leads, such as educational pieces that offer quick solutions. The goal is to capture interest and collect contact information for future sales.

💡Marketing Automation

Marketing automation refers to the use of software to automate repetitive marketing tasks, such as sending emails based on user behavior. The speaker explains how customized emails can be sent to users depending on where they are in their journey, helping to increase conversion rates by addressing specific needs and concerns at different stages.

💡Video Content

Video content includes any type of visual media that conveys a message or story through video. The speaker emphasizes the power of video in building deeper connections with audiences and suggests using simple tools like a smartphone to get started. He also highlights that video can enhance trust, making it easier for marketers and writers to convert viewers into customers.

Highlights

Writers need concise statements to effectively engage readers.

Google Analytics helps writers understand which content performs well and converts readers into leads or customers.

Content strategy is crucial in a saturated market to differentiate and create valuable content.

A successful content strategy begins with understanding what's popular and improving on existing content.

End goals of content vary: building a list requires different content than content aimed at direct sales.

Different stages of a customer’s journey require different content: quick tips for leads and more in-depth responses for conversions.

Marketers should embrace video content across platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to build deeper connections.

Storytelling is a timeless marketing tactic that engages readers emotionally.

Email marketing remains effective when customized based on a user's journey, ensuring timely and relevant communication.

Voice search is growing, making it essential for writers to provide concise and direct answers.

Bite-sized educational content is a growing trend as audiences demand quick, actionable insights.

Marketing School's experiment with 5-minute podcast episodes showed success by catering to the demand for bite-sized, daily marketing advice.

People have shorter attention spans, so marketers and writers need to focus on delivering content quickly and effectively.

Quora's popularity shows that short, direct answers are what users prefer in today's fast-paced digital world.

Storytelling, video, and concise writing will continue to drive engagement in the evolving content marketing landscape.

Transcripts

- What you need to do as a writer is,

you need to have concise statements.

(gentle upbeat music)

Before we get started,

make sure you subscribe to this channel.

And if you're on YouTube, click the alert notification.

- And now the first thing you list is Google Analytics.

Now, can you tell us why

this is so important for writers to understand

as well as marketers and the companies?

- Sure, so if you're a writer,

you're writing to either draw more attention in

and eventually convert those eyeballs

and that attention into leads, customers, right?

Google analytics tells you what content they like,

what they don't, what's causing them to bounce.

It won't explicitly tell you what's causing them to bounce,

but you can make some educational based guess

based on the data that they're providing.

It'll also tell you the type of content

that converts the best, the type of content that doesn't.

So that way, when you're writing,

you can write with the end goal in mind,

which is eventually you want to have a conversion,

whether that's someone buying right then and there,

or turning into lead, and it'll provide you that data.

If you continually write and write blindly,

and you write based off what people tell you is amazing,

do your friends do, that's all great and fine and dandy,

but that doesn't necessarily mean that what you're writing

is going to convert into revenue.

- Well, that does tie into the next topic,

which is content strategy.

You know, obviously this is becoming a much more

increasingly important skill to have.

What are your thoughts on that,

and where do you see the industry right now

as far as content strategy goes?

And again, the opportunity for writers?

- Sure, so there's over a billion blogs on the internet.

That's roughly one for every seven people.

There's a lot of blogs.

The amount of content that's being pushed out each day

is so overwhelming.

We don't really need much more content,

everyone's regurgitate the same information.

If you don't have a strategy,

how are you going to be different?

How are you going to stand out?

How are you going to convert people?

What topics are you going to cover that

solve the pinpoints of your customers?

If you don't have a strategy in place and a plan of action,

then all you're going to be doing is producing content

that doesn't really do anything at the end of the day.

Even if you think that this is better

based off of analytics data,

but you don't have the strategy

and how you're going to attack that,

and how you're going to go forward,

then you're just wasting your time and energy.

- So what are some end goals of strategy?

You know, when you say you need a strategy, well,

how do I even know where to start creating that strategy?

- So the first step in this strategy

is attracting the eyeballs.

And what you would want to do is see what's in your space

that's popular.

So there's a tool called Ubersuggest that I have,

and you can use it for free.

You can type in a keyword or a phrase

and click on when you're in Ubersuggest

you want to go to the content ideas report,

it'll tell you what's popular based off of social shares,

like Facebook and Pinterest.

Search traffic, what ranks well in Google

and how much traffic does it get

and what keywords is a rank for.

And the third thing is links.

What other sites are linking to it

because they like the content?

So you want to look at the topics

and the exact headline that are doing well,

and it'll also show you in the tool, what doesn't do well.

So you want to more so focus on creating content that's

popular on what people like.

Now, you don't want to just copy that

and regurgitate what's already existing on the web,

but you want to do something that's better than that.

Think of skyscrapers.

And in the United States

we may have the Empire State Building,

then you may have someone in Dubai who's like,

ah, we're going to create the Burj Khalifa,

I think was what it's called.

And it's going to be even taller,

it's going to be double the height.

I'm making it up.

You're going to have somebody in China say,

we're going to do triple the height,

we're going to have our buildings go into the clouds.

The point I'm making is,

you want your content to stand out and be unique,

go above and beyond what people are already doing.

because if something's already popular and have worked well,

if you do something that's double, triple better,

you're much more likely to have

your content do really well too.

- And I think it's also important that writers and marketers

even step back further, and what is the end goal?

Is it just to get-

Is it the end goal actually sales,

or is it just to build the list?

Is there different content for different purposes?

- There is.

And you know this better than anyone else, right?

If you're trying to get someone to opt into lead,

it's easier to get them to opt in to a lead

than it is to get them to buy.

So if they opt in to a lead,

you may just have to write content that

provides them a quick solution or some tips

or some educational advice.

If you want someone to buy,

you have to answer so many more objections,

head-on pinpoints, social proof,

all those things matter, right?

So you got to think about what stage the person is in

and what kind of content they want to see.

- Okay.

Now, I've also heard you say that

marketers need to learn how to leverage video content.

Now, what do you feel is the best way

to go about doing that?

- The best way is to bust out your phone

(laughing)

do it yourself, and straight up just upload it to YouTube,

Facebook, Instagram.

Now ones could say, Hey,

how do I optimize it for SEO and get the most traffic?

Don't worry about that at the beginning.

Worry about just connecting with people

from a visual aspect,

because nowadays everyone is watching content.

YouTube is so popular and even Facebook is,

Instagram is, they all have video.

Even LinkedIn has video.

If you can leverage video,

you can build a deeper connection with people.

That connection also builds trust,

and that's what helps people convert into customers as well.

- All right.

And that ties into one of the other skills that

you recommend writers and marketers have to,

to be successful in the digital world.

And that storytelling that's something that obviously

AWAI focuses a lot of time and energy in,

but I love hearing it from your perspective as well.

- The storytelling is amazing.

If you don't do storytelling,

I dunno how you bring people through the ups and the downs.

People need that emotional roller coaster,

just like they see in reality TV,

unless it really hooks them,

and storytelling has been,

that thousand year old marketing tactic

that still works today.

- Let's, let's talk about email.

I spoke with Ryan Deiss recently

and he believes email's making a Renaissance.

And that it's what the cool kids are doing

is what he said now.

So, how does email writing tie into your strategies,

even taking it to funnels and upsells and down sells

and all the pieces that the emails work with?

- Yeah, so what we found is with emails,

the quicker you sell them,

the more likely they are to convert.

Maybe that's just us.

We don't find it that if they were on your list for a year,

they're more likely to convert.

It's just like, they're more likely to unsubscribe by then.

So try to get them as quick as possible.

But the key with emails is, how can you make them custom to

whatever phase they are in the journey

and there's marketing automation these days.

So if someone viewed something, but didn't buy it,

you would send them a different email where

compared to if they're just reading some educational piece.

And the key is just helping them based on where they are

in their journey.

And if you can have customized emails

for every step of the way,

you're much more likely to convert.

- So in your opinion, what's changing?

What are the big changes that we're seeing in 2020?

- Voice search is huge.

Over 50% of the searches now are voice,

according to Comscore.

So...

- I'm going to stop you for a minute then.

So with that in mind, what does that...

- So what that means,

our first stop before we get into,

what you need to do as a writer is,

you need to have concise statements.

Because if you're a writer and you're writing

lengthy responses to a question, think of Quora,

Quora's really popular,

they get over a hundred million visitors a month,

according to Similarweb.

And my number could be off,

but I think it was something ridiculous like that,

but either way it's popular.

The reason it does as well is, with Quora,

you're getting short answers, right?

Here's the question, here's the answer.

That's what people want to hear.

They don't want to ask Alexa a question

and then reads for five minutes.

But as a writer if you can't be concise and to the point,

you're not going to do well.

- Okay, that does tie into bite-size educational content,

which I heard you talk about

and you believe that that's a growing trend.

Could you just speak a little bit about that please?

- Yeah, no one wants...

Not no one, that's actually a wrong statement.

A lot of people want quicker, on demand content.

So we found that bite-side education works really well.

My buddy and I, Eric Siu,

we have a podcast called Marketing School,

we did experiment what if we do five-minute podcast episodes

a day on one thing about marketing,

if you do well,

and we have over a million monthly listeners every month

and it's done well

because people want bite-size information.

Before that, he tested out longer pieces of information

and did less episodes, but we found a trend in which

people want quick, actionable insights

in the least amount of time.

And that's what shows in the study, right?

They say humans have a shorter attention span

than a goldfish.

This shows, the quicker you can get information across,

the better off you are.