Editor’s note: Hey, hey! Our team at Blackwood has launched a podcast called The Big Brand Theory! This episode, our host, Ryan Zerfas, spoke with Dan Marzullo, founder and CEO of Marzullo & Associates, a content agency in Colorado Springs, CO, as well as one of Blackwood’s copywriters, Maddi Keaton. The trio discussed everything from the importance of blogging to why you might want to “steal” other people’s work. If you’d prefer to listen to the episode where Ryan, Dan, and Maddi talk about blogging and copywriting, you can do so at this link. Enjoy!!
No matter where we are or what we’re doing, and whether we like it or not, we are surrounded by words. There is always something fighting to be read and trying desperately to grab your attention – and that, in a sense, is the essence of copywriting. But when it comes to writing for your business, there is an overwhelming number of different approaches you could take to publish more written content on your site. Whether you decide to write blogs or stick with social media copy, there are so many amazing things words can do for your business – let’s break it down.
Let’s break down “copywriting” a little first.
So, we’re using copywriting relatively loosely here, as for the most part, we’ll be focusing on blogs; there are so many other facets of copywriting and those could each have multiple blogs of their own! Here, though, we’re going to be looking mostly at blogging and how it can be a beneficial avenue through which to grow your business.
What is the importance of blogging, and why should companies consider it?
The discourse surrounding whether or not blogs are really an effective way to drive traffic to your website is not a new thing. Many people are fairly skeptical when it comes to starting a blog, but the biggest thing to keep in mind is that blogging is not a short-term solution. You’ll probably have to spend a good chunk of time curating and publishing your highest quality content within your niche. As Dan Marzullo, founder and CEO of Marzullo & Associates, says, “it’s not one of those strategies that you’re gonna probably drive 50 new clients from the first blog you put out.”
When you start blogging consistently, though, you begin to build up trust and a routine with your audience; they’ll start to expect and anticipate your next publication, and it’s a great way to get eyeballs onto your site. The more you post, the more chances you have to get in front of your audience. For SEO purposes, too, to start ranking and climbing in Google, it’s important to establish some regularity.
Hold up – what is SEO again?
SEO is a way to drive organic, natural traffic to your website. Even without advertising, if you have great search engine optimization, people will be coming to your website. Search engine optimization is based on keywords or keyphrases that appear both in your web content and the search engine results.
Back to consistency…how often should your business publish blogs?
To see the best SEO results, you probably want to be publishing at least once a week, depending on your industry. For the most part, once a week is plenty, but for others, biweekly blogs may be a better option. Whichever you choose, make sure you’re staying consistent.
How often do you visit a blog where the last post was two months ago? You’re more likely to just move on, because obviously, they’re not staying very engaged. It’s a turn-off as a visitor to see a fairly inactive blog; posting more frequently will build up credibility. Otherwise, you’ll have visitors leave your website skeptical of your business due to your inactivity.
So you’ve decided to blog. What the heck do you write about?
One of the best ways to brainstorm topics when you’re writing a blog is to think like your target audience. Really put yourself in their shoes and think like your consumers. Answer questions that they might have about your business, about your industry, about your product – the list could go on forever.
“Turn that into a quote image for Instagram, or pull a snippet for LinkedIn, or just reshare. Our social feeds are so crammed up, you’ve got to really penetrate to get seen…do whatever you can to repurpose it and get it out there.”
An even easier place to start is to look at the content you already have. Read an old blog or look through old social media captions. Perhaps there’s a concept or a word or a phrase you’ve said before that you could expand on! Blog posts on blog posts on blog posts on blog posts – work smarter, not harder.
When it comes to keyword research, there are a number of places you could begin; though it may feel like a huge undertaking, it’s not always all that bad. Take some time to look into online keyword research tools – Wordstream and UberSuggest are great places to start looking for resources! You want to make sure that you’re finding one that’s actually reputable, though, that’s actually finding valuable keywords rather than just nonsense; do your research as much as you can beforehand to make sure you’re maximizing the results you can get!
Real talk: do you need to hire someone to handle copywriting full-time, or can you outsource to freelancers?
Ultimately, it depends on your writing needs. If you need enough writing done to where someone could spend all day, every day working on your projects, you might consider going in house. Maybe writing is not your number one focus, and the work doesn’t justify a full time hire. That’s when you might want to turn to an agency to fill in those gaps; you get the benefit of an entire team with years of combined expertise versus just one in-house hire. Regardless, though, it all comes down to your individual needs as a company.
If your current marketing strategy just isn’t cutting it anymore, you’ve come to the right place. Our team of experts here at Blackwood Creative would be more than happy to work with you and help you meet and exceed your business goals. We’re in the business of building remarkable brands – yours could be next. Reach out to us today!
Interested in listening to this episode and more of The Big Brand Theory Podcast? Visit this web page for streaming options!
