content creation

September 13, 2021 Content Chat Recap: How To Create Memorable, One-of-a-Kind Visual Content

September 16, 2021 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Visual content is an essential part of any content marketing strategy, but many marketers struggle with sourcing or creating unique and effective visuals for their campaigns.

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Amy Balliett (@AmyBalliett), CEO and founder of Killer Visual Strategies, to discuss how marketers can create one-of-a-kind visuals to elevate their content marketing. Read the full recap below, where we explore why brands should invest in visual content, how to document a visual brand identity, where to find visuals for marketing, and more.

Q1: Why should brands invest in visual content as part of their marketing strategy?

Visual communication is an efficient way to share information. Audiences connect more easily with visuals, and some studies estimate that visuals reach the brain 60,000x faster than text.

A1a: Visual communication reaches the brain 60,000x faster than text.
Audiences connect more easily with visuals, and it shows: 82% of all internet traffic is driven by video—and that’s just one of many kinds of visual content available to marketers. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/Ii95VeqgWi
— Amy Balliett (@AmyBalliett) September 13, 2021

A1: Visual content is an essential way to deliver value to your community. Some ideas or concepts are best shown through visuals, like a diagram explaining a complicated process. Or, visuals can simply draw attention to an important point, like a quote. #ContentChat
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) September 13, 2021

Some of your community members prefer to consume visual content, and this content is more likely to stand out on social media.

A1: Your community learns and consumes content through a number of channels and senses. Visuals are an important way we process information and need to be part of our #contentstrategy. #ContentChat https://t.co/41CiOTr71J
— Erika Heald | Speaking at #CMworld + #MProfsB2B. (@SFerika) September 13, 2021

A1: Everyone consumes content in a different way and visual content is one way to broaden your brand’s reach and audience. And in our frenzied, overstimulated social feeds, it’s more likely to stand out! #ContentChat
— Melanie Graham (@WriterGirlMel) September 13, 2021

A1: visuals stand out, good visuals will stop people in the scroll. You need to grab the attention of your audience! #ContentChat https://t.co/TCGdSTeHUF
— JMatt (@JMattMke) September 13, 2021

A cohesive visual identity can reinforce your branding.

A1: I’d also add that having unique visual content can help reinforce your brand with potential customers. (vs. using stock images or repurposing someone else’s visuals) #ContentChat
— Melanie Graham (@WriterGirlMel) September 13, 2021

Agreed!
Whether you have your own illustrations created, like @CMIContent with @jkkalinowski‘s amazing work, or commission brand photo shoots, bespoke visuals do so much for brand definition. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Speaking at #CMworld + #MProfsB2B. (@SFerika) September 13, 2021

And most visual content can easily be repurposed to drive additional value across channels or formats.

A1. Reaches a wider audience and consumers seem to prefer taking in information in visual format vs text. You can also reuse visual content in so many additional materials. #ContentChat
— Mandi DeGroff Munger (@mandide) September 13, 2021

Amy’s microsite further explains the power of visual communication for marketing:

A1b: To learn more about the power of #visualcommunication as a tool for #contentmarketing professionals, check out this microsite: https://t.co/xcopiIcxCW #ContentChat
— Amy Balliett (@AmyBalliett) September 13, 2021

Q2: How can a brand define its visual identity? What are the essential areas to document?

January 11, 2021 Content Chat Recap: Long-Form Writing Tips and Best Practices

January 12, 2021 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Despite the prevalent misconception that audiences always prefer short and concise content, long-form content has a rightful place in your content marketing plan. Many audiences rely on deep-dive resources that can answer their questions, explain how they can work more efficiently, and provide a deeper analysis than can be achieved in a 500-word blog post.

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Chris Craft (@CraftWrites), co-founder of NeoLuxe Marketing and editor-in-chief of InspireFirst, to discuss how marketers can use the 3×3 writing process to accelerate the creation of long-form content. Read the full chat recap below, where we explain what the 3×3 writing process is, share tips to overcome the hurdles of writing long-form content, and discuss how to ensure your content meets its intended goals (from start to publish).

If you’re looking for more resources about how to navigate your content length, you can learn where shorter content fits into your content marketing strategy here, our double-down on in-depth content with these tips to make the most out of long-form content.

Q1: What is the 3×3 writing process, and why should marketers follow it when creating long-form content?

The 3×3 writing process is a framework to optimize your content creation. It has roots in academic writing, but can be applied to most content.

A1: The 3×3 writing process is a writing framework that helps writers get organized and produce well-researched content efficiently. I wrote about it here:https://t.co/UYFO6i5SVF #ContentChat
— Chris Craft (@CraftWrites) January 11, 2021

A1: The 3×3 writing process was mostly used for academic writing until I stumbled upon it and experimented with using it for crafting blog content. It has worked tremendously for our agency’s content and client content. #ContentChat
— Chris Craft (@CraftWrites) January 11, 2021

The writing process is designed to help you write higher quality content faster by following a specific set of steps. The community recommends that you revise your copy after you’ve finished the first draft, because editing as you go can bog down your creative process.

For me, 3 x 3 writing involves:
✔️ Besting with an ugly first draft
✔️ Rewriting the draft do you’re writing for the reader this time
✔️ Editing and finalizing things#ContentChat
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) January 11, 2021

It’s so important to get that initial draft done BEFORE you start revising/editing. I think the ease at which we can edit as we go often impedes the content creation process. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Expert (@SFerika) January 11, 2021

Absoutely! It will ultimately create better content and save you time if you get everything out, rather than editing as you go. I think the same applies for editing — read through it, get the big picture first before diving into the details. #contentchat
— Melanie Graham (@WriterGirlMel) January 11, 2021

One editing caveat for your first draft: ensure that basic proofreading is complete before you dive into the next steps.

I agree with on caveat—sometimes as an editor you receive content that hasn’t had basic proofreading done before you got it in hand…in those scenarios, I often have to do that first so I can read it without that interfering with taking in the ideas. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Expert (@SFerika) January 11, 2021

Per Jennifer’s question, Step 3/Revise is ongoing, but you should focus on publishing content once it is finished (for the time being) and updating it at a later time.

Do you find that Step 3 is ongoing, due to optimization and performance? #ContentChat
— Jennifer L. Dawson (@JLDContentQueen) January 11, 2021

@JLDContentQueen – Yes, there is always room for improving the content. BUT, it shouldn’t keep you from shipping/publishing. The beauty of the web is that you can always update your content later. #ContentChat
— Chris Craft (@CraftWrites) January 11, 2021

Yess! 🙌 And lately, I’ve been trying to focus on one thing so I can hit publish: progress over perfection.
You don’t want to stop creating just because you can’t make the content perfect. #ContentChat
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) January 11, 2021

15 Free Chrome Browser Extensions Every Digital Marketer Should Add

December 28, 2020 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

A marketer’s day often involves a dizzying mix of tasks, bouncing from writing blog posts and crafting social media content to recording a podcast or designing a digital event experience.

Efficiency is the name of the game when balancing such a diverse to-do list, and savvy marketers know the value of digital tools to help them complete whatever content needs they face.

Luckily, some of the best tools are free to use and available through any marketer’s best friend—an internet browser. These digital marketing browser extensions provide a seamless experience and fast track almost any content needs. The hardest part is finding the right browser extensions for marketing, so we’ve asked the #ContentChat community and other marketing pros about their picks.

The Content Marketer’s Toolbox: Browser Extensions to Download

We recommend these browser extensions (in alphabetical order) to help with the range of tasks that content marketers face in their day-to-day.

Of note, this list focuses on those extensions available through the Google Chrome browser, but many are also available on other top browsers like Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.

Spelling & Grammar Browser Extensions

Writing is the bread-and-butter of any marketing role, so a spelling and grammar check browser extension is a must-have.

There are several options to fit this need, and Grammarly is highest-recommended by our community. That said, each free option has varying capabilities, and some writers will naturally appreciate the interface of specific tools over others. We recommend you explore each of these to find the option that works best for your needs:

Digital Marketing Browser Extensions

Content creation is just one part of a marketer’s role, with search engine optimization, graphic design, and other tasks taking increasing priority. These are some of the top browser extensions to meet a range of digital marketing needs:

Alexa Traffic Rank: Need a quick look at a website’s traffic? The Alexa Traffic Rank extension is perfect for a general gauge of how popular a website is. The tool shows global traffic rank, plus the rank in whichever country the site best performs. This is useful when researching high-authority domains or trying to prioritize different opportunities based on traffic. As with most free tools, the details are limited, though, and we recommend you explore paid options if this tool is short of what you need.
Bitly: Quickly create and share shortened, trackable URLs. This extension gives you all of Bitly’s website features within your browser.
Calendly: This extension expands the value of your free Calendly account and enables you to view and schedule meetings right from your browser.
ColorPick Eyedropper: The design-minded content marketer will love ColorPick, as it gives the hexadecimal, RGB, or HSL color code of anything on your screen. The extension can also help you create a color palette based on the color you select.
ColorZilla: Unsure if ColorPick is right for you? Give ColorZilla a try! The two provide similar features with a different user experience, so your pick will depend on how design-focused your role is.
Dictanote: This note-taking and organizing tool is notable for enabling speech-to-text so that you can take notes by talking.
Evernote Web Clipper: “Better than a bookmark,” this tool lets you save web pages, articles, and PDFs that you can then annotate and organize in just a few clicks.
GIPHY: Why say it with text when you can say it with GIF? Send GIFs and stickers easier than ever using this tool.
Headline Studio: Expanding on the immensely valuable CoSchedule headline analyzer, the Headline Studio extension allows you to draft and analyze headlines on any website. The tool even has a built-in thesaurus and word bank so you can add unique power, emotional, and uncommon words that make your headlines pop.
LastPass: If you struggle with remembering your passwords or need help creating unique passwords to strengthen your online security, LastPass is a great tool that securely stores and auto-fills your passwords.
SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant: Although this is technically an add-on for Google Docs or WordPress, we couldn’t skip recommending this incredible SEO tool. It checks your content for SEO-friendliness in real time based on your target keywords, with everything from a plagiarism checker and tone of voice analysis to a link checker and recommended keywords.
Serpstat: This SEO tool gives a page and domain analysis in just a few clicks, including top keywords, optimization information, and more.
WhatFont: Ever wonder what font a web page uses? WhatFont has you covered.

Extensions That Meet Any Digital Marketing Need

The above tools are just a few of our favorites, but there are plenty more that you can try. Google Chrome has a writing essentials page with 40+ extensions that could help supercharge your writing, for starters.

Did we miss your favorite browser extension? Let us know in the comments! Tell us the extension name and how it makes your day-to-day more manageable, and we will update this list as relevant.

June 12 Content Chat Recap: Causes + Content Creation. Empowering Volunteers to Spread Your Message

June 13, 2017 by Erika Heald Leave a Comment

This week #ContentChat was joined by Paula Kiger (@biggreenpen) who shared her POV about how nonprofits can best collaborate with volunteers who are passionate about their cause to create compelling content. Whether you are a nonprofit marketer looking for additional ways to engage your volunteers, or a volunteer looking to find additional ways to give back to a cause you love, you’ll learn something new from this week’s recap.

If you missed the chat, we’d love you to weigh in with your tips on working with volunteer cause ambassadors in the comments.

P.S. To be reminded about upcoming chats and get a sneak peek at the questions, like and follow our Content Chat Facebook page.

Q1: Why should you include volunteer-created content in your cause-related marketing plan?

A1 Volunteer-created content touches the heart of your cause. People who believe wholeheartedly tell your story best! #contentchat
— Paula Kiger (@biggreenpen) June 12, 2017

A1: When a volunteer shares your cause’s message, it lends credibility, helps others put themselves in their shoes. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald (@SFerika) June 12, 2017

A1: Volunteer-created content is the UGC of cause-related marketing. They’re the voice of your cause to inspire others. #ContentChat
— Berrak Sarikaya (@BerrakBiz) June 12, 2017

A1 #contentchat user generated content resonate best within their own sphere of influence (friends,…) so it’s interesting for causes
— Bruce Deschamps (@brucedesch) June 12, 2017

A1. UGC is valuable in every industry, but useful to humanize a cause. #contentchat
— Megan McCarthy (@thlittleartiste) June 12, 2017

A1: Volunteer-created content are people that want to share their love for your brand in their own voice! #ContentChat
— 🎙JMatt (@JMattMke) June 12, 2017

A1: Nothing is more authentic than content created voluntarily with no other motives than passion, and that speaks volumes. #contentchat https://t.co/oeFw9kauxi
— Amanda Milligan (@millanda) June 12, 2017

A1: Volunteer-created content shows your audience other like-minded individuals that enjoy the same cause/interests as you! #ContentChat
— SaintA (@SaintAorg) June 12, 2017

Which is why brands should *voluntarily* create content for their audiences, too. Creating valuable content means you CARE. #contentchat
— Amanda Milligan (@millanda) June 12, 2017

A1: It’s all about passion! Create the warm fuzzies that everyone can relate to = increased engagement #ContentChat https://t.co/c5eWFoLe00
— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) June 12, 2017

a1) connects your brand/biz closer to audience. They know what interests them! It’ll be more trusted! #contentchat
— Curata (@curata) June 12, 2017

Try as brands might, you can’t buy that passion. #ContentChat
— Josh McCormack (@joshmccormack) June 12, 2017

June 20 Content Chat Recap: Editorial Calendars and Content Workflow Best Practices

June 22, 2016 by Erika Heald Leave a Comment

I’ve been a participant in the #ContentChat community for several years, including a couple of special guest slots. Originated by Jenise Stout Fryatt of Smarter Shift, and handed off to Lucy Rendler-Kaplan at the beginning of this year, the chat has become a place for content creators and content marketers to share their tips and best practices (not to mention their favorite GIFs). Two weeks ago, Lucy handed me the reigns of the chat, as her new work schedule and other commitments didn’t leave her with the time to dedicate to planning and hosting the weekly chats.

I’m incredibly excited to have the opportunity to keep this dynamic twitter community’s mojo flowing, and am working on scheduling special guests on a range of topics suggested by our regular participants. If you have a topic suggestion, or would like to be a guest on a future chat, reach out to me on twitter @sferika, or email me at erika[at]erikaheald[DOT]com.

Note: this recap was originally published through the now-defunct Storify platform so formatting is inconsistent with our current recaps.