A Christmas Twist: The 12 Days of Content
Greetings from Words by a Pro! We hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday season so far.
But if you’re like most folks, you’ve already had your fill of holiday cheer thanks to the nonstop barrage of Christmas music that comes post-Thanksgiving. We’ve all heard these holiday tunes in stores—in coffee shops—running through our heads nonstop—for nearly a month now.
Enough!
In the interest of adding some variety to the season, I took a Christmas classic and put a little spin on it.
What if, instead of birds, lords, and maidens, your true love really enjoyed content marketing? Like, really enjoyed it. This is the picture I’d like to paint for you.
(If you need a refresher on the rhythm of this classic, please start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyEyMjdD2uk)
Now, grab your hot chocolate, true love, and favorite digital marketing strategy and read on!
Twelve Outsourced Blogs
On the 12th day of Content my true love sent to me…12 outsourced blogs (a new type of content philosophy!)
Outsourcing your content marketing is a matter of convenience. While it’s becoming increasingly important for companies to build out their digital presences, it’s also becoming harder and harder to get noticed in the online space.
Letting a professional content production company write on your behalf solves both of these issues by giving you a simple, effective way of getting your brand on paper.
So, if your true love ends up getting you a dozen blogs for Christmas, be thankful—a lot of work went into their production!
Eleven Keys a-Clacking
On the 11th day of Content my true love sent to me…11 keys a-clacking (the sound you’ll hear in any agency!)
And while 11 keyboard keys might not be enough to write a masterful piece of copy, it’s a good start. I give you permission to smash your keyboard for a few seconds before continuing, enjoying that wonderful clacking sound and ignoring the stares of those around you.
Ten Editing Editors
On the 10th day of Content my true love sent to me…10 editing editors (to give your words some careful scrutiny!)
And 10 might not be enough. Besides being really hard to say, editing editors are a content marketing firm’s secret weapon.
Having more sets of eyes on a project almost always leads to a better outcome, and a ruthless editor can turn a piece of unpolished prose into a content marketing powerhouse. Use their skills, thank them for their notes, and get used to the idea that you don’t know it all. These are a content marketer’s rules for working with editors.
Nine Angles Spinning
On the 9th day of Content my true love sent to me…nine angles spinning (the way to build your brand authority!)
Sometimes, copywriting is about finding a good spin.
Not “spin” in the journalistic sense, where you use style and flimflammery to hide facts, but rather, the spin you put on an article to differentiate it from the sea of content already out there.
For example, a client might want a piece on the best lead generation strategies for software houses.
That’s a fine topic, but c’mon…that Christmas goose has already been cooked.
Great writers go beyond the basic and turn a simple idea into a creative argument that others haven’t seen. For companies that team up with these writers, this means gaining a creative approach to content publishing that does wonders for thought leadership.
Eight Writers Writing
On the 8th day of Content my true love sent to me…eight writers writing (with all else coming secondary!)
If you’ll allow me to wax philosophical for a minute. There’s no such thing as a “business.” Don’t ever let them tell you that there is. Businesses are merely collaborations among team members; they’re the shared perspectives and opinions of a group of professionals.
You can’t have a great company without a great team behind it, and at Words by a Pro, we’re lucky to have a team like this on board.
Seven Client Meetings
On the 7th day of Content my true love sent to me…seven client meetings (to stay ahead of content catastrophes!)
Copywriting is an extension of your brand, after all, and the best results come from collaborative efforts between client and writer. As such, we’re big fans of client meetings over here.
And sure, we can handle every part of a content campaign from initial ideation to final publication, but what better way to guarantee that your copy works as a natural part of your brand’s messaging than adding in your own expertise?
Six Content Layouts
On the 6th day of Content my true love sent to me…six content layouts (a understated content necessity!)
Yes, the content layout is the unsung hero of the content marketing game. A content layout involves the arrangement of every element you’re putting out: Your words, images, headers, white space, and so on.
In fact, the content layout concept is not so different from your Christmas tree. You can have all your essential elements—ornaments, lights, tinsel—but you can’t just throw all that junk together and create something that looks good. There needs to be balance; you have to coordinate the location of each ornament, string your lights appropriately, and make sure everything is facing front and center.
While there aren’t layouts for your Christmas tree setup (or are there?) they’re essential for your content.
Five SEOs
On the 5th day of Content my true love sent to me…five search engine optimizations (and a rhyme that’s just a little clumsy!)
It must be true love if they know you well enough to give your site some SEO boosts. That ain’t something you do overnight! SEO starts with copy, but it extends to every aspect of a site’s design, from keyword inclusion to design to headers to metadata. Five SEOs is just the beginning.
(Although by the time this song is done, we might have that covered. We’ll come back to this a moment.)
Four Massive Coffees
On the 4th day of Content my true love sent to me…four massive coffees (and a caffeine buzz that’s rather heavenly!)
My true love knows me well. Coffee is a writer’s ace in the hole. And while there might be some writers out there less addicted to the good stuff than I am, I don’t think any of us will deny that a hot cup in the morning can be the perfect kickstart for creative inspiration.
Three Markets Buying
On the 3rd day of Content my true love sent to me…three markets buying (the content we deliver consistently!)
Every company has its own market subsets—some might have a dozen, while smaller companies might have just one or two. Regardless of how they’re split up, these are the folks who will eventually be consuming the content you’re serving up, so you’d better know who you’re speaking to before you begin.
Two Content Briefs
On the 2nd day of Content my true love sent to me…two content briefs (the crux of copywriting efficiency!)
Honestly, if I got two content briefs per day, I’d be happy. A content brief details the requirements of each piece, target audience, keyword strategy, and primary points to cover. In other words, it’s a copywriter’s best friend.
We don’t always get content briefs for what we write, and that’s okay. But the more we get, the better off we are. I threw a penny in a fountain AND wrote a letter to Santa asking for better content briefs in the coming year, so we’ll see what happens in 2019.
And a Perfect Piece of Copywriting
On the 1st day of Content my true love sent to me…a perfect piece of copywriting!
That is, a perfect piece of copywriting comes when all of the above elements are combined. From clients to writers to editors, there’s a lot that goes into each piece of content.
Counting Your Gifts
I was told it was rude to count the gifts under the tree, but when your true love hammers you non-stop with presents over 12 days, it’s natural to wonder what kind of haul you’re bringing in. For whoever is interested, here’s everything my true love got me for Christmas this year:
- 12 Perfect Pieces of Copywriting
- 22 Content Briefs
- 30 Markets Buying
- 36 Massive Coffees
- 40 SEOs
- 42 Content Layouts
- 42 Client Meetings
- 40 Writers Writing
- 36 Angles Spinning
- 30 Editors Editing
- 22 Keys a-Clacking
- 12 Outsourced Blogs
That’s 364 gifts of content, people, philosophies, and digital assets. Yeah, I’d say we’re ready for 2019.
Happy holidays, everyone!
