Content creation eats up a lot of time, which is a limited resource for anyone building a startup.  How many times have you sat down to write a piece of content and spent hours staring at a blank Google doc? It’s easy to give in and just do something else that feels more productive, but then you lose out on all the benefits that come from having a powerful content strategy for your bootstrapped startup. But don’t worry, there are some great content creation hacks that you can put in place to streamline the content creation process and maximize the results from even a single piece of content.

Mapping out a content strategy for your startup

If you’ve done your homework, then you already have some great keyword research done for your content strategy. You know what your audience is looking for and now it’s time to dazzle them with your unique take on the solution to their problems. Here is a great way to take what you know and transform it into a comprehensive content marketing plan for your startup.  The best part about this strategy is that it takes an astoundingly short period of time to brainstorm every piece of content you’ll need for an entire year.

Step one: Break out the big guns

Make a list of 3 to 5 big content topics that your audience is interested in based off your research. You’re looking for umbrella categories like data security, learning online, productivity, etc. Anything that you would be able to break down into more specific topics (more on that later).

What areas are related to the problem you solve or the goal you help your customers achieve? Can you list 5 things that your ideal customer wants that are relevant to your business? What topics are your competitors talking about?

Step two: Find your subcategories

If I were creating a content map for content marketing strategies for startups, I could easily break that down into video marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and website content. Take your initial content topics and break them down into 3 to 5 subcategories each.  Online learning could become self-paced learning tips, scholarships/funding, and programs that offer online learning solutions.  Productivity breaks down into time management, goal setting, and habit formation.

Each subcategory should be relevant to the main topic, while still allowing room to get more specific. Some of these things are going to be areas your customers are already searching for while others will be things they may not have thought about before. Like if I broke down the category of meals into breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but then you said “What about second breakfast?”

Step three: Create your final content topics

For each subcategory, try to list as many specific questions or topics that you can think of. What is your audience asking about these areas? What buzzwords come up?  Google autosuggest can be a great way to brainstorm more of these if you’re having a hard time. You can also search for an example you have and look at the related search terms.  Looking for time management pulls up suggestions like time management skills, techniques, worksheet, benefits, etc.  Those are things that I can fold into what I already know about time management to create a list of great topics.

Step 4: Make it sexy

The thing about content is that nobody cares about it unless you make them care. Your ideal customer may be looking for time management tips, but if your blog is labeled “time management tips” and someone else has a blog titled “Time management tips that I used to write a book in 3 weeks”, they’re going to click on the other blog. Your blog might be a comprehensive guide that could change their life and they will just never know because the title didn’t speak to them.

Make your titles stick out by:

• Using numbers (people love a list)
• Questioning things they thought were facts
• Showing a clear benefit
• Using emotional language
• Using “how to” or other instructional language
• Not being too technical

Keep in mind that you also want to maintain a tone that is appropriate to your branding and industry. “5 time management tips you won’t believe really work (don’t do #3 in public)” may be attention-grabbing, but it also sounds like every clickbait ad ever created and that can affect your credibility.

Try out a few titles and see how they feel for your branding.  Now compile everything into a spreadsheet or other document that will be easy for you and your team to follow.

Take a look at this full break down:

1. Productivity
   1. Time Management
      1. How to get started with the pomodoro method of time mastery
      2. 3 ways you don’t even realize you’re wasting time
      3. Getting more done in a day – is really that important?
      4. 6 ways you are more productive than you think
      5. How the Industrial Revolution changed the way we spend our time

In just a couple of minutes, I’ve brainstormed 5 different topics that I can use in my startup content strategy.  And that is just for one of my subcategories. Following these three steps can help you build out an entire year’s worth of content ideas in under an hour, assuming you already have a great foundation for who your audience is and how you service them.

The great thing is that we can take the list we build here and go a step further by making sure you never run out of something to say.

How to reuse your content in fresh ways

Using the example above, let’s say that I decided I would write a blog post on 3 ways you don’t even realize that you’re wasting your time.  Many startup content marketing strategies would post that bad boy, push it to their socials and email list and call it a day. What a waste of great content. For the true power of content strategy, here’s what I’ll do with that topic:

• Write a 1,500-2,000 word blog post
• Create a video with the content to include on the blog page
• Create a series of three videos that I can host on YouTube, push to socials, and email
• Create a series of social media images that I can use in a carousel or individual posts
• Bundle the blog with other time management blogs I’ve written and post a master page on the topic
• Create a downloadable PDF for the master guide
• Consider creating a podcast episode

If I’m feeling frisky, I can even turn this into a masterclass and use all of the above to promote it. What a great way to warm up an audience for my imaginary startup which has developed an app to help them track their time and build better habits. I may even bundle a great deal of my content on the topic into an affordable Ebook.

One topic becomes one blog post. The copy for that post becomes at least 6 different forms of content  that I can use to promote my startup and become a thought leader in my niche. Now that’s what I call the ultimate content strategy for startups.

If you spend an hour mapping your content into 100 content topics, then you could have 600 pieces of content planned for your startup. That’s not a bad way to kick off 2023. Your next step is to make sure that content is well-written and can keep your audience engaged. You definitely don’t want to write a huge blog post and chunk it into dozens of smaller content pieces just to give your audience more opportunities to ignore you.

If copywriting is not your strong suit, but you are still determined to have the best content strategy for your startup, then your best path forward is to connect with someone who understand where you are coming from and has the skills needed to make your content shine. Leave all of the heavy content lifting to the experts while you grow your startup to the next level. Snag a free content strategy session with Six Degrees Digital Media today and we will create powerful content that you can leverage to generate leads and build the brand awareness you need. Contact us today!

The post How To Overhaul and Maximize Content Strategy For Startups appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

Picture yourself standing in the office of the auto body garage talking shop with a mechanic about what’s wrong with your vehicle… and it’s almost as if they’re speaking in tongues.  You have no idea what they mean, what a carburetor is, why you need one, and why it’s going to cost so much money.

Flip that around and imagine that the same auto body mechanic switched his language and actions to suit your needs, preferences, and current level of understanding of what’s needed to solve your car troubles – not in a condescending way, but in a way that just made things click.

You’d be more apt to fork over your hard-earned cash to someone who understands you, respects you, and ultimately speaks the same language.

That’s your brand voice.

What is a Brand Voice?

In the simplest way, a brand voice is the personality of your business conveyed through every post, blog, podcast, video, and advertisement. It’s consistent across every platform, in every interaction, and humanizes your company.

It’s the culmination of your company mission, vision, promise, and values all wrapped up in the communication comfort that your target audience yearns for, reacts to, and most importantly… connects with.

Why You Need a Brand Voice

Ok, ok… got it. A brand voice gives your ideal customer something to connect with, but how does a brand voice benefit your bottom line? – which is… you know, super important for companies to stay in business. There are loads of benefits to developing a brand voice, but let’s chat about a few with the greatest impact.

Differentiation and Recognition

You’ve seen it. Two companies who seem so similar, have such generic messaging and you have a hard time finding the distinction between them. They could be local pizza places that serve exactly the same food but you could not for the life of you remember which one has the cannolis you like. (Psst… they probably both have the same exact ones.)

Now… imagine one of those mom-and-pop pizza places is very active on social media and uses witty puns to offer some engagement opportunities to those who follow their Twitter and Facebook accounts. They create behind-the-scenes video posts on Tiktok that shows how much fun they have crafting the perfect pizza for your family game night. They greet you by name every time you walk through the door to pick up the pies and you instantly become one of the family.

Kind of hard to forget that cannoli now, huh? Their brand voice screams personalization, fun, and family.

Brand differentiation is crucial to reach and capture the attention of your target audience. It separates you from your competition and when you deliver similar products or services, your brand voice pops into the minds of potential and current customers long before they consider any other establishment or company.

Mastering your brand voice offers both of those benefits – recognizability, and differentiation from others within the same service area or even industry.

Focused Framework

When you have done the work to create an awesome brand voice, content and ad creation become a bit easier. No longer will you have to think about how to structure the wording but it flows a bit better because you’re focused on relaying information about your products and services through that brand voice framework.

It offers a predictable structure for your marketing teams to create consistent content with compatible messaging so you can stay on point and on brand.

Increased Sales and Loyalty

Customers connect on an emotional level with the way you “speak” to them and the words in which you do it. Nike’s “Just Do It” message resonates with those who want to get more active whether that be through various sports or just going for a walk.

It encourages them to follow their dreams no matter what they are. It urges motivation and support with just those three little words and every ad, message, and piece of content that Nike puts out there offers up the same brand voice.

When clients think about starting a new exercise regimen, they think of gear. Nike will be there to motivate them with its sneakers, apparel, and brand voice. Once those customers see some personal success, they may credit both themselves and the company – upping their brand loyalty… and creating an “obsession” with their brand.

And… Bingo – sales.

3 Steps to Create Your Brand Voice

Now you’re sold on what it is and why you must have one… let’s figure out how to actually get your brand voice from just an idea and a promise… to an actual configuration for messaging across all your social media, digital, audio, and print mediums.

Step 1: Embark on a Fact-Finding Expedition

How on earth do you expect to speak to, resonate with, and connect to your target audience if you don’t understand who they are and what they need? It’s time for some in-depth research.

Imagine the perfect buyer for your product or service.

What do they look like?

What do they do in their spare time?

How old are they?

What are their preferences?

Where do they live?

Research their demographics (or firmographics for companies to sell to other organizations) and their psychographics. Capture as much data about your ideal customer as possible so you can create a customer avatar – an imaginary representation of your ideal client.

Step 2: Analyze the Answers

With that spreadsheet of information about your ideal customer… analyze the answers. Segment them into cohorts of potential customers on paper and dig into what your buyer is all about. Envision what that person looks like in your head and give them a name. Humanize your customer because they’re not just a number on a computer somewhere.

When you humanize your customer, you begin to formulate your voice to speak directly to them – and in return, they humanize your company. They connect with your brand voice, you develop a relationship with them, and they’re more apt to use your services or buy your product.

Step 3: Transform it into Meaningful Messaging

When creating content or speaking to this customer using your brand voice, imagine how they would respond, and if that’s a success… you’ve got your brand voice.

Example time. If your catalog includes products for seniors, your brand voice wouldn’t use modern language and slang that commonly comes out of the mouths of teenagers, but would possibly offer a feeling of independence and well-being using language that connects their desires with your offerings.

It must mean something to your audience. Canned corporate voices just won’t cut it and without a brand voice, you’ll find yourself competing harder (and possibly failing) with those who have one.

Conclusion

Oftentimes, business owners have no clue where to start with creating an engaging brand voice that does more than just tell people what you’ve got on your website that they can pay money for. Consulting with a marketing and branding expert on the perfect strategy is a smart time investment into the future of your company’s marketing campaigns (and budget). Work smarter… and with a memorable and influential brand voice.

The post How to Create Your Brand’s Voice appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

In today’s digital world, content is king. From blogs and social media copy to video titles and advertising headlines, the need for copy is inevitable. Like all bloggers, copywriters, and digital marketers have experienced, the difficulty of continuous original creation and ideation is a real thing that can become quite fatiguing.

This phenomenon is otherwise known as writer’s block…Luckily, there’s a solution.

What follows will be a discussion of what a swipe file is and how to create it for your benefit. Not only will you learn that it’s the most effective way to gain inspiration but it’s also a great way to improve efficiency. 

What is a Swipe File?

Simply put, a swipe file is a compilation of writing samples, typically in a digital form though some prefer to store them in a tangible folder of sorts. Examples of what’s contained in a swipe file include email subject lines, social media ads, landing page copy, video titles, blog posts, or otherwise. The primary reason for a swipe file is inspiration and ideation.

As you may or may not be familiar with, writer’s block (or creator’s block) is a real thing! Whether you’re a marketer, writer, or content creator, you know what we’re talking about.

In short, that’s where a swipe file comes in handy. If you work in a profession that requires continuous creation and the use of the written word, you need to create a swipe file if you haven’t already done so. Not only will it save you time, and thus money, but it will save you the headaches that come with the anxiety and frustration of writer’s block itself.

Now that you know what a swipe file is, it’s important to distinguish what a swipe file ISN’T. Why? Because while the definition is clear, some may take it as plagiarism or creative theft; this is exactly what a swipe file is NOT.

In summary, a swipe file is to be used as a study of the most effective and engaging copy that you’ve discovered, then using it as a guide to create original copy of your own.

Herein lies the beauty of a swipe file… 

How to Create a Swipe File

Because a swipe file is an ongoing portfolio of examples and samples that will likely culminate in quite a comprehensive digital file(s), it’s important to first organize your file in a way that makes its contents easily accessible.

While organization comes down to personal preference, the recommendation is to divide it up by date and category (email, social media, landing page, website, blog, etc), however, you can also divide it by industry or niche. Find what works for you and stick to that!

Luckily, there are several tools and platforms available that make curating a digital swipe file quick, easy, and painless! A few of our favorites include Evernote, Pinterest, and Trello, however, you can also take advantage of iCloud or generic computer files, Gmail folders, and even browser bookmarks.

That’s it! It’s truly that easy. Once you’ve determined what platform you’re going to use and how you’re going to organize it, all that’s left to do is add content to the file for future perusing!

Why YOU Need to Create a Swipe File(s)

While a swipe file is a lot of things, it comes down to acting as a content curator; a digital door to inspiration, if you will. This is especially true for digital marketing professionals and copywriters, however, holds true in any context.

As we’ve already reiterated several times, the primary advantage of having a swipe file, or files, is to avoid the ever-dreaded writer’s block. However, there are several other advantages to curating your very own swipe file.

Below are the most common benefits of creating a swipe file:

• Acts as inspiration, whether for your own content or your clients’ content
• Allows for the discovery of new ideas (i.e. a lightbulb switch)
• Helps improve research & writing skills
• Opens your mind to marketing alternatives (i.e. other ways of execution)
• May aid in the discovery of your brand voice and identity
• May act as a reminder to keep strategies fresh and current
• Promotes organization
• Saves time, thus money

Start Swiping!

Remaining creative and innovative, all the while staying fresh and original is a difficult task to ask of even the most talented and professional. Luckily, there are now several tools and platforms that help creators along this journey so that you can continue to build upon and improve your success, specifically in writing, content creation, and strategy.

While there are plenty of ways to achieve success and avoid writer’s block, swipe files just happen to be an extremely convenient, effective, and efficient tool & tactic to do so.

If you have not yet begun to curate a swipe file for your current and future writing/copy needs, it’s strongly recommended to consider doing so.

If you’d rather have someone else handle your content, schedule a strategy session with us today

The post What is a Swipe File and How Do You Create It? appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

If you’re looking to take your video marketing to new heights, keyword research is a must! Luckily, there are tools and platforms available that help you with the process.

While YouTube, the second largest search engine in the world, second only to Google, used to have its own keyword research tool, it has since been disabled. In recent years, the only solution used to be emulations of Google’s Keyword Planner. While it did the trick, it wasn’t the most accurate.

Today, there are several specific video keyword research tools, and below we discuss the top five! 

The Best Video Keyword Research Tools 

In order to get more views on your YouTube videos, whether you’re a creator or brand, you need to abide by YouTube’s algorithmic ranking system. While we won’t dive into it deeply in this article, it’s important to note that a high-quality video isn’t all that’s required to perform well on the platform.

Instead, it requires a captivating thumbnail, an optimized title, tags, and hashtags, and heavily researched keywords throughout the description and metadata among other key factors.

Much like Google, the world’s largest search engine, YouTube is heavily built around SEO. In order to succeed, then, keyword research is a must! The tools about to be discussed help you with this process…

The following will be a discussion of the 5 video keyword research tools below: 

1. TubeBuddy
2. Keyword Tool.io
3. Ahrefs
4. VidiQ
5. Keyword Tool Dominator 

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is more than just a keyword research platform. As a 100% free browser extension and mobile app integrated into the second largest search engine (and the largest video search engine) in the world, TubeBuddy helps content creators and brands succeed on YouTube.

How so? Because YouTube is largely operated via an algorithm that ranks videos based on key SEO indicators, TubeBuddy provides those in need of such optimization with the tools to do so. From keyword research and publishing to video thumbnail A/B testing and ranking optimization, they’ve got you covered.

So, if you’re lacking the knowledge of video optimization, especially on YouTube, and you don’t have the time to do the research nor the time to patiently wait for results, TubeBuddy is the tool for you.

Keyword Tool.io

While this keyword research tool has the capacity to provide users with comprehensive data on video optimization specifically, it also features keyword research for the likes of Google, Bing, Amazon, eBay, Instagram, Twitter, and more!

Since YouTube’s own research tool was disabled, however, Keyword Tool has become the premier alternative for generating high-quality long-tail keywords through autogeneration software.

Not only does this tool help you execute research for optimizing your own video’s but it also helps generate video ideas based on what topics and categories are currently ranking on YouTube.

So, whether you need help with topic idea generation, ranking, hashtag research, metadata keyword optimization, or successful ad targeting, Keyword Tool is for you.

Ahrefs

As mentioned earlier, the most effective way to get a consistent amount of views and place your videos on a growth trajectory towards success is through keyword research and implementation. How do you determine what keywords are effective and what ones aren’t? Through search volume.

In other words, by determining what the most popular search terms are by your target audience and placing those search terms within your video and its descriptions, you give your video the best chance at success.

A unique attribute that Ahrefs offers that others might not is its workflow filters. Not only does this tool provide top keywords used by target audiences around the world, but it also allows you to filter by search volume, word count, clicks, clicks per search, and return rate, among others.

The more specific you can niche down your keyword, the higher the percentage of success you’ll be rewarded with. These filters help you do so. Start your 7-day trial for just $7.00 today!

VidiQ

VidiQ isn’t just a video keyword research tool, but a suite of tools built to serve you across several keyword disciplines so that you can begin to rank your YouTube videos in fashion.

Knowing what keywords are ranking is one thing, but knowing the videos that use those keywords that are ranking is another level of competitive analysis. Luckily, through VidiQ Boost, a powerful tool exclusive to this platform, you’re now able to see why the videos in your category are trending and what you can do to do the same.

Because YouTube is a global platform that operates in almost all languages, you’d be remiss not to cater to them. Not only are you missing out on views but you’re also missing out on ranking opportunities, new audience leads, and more. With VidiQ’s Keyword Translation tool, you can translate your video title and subtitles, description, and keyword tags, all with a couple of clicks.

So, if you’re looking to rank and rank across languages, countries, and continents, unwilling to settle for the English-speaking population, VidiQ is for you! Offering plans that begin FREE of charge, you’ll have the flexibility to use only the tools that you need without any overpayments.

Keyword Tool Dominator  

Last but certainly not least is one of the highest-ranked YouTube keyword research tools, Keyword Tool Dominator. Not only is it completely free and easy to use but it’s effective, generating the most popular keywords for your categorized videos.

While it may not be the most comprehensive tool available, it’s a tool that does what it’s asked and nothing more; it’s why so many people trust it!

To use it, all you need to do is enter a search term into the text box and click search. The tool will then automatically generate the top 10 YouTube keywords based on popularity and trends. That’s it! All that’s left do to after that is download the data onto a CSV and import them accordingly into your YouTube video listing.

Have you tried any? Or if you want to add something to the list, put it in the comments.

If you need help with your video marketing campaign, contact us today.

The post 5 Powerful Video Keyword Research Tools appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

Just like people, companies need a clear idea of what goals they want to hit and how to achieve them. The employees of the organization also need to feel like they’re part of a team to collaborate successfully and work toward the company’s shared goal. These centralized pillars are what the company spells out in its vision and mission statements. This is why it’s so important for you to understand the difference between the two items.

A vision statement’s main focus is on what the company wants to become in the future. The mission statement’s main focus is today and what the company is doing to achieve its goals. However, it’s easy for people to blur the lines between the two items. When it comes to helping your company grow and achieve your goals both right now and, in the future, you have to be able to tell the difference between these two things. In turn, this can help you better define and understand your company’s goals.

Defining a Mission Statement

A mission statement is usually a very short summary of your company’s core focus, purpose, or aim. The mission statement usually has a brief description of what your company’s key objectives are and what it does. It’s usually a declaration of what your company does in its day-to-day activities. It also outlines what each employee contributes to the company’s overall goals.

This mission statement is responsible for directly driving your company. It outlines the business’s core and what you do, and this helps to make the company’s objectives clear. It also touches on what you need to do to help meet the company objectives. A strong mission statement can work to motivate your team to move forward to meet a common goal, and it should include questions like:

• What do we do each day?
• Who do we work to serve?
• How do we best serve these people?

A mission statement will help you establish a framework for your employees to model their behavior after. They usually start with something along the lines of, “We are a,” or “We offer.” Since a mission statement reflects the company’s everyday activities, you can use them as a base to measure performance standards.

Defining a Vision Statement

A vision statement is usually a short, succinct description of your company’s aspirations and the impact you want to have. It acts like a guide for the employees to follow, and it can lay the groundwork for decision-making on the managerial level. It also helps determine which direction you want to take your company in. A vision statement should be very definitive and clear, and it should state what your company wants to accomplish. It should also outline what the world will look like once you manage to accomplish your goals.

So, the vision statement works to give your company a direction to go in. It describes the company’s future, and it has a hard emphasis on your company’s purpose. Your vision statement could include the following questions:

• What are the dreams of hopes for the company?
• What and who are we trying to inspire to change?
• What problem is the company solving for the greater good?

The vision statement focuses on the future. It’s very commonly used for public relations, and they don’t tend to change that often once you set it because they encompass your company’s overall strategic goals. Every organizational step the company takes should be working toward fulfilling the vision statement. Vision statements usually feature present tense writing while talking about the organization’s future because they have a directive and transcendent nature.

Differences Between a Mission Statement and a Vision Statement

The timeline is the main difference between both documents. They can overlap, but your company’s mission statement tends to focus on the right now while your vision statement focuses on the future. The mission statement serves as the how and the what, and your vision statement is the why.

You can use mission statements to create cohesive management teams because they can change as the company’s needs shift. Your employees’ behaviors, actions, and duties all fall under your mission statement, so it should be adaptable to organizational changes. On the other hand, the vision statement is a goal that can help you direct your employees’ behavior and expectations in their daily activities. It serves to give employees a solid idea of what your company wants to accomplish in the future.

Contact Six Degrees Digital Media

If you’re still not sure on the difference between a mission and vision statement, book a strategy session with us. We’re happy to sit down with you, outline the two, and help you understand all of the key differences.

The post What’s the Difference Between a Mission Statement and a Company’s Vision? appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

The call to action (CTA) is an important element of marketing strategy and sales copy. The purpose of the call to action is to motivate readers or listeners to take a very specific action such as join your list, or something else you want them to “act on”.

The thing is most people have a pretty generic CTA, such as click the button or download now. And that can be effective…

However, there are many more clever and persuasive things you can say as well.

To convince and compel the reader to act, the words in your copy and your call to action must be effective.

The most effective words vary from niche to niche and even among audience segments within a niche.

You do have to take into consideration your audience.

But, effective CTA’s include specific words, phrases, and/or images that grab attention, evoke a strong emotion, create a sense of urgency, persuade them to try something, remove or reduce risk (build trust), empower or inspire the reader, etc.

In addition, they need to be easily viewed; appear multiple times, are highly relative and motivational. Above all, they clearly and specifically state the action you want them to take.

Here are a few calls to action you can use as-is or customize for your specific needs. These can be used in a video – text and narrated. They can be used in blogs, social media posts, and on the button copy on your website or landing pages.

Review these and test a few out in your next project:

1. “Accept my exclusive invitation to _______.”
2. “Advance your [skills, knowledge, opportunity, etc.] by _______.”
3. “Boost My _______!”
4. “Buy Now to _______.”
5. “Call now before time runs out.”
6. “Call today to reserve your space.”
7. “Choose to [succeed, profit, learn, grow, etc.]”
8. “Claim your FREE subscription.”
9. “Claim your FREE trial.”
10. “Click here to get your_____.”
11. “Click here for a guided tour of our website.”
12. “Click here to start your FREE trial.”
13. “Click to get instant access”
14. “Count Me In.”
15. “Do it today and avoid disappointment.”
16. “Don’t [action: buy, try, look at, join, etc.] unless you _______, first.”
17. “Don’t get left behind! Click here to _______.”
18. “Don’t Hesitate, Call Now”
19. “Don’t let fear hold you back.”
20. “Don’t waste another minute, get yours now.”
21. “Download this exclusive offer now”
22. “Download Today”
23. “Download your FREE report.”
24. “Experience the Difference of _______”
25. “Find Out First”
26. “Find the answers you need to _______.”
27. “For the fastest service… [call or click]”
28. “Get _____% off when you order today”
29. “Get your FREE trial.”
30. “Get it FREE here”
31. “Get yours NOW”
32. “Get Me Started Now!”
33. “Get the _______ weekly newsletter for more suggestions, guaranteed to _______.”
34. “Guide My Steps To _______.”
35. “I invite you to…”
36. “I’m ready to _______.”
37. “Join the exclusive community now”
38. “Just click here and…”
39. “Make today my turning point to _______.”
40. “Open more doors to _______ with _______.”
41. “Order Now To Get [bonus]”
42. “Rush Me Your ________ [solution]!”
43. “Show Me My ______.”
44. “Sign up for your introductory ______”
45. “Start your trial”
46. “Stop the vicious cycle and make a change now.”
47. “Take this easy next step to _______.”
48. “Talk to Me”
49. “Watch ______ and Get _____% off _______.”
50. “What are you waiting for? Call/Click now”
51. “Your Success Starts Here”

Contact us today to discover what marketing strategy is best for your business.

The post 51 Effective and Persuasive Calls to Action appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

Repurposing your content has several benefits. First, you get a lot more mileage out of the stuff you write which good. Different people like to consume content in different ways, articles, videos, podcasts, images. By catering to your audience in their preferred format, you have a far greater chance of connecting with them.

There’s also an SEO benefit. Basically, when you add content to a different site, you can add your website URL to that site. Think of each time your URL is on another site, it’s like a “point” you get. The search engines like to see that.

And, if it’s a site that your audience spends time on, they have an opportunity to find your content there even if they’ve never heard of you or your website before. And that can lead them to contact you.

Schedule a free strategy session with us today to see how we can improve your marketing.

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When you think of people like Dave Ramsey, Oprah, or Seth Godin, what do they all have in common? They’re all highly successful business people, but they’re also thought of as thought leaders. These are experts in their respective industries. So, being able to claim that you’re an expert in your field is critical.

This is where thought leadership comes into play. When you are positioned as a thought leader, you’ll drive more traffic to your site, generate more leads, more conversions, and build your brand’s reputation and authority.

Defining Thought Leadership

In broad terms, this is a tactic that many content marketers use to help build credibility either for the company leaders or themselves. Thought leadership’s overreaching goal is to set yourself up as an expert and go-to resource in your niche. In order to get this status, you could create and promote helpful and educational content while becoming active in your industry’s community. This is particularly vital on social sites.

A company or business entity could use thought leadership as their main content marketing strategy because it works to demonstrate how helpful your brand can be while providing value to the audience. The goal is for when someone is looking for a service or product you offer down the road, and they’ll turn to your company first because they see you as an expert.

If you’re good at the concept of thought leadership, you’ll increase your target audience’s awareness, improve your social proof, generate more leads, and boost your company’s online value.

Take Brian Dean, for example. In the SEO space, he’s a thought leader. He routinely posts content related to the SEO sector, which proves his value as someone worth keeping an eye on. With this in mind, how do you incorporate it into your own marketing strategy?

Three Thought Leadership Practices

If you’re ready to dive into thought leadership for your own business, there are a few best practices you should follow. We’re sharing the biggest ones here.

1. Never Stop Learning About Your Audience

Learning about your audience and what motivates them is a key to having a successful marketing strategy. Take a close look at your buyer persona. What inspires, motivates, or causes pain to your audience? What types of questions do they ask? Start doing interviews with your customers or look on social media. Once you understand these things, you can use thought leadership content to answer their questions and engage them.

2. Get Active On Social Media Channels

You can use social media to build your expertise and brand. Social media is a great way to stay engaged and active in your chosen community. You can use these channels to comment on any industry news to get your brand’s voice into conversations regarding any current industry trends.

3. Produce Valuable Content

You must produce valuable content to show that you’re an industry expert that can speak intelligently on industry-specific issues. This can be challenging initially. You may want to reach out to a company, like Market Ascent to help you put together a plan.

Build a Thought Leadership Strategy in Five Steps

It’s essential that you get a strategy in place for how you’re going to use thought leadership to move forward. You can use the following as a solid starting point:

• SMART Goal Setting – SMART goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely goals. Set a goal for what you want to get out of your thought leadership first, like lead generation or increased traffic.
• Brainstorm Content – Which persona do you want to focus your content on? Of these personas, does your content focus on what they want to watch or read? What are they asking on social media or searching for? Answer all of these questions in this step.
• Look at Your Competition – Look and see who your audience is going to for an answer currently. The goal is to fill in any gaps they leave and take about subjects they’re missing.
• Produce and Distribute Your Content – Once you settle on content ideas, solidify a personality and a point of view. The content should be easy to share and understand.
• Measure Your Results – Track your results to see if you successfully implemented thought leadership content. The SMART goals will help you choose your metrics to track.

Contact Six Degrees Digital Media

We threw a lot of information at you, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. This is why we invite you to reach out and get in touch with our staff if you’d like to come up with a viable thought leadership strategy for your business.

The post What is Thought Leadership? appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

In the digital marketing realm, there are two important terms that often come up: content marketing and copywriting. While both are crucial elements of any successful marketing strategy, they serve different purposes and have distinct approaches. Understanding the differences between content marketing and copywriting can help businesses leverage them effectively to achieve their goals. In this article, we will explore the nuances of content marketing and copywriting, highlighting their unique features, strategies, and benefits.

I. Defining Content Marketing and Copywriting

Content Marketing:

Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and engage a specific target audience.

It aims to provide value and establish trust with the audience by offering educational, informative, or entertaining content.

Content marketing strategies often include blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts, infographics, and social media content.

Copywriting:

Copywriting, on the other hand, is the art of crafting persuasive and compelling written content with the goal of driving specific actions from the reader.

It aims to persuade and influence the audience to take a desired action, such as making a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or filling out a form.

Copywriting is primarily used in advertisements, sales pages, landing pages, email campaigns, and other direct response marketing materials.

II. Objectives and Goals

Content Marketing:

The main objective of content marketing is to build brand awareness, establish thought leadership, and nurture long-term relationships with the target audience.

Content marketing aims to attract and engage potential customers, providing them with valuable information and insights related to their interests or pain points.

It focuses on generating organic traffic, increasing website visibility, and fostering brand loyalty.

Copywriting:

The primary goal of copywriting is to drive immediate action and generate tangible results, such as conversions, sales, or leads.

Copywriting aims to create persuasive and compelling messaging that motivates the reader to take the desired action.

It focuses on optimizing conversion rates, improving click-through rates, and maximizing the return on investment (ROI) for marketing campaigns.

III. Writing Style and Approach

Content Marketing:

Content marketing emphasizes storytelling, providing valuable information, and educating the audience.

It employs a more conversational tone, focusing on engaging and entertaining the reader.

The content is often longer in length, allowing for in-depth exploration of topics and providing comprehensive information.

Copywriting:

Copywriting utilizes concise and persuasive language to grab attention and create a sense of urgency.

It employs a more direct and persuasive tone, highlighting the benefits, features, and unique selling points of a product or service.

The content is typically shorter, focusing on delivering a clear and compelling message within a limited word count.

IV. Target Audience and Distribution Channels

Content Marketing:

Content marketing targets a wider audience and aims to attract potential customers at various stages of the buyer’s journey.

It leverages a mix of distribution channels, such as blog platforms, social media, email newsletters, guest posting, and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.

Copywriting:

Copywriting targets a specific audience segment that is ready to take immediate action.

It focuses on distribution channels that directly reach the target audience, such as paid advertising, landing pages, email marketing, and sales funnels.

V. Measuring Success and ROI

Content Marketing:

The success of content marketing is often measured by metrics such as website traffic, engagement metrics (comments, social shares), time spent on page, and brand sentiment.

The success of content marketing is often measured by metrics such as website traffic, engagement metrics (comments, social shares), time spent on page, and brand sentiment.

The ROI of content marketing is typically evaluated in terms of increased brand visibility, improved brand perception, and the nurturing of a loyal and engaged audience over time.

Copywriting:

The success of copywriting is measured by metrics directly tied to the desired action, such as click-through rates, conversion rates, sales revenue, and lead generation.

The ROI of copywriting can be easily quantified by comparing the investment in the copywriting campaign to the revenue or leads generated as a result.

VI. Collaboration and Integration

Content Marketing:

Content marketing often involves collaboration with subject matter experts, influencers, and other stakeholders to create high-quality, informative content.

It integrates with various marketing strategies and channels, including social media marketing, SEO, email marketing, and PR, to amplify the reach and impact of the content.

Copywriting:

Copywriting requires close collaboration with the marketing team or clients to understand the product or service, target audience, and desired outcomes.

It integrates with different marketing channels and strategies, such as landing page optimization, email marketing campaigns, PPC advertising, and sales funnel development, to maximize conversions and results.

Conclusion:

While both content marketing and copywriting are essential components of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, they serve distinct purposes and require different approaches. Content marketing focuses on providing valuable and informative content to attract and engage a target audience, while copywriting aims to persuade and drive immediate action.

By understanding the differences between these two disciplines, businesses in the EdTech and higher education sectors can effectively leverage content marketing to build brand awareness, establish thought leadership, and nurture long-term relationships, while employing copywriting to create compelling messaging that drives conversions and generates tangible results. By integrating these strategies effectively, businesses can achieve their marketing goals and maximize their return on investment.

Level up your content by scheduling a strategy session with us today.

The post What’s the Difference Between Content Marketing and Copywriting? appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

Explainer videos can be extremely compelling, but to understand how, you first need to know what makes a video an explainer video. To help we’ve created an explainer video to explain exactly what makes a video an explainer video.

Okay, we didn’t. But how cool would that have been?! It would have been so meta!

In reality, explainer videos aren’t that difficult to understand. They were originally conceived as a way for brands to tell their stories in a short, fun, and easy-to-understand format. 

Generally animated, these videos take difficult concepts, like “What does NeuroDigiCyberTech Solutions, Inc. do, exactly?” and reduce them into an entertaining presentation that quickly captures the essence of the answer.

And that’s valuable because honestly, we have no freaking idea what business those guys are in. But explainer videos are beneficial in many other situations besides introducing businesses to consumers. Here are five creative ways to use the concept to improve other sorts of communications.

Simplify a Complex Concept

Explainer videos are great for detailing complicated business descriptions. So why not use them for other complex subjects? Imagine trying to describe how a blockchain — the technology that underlies cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — works using interviews and shot footage.

It would be very difficult because the concepts involved aren’t physical or tangible. It all takes place inside a computer, and shooting footage of computers wouldn’t much help explain the topic. 

Using simplified animations instead allows us to take this complicated process and visualize it in a way that helps it make sense. Symbols and visual analogies can be used to ground difficult concepts in a format that makes them relatable. 

A two-minute explainer video can make better sense of complicated material than can a much longer footage-driven video.

Explain a Product or Service

Returning to the business realm, explainer videos aren’t just useful for detailing brand narratives. Organizations can also use them to explain their offerings. 

Local government is notoriously opaque, and it can be difficult for citizens to know how to take advantage of the services offered. 

Let’s say a small business administration wants to create a video to describe the necessary steps for getting a new business registered. Shooting footage of people standing in lines, talking to clerks, and filling out paperwork isn’t likely to help viewers gain an understanding of the process.

Instead, the agency could design a catchy animation that represents each step in the process with simple imagery and then takes viewers from beginning to end. Using an explainer video reduces the process down to easy-to-follow steps that anyone can understand.

Make “This vs That” Comparisons

Explainer videos can be used as sales tools to compare and contrast products or services against the competition as well. 

Let’s say your company produces electric lawnmowers and you want to help consumers understand why they should switch from standard gas models to your product. 

You could produce a video that fuses footage of people using each product with animations that drill down into the relative benefits. One animation might show the internal workings of an electric motor compared to a gas engine and detail why the electric motor is more efficient. 

Graphics allow you to demonstrate difficult concepts like torque and gear ratios in a way that consumers can understand, making your message far more persuasive.

Give a Website Tour

Websites can be complicated, particularly if the site houses a web application or some other sophisticated service. It can be helpful to feature a short welcome video on the main page that provides navigation guidance, tips, and other instructions.

Explainer videos are the perfect format for this purpose because they can represent the website in graphical form and then walk users step-by-step through how to get the most out of their visit.

Recreating the website as a simple animation allows the “camera” to zoom in on important page elements and follow user actions around the site. 

The video could recreate the experience of watching someone actively using the webpage, which makes understanding what it does significantly easier.

Explore Problems and Solutions

Explainer videos are excellent for illustrating classic before and after scenarios. The format makes it easy for viewers to understand the full extent of even complex problems. This makes the solution reveal more effective. 

When consumers truly appreciate why your “before” scenario is problematic they’ll welcome your solution. They’ll get, on a visceral level, why your solution is so important. This greatly increases the chances that they’ll take your desired action.

Imagine, for example, that we created a video that detailed the many reasons why your business needs explainer videos and then offered Six Degrees Digital Media as the solution. 

The video’s accessible problem statement would persuade you that you were missing something, making it very likely that you’d contact us to learn more about what we can do for your business.

Of course, we haven’t actually designed that video yet, but that’s really no reason not to call.

Here’s a couple of examples of explainer videos for you:

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