Beyond Marketing Writing: From SEO to Social Media

Even today, too many communicators and entrepreneurs underestimate the importance of "after", missing out on a precious opportunity to reach as many people as possible with your message.

In the third pill dedicated to the write for marketing we have looked at the more creative aspect concerning it copy style and brand identity. In other words, we have tried to go beyond traditional communication to create an original storytelling, easy to recognize at first sight in the increasingly crowded world of offers and proposals. In the conclusion we broke up with the promise to address another critical point relating not so much to writing itself, but to the fate that our own writings can meet once published. Indeed, it would be a mortal sin to have spent time, energy and money in creating effective promotional writing and then missing out on the most beautifulaim of maximizing the visibility of the content. A bit like reaching the top of a mountain and forgetting to take pictures of the landscape! Yet even today too many communicators and entrepreneurs underestimate the importance of the "after", missing out on a precious opportunity to reach as many people as possible with your message.

This fault is due in part to die-hard mental configurations, perhaps inherited from the more traditional outbound marketing, or from that unidirectional promotion typical of the pre-internet era, where someone writes (the critic, the journalist, the press office) and someone else, the public, is there waiting for the moment to read, with very little chance of replies. Today it doesn't work like that anymore. The rumors have multiplied and everyone has the ability to interact with the author, the marketing team and sometimes even those who administer the business. As long as the written communication, and this is the error we mentioned above, does not end in the exact instant in which it comes to light. How to extend the useful life of an item? And how to make your storytelling spread thanks to word of mouth? There are two points to take care of: optimization for search engines on the one hand and sharing on social networks on the other. Let's see them in detail.

SEO COPY: THE SECRET WEAPON TO POSITION ON GOOGLE

The SEO Copy, or the SEO copy, if you prefer, should be nothing more or less the trump card of every communicator who engages in digital storytelling. Write according to the rules of SEO copywriting it means first of all identifying the most promising keyword or keywords, and based on these, configuring the article in terms of structure, length and extra content (images, videos and more). The competition, thanks to a greater awareness of the opportunities related to SEO copy, has increased dramatically in recent years, which forces us to pay particular attention to this peculiar and only apparently secondary aspect. Being able to optimize a text, no matter if an article, post or static page, is a necessary (although unfortunately not sufficient) condition for remain visible after months or years.

This is because a well done SEO copy job helps Google to identify the quality of the content (and the topic) consequently rewarding it with a superior positioning. It is not certain that our efforts will be rewarded, but it is clear that if we do not even try to play this card, we will give up on a precious resource to enjoy visits and traffic after publication. This is a very complex discourse, which here for obvious reasons we limit ourselves to dealing with in passing, leaving the task of deepening it, at least in its basic notions, to the copywriter, storyteller or professional on duty. Let's just add that the fortune of famous personalities such as Aranzulla of the homonymous blog is based precisely on the methodical application of the principles of SEO copywriting. Given and considering that information and communication are migrating increasingly towards digital, it becomes strategic to optimize writing for marketing both from a quality point of view and as regards SEO.

SHARE THE COMMUNICATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA (RIGHT)

You don't live on SEO alone. To enrich and complete the promotional communication of a product, service or brand, it is essential to exploit the power of social media, channels with a rate of penetration and diffusion that is by now unparalleled. Notwithstanding the fact that in the space of a few years dozens of social platforms flourish and decline (we recall, among others, MySpace, Storify, as well as the recent clamorous departure of Google Plus), it is undeniable that some social networks have become global reference points in the field of entertainment (Facebook and Twitter), image (Instagram and Pinterest), work (LinkedIn) and video (Youtube), with millions of active users at any time of day or night. Focusing on communication and ignoring these catalysts represents a gross mistake even if, alas, still very frequent even in the largest and most structured companies.

Fortunately, the remedy is simple and consists in the continuous management of these social media, with the intention of making them grow and cultivating a niche of users who are fond of our communication and our brand. The initial commitment, often enormous, will be repaid as the page or account gathers new subscribers, fans and followers, in an unstoppable virtuous circle on the basis of which the more you publish and share stories, the more you are followed and appreciated. In this regard, it should be noted that Google and other search engines are able to recognize the engagement (interaction) of social media from a positioning perspective. In other words, being popular on social networks doesn't "only" help to convey your content better, but also to see them reach the top of the rankings more easily by virtue of the number of likes, sharing via links and comments.

SCOOP.IT, PAPER.LI, WAKELET: THE ERA OF CONTENT CURATION

This journey into the boundless territory of writing for marketing has led us, perhaps without even realizing it, to talk about something else, at least in appearance: no more copywriting and communication in the strict sense, but organization of contents, management and development of storytelling, planning of a wide-ranging narrative strategy… in a word: content curation. Content "curation" is an advanced but absolutely essential activity to overcome the limits of the old traditional forms of copywriting. When we want to offer our audience not just a pleasant read but a purchasing experience (or booking, or participation, etc.) that lives up to modern expectations, we have to invest in content curation and worry about everything that it goes beyond mere writing and publishing. To help us in this are tools and platforms such as Scoop.it, Paper.li, Wakelet and others, where our narration has the opportunity to express itself and become choral, even for a foreign audience and if we want international.

In the near future these tools will multiply and, in all probability, will gradually replace the entire marketing-oriented communication scaffolding as we have known it up to now. It may take years, or even decades, but the change is already underway and it is enough to look around to catch the (many) signs. The advice therefore is to be prepared, welcoming innovations worthy of the name and leaving out the mountain of rubbish that the progress of technology inevitably brings with it. The most sensible suggestion? Have the humility to entrust yourself to those who experience and analyze these innovations every day, without improvising and without forcing one's hand. Only in this way can a company or business, large or small, fully exploit the potential of marketing writing, overcoming the challenges that the market places on us every day. And conquering the most coveted goal: success and leadership.