Whether it is email chains and lead nurturing or AI-based personalization, automation enables the brand to give less attention to manual implementation but more to strategy, creativity, and growth. However, even with its increasing usage, only 9% of marketers report having fully automated the customer experience, which gives a massive potential for having data-driven and smarter operations that can help a brand stand out.

In this article, we’ll explore 11 practical examples of marketing automation you can implement right now.

11 Examples of Marketing Automation to Implement Today

1. Welcome Email Sequences

A well-timed welcome email is your chance to make a strong first impression. Automated welcome sequences introduce your brand, share helpful resources, and set expectations for future communication.

These messages often outperform standard campaigns. Welcome emails have four times higher open rates than regular newsletters, proving how automation can immediately boost engagement and trust.

2. Lead Nurturing Workflows

Not every lead is ready to convert right away. Lead nurturing automation helps guide potential customers through the buying journey by sending educational, targeted content over time.

This keeps your brand top-of-mind and builds trust organically. Nurtured leads also tend to spend more; research shows they make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads, making this one of the most valuable automations for B2B marketers.

3. Abandoned Cart Reminders

Cart abandonment happens across industries,  whether it’s eCommerce checkouts or B2B demo sign-ups. Automated cart reminders are a simple yet powerful way to re-engage prospects who left mid-way.

A timely follow-up email or text with a gentle nudge, discount, or product recommendation can recover a significant share of lost sales opportunities with minimal manual effort.

4. Behavioral Email Triggers

Automation is at its finest when it responds to user action on a real-time basis. In case a viewer visits your pricing page more than once or downloads certain materials, then it is possible to automatically send a personalized follow-up.

This information strategy makes its messages pertinent and timely, a fact that 63% of marketers consider email automation to be their automation strategy of choice. It is the secret of making conversions without any additional effort.

5. Lead Scoring and Qualification

A manual process of qualifying leads can consume the time of your staff. Using automated lead scoring, every prospect receives a score based on the engagement, e.g., form fills, clicks, or content downloads.

As soon as a lead is received by a threshold, it is automatically transmitted to the sales team, making it respond faster and align better. This procedure aids groups in concentrating on prospects with high intent and maintains pipelines in good health.

6. Dynamic Content Personalization

All touchpoints can be personalized with automation. It will be possible to show dynamic website banners, CTAs, or email content depending on the preferences of each visitor using AI or behavioral data.

An example that can be used is a repeat customer can see a case study concerning his or her industry, and a new customer can see a new offer. This approach targets each message to one person, as 61 percent of marketers use AI to personalize their offers in a data-driven manner.

7. Drip Campaigns for Onboarding

Once a new customer or subscriber comes on board, automation assists you in onboarding the customer step by step. A drip campaign that runs over several days or weeks could inform the users on features, best practices, and success tips.

These sequences not only minimize the churn but also make customers perceive value early. A properly developed onboarding flow may enhance satisfaction and lifetime value to a considerable extent.

8. Re-Engagement Campaigns

All the businesses have cold subscribers or leads. Re-engagement campaigns automatically contact them after some inactivity by sending messages to them or special offers.

Even a basic email that says we miss you can rekindle the interest and get dormant contacts back into your funnel, and be able to utilize the existing database to the fullest, without additional spending on ads. 77% of companies saw higher engagement with email marketing automation.

9. Social Media Scheduling and Automation

A reliable Internet presence is essential. The social automation tools will enable you to post at regular times, track interactions, and keep the platform content flow regular.

This not only saves time but also keeps your brand conspicuous even when your team is engaged elsewhere. Effortlessly, it wins in terms of time efficiency and brand continuity.

10. Customer Feedback and Review Requests

Gathering reviews and opinions can be automated immediately after selling, providing a service, or delivering an event.

A review request as an automated thank-you email can assist in creating social proof and credibility. These automated requests, over time, will have valid testimonials that can augment your reputation and impact on future purchasers.

11. Cross-Sell and Upsell Automation

After a customer places an order, your automation system can detect suitable upsell or cross-sell opportunities.

As an example, when one subscribes to CRM software, he or she might get an automatic promotion of data enrichment or email extensions. This is one of the most lucrative types of automation because, according to the research, personalized product recommendations can increase sales by a factor of 20 or more.

Bringing It All Together

It makes you work smarter, not harder, with a scalable provision of relevant and personalized experiences on time. As the global marketing automation market continues to expand toward $15+ billion in value, brands that adopt these workflows today will stay ahead of the curve tomorrow.

The important thing is to make it simple at the beginning and gradually increase the automated emails, social posts, or lead scoring.

Adopt any of these 11 examples and you will find that you will see an efficiency, engagement, and ROI that are measurable, not to mention that your team will be able to concentrate on strategy and innovative ideas.

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Many Zimbabwean businesses miss this simple yet powerful SEO opportunity, relying on automatically generated URLs. Let’s change that with these actionable tips tailored for your local context:

Why SEO-Friendly URLs Matter in Zimbabwe

• Easy Navigation: Well-structured URLs give visitors a clear idea of the content they’ll find on your page.
• Improved Search Rankings: Search engines prioritize pages with clean, keyword-rich URLs.
• Enhanced User Experience: Local audiences appreciate clear and meaningful links that guide them to relevant content.

7 Tips for Creating SEO-Friendly URL Slugs

1. Keep URLs Short and Simple
   Long, complicated URLs can confuse users and lower click-through rates. Aim for concise, meaningful URLs like:
   example.com/web-design-tips-zimbabwe
   Clear and to the point.
2. Use Relevant Keywords
   Focus on keywords your Zimbabwean audience is likely to search for, such as:
   • “Harare web design”
   • “Bulawayo digital marketing”

   Including these keywords in your URLs helps you rank higher in search results.

3. Use Hyphens, Not Underscores or Spaces
   Stick to hyphens (-) for separating words in your URLs:
   • Good: example.com/seo-tips
   • Bad: example.com/seo_tips or example.com/seo%20tips
4. Avoid Numbers and Dates
   Including dates or numbers can make it hard to update your content later:
   • Bad: example.com/top-10-tips-2024
   • Better: example.com/top-seo-tips
5. Skip Sentence Case and Keep URLs Lowercase
   URLs are case-sensitive, and inconsistencies can lead to errors. Stick to lowercase to avoid duplicate content issues or 404 errors.
6. Provide Context
   Your URL should align with your content but doesn’t have to mimic the title exactly.
   • Page title: “7 Ways to Boost Your SEO in Harare”
   • URL: example.com/seo-boost-harare
7. Ensure User-Friendliness
   Test your URLs by asking: “Does this tell me what the page is about at a glance?” If yes, you’re on the right track.

Final Thoughts for Zimbabwean Businesses

A thoughtfully crafted URL slug enhances both user experience and search engine rankings, making it easier for your local audience to find you.

Whether you’re promoting e-commerce platforms in Zimbabwe, digital marketing services, or tourism packages, effective URLs can be a game-changer.

Start optimizing your website today, and watch your organic traffic grow!

#SEO #ZimbabweBusiness #DigitalMarketing #WebDesignZim

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1. Brand Visibility

Opting for a new promotional approach for your website? Brand visibility tops the list of reasons why. Outreach serves as an ideal tool for organic promotion within your niche. With it, your site gains recognition and public acknowledgment. The key lies in selecting the appropriate websites to kickstart your promotional campaign.

2. Backlinks for SEO

The essence lies in the fact that Google and other search engines prioritize backlinks. Thus, your fresh outreach strategy aids in boosting traffic and promoting your site. Furthermore, search bots won’t flag your content as spam or an attempt to artificially inflate traffic to your site.

Clearly, this stands as a stellar notion for those eyeing long-term investments and site monetization. All it takes is diligence and a meticulous selection of donor sites.

3. It Gains Customer’s Trust

An effective outreach strategy always targets earning the trust of a new audience. Hence, it’s crucial to garner support from reputable websites. With some effort, your site will also earn credibility over time. Patience and the right strategy are key. Therefore, considering outreach as a long-term investment is wise. Your marketing decision will undoubtedly yield satisfaction in a few months’ time.

4. Super Targeted Audience

And here is another important aspect. Surely you want to reach the targeted audience to maximize your profits. Therefore, it is the outreach strategy that works best. The point is that you can promote your product or service discreetly and elegantly. In other words, outreach gives you the chance to grow organic traffic, and you shouldn’t forget about it. By taking action now, you can achieve great results shortly.

5. Budget-Friendly

The fifth reason stands out as the most apparent, especially for startup creators who likely prefer not to allocate significant funds to marketing. Unlike traditional methods, the outreach approach is incredibly user-friendly for site owners. You don’t have to invest thousands of dollars just to have a hundred people visit your website. Even students can leverage such a tool to promote startups effectively. All it takes is delegating tasks and identifying the sites you wish to collaborate with.

Can I Combine Outreach and Other Website Promotion Methods?

There’s no need to fixate solely on one option. You have the freedom to experiment and juggle your strategies like ping pong balls. The primary goal is to popularize your site. The choice of tools rests entirely with you. Familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages of each method you encounter. You’ll likely discover that most marketing tactics can be combined. Therefore, there’s no need for hesitation. Take action today, and you can expedite progress. All it requires is patience and confidence in a favorable outcome.

Final Words

Now you’re acquainted with five reasons why outreach resembles the Holy Grail in the realm of web marketing. The reality is, it’s challenging to discover a simpler and more refined method to enhance your site’s popularity. Moreover, this approach is entirely legitimate for attracting a new audience. By considering all the intricacies and crafting a solid strategy, your site will gain recognition and popularity on the web. Success awaits you!

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A recent study showed that children aged 8 to 11 would rather become YouTube stars than astronauts, which is surprising but not uncommon. In this article, we will explore why the creator economy is so appealing and how to leverage it.

Creators: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
Defining creators can be a challenge. Some believe that creators are individuals who earn money online by creating a following and then monetizing it through the sale of digital or traditional products, sponsorships, merchandise, or brand deals.

However, this definition equates creators with influencers, which is not entirely accurate. Influencer is a term that is often used in a derogatory sense, referring to content that lacks substance and relies solely on appearance and glamor.

In contrast, the new breed of creators appeals to a more sophisticated audience. Their followers are not searching for inspirational quotes but rather looking to learn a skill, craft, or consume exceptional content. They prioritize building a business over building a large following.

For example, Charli D’Amelio is considered an influencer, whereas Rand Fishkin is considered a creator.

What Fuels the Creator Economy?
The creator economy has been growing exponentially, attracting everyone from children to big corporations and venture capital funds. The reason behind its popularity is simple: personal brands are gaining more traction than corporate brands because people are seeking human-to-human interactions.

Big corporations are often viewed as the enemy – they pollute, overwork their employees, and avoid paying taxes, among other things. In comparison, human-first brands are perceived as more trustworthy, and as a result, are gaining traction at a rapid pace. Of course, when a creator becomes famous, they may face hate. However, the scrutiny they receive is still significantly less compared to that faced by traditional corporations.

Additionally, the creator economy is supported by various other industries, such as venture capital funds that are investing millions into solutions that support creators. Existing companies are also adapting their products to support creators, with low entry barriers that make it easy to get started without writing any code.

Low Entry Barriers, High Growth Barriers
The low entry barriers of the creator economy, such as being able to start for free, make it even more appealing. However, with low entry barriers come high growth barriers. Only 10% of creators make over $10,000 per year, and very few make a livable wage, which is why many still hold a day job.

As the creator economy expands, the competition will likely become even tougher. Therefore, it is advisable to spend at least three months testing your idea before quitting your job or business to sell digital products.

To join the creator economy, it is essential to assess your skills and marketing abilities. Consider if there is something you could talk about for 30 minutes without any preparation. If so, congratulations, you have found your niche. It does not matter if it seems too small or obscure, as there are individuals earning six figures a year selling crocheting courses.

The next step is to determine the right approach – should you sell courses, e-books, digital downloads, community access, or all of these things? Start with one and then expand.

Leveraging the Creator Economy If your company seeks to collaborate with a creator to boost visibility, there are several options available to you. You could offer them a direct advertising deal, similar to the influencer model, or sponsor their newsletter, or collaborate with them on a campaign of your choice.

When choosing the right creator, it’s crucial to look beyond their numbers. Of course, a large audience implies more people will see your brand, but this is not always the best approach. You need to ensure that there is a suitable fit between your brand and the creator’s.

The first consideration should be audience overlap. Does the creator’s target market align with yours?

Second, consider the level of engagement from their followers. How frequently do they respond to the creator’s posts? Do they provide meaningful comments? Do they encourage lively discussions?

Finally, assess the creator’s trust signals. How successful are they at selling their own products? A high email conversion rate is a good indication of their ability to sell, but it’s important to keep in mind that trust transfers are never 100% guaranteed.

In Conclusion The creator economy is accessible to anyone, but it can be challenging to achieve success, just like climbing the corporate ladder. Without connections, it can be even more challenging.

Regardless of your opinions on creators, it’s essential to recognize that they are here to stay. Some will grow into giants, while others will cater to a niche market – just like any other business.

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The concept for this site was simple: Provide a space for customers to share photos of themselves wearing Burberry clothing (i.e., user-generated content). From there, anyone could like, comment, and re-share the content on social media.

In its first year, the site received 7.5 million views and was a massive success.

The reason?

User-generated content (UGC) is an extremely valuable tool for marketing a business, demonstrating value proposition, and boosting engagement. It influences purchasing decisions for 79% of people and is also 9.8x more effective than influencer-created content.

What’s more is that brands can reap all of the benefits of UGC without spending much, or any, of their own marketing dollars. It’s hands-off content creation that delivers a great ROI with the right marketing strategy.

This guide will break down four of the best ways for you to leverage UGC on and off social media.

What counts as UGC?

User-generated content is any type of media that people who aren’t affiliated with your brand share on a digital platform. This includes reviews on forums, photos, videos, social media posts, etc.

Think of it as an evolved digital version of word-of-mouth marketing. Instead of telling multiple people about a brand’s product in-person, anyone can upload a social media post that recommends the product to hundreds (or even thousands) of people at once.

One of the main reasons why people respond so well to UGC is because of the authenticity factor. This content is made by a person, not a brand, so the review or recommendation comes across as genuine and not sales-driven.

Even though you don’t personally create UGC for and about your brand, you can (and should) use it to your advantage. Here’s how.

How to make the most out of UGC

1. Add UGC to a website or landing page

Building a new website exclusively for UGC (like Burberry did) is always an option. But, the downside is that this approach requires a lot of extra time and resources that you might not be able to spare at the moment.

A good alternative is to start integrating UGC on the website you already have.

This could mean embedding a product review video in a new blog post or landing page. Or, as you audit your website for SEO purposes, this could mean including UGC in your older content to provide more value to site visitors.

Here are a few statistics that reinforce why this is strategic on your part:

• Featuring video content on landing pages can boost conversions by 86%.
• Someone that visits your website after seeing a UGC video (on social media or elsewhere) is 184% more likely to convert.

It takes seconds to add UGC to your website, but you have to make this a continual practice if you want to see these types of long-term benefits.

2. Include UGC in ad campaigns

Everyone that lands on your brand’s website is in a different stage of the sales funnel. Some people are curious about your company but don’t have immediate purchase intent. Others have purchase intent but are still weighing their options.

By using UGC in your ad campaigns on social media and other digital platforms, you’re able to do multiple things at once:

• Demonstrate to prospective customers that you value your current customers (and would value them too).
• Provide extra insight about your products and services from a customer perspective (not a brand perspective).
• Market your products and services in the most authentic way (according to 60% of consumers).

UGC-focused campaigns feel personalized, which is a main reason why they work. A prime example of this is Coke’s “Share a Coke” campaign, which directly lifted U.S. sales by 2% after more than 10 years of declining revenue.

3. Use UGC as social proof in email marketing

UGC that sheds a positive light on your brand is one of your greatest marketing assets, whether for ads, landing pages, or — you guessed it — email campaigns.

And that’s because people trust people. In fact, most consumers (92%) are more likely to trust (and act on) the referral of someone they know than any other source.

When a current customer creates a social media post and tags your brand, it’s a form of social proof.

Your brand gets more exposure as more people share UGC on and off social media, so why not include this type of content in the emails you send to leads, current customers, and churned customers?

It’s one thing to say that your brand will offer x and y benefits, but it’s another to back your promises up with UGC from people who have benefited firsthand from your services.

4. Encourage your audience to create more UGC

If your brand has been around for a while, odds are that you could pull a lot of existing UGC from social media right now. Maybe you’ve even built up a reservoir of content from social media users that you access on a regular basis.

One of the best ways to ensure that you can continually weave UGC into your marketing strategy is to encourage your customers to create more of this content.

You can do this by running social media contests and giveaways. Or you could take a personalized approach like Coke and ignite a social buzz around your product in a way that your competitors haven’t.

For instance, by incentivizing and rewarding UGC creators through a social media shoutout, you show your customers that you value them on an individual level, not just as a means for meeting the bottom line. And that’s the sort of engagement people crave from brands.

Low-cost Content Creation That Works

Content creation is a process that brands invest in for good reason, but it doesn’t always have to come at a high cost. With UGC, you’re able to market your brand effectively without spending a dime.

So, if you haven’t done so already, take this as your sign that it’s time to invest more time and energy into collecting and using UGC in your content marketing to take advantage of all these benefits.

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You’d be surprised to learn that you aren’t the only one facing this issue. One out of every ten writers struggles with the same, actually. 

The problem? 

They try to perfect their content but forget to make it impactful. 

Here, we will help you craft impactful content in 8 simple steps, along with tips on things you need to look out for. 

Digital content remains the undisputed king of digital marketing – and therefore the best way to promote your business. From product manufacturers, service providers or retailers all the way to healthcare providers, home restorers and even if you’re NASA, content plays a major role in enhancing your digital footprint and promoting your business/cause.

However, not all content is created equal. The writing style, search engine optimization and supporting content, all play a huge role in determining whether the content you write is subpar or excellent. How to determine that, you ask? 

Well, take your pick. A recent study shows that globally, the number of leads generated, readers and conversions are what good content is supposed to tackle. However, that isn’t set in stone. You write content for your own goal. 

This article, for example, is to help you learn. Someone else may be writing an article just for the sake of likes or views – not conversions. Here are the results of said study.

If done right, the results of the content you write will not just improve readership, but can also lead to increased inflow of leads, conversions and social mentions.

So, let’s jump right in!

Step 1: Start With the End in Mind

You will have an easier time creating bespoke and engaging content if you know what the end goal is with your marketing campaign. See the graph above? Take your pick and move on from there. 

A good starting point lets you set out a mission statement for your content strategy, defining your marketing goals and the actions you should take to achieve them.

Clearly identified marketing goals give you two main benefits. 

First, they give you a direction to work. This is always useful for crafting content that relates to your business goals. The more streamlined your direction, the more focused you will be when writing. This gives you an edge over others that can help you create high-quality content. 

Second, a pre-defined goal helps you analyse the content to see how closely it was created to meet your goals. It is easier to analyse results from your blogs, articles, web copy and social media marketing if you have an objective to compare them with.

Having a goal makes it much easier for you and your article writers to focus on what’s important and what’s not. This is crucial for a successful digital marketing strategy.

Speaking of ‘beginnings’, keep in mind that people only read the first paragraph of your content before determining whether it’s for them or not. And even then, it’s not as much reading as it is scanning. Readers usually scan content unless they find that it is worth their time, so write a beginning that speaks to them, and then some! 

Step 2: Study Your Audience and Write for Them

It is important to have a good idea about who you’re writing for. The demographics of your site visitors, their numbers, who they are, what they prefer, what device they’re using and even the frequency of visits; all of these will add up to help you create better content.

The more you know about them, the more you can tailor your content and write content that leaves a good taste in their mouths once you’re done. The interesting thing about writing for your audience is that the more you write for them, the more you understand them. The more you understand them, the more you tailor your words and content. The more you tailor content, the more you attract them to your site.

And eventually, the more impact you’ll have on them.

For example, suppose you are into fashion, makeup and beauty tips. You write and publish articles and blogs on these topics on your website fairly regularly. In time, you will attract and build an audience that is interested in similar topics. Okay, scratch that – in a few years, they’ll be interested in what you write on. 

Writing on fashion, your readers will mostly be women between the ages of 12 and 60 who are into fashion and beauty topics.

To retain your audience, you will need to give them more of the content that they want to read. To make it impactful, continue writing regularly and build a fanbase. If you suddenly started writing about truck rallies or high-tech gadgets and robots on your blog, your audience would lose interest.

The lesson here is that any type of website can be successful, as long as you attract the right audience to it and give the visitors what they want. 

Step 3: Create an Engaging Experience

Even the best-written articles and product descriptions can be rendered useless if you don’t engage your audiences. If you fail to engage, how will you influence or impact? What separates average content from great content is the level of interest and engagement that you build with your readers. That rapport you build with readers, urging them to continue; that’s what helps you make an influence. 

Remember, anyone can write an article filled with necessary information about a product or service. But it takes more than just informing your readers about a product that makes you stand out from the rest. Plus, if you really want your audiences to buy something, you need to do more than just inform them. 

The trick is to have a conversation with your readers in articles. You can ask questions, tell a joke, share experiences and even remind your readers about past events or blogs, all in the breadth of a single article. All of this is meant to create a lasting impression in the minds of your readers.

The purpose of content marketing is, after all, to leave a memorable expression for potential customers. A strong piece of content achieves just that.

Pro Tip: Try to communicate with your audience by writing your article in second-person format. The more you talk to them, the more engaging your content is. This way, you’re basically establishing yourself as a friend and an authoritative figure in their subconscious mind. 

Step 4: Go Fishing With a Catchy Title and Strong Headlines

Your content title must be captivating; one that gets users to click on your blog or web page. In most cases, the title is the only thing that users will see and decide whether they want to click on your website/blog or not, so make it something they can’t resist.

Headlines are necessary to organize your content and break it up into meaningful sections. Each headline gives you an outline of what the underlying content is about. Some readers prefer to skip over sections that they don’t want to read and the headlines help them focus on the right information.

Titles should be no more than 10 to 12 words. Headlines are generally shorter and 4 to 5 words long at most. You should always capitalize the title and all headlines as it is standard and makes your content look more polished.

Step 5: CTA – Adding Final Touches Necessary for Feedback

A CTA is your gateway to what audiences are thinking. It helps you identify whether they like what you wrote or not, and whether you’re on your road toward impacting them. 

They allow your readers to interact with you and your business. It should ideally be included twice, once in the middle of the text where you drive the point home, and once near the end of the content.

CTA can be anything from a click to your product page, a purchase order option, a request for feedback or a popup window for an email subscription. If your content has been really good and impactful, it is more likely to get clicked and you will get the desired response from your reader.

You can post content from time to time without a CTA to raise awareness about your business and build goodwill. However, website copywriting, blogs and articles won’t meet your business goals if you do not put a CTA within the text.

The purpose of well-written content is to get a response from your users and you should include it to gauge visitor response rate.

Steven Dean is Sr. Editor at Content Development Pros. He leads a small army of blog and article writers that help small and large business get results through amazing content. With more than a decade of experience, he has the trust of hundreds of regular customers from all industries and parts of the world.

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Of course, your web designer might be able to help with this, or you could hire a professional copywriter. 

For the quality required nowadays these options can be cost prohibitive. What’s more, there will still be a reasonable time implication to work through revisions and provide enough information.

There is no easy answer; writing for a website takes time and effort to get right. 

Here are five tips to help you write website content that engages your visitors and will have them returning for more.

5 Tips for Writing Great Web Copy

1. Web Copy Is Unlike Any Other 

Why? Because people don’t read websites, they skim them, occasionally delving further into other content if it’s relevant. Visitors only seek out what they’re interested in, and will leave pretty quickly if they can’t find it. 

Take a little time to look at other websites in your niche. Some will undoubtedly have too much text. This is bad for them but good for you. It’s important to experience the negative effects of text-heavy web pages. 

Then, find a few sentences in ‘About’ (for example) which are meaningful to you, but ignore all that is not.  This should give you an idea of what works and resonates with you (and thus an audience), but also illuminates all the wasted words. 

Tip – illustrated perfectly by Chekhov’s Gun. 

Anton Chekhov was a master of the short story, and famously said: 

“If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”

By writing short, snappy sentences and breaking pages up with subheadings, links, icons and other imagery, your visitors will (conversely) spend more time reading your website.

2. User Flow

When writing for your website you must be conscious of where a visitor might want to go next. 

Why? Because your primary aim is to hold their interest for as long as possible. For this reason, it’s important to include logical links to other sections and pages within the text. 

The two main methods to do this are: a hyperlink within the text or nearby as a button. 

Tip – Don’t be shy with links throughout your content. Visitors flowing around your website is a good thing. Leave them to make decisions about where they explore.

3. Speak To The Reader 

Business websites should refer to ‘we’ or ‘our’. Use expressions like ‘we do this’ or ‘our customer service’ for example, to try to be as inclusive as possible. It makes a visitor feel welcome and more familiar which engenders trust.

Also, you must always use an active voice where possible.

Using a passive voice disengages people after continued use. This is because it becomes quite repetitive, and the words seem to lack real meaning. 

Passive sentences often use more words. Here is an example to illustrate the difference:

Passive: The readers were helped a lot by the free guide.

Active: The free guide helpedreaders a lot.

Tip – website visitors have small attention spans. Use an active voice to them through the content to build trust and familiarity.

4. State The ‘Benefits’ 

This makes a huge difference to a visitor. In addition to boldly stating what your business does, it’s imperative that you include the actual benefit to customers. 

It can take a little practice to be succinct whilst making clear the benefit of what you’re selling. 

Once you get it, it’s easy. 

A plumber doesn’t sell boilers, they sell warm homes. A fitness trainer doesn’t sell workouts, they sell healthier and happy lives. A gardener doesn’t sell landscaped lawns, they sell ambient garden parties.

Tip – state the benefits of each service and product. Make it real for a visitor by telling them exactly what it will do for them.

5. Voice

This is probably one of the hardest aspects of writing content of any kind, let alone for your website. Ultimately, the tone of your copy needs to resonate with your target customers. 

Why? Because words that resonate feel familiar. This builds trust and trust underpins sales.

A professional copywriter will need detailed knowledge of your customers which would normally come from a marketing specialist. Armed with this insight (i.e. customer profiling), the copywriter produces content which is going to mean something to them. But, this all comes at a cost.

If you decide to go it alone (as many do), start by writing in a way that reflects your business values. What does your company stand for? What’s important to customers? Why? What might a legitimate complaint be? And, so on…

Brainstorm a list that best describes your company, for example:

• Credible
• Talented
• Creative
• Honest
• Convenient
• Professional

Then, add this to what you do know about your customers to consolidate as much insight as possible. 

Tip – Don’t write the copy that gets down with generation-Z if your target customers are nearly always middle-aged baby boomers. Ideally, get a trusted customer to read it and take their feedback seriously. 

Summary

Web copy is hard to write, but even harder to get right. Sometimes you need to brainstorm initially to derive relevant information that can then be crafted into web content.

Ultimately, people buy from people. By applying these tips you’ll inject real feeling and personality into your content that not only engages visitors, but also makes them return again and again. 

Additional Guidance

This section will help you brainstorm relevant information if you’re struggling to get started. If this is the case, don’t try writing actual web copy at first; simply answer these questions and then apply the tips previously explained once you have some content to craft.

1. ‘About’ Page:

Why did you start the company?

What does it do/ make/ provide? Explain the operation in basic terms.

Who is your audience/ customer base? Give examples of typical customers.

How does your product/ service benefit the customer?

2. Products/ Services Pages:

What are your main products/ services? Explain how each one is made (materials, technique, skills)/ delivered (personnel/ expertise etc).

Where do you provide/ deliver these products/ services? 

How do you do/ make/ provide the products/ services to customers? 

Explain a typical customer-journey with your company.

What is your approach to customer service? Why?

If there is a unique selling point of your company, what is it? Think about a point of difference – what is your company brilliant at and what benefit does this brilliance bring to a customer.

3. Case Studies / Projects:

Describe the best example(s) of your company making a customer happy – what did they want? What did you sell to them? How did you do it? Use the STAR approach: 

Situation (customer need)

Task (business’ solution – i.e. what did you do?)

Action (how did your business deliver the solution)

Result (describe the actual benefit to the customer)

4. Other important factors:

Please explain the ‘spirit’ of how you do things; what do you enjoy about your work? What satisfies you in your job? What do you hope the future holds for the company?

Describe or list any other key elements to your business, even if they are not necessarily visible to customers – examples could be a way of working, an approach to creating the product/ service, or environmental considerations etc.

Gav Stevens is the founder of Webbit, a digital pathfinding consultancy. When he’s not seeking out the right question, he loves enabling others to ‘do-it-themselves’ (like he did) by blogging about his professional knowledge and experience. Connect and stay tuned with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post Tips for Writing Web Copy that Resonates with Visitors appeared first on Web Entangled - Zimbabwe.

But the web is not the same place it was in 2009. Attention and advertising dollars have moved from blogs to social media networks and YouTube. Instagram celebrities rack up follower counts in the millions and make thousands of dollars from endorsements. We watch more videos than we read articles. RSS is on life support, having been supplanted by Twitter. Does it even make sense to start a blog in 2019?

A blog is unlikely to route you to great riches, but that doesn’t mean that a blog can’t make money or that blogging is dead. In fact, it is very much alive.

Why Start a Blog in 2019?

A blog based on a self-hosted application like WordPress or Craft CMS has benefits that social media, YouTube, and other platforms do not. The blogger controls the platform and the content. The audience bloggers build are their audience; they aren’t working to build an audience for a platform like Medium.

It may not seem like platform control is important, but changes to social media networks and publishing platforms have burned creators often enough to make self-hosting the smart choice. Facebook’s decision to prioritize personal posts over pages in the news feed decimated audience engagement. Medium is not so much pivoting as spinning as it searches for a revenue model, forcing dizzy creatives from the platform in droves.

When bloggers control the platform and domain, they can monetize it in a way that suits their audience. They are not beholden to the decisions of a platform whose interests may not align with those of the writers and other creators. They are free to choose their branding, design, application, and hosting provider.

Ownership and control of a publishing platform do not prevent a blogger from using Medium, Facebook, or any other tool. Instead of being the primary channel, they become secondary distribution channels, funneling traffic to the blogger’s site.

While all of that sounds good, freedom from social media and traditional publishing platforms is worthless if bloggers cannot turn their work into money.

Making Money from Blogging in 2019

Display advertising is the traditional way to make money from blogging. The blogger finds a niche, creates some high-quality content, sprinkles on a few AdWords units, and waits for the money to come rolling in. 

In reality, it has never been that easy, but, in 2019, the chances of making a living from display advertising are slim. CPM rates — the amount advertising networks pay for a thousand clicks on an ad — are so low that bloggers need millions of views to make a reasonable living.

If display advertising is not an option, than what is?

Sponsorships

Sponsorships are a valuable marketing opportunity for businesses that want to reach a niche audience. Sponsorships typically take the form of a bundle of promotional content that might include a blog post, advertising in the blog’s RSS feed, and promotion via its social media channels.

MacStories and Daring Fireball, both Apple-related blogs, use this approach. The blogs are focused on a lucrative niche and have built a large audience that advertisers want to reach.

Daring Fireball sponsorship costs $8,000 per week, for which sponsors get a display ad on every page, a sponsored post, a follow-up post at the end of the week, and social media promotion. There is only one sponsor per week.

Daring Fireball’s audience is large: 2.5 million views a month. That’s not an impossible goal. For bloggers who can live with monthly revenues below $32,000, Daring Fireball-sized audiences aren’t necessary to make a sustainable income.

Affiliate Marketing

Many online retailers and service providers run affiliate marketing programs. Bloggers can add product links to their pages, and, when someone clicks on the link and buys something, the blogger gets a percentage of the sale price. Amazon’s affiliate program pays the bills of thousands of bloggers. Review sites like Tools & Toys rely on revenue from Amazon’s affiliate program.

Apple was once a favorite revenue source for bloggers in the technology niche. But last year the company announced that apps and in-app purchases would be removed from its affiliate program, devastating the Apple blog ecosystem. Bloggers should not put all their eggs in one basket; it’s better to take advantage of a variety of revenue streams.

Premium Content

A blog can be an excellent promotional platform for premium content. There are several different revenue models based on premium content, which might take the form of paywalled articles, ebooks, or newsletters.

• Blog and premium newsletter. Stratechery is the blog of technology analyst Ben Thompson. Content published on the blog is free, but Thompson also sells subscriptions to “The Daily Update,” a thrice-weekly, in-depth newsletter. Newsletter subscriptions are $10 per month, and it’s estimated that Stratechery generates around $200,000 per year.
• Blog and educational courses. Shawn Blanc is the master of diversifying income from online content, but here I want to highlight the way he built an audience with his personal blog before leveraging that audience to sell premium educational courses such as The Focus Course (which has its own blog) and All The Things.
• Blog and ebooks. David Sparks is a lawyer with a sideline in podcasting and ebook publishing. Sparks’ blog and podcasts serve as a marketing hub for premium content aimed at the same audience. The MacSparky ebook range covers Apple-related topics like 60 Mac Tips, the Hazel Field Guide, and the Siri ShortCuts Field Guide.

In 2019, a blog that relies on display advertising is unlikely to generate a sustainable income, but blogs are one of the best platforms for building an engaged audience that attracts sponsorships, follows affiliate links, and buys premium content.

A blog is also the best way to control your content. Social media networks grow, change, and die. VC-backed publisher platforms are expected to make money eventually, and no one who publishes on their platform has a seat in the boardroom. 

A self-hosted blog, however, is yours forever. You get to choose what it looks like, how it is monetized, and where it is hosted.

About Graeme Caldwell – Graeme is a writer and content marketer at Nexcess, a global provider of hosting services, who has a knack for making tech-heavy topics interesting and engaging to all readers. His articles have been featured on top publications across the net, TechCrunch to TemplateMonster. For more content, visit the Nexcess blog and give them a follow at @nexcess.

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