The Art of Writing: It’s Not Just for Copywriters

A marketer’s job is colorful, to say the least. Daily duties for digital marketing jobs include everything from data analysis to social media, and can require skills in HTML, CSS, SEO and every other combination of letters. But one skill that is crucial for every kind of marketer is also one of the most basic forms of communication: writing. Digital marketing professionals have been taught from day one that proper communication is key to a successful career, and yet it’s not taught nearly as extensively as any other component of the industry. Here, we’ve identified several ways in which writing affects every part of digital marketing jobs.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is one of the newer components of marketing that’s constantly changing, and keeping up with Google’s latest tweaks to its algorithm can be exhausting. But according to Business 2 Community, the newest release of the algorithm Hummingbird isn’t as complicated as you might think. As long as your content is credible and informative, it should rank well in search results. There have also been studies that show longer posts (1,500 words) do wonders for SEO. Now more than ever, good old fashioned content of high quality is what’s most important in the world of SEO.

Email Marketing

While email marketing demands a variety of both technical and functional skills, one of the main requirements of an effective email campaign is that it includes compelling copy. In fact, Hubspot considers quality content one of the nine critical components of email marketing. The best emails highlight the company’s value proposition and tell a story in a brief, exciting way. Knowing how to write for your audience and convert a recipient into the first step of the lead cycle is hard work that requires an engaging subject line, tight content and perfect phrasing of the call-to-action.

Design

Whether you’re designing infographics or marketing collateral for the sales team, one thing is always needed: content. In order to create effective copy for a print or digital piece, you must be skilled in proper research and fact-checking techniques, describing complex ideas in understandable terms and writing to engage an audience. Exciting, concise copy is more important than ever, as flashy images and colorful logos can only go so far.

Social Media

While everyone may think they’re a pro when it comes to social media, there’s a certain skill​ set that’s required to send off an engaging, timely message in a small number of characters. Sure, you can get around writing for social media by posting relevant photos and videos your audience might find interesting, but your accounts need to have a voice, most importantly. Besides, you can only tweet so many funny memes before your manager starts to catch on.

Content marketing

The title says it all: content is king when it comes to online marketing. Content marketing jobs are rapidly growing in popularity throughout the industry. With all sorts of outbound marketing where brands are forced on readers, it’s important to have some inbound action in play. Maintaining engaging, informative content for your audience is what keeps them coming back. Blog posts and white​ papers, which vary in requirements, both demand skills in copywriting and research as well as the ability to keep a finger on the pulse of what your audience finds valuable.

Video

In the age of six-second Vine videos and 30-second commercials, communicative priorities have shifted from long and informative to short and exciting. It takes a skilled copywriter to be able to write an on-brand, attention-demanding script in a short timeframe for a targeted audience. As a marketer, it’s crucial to never underestimate the power and value of quality writing.

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