Article Archive by Lauren Owens

Developing Your Brand’s Voice

by Lauren Owens

Professional copywriters have to wear many hats. They have to shift on a daily – and sometimes hourly – basis to suit the purpose, brand and audience they’re writing for. As a result, “voice” is something copywriters think about all the time.

Voice is central to a brand’s identity. And, now that so much of business is conducted online, voice is more important than ever. So, if you haven’t taken the time to truly evaluate what your brand should sound like, there’s no time like the present.

Some things to consider when developing your brand’s voice:

• Who is your audience?

• What kind of language does your audience use?

• Which brands do a good job marketing to your audience? (What do they sound like?)

• What is the mood or idea you want your brand to emulate?

• If your brand was a person, who would it be? (And what does that person sound like?)

As you begin to develop your brand’s voice, you will find that what you do is tied very closely to what you should sound like. If you’re in the business of selling meditation downloads, for example, your brand’s voice might sound very positive and easy going. If you’re in the business of selling stock advice, your brand’s voice might sound informed, mature and confident.

If you’re able to create a voice that resonates with your target audience, they’re more likely to want to hear what you have to say. And that – in the world of social media marketing – is golden.

Six Ways to Establish Credibility with Your Audience

by Lauren Owens

Businesses seeking to establish themselves as industry experts or thought leaders should first take a look at whether their web content is helping or hurting their case. Follow these simple guidelines to start producing stellar content that not only increases conversions, but establishes your business as a credible voice.

1. Write with Authority

It’s important that you use an authoritative, yet approachable, voice in your blog, web and social media content. To write with authority, present thoughts easily, clearly and with confidence. And, write in an active (rather than passive) voice, putting the subject before the verb, i.e. “I ate five hamburgers” verses “Five hamburgers were eaten by me.”

Communicating clearly and effectively will go a long way in establishing your authority, but so will making sure you have something new to say. It’s important when you’re blogging to add to the collective conversation rather than simply putting your own spin on the same old information.

2. Know the Facts

Provide your reader with detailed information and back that information up by using sources. In other words — don’t be vague. Simply stating, for example, that ‘many’ people died last year due to lightening strikes lacks the gravity (and authority) that a real number can convey.

But passing along erroneous information will undercut your credibility more than anything else you do. If you’re citing a scientific study, government data or other industry expert, make sure you get it right.

3. Be Honest

It’s crucial that your audience be able to trust you. That’s why you should always convey honesty and sincerity — even if it’s bad for your brand in the short term.

4. Respect Their Intelligence

Your blog readers are just like you. They’re looking for solid information about something they’re interested in. If you talk down to your readers, give false information or attempt to “dumb down” your content, you’ll lose readers — and credibility – fast.

5. Maintain Consistency

Something as simple as using an en dash (—) in one place and an em dash (–) in another can make your website look as though it were rushed or cobbled together. It’s a good idea to follow style guidelines such as those defined by the Associated Press or the Chicago Manual of Style so that everyone who provides content to your website can do so correctly and with confidence.

Alternatively, companies can create their own style manuals that serve as quick and easy guidelines for anyone writing for your website, or about your products and services.

6. Do it Right

You can have the most brilliant ideas in the world, but if they’re not being communicated correctly and effectively, you’re undercutting your credibility. If you know that you’re not a good or effective writer, hand the task of maintaining your company blog, website and social media posts to someone who is. Because grammatical errors and clunky sentences can quickly repel readers — just as soon as they found your blog, they’ll back out and go someplace else.

If you need help in that regard, MoreVisibility has a team of seasoned copy writers ready, willing and able to help you with your blogging, web content and/or social media communication.

Audience Is Everything: Creating Effective Blog Posts

by Lauren Owens

If you’re reading this, you probably have a business, and it probably has a blog. Like many business owners, you most likely see your blog as just another way to bring more eyeballs to your website, and by extension, more customers to your company. But that’s just the beginning.

More than anything, your blog adds value for your customers and credibility for your brand. So if you’re simply writing for search engines, you’re missing the biggest and most important aspect of blogging — reaching people.

So, before you think about what keyword you want to optimize for, think about the types of people you want to attract. What kinds of things are important to them? More importantly, how can you add value to their lives while establishing your business as an authority?

Asking yourself these questions will likely take you down new avenues in terms of blog topics and social media content. It will also increase the likelihood that you’ll bring in qualified traffic, and have a better chance of converting that traffic into sales.

Even better, you can begin to cultivate a relationship with your customer base — one that will last far beyond any single immediate need.