Why A Professional (HUMAN) Copywriter is 100% Worth Investing In For Your Small Business
Did you know...
Brands that create more blog posts generate 67% (3x) more leads than those that do not?
Or that
Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing (print, ads, PR etc) ?
Let me fill you in on a little secret...
A good copywriter is the #1 secret to a successful small business!
Whether or not you have a brick and mortar, or offer online sales - or both, you will benefit from optimized copy/content because it translates directly to increased brand awareness, web traffic and sales- not only now, but also for years to come!
Marketers are drilled with the phrase "Content is King" - because it really is EVERYTHING and will allow you to grow and scale your business when, where, and how you want.
Think about it this way... Your website is the only "employee" you have who is willing to work on-call 24/7. Are you really using it to your full advantage?
Unfortunately, most small businesses do not prioritize their web copy or content because they may not understand the benefits OR they feel it's too time-consuming for them or their team. The reality is that your blog is the CORE of your content marketing efforts so outsourcing this work can pay huge dividends and return. It's no wonder that 78% of companies have a designated content specialists.
Here are the primary reasons why quality (SEO-optimized, lead-converting and reader-focused) digital content can help YOU succeed, and why a professional, niche-specialized copywriter is 100% worth investing in!
1) Because you need to be found by your customers. (i.e Search Engine Optimization)
The internet is a massively competitive space where all types and sizes of businesses can promote their goods and services. But to the search engines, it's not a level playing field. Google prefers websites over others, and there is a small group of experts (called 'marketers') who know Google's secret criteria to rank.
The content on your site is one of the key determinants of how you appear on search engines, and getting to that sweet-spot on the first page of Google, above the fold, is why other similar businesses could be out-doing you in traffic and sales.
Your customers are online. Meet them where they are, and allow them to find you in the exact key moment that they are actively researching their problem and looking for business solutions like yours.
Remember, if you don't show up in their search, your competition will.
If optimized correctly, your blog can be the visible, obvious choice because it'll contain the specific keywords your prospects are searching.
Users, and therefore search engines, want relevant and authoritative content as quickly, clearly and intuitively as possible. A skilled content writer can boost your rankings in the local search results and even the map-pack by optimizing your digital content using a variety of proven techniques and strategies.
On-site/on-page SEO using updated, authoritative, reader-friendly, keyword-optimized blog and sales pages
Off-site/off-page SEO to signal to Google that you're worthwhile, reputable business
By making your website search-friendly you'll reap the benefits through the lifetime of your site through ongoing leads, traffic, conversions and revenue!
2) Because you need to win over your customer with Value & Authority (i.e "Lead Generation & Sales Conversions")
If someone is reading your blog, they are exactly where you want them to be — on your website, where they can buy from you, or at least consider doing so in the future.
But, would you trust someone you barely know? Of course not.
In order to secure conversions, you need to build trust with your audience and credibility/authority within your industry.
And one of the best, most cost-efficient and effective ways to do this is through blogging. With this medium you can
TELL your unique story
NURTURE your audience
PROVIDE knowledge and expertise
REPORT news, announcements, statistics, trends
GIVE advice, tips, tricks, how-tos
SHARE reliable information
ANSWER important questions
All of these will draw your readers in and initiate a desire to learn more. That is because this kind of multi-dimensional content marketing builds upon the consumer's psychological and physical needs:
Likeability
Trust
Evidence
Solution
Clear, crisp, compelling and CONNECTION-DRIVEN copy will make the best impression because it embodies your brand and YOU as a subject matter expert and leader in your field. Customers want to work with you when they see you as professional, credible, and interesting- a keeper of wisdom and guidance on #allthethings.
You can differentiate yourself from your competition by tapping into your customer's deepest thoughts and desires (and then their wallets) by talking about what resonates with their lifestyle interests and choices.
Regularly posting of blogs has the power to
educate your reader
entertain your audience
personalize your brand
identify and promote your USP (unique selling points/propositions)
You can spend a lot of money on marketing, but if your content strategy is lacking, you won't get many sales. It's discouraging to waste so much time and money. The job of a great content writer is to help you optimize and correct any public-facing asserts: web copy, emails, blogs, product descriptions, post captions and more. This is all about your brand's reputation. Simply put: You need persuasive, compelling content to impress and convert your customer.
You can only build authority in an industry where people perceive your business as a trusted go-to. The only way to do this is by giving out truly helpful problem-solving content. Your content needs to depict to your potential customer that you (or your service or product) hold VALUE - that you are a reliable thought leader and expert professional who can help meet their needs once and for all.
There are probably hundreds of companies offering the same services as you, so what makes YOU different, and better? The content you publish, especially well-written sales pages and blog posts, is your first opportunity to show that you know your stuff.
You need to stand out to get noticed. For example, well-written blog posts show that you are keen on providing value to your existing and potential customers.
Bonus: You're not only trying to stand out from competitors and stand out for future customers. You should also be trying to stand out in the community so more people will want to know you, meet you, and work with you. Networking and community collaboration is a beautiful by-product of great content!
Bonus: Google prioritizes and rewards content that is fresh, relevant and up to date too!
3) Because you need to engage your audience consistently to stay relevant. (i.e "Omni-channel Content")
Brands today have a multitude of options for promoting their products and services. Professional copywriters can write effectively for all channels, including annual reports, blogs, brochures, email sales sequences, newsletters, social media, and press releases.
Always looking for fresh and consistent content to share in your latest email newsletter or on social media? New posts are an immediate way to start conversation, make a connection and build community with your target audience.
Direct your subscribers to new blog posts they find helpful and break down each long-form piece in to smaller digestible bits.
Your long-form blog content can also be repurposed into smaller batches of micro-content to scatter across social platforms and fill your content calendar quickly and efficiently. The results can be completely non-transactional, but still wildly beneficial because they build awareness, engagement, relationships, shares, or backlinks.
The best thing about creating good content is the fact that you can keep your target audience wanting more. And professional content writers are experts in the art of written magnetism and attraction, as well as big-picture strategy and efficiency to see how, when, why to publish specific content pieces.
Bonus: Every blog can be an opportunity to capture leads and subscribers with links to opt-in forms.
4) Because you need to save your time and energy. (i.e Improved Productivity & Operations)
Business owners have a lot of responsibilities. Small business owners especially can find themselves wearing many hats, and sometimes to their own detriment. Hiring a professional copywriter prevents burnout by allowing you to focus on important tasks.
There's no way around it - Creating quality content IS time-consuming! Although today's Artificial Intelligence tools can speed it up and increase productivity, you will still always need a human touch before you publish.
Content writing can be a headache and take a toll on any businessperson, especially when they have so many other moving parts to manage. If not given full attention, it's easy to make mistakes that could hurt your business in the longrun.
Protect your essential energy by outsourcing your blog to a trained, skilled, experienced and like-minded (in your niche!) who truly loves (and is good at) the "exhausting" process of research and writing. Delegate away the tasks that drain you behind the scenes so you can be free to focus on your soul-affirming calling/craft and the projects that you'd rather be doing to keep your biz growing upward and out.
5) Because you need a High-Quality, High-Value, and High-Impact Content
Tempted to follow the trend and outsource your content to cheap content mills or the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems? Proceed with caution!
For small business owners, it may seem like an easy and affordable solution to use the application to save on the cost of a human writer.
But here’s the catch: the content it creates isn’t Quality, Valuable. or Impactful. Besides, Google prefers quality content written BY people, FOR people. aka REAL (human) writers. That's me!
While ChatGPT can generate text that is similar to that of a human, helping support the complex content generation process, it simply does not have the same understanding of context, emotions, and social cues a real person, especially a professional marketer would.
From ChatGPTs own words: "ChatGPT is a powerful language generation model that can generate human-like text. ChatGPT can be a useful addition to a content manager's toolset, but it should not be seen as a replacement."
Effective content, campaign and brand management requires HUMAN-NESS, the human touch. That means...
deep understanding / comprehension
creativity
emotional intelligence
strategic thinking
relationship/community building
decision making with the bigger picture in mind
Remember, a copywriter or content marketer's job is NOT to just string words together to sell your product or service. We do much more than simply brainstorm, outline, draft, write and edit.
Our job is so much more. Our job is to craft a powerful message that truly resonates with your target audience, builds TRUST, and drives ACTION.
Even if your hired copywriter uses AI to responsibly draft a post they still need to spend hours...
Brainstorming and pitching content ideas
Distilling the client's thoughts into easy-to-understand and branded content
Drafting content briefs and integrating client feedback
Inputting the most relevant keywords and tags for spiders to crawl
Understanding your target audience (real human readers, not just search engines) - and their pain points and pleasure points
Researching a topic thoroughly to makes sure all angles and perspectives are covered
Making the content original and unique to YOU so it stands out over competitors
Tweaking and customizing it for distribution across many different channels
Considering fresh, out of the box solutions and approaches to your, or your customer's problems
Including internal and external links, and citing expert sources and professional references
Building relationships and collaborating with other departments, constituents and partners.
Telling the personal story of your brand that can convert casual consumers into brand loyalists
Optimizing on-page, backend and technical page components
Sourcing unique quotes, opinions, observations with interviews or other tactics
Planning cross-channel distribution and outreach strategies
Incorporating humor or personality, brand voice and tone
Selecting images, videos and other media assets
Reviewing, editing and fact-checking the content before publishing
Providing necessary revisions for brevity and clarity
Staying on top of industry trends and constantly improving their skills for success
Analyzing key metrics and performance indicators
Reporting impact
As you can see, there is so much invisible work that goes into content marketing.
ChatGPT won't do any of this, however it can be a great tool in the initial brain-storming and content-drafting process. But rely on it too much and you face real risk, for several legal and reputational reasons.
ChatGPT generates extrapolated content from existing data (both human and AI-generated) and cobbled together to form something “new”. But sometimes it's not new, and its taken verbatim from other sources. And that's, my friends, is plagiarism.
Secondly, with AI, there is a risk of homogeneity. Search engines are already crowded with low-quality, hastily-produced and keyword-stuffed articles by generated by content mills to satisfy the basic SEO game. And it's possible that the widespread use of AI language models are going to potentially make that situation worse. How will your business distinguish itself from your competitors if your content is essentially the same as theirs?
Lastly, since ChatGPT algorithms are trawling all written material available online, there is no way to vet its authenticity and accuracy. Good quality content is created from secondary research and fact-checking.
Your strategy for success is GREAT Content. What does "Great Content" look like exactly? It's
RELEVANT: aligned with your audience's pain-points, needs, interests and search intent
AUTHORITATIVE: factually accurate, well-researched, well-written, informative, thorough, expertise, trust-building
ORIGINAL: unique perspectives, valuable insights, personality
IMPACTFUL: drives action, traffic or engagement through emotion (empathy, compassion, personality
AI-generated content generally lacks these qualities. But WHO can generate this level of greatness for you? Professional copywriters and content creators, that's who.
Real writers will deliver actual longterm VALUE, i.e your return on investment for weeks, months, and years to come.
And yes - the good ones are indispensable and irreplaceable-- and probably always will be. Sorry, AI.
Wrapping it All Up
There you have it: Several STRONG reasons to hire a content writer to create optimized, audience-specific and engaging content.
Can you use ChatGPT and other AI to your benefit? Sure. But you still need a human to refine, fine tune and finesse the final copy if you want it to achieve your digital marketing goals.
The health and wellness is an inherently human niche. When you approach content creation as a wellness practitioner consider the implications of using non-human content.
Do you want a non-human voice representing your brand and business? Probably not.
Sure, ChatGPT and similar tools are free or affordable. But you get what you pay for. Is saving money and time really worth sacrificing your brand's longterm reputation and results?
Probably not.
That’s where I come in!
With over 10 years' experience helping businesses communicate with their clients, I understand the value of content written by a real, authentic and knowledgable person.
I work with you to build valuable, authoritative content that positions you as an expert and your business as the first solution clients consider for their problem.
Contact me today to learn how my creative health and wellness writing will make your business soar!
Trust me, your customer is smart. They'll be able to tell the difference. And eventually, so will Google.
High-quality content --> High Search Rankings --> Qualified Leads --> Sales & Conversions!
Remember, companies that maintain an active blog have:
So if you're not investing in content marketing, you're neglecting a HUGE driver of leads and revenue.
Artificial intelligence technology can only do what's already been done, so for truly innovative and connection-based copy, you need content that is unique, fresh and REAL.
Bottom line: ChatGPT is a tool, not a replacement for human writers who understand how to use your brand voice and organize content in a way that allows search engines to crawl and index your pages.
If you have a website that's simply not converting (high bounce rate, low engagement rate) it's in your best interest to hire a professional to take a closer look.
To make the most out of your content marketing strategy then it's best to leave the "heavy lifting" to the experts. I can't wait to connect with you soon.
Erin Ratliff is a certified feng shui consultant, holistic business coach and organic growth marketer for earth-loving, heart-centered soul-preneurs.
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