In today’s digital world, marketers have seconds (sometimes less!) to generate interest. Get the most out of your digital marketing vehicles—here are some tips to help you create messages that move people to action and create content that gets attention.

1. Digital Writing Best Practices for Marketers
In collaboration with Marketing Profs, Writing Boot Camp Program

2. Strive to create an
emotional connection

3. Write for the reader,
the customer,
the consumer

4. Whatever the messaging
(B2C or B2B, online or off)
there’s still a person on the other end
H2H: Human to Human

5. Marketing in the digital world requires a
focus on readers/site visitors as people
Sell your services
Have people choose you for the service they need
Inform the world about
Answer people's questions about X, Y, Z
Get subscriptions for your stuff
Have people feel so engaged with you that they
subscribe to your stuff

6. As traditional/paper marketers, we pushed
As digital marketers, we pull

7. Technology’s Marketing Evolution:
Creating the Ever-More Targeted Opportunity
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The
Masses
The
Market
The
Segment
The One

8. Marketing in the Digital Space
People scan first, read second
2-way conversation
Newsworthiness, frequency, and keeping CURRENT
Short, tight, heads & subheads rule
• Bullets & hyperlinks for more
• Whitespace
Foragers abound
• Different social channels, different formats
• Consumption is conversation
• Deliver appropriately: bite, snack, meal

9. Write right, in the right place
– Email/Eblast
– Newsletter
– Website
– Blog
– Cross Pollination
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10. Email/Eblast

11. Email: AttentionInterestDesireAction
Subject lines
• Offer tasty link bait (―I have to click!‖)
• Keep it to 40-60 (trimmed automatically; first 30 chars
count the most)
• Get to the point: scan-able, lead with urgency,
evocative, #s, ?s or benefit
• Maintain credibility (repeat company name)
• Test and learn, split your list to determine best open
and CTRs
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12. Email: AttentionInterestDesireAction
Email headlines/subheads
• Capture attention, compliment the subject line
• Include benefit, scan-able
• Optimize keywords, improve tracking
Images aid conversion and brand building
• Some results show images on the left side pull better
than on the right—try a test
• Top 2‖ of email
• Reinforce your message, don’t detract from it
Alt attributes for non-display
• Disclose what’s behind the box
• Use alt text: Logo name, picture description, etc.
• Don’t lose customers just because they can’t see
graphics
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13. Email: AttentionInterestDesireAction
Content/body
• 2-5 seconds to incent action
• First paragraph/above the fold provide the advantage/the
offer in actionable language
• Don’t sell twice, bullets/hyperlinks for more (bite/snack)
• Short, concise emails perform best
– 200 words max, 100 preferred, whitespace is key
– Cut from 170 to 95 words delivered a 16% higher CTR
• Personalization
– Use recipient’s name, show you care, build trust
– ―You‖ not ―we‖ (it’s about the reader)
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14. Email: AttentionInterestDesireAction
Primary CTA above the fold
• What/why /how rule: What they should do, why it’s worth
clicking, how they do it
Specificity
• One CTA, clear single goal in text link form
• ―Register,‖ ―Buy now,‖ ―Download,‖ ―Learn more‖
• Provide share options for offers (Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.)
Get opt-in, permission
• Ask readers to add to their address books
• Remove them immediately if they request opt-out
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15. Newsletter

16. Newsletter
Permission & Removal
• Collect when you connect
• Remove unsubscribed addresses immediately
Promote
• Offer link on every page of your website, at events/meetings, invite
customers and prospects to sign up
• Ask to ―pass along‖ or ―share‖
Encourage sign up
• Use your Facebook page (and other outlets) to tout
• Reward sign ups with a discount or a white paper
Be Relevant
• Share what you know: it’s about what they want to read, not what
you want to write
• Engage, don’t sell

17. Newsletter: Delivery/Coding
From field should be recognizable, reveal brand name
Automated with personalization gets more response
Alt attributes for images—disclose what’s behind the box
Make subject lines work
• Lead with odd #, benefit, announcement,
provocative/interest, entice with question or mystery
• All recipients are not the same: test a few to see which
generate higher open rates
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18. Newsletter: Design for the Preview Pane
The reader’s eye goes to the top right 2-3 inches
• If you have placed mostly images in that area, readers
will not see any of the content/key phrases they are
looking for
• The preview pane area is the teaser area—give them a
reason to scroll
Above the fold
• A TOC is good practice
• Usability studies show most people won't look beyond
the first screen of information if there's not something
immediately interesting to them
• Is there an offer? Place it as high on the page as design
allows—you want to create engagement/activation
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19. Newsletter: Content/Body
Short, tight (bite, snack)
• Hyperlinks for more (meal)
2-5 seconds to get reader’s attention
• Scanable—79% scan for what interests them
• Use verbs, actionable language
Engage & entice
• Write a series of articles that build one upon another
• At the conclusion of each one, include a ’teaser’
promoting what comes next
Consistent content, features & format = expected rhythm
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20. Website

21. Website
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Your
business
goals
Your
visitor’s
goals
Successful
web
content

22. Website: Design for your visitor’s realities
Capture the marketing moment—what are they asking and are
you answering it?
Respect the visitor’s time, average page visit lasts >1 minute
Page copy
• Talk to them (not at them or about you) in their language—
focus on the buyer
• No feature dumping– romance benefits as solutions
Best practice: 200-500 words per page
CTA and sign up/opt-in pages
• place prompts throughout site: sign up, share this, get in
touch, download this, etc.
• Reinforce their perception of you: establish credibility, social
proof
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23. Website Dos
Simplify View & Navigation
• Make it easy to find what
visitors are looking for; good
design, good technology
Provide conversation; web
content is what you’d say if
visitor was across the table
• Friendly, accommodate
needs, focus on them
• Take every chance to get a
click/get them to take action
Know your customer
• Diff voices for diff visitors
• Diff info for diff visitors
No load/browser issues
• Ensure seamless experience
• Be mobile friendly
Site should not stop the
conversation
• No dead end pages
• Don’t muddle the message—
get them to take action
No content mullets
• Remove or archive outdated
articles, pages, etc.
Website Don’ts

24. Blog

25. Blog Basics
How to begin
• Troll other blogs, industry news, best practices
• Form your opinion; post
• Join the conversations of others; establish presence in community
• Continue the conversation—respond to posts made to your blog, as well as
comments made on others
Be regular--not redundant
• Select topics that peak interest and encourage repeat visits
• Set your feeds to deliver relevant content
• What they want to read, not what you want to write
• Write like you talk, H2H
Make subscribing easy
• Subscription management tools & plug-ins

26. Optimize Exposure by
Cross-Pollinating

27. White Paper/ebook
• Segment or use excerpts
as newsletter features
• Divide into a blog series
• Blow out chapters into
deeper explorations of the
particular subject
• Post engaging questions
on LinkedIn/Facebook
about subject matter to
start a discussion
Blog Posts
• Aggregate related blog
posts and turn them into
an ebook
• Create a video about the
subject matter and link
that back to the blog
post
• Post engaging questions
on LinkedIn/Facebook
about subject matter to
start a discussion
Case Studies
• Turn written/paper
testimonials into video
versions
• Post on Facebook,
LinkedIn, YouTube,
Google+
• Tweet or post a relevant
stat from the case study
and link back
• Offer as thought
leadership in email
series
Repurpose Your Content with a Purpose

28. Thanks for your interest! Want to know more?
Check out our website:
jacobsagency.com
Visit our blog:
jacobsagency.com/throughthelines/
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