As content becomes a bigger part of marketing your organization, learning to write and create content for the web and mobile experiences is a valuable skill.

1. Writing for the
Digital World
Katina French

2. Hi there!
Who I am:
● Current: Copy Director @ OOHology
● Past:
o Digital Marketing Manager, CafePress
o Operations Manager, Social Media Explorer
o Digital Marketing Manager, Doe Anderson
o Copywriter, LEAP

3. Who you are:
● Webmasters
● Marketers
● Social Media Managers
● Graphic Designers
● Web Developers

4. Learning Goals
Strategies and tactics for writing for today’s digital media,
including:
● Websites (Content Strategy)
● Social media channels (Content Marketing)
● Email marketing (Customer Relationship Management)
● Digital Marketing (Tactics & Tools)

5. Things we’ll discuss
● Why content strategy matters (and why it’s hard).
● How to write compelling website content.
● Mastering short-form content.
● Making room for multimedia.
● Optimizing content for a digital audience.
● Responsive content & mobile considerations.
● Channel-specific strategies for social media.
● Repurposing traditional content for the web.
● Elements of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

6. The Digital World in 2015
The digital world demands mobility
● In 2014, mobile internet usage overtook desktop.
● This month, Google begins penalizing sites which don’t
offer a good mobile experience.
The digital world demands agility
● After years of relative stability, social media is seeing
disruption from Periscope, Meerkat, Snapchat, etc.
Digital content must be clear, concise and consistent.

7. Planning, producing and organizing
website content.
Content
Strategy

8. Content & Higher Education

9. Content & Higher Education

10. Content & Higher Education

11. Obstacles to Content Clarity
● Multiple stakeholders
● Conflicting priorities & approaches
● Outdated or redundant content
● Poorly-repurposed print copy
● 1000 words instead of a picture (or video)

12. Too Many Cooks Spoil the Content?
“When all you have is a
hammer, everything
looks like a nail.”
Integration is vital.
Everyone’s POV has value.
Either you have a process, or
you have chaos.
Marketing Technology
Design Editorial

13. The Path to Content ClarityContent is
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Reactive
Tactical
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Managed
Strategic

14. Your Home Page = Your Fridge
“Everything can’t be in the
front.” - Your mom.
Prioritization is key.
Timeliness matters.

15. Know what your audience wants
… and then
deliver it.
● UX
● Surveys
● Audits

16. Surviving a Content Audit
aka “Learn to love spreadsheets”
Look for unmet needs, but be aware:
Most of your work will be eliminating,
combining or optimizing existing content.

17. Keep, Combine, Update or Archive?
aka “Should it stay or should it go?”
● Review/rate by criteria:
o Timely, timeless or dated?
o Local, global, internal, external?
o Concise, clear and scannable?
o Mobile, searchable and sharable?

18. Timely, Timeless or Dated
Timely - “I need this now.”
Timeless - “I’ll need this always.”
Dated - “Could an update make this timely
or timeless? If not, archive or omit.”

19. Who is your audience?
Where is the logical place for this info?
What is the appropriate voice & messaging?
Local, Global, Internal or External?

20. If it passed the relevance tests, is it
optimized?
Could this be expressed in half the words?
Could a reader take in the main ideas in
under a minute?
Concise, Clear and Scannable?

21. Are images sized to load quickly?
Can PDFs and images be read by search
engines?
Is sharing easy and encouraged?
Mobile, Searchable and Sharable?

22. Writing compelling website content
● Understand & master your brand voice
o Voice & Tone
● Create character, speak like a human
being.
● Build a narrative with reader as hero.
● Ask “what’s in it for me?”
● Balance timeliness with timelessness

23. Structuring content for digital
“Writing is a credit system” - Catherynne
Valente
● Headlines, subheads, and pull quotes
quickly grab attention
● Inverted pyramid - most important stuff
comes first.
● Utilize short paragraphs, bullets, graphics

24. Mastering Short Copy
● Mastery of short copy is vital
o To create “Tweet-worthy” pull quotes.
o To create “Upworthy” headlines.
o To create “must click” subjects for email.
o To sell your message to a shrinking attention span.
● Create curiosity but don’t be opaque
o Think cozy mystery
o Make the audience feel smart
o Suggest, don’t give it all away

25. Repurposing Content for the Web
● If it passes the
copy-and-paste
test, it should be
simple to tailor for
the web.
● If it fails, it’s not
mobile or search
engine friendly.

26. Planning, producing and promoting social
media content.
Content Marketing

27. Planning your program

28. Content != Copy
But editorial still takes the lead. Because...
● Video + Podcasts are growing, demand
scripts
● Text on image = Huge impact
● Infographics start with “info”
● Like traditional advertising, a great
concept needs a good hook.

29. Brand Character + Voice
● Review the brand guidelines.
● Pause before you post.
● Character or representative?

30. Grammar vs. Brevity
● Set a line in the sand.
● Discuss it beforehand.
● & is your friend.
● Hashtags are almost always expendable

31. Get a reaction in <140 characters
● Being controversial is easy. Not sustainable.
● Never go with your first take.
● Be Desi -- your audience is Luci.
● “Somebody had to say it.” Be somebody.
● Set it up in text. Pay it off in a picture.
● Bait a sneezer.
● Improv classes.

32. Know your audience - Case Study
● CafePress - 6 distinct audiences
● Top 3 personas for each platform
● Separate content strategy
o By persona
o By platform
● Required flexible brand voice

33. Know our Audience
“Assurance Seeker”
Skews male and older. Looking for content that affirms their
traditional, set-in-my-ways values.
Products: apparel, drinkware.
Keywords: military, conservative/political, sports, vintage,
retro

34. Handle with care

35. Seriously. Handle with care.

36. Know Your Audience
“Creative DIYer”
Skews female, but with a more funky or eclectic style.
Concerned with showing their unique personality and
interests, including causes.
● Products: apparel, keepsakes, accessories, drinkware,
kids & baby.
● Keywords: unique, creative, funky, artistic, knit, craft

37. Create a funny share prompt

38. Platform-Specific Advice

39. Stuff we’re not discussing today
Medium
YouTube
Ello
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Tinder
Medium
YouTube
Ello
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Tinder

40. Facebook
● Organic reach is over
● Paid targeting is mature
● CTAs & boosting
● “SEO” value

41. Targeting Audiences

42. Facebook - CTA button

43. Search Engine Optimization

44. Twitter
● Most mixed audience
● Curation is key
● High effort
● Best for networking
● Customer support

45. Twitter Ads

46. Twitter Quick Promote

47. LinkedIn
● B2B or Talent Acquisition
● Publishing platform
● Thought leadership
● Sponsored Updates
● Individual vs. Company

48. Instagram
● Photo-centric
● Ad-resistant
● Closed system
● Highly viral
● Luxury brands, lifestyle businesses

49. Pinterest
● Photo-centric
● Retail-friendly
o Food, fashion, home
o Travel and lifestyle brands
● “Pinfluencers”
● Promoted Pins
● Rich Pins

50. Tumblr
● Animated GIFs
● Younger demo
● Extremely viral
● Ad-resistant
● Creatr network

51. Planning & producing email content for
the lifecycle of your audience.
Customer
Relationship
Management

52. Email Marketing + Education

53. Email Marketing Opportunities
Email still has a strong impact.
● Newsletters (segmented!)
o By lifecycle (prospect, parent, student,
alumni)
o By campus
o By academic program
● Surveys
o Great source of information

54. Email Marketing Opportunities
Email still has a strong impact.
● Transactional emails (optimized!)
o Biggest missed opportunity
o Write like a human
o Cross-promote social (it’s where millennials
want to look for information anyway.)

55. Tactics for Effective Email Content
● 81% view on mobile device
o Avoid image-intense designs
● Weekends get higher CTR
o Also, more links = higher CTR, so it’s okay to repeat
● Watch your frequency
o It’s the most common reason for unsubs
● Edit ruthlessly
o Boring content is next common reason for unsub

56. Don’t get flagged as spam
● Avoid “Free” “Urgent” or Call Now” in subject
line.
o OR ANYTHING IN ALL CAPS.
o Also more than one exclamation point!!!
● Practice safe sending
o Scrub your list frequently.
o Drop questionable contacts with low/no opens

57. How important is that headline?
Drop metrics from Norton Nativo resultsHeadline
Impressi
on
Clicks CTR
CTA
Rate
Avg Time
Spent on
Content
You won’t believe what one hospital promised women
patients 569,594 5,305
0.93% 2.24%
1:29
Why this hospital offers pedicures to new moms 60,009 359 0.60% 3.90% 1:02
Women make most health care decisions. What one
hospital did to earn their trust 45,962 282
0.61% 1.06%
1:24
Top things to look for in a women’s and children’s
hospital 17,928 104
0.58% 1.92%
1:21
Get better care: How one hospital caters to women and
families 13,482 71
0.53% 2.82%
1:31
Do you want more from a women’s hospital? 10,707 52 0.49% 0.00% 1:55

58. Tactical
Considerations
SEO, Native Advertising, Mobile
Marketing, Other Tools & Tactics.

59. ● Semantic Code
o One H1 per page
o H2s fall after H1
● Include, but don’t stuff, keywords
o Proximity & frequency matters (early & often)
● Good 503 accessibility = good SEO
o Use Alt-Text for images
● Strive for at least 250 words / page
Basics of On-Page SEO

60. Native Advertising
● The modern “advertorial”
o High engagement / click through rates
o Works best if it feels organic
● Platforms
o Outbrain
o Taboola
o Nativo

61. ● Google’s “Mobile Test”
o google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
● Do you need an app?
o entrepreneur.com/article/243482
● SEO Tools & Tips
o SEMrush.com
o SEOmoz.com
Mobile & Other Tools