If you’re like me, you grew up watching Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals and have probably been conditioned to do everything as efficiently as possible, from ordering groceries online to studying for tests via Quizlet.
The good news is that like everything else in 2021, there are many great ways to streamline your content marketing.
Here is a sample outline and a few tips for producing intriguing blogs in a time crunch.
Start with a simple outline. 👇
Oh, the headline. I often write a few to choose from or revisit this piece last. There is a plethora of free headline analyzers on the internet that help simplify the process. (Remember to take them with a grain of salt. They aren’t humans like us, after all.)
Depending on the tone and topic of the blog, it can be fun to add something personal to humanize your piece.
If this doesn’t fit, start with the answer to this question: Why should readers care about this information?
Clearly tell the readers what they will learn in this blog.
Breaking your copy up with subsections is a simple way to outline what you want to cover. Start with three key points you want to make, and outline those. Then fill in the body copy.
Plus, listicles aren’t just for BuzzFeed. Do you have five new things to share about marketing automation? Structure the blog around them.
Close with a sentence summarizing what you’ve covered. Then (this is important!) add a CTA.
Do you want readers to contact you for more information or subscribe to your newsletter? Provide a link at the end.
Dig deeper to find the story.
Say you’re writing about a new product launch. Yes, you’ll want to incorporate the product specs and the who, what, when, where, why and how, but look further and start asking yourself questions about the topic.
Is this product improving someone’s daily life? How? What do they like about it? What makes this product new and different to the market? Why should readers be excited about it?
Maybe this new offering will help Joe in Nebraska streamline his operation and spend more time with his family.
Anecdotes like this will grab the reader’s attention more than a list of features and benefits.
Remember that the writing process is fluid.
Think of your word processor like an ever changing canvas.
Add text, remove it, and change some as you go.
There is no rule stating you must start from the beginning and write a blog straight in one sitting – in fact, that doesn’t usually make for good writing.
Think about mobile users.
40 percent of time spent on websites comes from mobile users, and this number is only increasing.
The easiest way to keep your copy digestible for mobile is to indent frequently and avoid large paragraphs. (Save those for novelists.)
Now that you’ve made it to the end, you’re ready to whip up blogs about anything in less time than a frozen dinner takes in the oven.