At Platform Creator, we continually test AI tools. Most do not make the cut. A few have become core to how we help businesses market smarter, not louder.

ChatGPT: The Brain of Your Marketing Operation

At the center of any AI-powered marketing system is ChatGPT. This is where strategy, messaging, and structure begin.

ChatGPT works best when you stop treating it like a writer and start treating it like a strategist. The quality of output is directly tied to the quality of the prompt.

Prompt Ideas for Better Marketing Content

Blog Content Prompt:
Act as a local SEO strategist for a Dallas-based service business. Create a blog outline targeting the keyword “Google Business Profile DFW” with conversion-focused CTAs.

Social Media Prompt:
Write three LinkedIn posts for a small business owner in North Texas. The tone should be professional and conversational. The goal is inbound leads, not engagement for engagement’s sake.

Email Campaign Prompt:
Create a 3-email nurture sequence for website visitors who requested a free SEO audit. The audience is non-technical business owners.

Prompt Ideas for Image Direction:
Describe a clean, modern hero image for a local SEO agency website. Emphasize clarity, trust, and growth. No stock-photo clichés.

Nano Banana: Clean Marketing Images

Nano Banana is our go-to AI image generation tool for marketing-ready visuals. It excels at clean compositions, realistic people, and visuals that support messaging rather than distract from it.

Fal.ai: Advanced Image and Video Generation

Fal.ai is ideal for more advanced experimentation and creative testing. It offers a large library of image and video generation models within a single dashboard.

Nano Banana is available directly inside the Fal.ai platform, making it easy to move from clean, marketing-ready images to more advanced visual and motion-based experiments without switching tools.

Fal.ai is especially useful for short-form video concepts, stylized image variations, creative testing before production, and exploring motion-based ideas for ads or landing pages.

While Fal.ai operates on a credit-based system, many projects are inexpensive. Simple image generations and short video clips often cost pennies per second of video, making it practical for testing ideas without committing to full production budgets.

Updating.ai: Website Optimization Built for AI Search Visibility

Updating.ai goes beyond traditional SEO. It is designed for how people search today across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Key benefits include:
– Indexed across major AI platforms
– Standard AI visibility coverage
– Optimized for “near me” and service-based searches
– Designed to surface your business inside AI-generated recommendations
– Many businesses begin seeing traffic improvements within 30 days

How These Tools Work Together

ChatGPT defines strategy and messaging.
Nano Banana produces clean visuals.
Fal.ai explores advanced creative concepts.
Updating.ai ensures the website converts and gets discovered.

Final Thought

AI is not a shortcut. It is a multiplier.

Businesses that integrate AI into real strategy gain momentum. Those who chase tools without structure get noise.

In an upcoming post, we’ll dive deeper into how to use each of these tools individually.

The post Our Favorite AI Tools to Run Your Marketing Department appeared first on Platform Creator.

Tired of watching your competitors soar in search results while your business struggles to keep up? You’re not alone. Many small businesses in North Texas are discovering the game-changing power of short-form video to boost local search rankings and engage audiences like never before. Imagine transforming your online presence with Dallas video production for small business tailored to your needs. Stick around, and you’ll learn how these strategies can elevate your brand and drive real conversions.

Boost Your Local Search Rankings 

Video content can significantly improve your local search rankings. Let’s explore how video marketing in North Texas and Dallas video production for small businesses can help you climb the search engine ladder.

Video Marketing North Texas

Video marketing in North Texas is becoming essential for small businesses aiming to improve their local search rankings. Search engines like Google, Microsoft Bing, and Yahoo favor websites with video content, often ranking them higher in search results.

By creating and optimizing videos for your business, you can increase your chances of appearing in local search results. This is because videos tend to keep visitors on your site longer, signaling to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant.

Local businesses can benefit from creating videos that showcase their products, services, or even behind-the-scenes glimpses of their operations. These videos can be optimized with local keywords and descriptions to further boost their visibility in North Texas searches.

Dallas Video Production for Small Business

Dallas video production for small business offers a way to create professional-quality videos that can set you apart from competitors. Professional videos can enhance your brand image and credibility, which can lead to better search rankings and more customer trust.

Small businesses in Dallas can leverage video production services to create various types of content, such as product demonstrations, customer testimonials, or educational videos about their industry. These videos can be optimized for local searches by including Dallas-specific keywords and locations.

Professional video production can also ensure that your videos are of high quality and properly formatted for different platforms, which can improve their performance in search results and on social media.

Engage with Social Video

Social media platforms are increasingly prioritizing video content. Let’s look at how you can use social engagement videos and short-form content to connect with your audience and improve your online presence.

The Power of Social Engagement Video

Social engagement videos are a powerful tool for connecting with your audience and improving your online visibility. These videos are designed to encourage likes, comments, and shares, which can boost your content’s reach and engagement rates.

Creating engaging social videos involves understanding your audience and crafting content that resonates with them. This could include behind-the-scenes looks at your business, quick tips related to your industry, or responses to common customer questions.

By consistently posting engaging videos on social media platforms, you can build a loyal following and increase your brand’s visibility. This increased engagement can lead to better performance in social media algorithms, potentially improving your overall online presence.

Short-Form Video for Quick Wins

Short-form videos have become increasingly popular, offering businesses a way to quickly capture attention and deliver their message. These brief videos, often lasting less than a minute, are perfect for today’s fast-paced social media environment.

Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts provide opportunities for businesses to reach new audiences with concise, engaging content. Short-form videos can be used to showcase products, share quick tips, or give a glimpse into your company culture.

The key to success with short-form video is to create content that is both informative and entertaining. By doing so, you can increase the likelihood of your videos being shared, which can lead to greater visibility and potentially improved search rankings.

Convert Viewers Into Customers

Creating engaging videos is just the first step. The real goal is to turn those viewers into paying customers. Let’s explore strategies to improve video conversion rates and discuss custom video packages for small businesses.

Improve Video Conversion Rates

Improving video conversion rates is crucial for turning viewers into customers. To achieve this, your videos should have a clear call-to-action (CTA) that guides viewers on what to do next.

Effective CTAs can include invitations to visit your website, sign up for a newsletter, or make a purchase. The key is to make these CTAs clear and compelling, without being overly pushy.

Another strategy to improve conversion rates is to create videos that address specific customer pain points or questions. By providing valuable information, you can build trust with your audience, making them more likely to convert.

Custom Video Packages for Small Business

Custom video packages for small businesses can be a cost-effective way to create professional-quality videos tailored to your specific needs and goals. These packages often include a mix of different video types, such as promotional videos, product demonstrations, and customer testimonials.

When choosing a video package, consider your business goals and target audience. A good video production company will work with you to create a package that fits your budget while delivering the types of videos that will be most effective for your business.

Remember, investing in quality video content can pay off in the long run by improving your search rankings, increasing engagement, and ultimately driving more conversions for your business.

In our next post, we’ll share with you some of the tools and strategies we use to create professional videos that engage audiences.

The post The Secret to Better Local Search Rankings: Video Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses appeared first on Platform Creator.

We’ll delve into leveraging search engine results by analyzing Google’s “People also ask” feature for question-based inspiration and identifying patterns in user-generated queries. Additionally, we’ll discuss how exploring Amazon book reviews can help mine customer feedback for topic suggestions and inspire market research questions based on reader pain points.

Moreover, you will learn the importance of focusing on outcomes over deliverables by shifting focus from features to desired end-results and crafting positive precursors when posing difficult inquiries. Furthermore, we’ll cover harnessing Answer the Public tool to uncover trending themes and integrate popular keywords into your market research strategy.

Last but not least, engaging existing customers directly through surveys or one-on-one interviews can provide invaluable insights for creating High Relevancy Content that truly speaks to your audience’s needs.

Leveraging Search Engine Results

Utilize search engine results pages (SERPs) to find market research questions that matter most to your target audience. The “People also ask” section on SERPs offers a goldmine of relevant queries, providing insights into the concerns and interests of potential customers. By analyzing these user-generated inquiries, you can craft relevant content tailored towards addressing their needs.

Analyzing Google’s “People also ask” Feature for Question-Based Inspiration

Google’s “People also ask” feature is an excellent source of inspiration when searching for market research questions. This section appears in SERPs when users search for specific topics or keywords related to your niche. It provides a list of commonly asked questions by other users, giving you valuable insight into what people want to know about your industry or product offering.

• Input a keyword into the Google search engine to uncover common inquiries about your industry.
• Note down any recurring themes or patterns among the listed questions as potential content ideas.
• Create engaging articles or blog posts that answer these popular queries while incorporating SEO best practices.

Identifying Patterns in User-Generated Queries for Content Ideas

Beyond just using the “People also ask” feature, pay close attention to patterns within user-generated queries across various platforms such as forums and social media channels like Reddit and Quora. These sources offer additional opportunities for uncovering trending topics within your industry which can be used as inspiration when crafting market research questions and developing compelling content around them.

Browse through popular forums and discussion boards within your niche – look for recurring questions or concerns raised by users.
Monitor social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn to identify trending topics related to your business – use these as a starting point for generating market research questions.
Create content that addresses the identified patterns, ensuring it is engaging, informative, and original while incorporating relevant keywords for improved search engine visibility.
Incorporating insights from SERPs into your market research strategy allows you to create relevant content that resonates with potential customers. By addressing their most pressing concerns and interests through targeted articles or blog posts, you can establish yourself as an authority within your industry while driving more traffic to your website.

Leveraging search engine results is a powerful tool for discovering new content ideas and insights. Exploring Amazon book reviews offers further opportunities to uncover customer pain points, which can be used as the basis of market research questions.

Exploring Amazon Book Reviews

One often overlooked source of market research questions is Amazon book reviews. By delving into the feedback left by readers on books related to your product or service niche, you can uncover valuable insights that will help you craft highly relevant content. In this section, we’ll discuss how to mine customer feedback from book reviews and use reader pain points as inspiration for market research questions.

Mining Customer Feedback from Book Reviews for Topic Suggestions

To get started with this approach, search for popular books in your industry on Amazon. Read through the reviews left by customers who have purchased these books and pay close attention to their comments about what they found helpful or lacking in existing resources. This information can serve as a goldmine of topic suggestions for your own content creation efforts.

• Positive reviews: Look at what aspects of the book resonated with readers – these could be potential topics that align well with your target audience’s interests.
• Negative reviews: Identify common complaints or gaps in knowledge mentioned by reviewers – addressing these issues in your content can set you apart from competitors and demonstrate expertise within your field.
• Suggestions: Take note of any recommendations made by reviewers regarding additional resources or areas they would like to see covered more extensively – this provides an opportunity to create targeted content that fills those gaps and caters directly to user needs.

Using Reader Pain Points as Inspiration for Market Research Questions

In addition to providing topic ideas, analyzing Amazon book reviews also allows you to identify key pain points experienced by individuals within your target audience. These challenges can serve as the basis for market research questions that will help you better understand your prospects and create content tailored to their needs.

For example, if a reviewer mentions struggling with implementing a specific strategy discussed in a book, consider asking:

“What are the biggest challenges you face when implementing [specific strategy] in your business?”

Or if multiple reviewers express frustration about not finding enough practical examples within existing resources, pose the question:

“What types of practical examples would be most helpful to you when learning about [topic]?”

Incorporating these pain points into your market research efforts ensures that you’re addressing genuine concerns and interests shared by potential customers. By creating content that speaks directly to these issues, you’ll increase engagement and establish yourself as an authority within your industry.

Exploring Amazon Book Reviews can be a great way to gain insight into customer feedback and identify potential topics for further research. By shifting focus from deliverables to desired outcomes, we can craft positive precursors when posing difficult inquiries in order to maximize success.

Key Takeaway:
By analyzing Amazon book reviews, small businesses can uncover valuable insights and pain points that will help them create highly relevant content. Positive and negative reviews provide potential topics for content creation while reader pain points serve as the basis for market research questions that address genuine concerns of potential customers. By addressing these issues, small businesses can increase engagement and establish themselves as authorities within their industry.

Focusing on Outcomes Over Deliverables

When crafting market research questions, it’s essential to shift your focus from deliverables to outcomes. This approach helps you identify key benefits and value propositions that resonate with prospects while setting an upbeat tone before asking challenging questions. By concentrating on the desired end-results, you can create content that truly addresses the needs of your target audience.

Shifting Focus from Features to Desired End-Results

Rather than merely listing product features or services offered, consider how these aspects contribute to achieving specific goals for your customers. For example, instead of discussing a software’s various functionalities, emphasize how it streamlines processes and saves time for users. A helpful exercise is creating benefit statements that clearly outline the advantages clients will experience by using your solution.

Ask: “How does our product/service help customers achieve their objectives?”
Create benefit statements: “Our custom software solutions simplify complex tasks and increase productivity.”
Incorporate these insights into market research questions: “What challenges do businesses face when managing data? How could streamlined processes improve efficiency?”

Crafting Positive Precursors When Posing Difficult Inquiries

To encourage honest feedback without putting respondents on the defensive, frame difficult inquiries in a positive light by using affirmative language as precursors. This technique sets an optimistic tone while still addressing potential pain points head-on.

This question acknowledges existing efforts while inviting constructive criticism, helping you gather valuable insights for content creation. By incorporating positive precursors into your market research questions, you can foster open communication and better understand the needs of your target audience.

Focusing on outcomes over deliverables allows businesses to hone in on the most impactful solutions and ensure that their investments yield maximum return. Leveraging Answer the Public’s tool will help uncover popular themes and trending keywords, enabling you to create a more effective market research strategy.

Harnessing Answer the Public Tool

Leverage Answer the Public, an online tool designed specifically for generating question-based keyword ideas based on user searches. Use this resource to discover popular topics within your industry and create relevant content tailored towards those subjects.

Uncovering Trending Themes through Answer the Public Analysis

With its intuitive interface, Answer the Public makes it easy to uncover trending themes in your niche by providing a comprehensive list of questions people are asking about specific keywords. To get started, simply enter a relevant keyword or phrase into the search bar and watch as numerous related queries populate before you. This invaluable information can help guide your market research efforts and ensure that you’re addressing topics that genuinely interest your target audience.

• Visualize data: The platform presents results in visually appealing formats such as mind maps, making it easier to identify patterns and connections between different inquiries.
• Analyze trends: By examining frequently asked questions over time, you can stay ahead of emerging trends within your industry and produce timely content that resonates with potential customers.
• Narrow down focus: Filter results by category (e.g., how-to’s, comparisons) or sentiment (positive/negative), allowing you to hone in on specific areas where there may be gaps in existing resources.

Integrating Popular Keywords into Your Market Research Strategy

Incorporating popular keywords from Answer the Public into your market research strategy not only helps generate relevant content ideas but also improves overall SEO performance. Here are some tips for effectively integrating these insights into your marketing plan:

1. Optimize content: Use the questions and keywords generated by Answer the Public to inform your blog post titles, headings, and subheadings. This will make it more likely that search engines recognize your content as relevant to user queries.
2. Create a keyword matrix: Organize popular terms into a spreadsheet or table for easy reference when planning future content. Regularly update this resource with new findings from Answer the Public searches to stay current on trending topics.
3. Analyze competitors: Examine how other businesses in your niche are addressing these popular inquiries by conducting a competitor analysis. Identify areas where they may be falling short or missing opportunities, then capitalize on those gaps with targeted content of your own.

Tapping into tools like Answer the Public can help you uncover valuable insights about what matters most to potential customers while also improving SEO performance through strategic keyword integration. By staying attuned to emerging trends and frequently asked questions within your industry, you’ll be better equipped to create relevant content that resonates with business leaders seeking solutions for their challenging problems.

Harnessing Answer the Public Tool can be a great way to uncover trending themes and integrate popular keywords into your market research strategy. Engaging existing customers directly is another powerful tool for gathering valuable insights about customer preferences, needs, and expectations.

Key Takeaway:
Answer the Public is a useful tool for generating question-based keyword ideas and discovering popular topics within your industry. By analyzing frequently asked questions, you can stay ahead of emerging trends, narrow down focus areas, and integrate popular keywords into your marketing strategy to improve SEO performance.

Engaging Existing Customers Directly

One of the most effective ways to gather valuable insights for creating relevant content is by engaging existing customers directly. By leveraging the knowledge of your existing customers, you can uncover valuable insights to refine and improve your marketing strategies. By conducting targeted surveys and interviews, you can uncover hidden opportunities and challenges faced by users who have already engaged with your platform.

Conducting Customer Surveys to Gather Insights

Customer surveys are an excellent tool for collecting feedback from a wide audience in a relatively short amount of time. To make the most out of these surveys, ensure that they include questions designed to elicit meaningful responses about their experiences, preferences, and pain points related to your offering. Some tips for crafting effective survey questions include:

• Avoid leading questions that may bias respondents’ answers.
• Favor open-ended inquiries over yes/no queries when possible.
• Incorporate rating scales to gauge satisfaction levels more accurately.
• Segment participants based on demographics or usage patterns for better-targeted results.

Utilizing One-on-One Interviews for In-depth Understanding

Beyond customer surveys, one-on-one interviews offer an even deeper level of understanding into how clients perceive and interact with your business offerings. These conversations provide ample opportunity not only to ask specific market research questions but also to observe non-verbal cues such as body language and tone which might reveal additional insights about user sentiment towards certain aspects of your products or services. When planning these interviews:

1. Construct a set of queries that open up the possibility for interviewees to express their ideas and experiences.
2. Create a comfortable environment for interviewees, ensuring they feel at ease when sharing feedback.
3. Record the conversation (with permission) for later analysis and reference.

Be prepared to ask follow-up questions based on responses received during the discussion.

Incorporating direct customer engagement into your content marketing strategy not only helps you create content that resonates with your target audience but also fosters stronger relationships with existing clients. By taking the time to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points, you can develop more effective marketing campaigns tailored specifically towards those who matter most – your customers.

Key Takeaway:
Engaging existing customers directly is an effective way to gather insights for creating relevant content. Customer surveys and one-on-one interviews are excellent tools for collecting feedback, but it’s important to avoid leading questions, favor open-ended inquiries, incorporate rating scales, segment participants based on demographics or usage patterns and create a comfortable environment for interviewees.

FAQs in Relation to High Relevancy Content

What is the Importance of Content Relevancy?

Content relevancy is crucial for engaging your target audience, improving search engine rankings, and increasing conversion rates. Relevant content addresses the needs and interests of your audience, establishes credibility, and fosters trust between you and your readers. Additionally, search engines prioritize relevant content when determining page rankings.

How Do You Make Content More Relevant?

To make content more relevant:

1. Understand your target audience’s needs
2. Create targeted personas
3. Conduct keyword research to identify popular topics
4. Analyze competitors’ successful content strategies

Incorporate user-generated feedback into topic selection

Forbes Agency Council offers additional tips on creating relevant content.

What is Considered as Relevant Content?

Relevant content directly addresses the needs, interests, or pain points of a specific target audience. It provides valuable information that helps solve problems or answer questions while being timely and up-to-date with industry trends. Examples include how-to guides, case studies, whitepapers, or blog posts tailored to address a particular issue within an industry. Content Marketing Institute discusses relevance vs quality in-depth here.

How Do You Know if Content is Relevant?

To determine if content is relevant, consider the following:

1. Does it address your target audience’s needs or interests?
2. Is it aligned with current industry trends and topics?
3. Do readers engage with the content (e.g., comments, shares, conversions)?

Search Engine Journal provides more insights on measuring content relevance.

Conclusion

Creating high relevancy content is crucial for businesses looking to solve challenging problems through improved processes. By leveraging search engine results, exploring Amazon book reviews, focusing on outcomes over deliverables, harnessing Answer the Public tool, and engaging existing customers directly, businesses can generate relevant content that resonates with their target audience.

Using tactics like long-tail keyword generation and joining pertinent conversations, businesses can extend their reach by producing content that speaks to their target market. Remember to focus on the user journey and crafting positive precursors when posing difficult inquiries.

To start generating relevant content for your business, it’s essential to create content that positions you as an expert in your field. This can be achieved through keyword research, social media, and engaging with your audience. By creating content that is relevant to your audience, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and build trust with your potential customers.

At Platform Creator, we specialize in creating relevant content that helps businesses solve complex problems. Our custom software solutions are tailored to meet your unique needs, and we work closely with you to ensure that our solutions align with your business goals. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you create relevant content that resonates with your target audience.

The post High Relevancy Content: Effective Strategies for Businesses appeared first on Platform Creator.

Along with blog posts and videos, email newsletters are among the most trusted forms of digital marketing content consumed worldwide. So, there’s good reason to read them to help you generate high-quality marketing content.

Whether you’re just getting started, or even if you’ve been at it a while, coming up with content ideas takes significant time and effort.

If you provide relevant stuff, readers will want more of it regularly. And consistent content output becomes a non-negotiable expectation on their part.

That means you’ll need plenty of ideas in the can at all times.

Subscribing to various newsletters will provide you with a steady flow of video or blog-worthy topics to inform your content marketing strategy.

In the past, we’ve written about content curation. But in this post, we’re going to do some curating for you by offering three newsletters that will prime your content marketing pump.

The 3 Valuable Newsletters For Content Creators

1. For The Interested.

Josh Spector may be best known for his advice on how to write newsletters. But there’s much more to be gleaned from his daily and weekly newsletters.

For example, his most recent weekly letter covered topics ranging from creativity obstacles to what happened to a successful freelancer when he stopped using social media for a year.

Another helpful link was Josh’s article: The Two Ways To Grow Your Audience: Do More or Do Less. Spoiler alert: most everyone struggling to grow is doing too much or too little.

Josh Spector’s advice for content creators is among the most solid and helpful we’ve found. Not only does he share valuable tips, but he also finds and shares rich resources around the web, like this one.

2. Ann Handley’s Total Annarchy.

One of the ways you can start improving your marketing content is to learn from newsletters what a good or even great piece of content looks like. Ann Handley’s fortnightly missive definitely falls into the greatness category.

She consistently serves up delectable content with humor, transparency, meaty advice, engaging stories. All with a big dollop of generosity.

Generous enough to tell you how she does it in her new How to Newsletter ebook.

And speaking of engaging stories, here’s how her most recent newsletter begins:

I’m in line at the Chinese takeout place. Just ahead of me is a little girl. Maybe 5? She’s with her dad.

It’s busy—because it’s the holiday season, and Chinese takeout is a tradition an institution.

Bottom line: Ann has this fantastic ability to pull you in with stories plain scary good writin’.

Once you start, you won’t want to stop reading Total Annarchy.

3. Dickie’s Digest.

That’s “Dickie” as in Dickie Bush, the creator of the wildly popular, successful, and heavily twitter-based workshop called Ship30for30.

His collaborator on the workshop is Nicolas Cole, one of the most-read writers on the internet and a brilliant teacher.

Both of them produce massive quantities of relevant, helpful content. So consider this newsletter your invitation to a great new wormhole of knowledge and productivity.

Perhaps the most valuable benefit of the work of Dickie and Nicolas is their insight into how to write online. Digital writing is a thing now. It has its own rules and its own style and format.

And, yes, it’s a whole new domain to learn. Welcome to the learner’s age:

“In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

Eric Hoffer

Consider this a starter list

The three newsletter recommendations above will kindle your efforts to improve your marketing content, but you’ll want to add to the list over time.

But beware of the tendency to add to your newsletter list continuously. You’ll go numb to the list, and it will just become another source of info creep.

Instead, create a separate folder and route newsletters there automatically. Most email clients facilitate this, and the instructions will likely be similar to how it’s done with Gmail.

Avoid email overload:

You’ve got already got plenty of emails to decipher. So, decide what type of content or categories of information you want from your newsletters in advance.

Here’s a sampling to consider:

• Writing – whether it’s blogs, podcasts or shooting videos, or creating social media posts, it all involves writing. As a result, improving your writing skills is a high priority for successful content marketers.
• Content creation – consider this category a catch-all for learning how to shoot video, capture audio, and create visual content. Consider it your toolbox.
• Digital marketing – it’s a broad category and includes everything from case studies to Pay Per Click, so it can seem overwhelming if you’re new to the topic. Try to narrow in on 3 to 5 topics at first.
• Industry-related – keep tabs on what’s happening in your field and what your competitors are up to. Try to find sources that will update you when there’s a new product or service you may need to know about. Consider tangential sources as well. For example, if you’re in concrete construction, subscribe to an architecture blog.

Here’s an article on how to find newsletters for that fancy new folder you set up.

Protect your processing time

Making time to improve your marketing content is not going to be easy. But if you can form the habit now, it will pay off in the long run.

Consider your processing time as a way of “sharpening the saw.”

Create a document you can add to each week. There you can record the notes and ideas that bubble up as you read and the thinking it generates for you.

A great way to continue learning and understanding your business and your customer is to review this document regularly.

Over time, it will become less of a chore and more of a discovery process and an indispensable tool to help you brainstorm marketing ideas, refine content and connect the dots with your business and marketing strategy.

Let us know if we missed a newsletter that you find particularly helpful!

The post Three excellent starter email newsletters for improving your marketing content appeared first on Platform Creator.

1) The strategic layer

2) The tactical layer

• How to verify that estimates are fair and accurate.
• Simple ways to verify the credibility of contractors.
• Budget basics for an affordable remodel.

3) The practical layer

Put on your news reporter hat

The post Use a layered approach to generate useful small business content ideas appeared first on Platform Creator.

First, he banned PowerPoint. Instead, when there’s an important decision or a new product idea, a team is often assigned to write a 6-page “narrative memo.”

On the day of the meeting, everyone receives a copy of the memo and sits quietly and reads it for 20 minutes. Bezos says it’s like study hall.

Among the items covered in the memo are a press release for the product’s launch, an FAQ, and a manual. In addition, considerable emphasis placed on the customer experience. Imagine how this speeds up the decision-making process and provides the writers and readers with clarity on what’s being proposed?

This story illustrates the power of writing and offers some important hints about how we can become more effective writers.

For one thing, the narrative memo is purposeful. Focused writing clarifies your thinking. To write clearly, you have to think clearly. This alone is a great reason to write intentionally.

Your writing can help others think. The “narrative memo” provides a valuable service for the readers, because good writing is like windshield wipers for the mind. It enables readers to see the topic, and its implications.

Effective writing also helps you demonstrate competence and authority. People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Competence and authority builds trust.

Why is it so important to improve writing skills right now?

First, we’re all inundated with information. That’s 34 gigabytes of it every day, according to experts.

Enough to crash your laptop in a week.

You too will be doing your customers a valuable service by writing in a way that helps them process all the information and data flooding their lives. We tend to scan more than we read because we are trying to surf the wave of information.

To manage the data deluge we’re all experiencing; we’ve become adept at scanning rather than reading. When you make your writing easy to process, you invite the reader to slow down and dig a bit deeper.

So, if you want to stand amidst all the noise, improve your writing skills right now.

Second, we’re all writers now.

People are writing more than ever, but the verdict is mixed about whether they’re writing better. The research suggests we write more efficiently but not necessarily more effective.

The problem: writing is difficult.
If you struggle with writing, it could mean you’re probably already a pretty good writer. Most people don’t write well because they don’t embrace the difficulty – the struggle of time and effort spent thinking about the content.

And understanding the oxford comma is not what makes it difficult.

At Platform Creator, we often have to tell clients their website homepage, press release, or sales page is unclear and hard to understand. Unfortunately, this is usually a blind spot – they don’t see the assumption gap.

This is one of the biggest mistakes we make with our writing; we assume:

The reader knows what we mean.
Agrees that there’s a problem
And understands our solution or product.

The best writing is slippery

That is, the reader’s eyes slide down the page effortlessly, moving from one point to the next.

The brain doesn’t like to burn excess calories when reading. Instead, it wants content that gets to the point and answers questions, concerns, or objections clearly and effectively.

For example, when you land on one of our client’s homepages, we have about 3 seconds to get your attention.

The headline or title needs to quickly identify you and your problem.

Once you know it’s specifically for you and your unique problem, the next thing you’ll look for is a simple, persuasive description of the solution.

If we do this well, the reader’s brain begins asking questions like, “ok – how hard is it to implement this solution?”

Those are the questions to be answered in the next section in the form of testimonials or social proof.

And so it goes, effortlessly, all the way down the page.

The key is to join the conversation that’s already taking place in the reader’s mind.

The process doesn’t just apply to websites

You can do the same thing with your next presentation, or email, or social media post.

Yes, you can do this. It just takes a little time and some creative empathy.

And if my guess is correct, about now you’re wondering, “Ok, how can I do that?”

Here’s how:

Three crystal-habit clarity questions that will improve your writing immediately

Before you begin writing your following email, proposal, or any other significant piece of content, ask yourself these three questions.

A great way to begin is to write a sentence or two at the top of the page as a summary answer to the three questions.

For example:

After reading this post, the reader will know or understand [the subject of the post] and be motivated to do or be [the action you want them to take] and start by doing [the next step].

As you write, keep this statement front and center.

From there, it’s a matter of answering the three questions clearly and persuasively.

These are the questions we typically don’t answer clearly and succinctly when we write. They may be in the back of our minds, but often the answers are assumed.

Who’s it for?

Take the “who” question: the most important question of all.

We assume it’s for the entrepreneur, but we need to ask who it’s really for. For example, it may be for the entrepreneur who’s trying to cut transportation costs.

It’s for a specific person with a peculiar problem.

Is it for the boss? Or, for the boss’s boss? What’s it like in their world? Running between meetings? Will they read it on their phone?

The empathy exercise:

Try this the next time you open an email. Notice the questions you immediately begin to ask yourself:

• Who is this from?

• Is it for me? Why does it matter?

• Do I need to do anything about it? If so, what?

Use this insight to write your next email in a way that answers the three questions clearly and plainly.

The next question:

What’s it for?

Get to the point quickly.

Use the SWIFT acronym. “SWIFT” as in Show Them What’s In It For Them. Show them early and show them often.

If it’s important, there’s a problem to solve. Whether it’s growing profit margins or cutting costs, you’re the one on the white horse, showing up with a solution.

Define the stakes and define your solution clearly.

What’s next?

Finally, tell them what you want them to do next? What’s the decision or next action?

This is where I see our clients become bashful. Don’t!

Be bold.

If the service, or idea, or product you’re offering is helpful – and it is helpful, or we wouldn’t be going through all of this, right? – you must make that very clear to them. Spell it out and then tell them exactly what to do next.

Make it specific and straightforward.

What are they to do about this critical piece of content you’ve given them?

Answer these three questions effectively, and your writing will instantly get better.

Now, here’s what’s next for you – some more ways to improve your writing.

Read.

Be interested. Read to get ideas and make your writing more interesting. It doesn’t just have to be business books. Thanks to the web, you have the knowledge of the world at your fingertips.

Become a collector of compelling ideas.

Also, pay attention to what grabs your attention. When you read an article or email you enjoy, ask yourself:

• How did they start the article?
• How did they get your attention?
• When did you drift off?

Write in public:

This is one of the fastest ways to improve your writing skills right now.  When you write for others, use the three questions and the empathy exercise. Put yourself in their shoes.

Also, ask yourself what other questions the reader may be asking themselves about your piece of content. Write down at least three if it’s an email. If it’s a blog post, write more.

The more thinking you do early on, the easier it will be later.

When you write in public, be bold. Make assertions about what you see happening and what you think will happen next.

Be willing to put yourself on the hook to produce consistent content. Our experience is that when you’re on the hook, it’s uncomfortable, but that’s also where the magic happens. There’s no telling where your writing will take you if you’re willing to leap.

You don’t have to wait months or years to become a better writer. Using the questions above, you can improve your writing right now. So, get started and get better!

Some helpful references:
How to write a great blog post
Article about Amazon narrative memo
How to double your writing speed (outlining)

The post 3 Critical Questions that will Improve Your Writing Skills Right Now appeared first on Platform Creator.

The irony is that as an SMB owner, you are better at creating high-quality content than you think. After all, no one knows your business story better than you. And all those fancy visual tools may help, but even a rough, unpolished video can be highly effective if it’s sincere and helpful. When you know your stuff, and you’re genuine, that ‘roughness’ actually translates to authenticity.

Whether it’s video content, writing a blog post, or launching a social media campaign, content creation can be your secret weapon for standing out in your market. Just being willing to commit to consistent content can be a huge differentiator. It also happens to be the fastest way to improve your digital content creation skills.

First, why digital content?

It’s all about logistics.

In case you need convincing, here are just a few reasons why digital content is so powerful:

1) It’s free! You have zero upfront costs.

2) Instantaneous availability. Your target audience will see your message immediately – without having to wait days or weeks for print publications to publish their articles.

3) Plenty of distribution options.  Simply pick the social channels where the conversations you want to join are already in progress. Facebook Live videos, Instagram Stories, Snapchat stories, YouTube channels, and Tik Tok are among the most popular. Take your pick and always be testing.

If you consider digital (online) content as inventory, then as a marketer, you are in the digital assets distribution business. And your digital asset inventory takes up virtually zero physical space.

Adopt a simple approach

It can be intimidating to face a blank screen, a blinking cursor, and such a wide variety of content options.

But the truth is, when writing a blog or video, you don’t need to agonize over every word. Look at it as a way of sharing about the work you do and what it does for your customers. You’re immersed in your business and have far more knowledge about it than your audience. Use it as a platform to demonstrate your expertise and empathy.

A great way to leverage that knowledge is to address the most common questions and concerns you hear from customers. For example, think about recent or recurring conversations where prospects tell you why they hesitate to buy. Use this knowledge to anticipate and address those objections and concerns with your content. It shows the reader that you are listening and tuned in to their world.

How to outline quick quality digital content

For any content you create, a simple structure or outline can be a huge time saver and a wonderful way to organize your thoughts. Do just enough to get yourself motivated to write. H

ere’s a three-step framework for keeping it simple:

1. Start with a simple sentence about the issue or problem you’ll address and why it matters. Let your audience know right away that this is for them and their specific situation.

2. Agitate on the problem you’re highlighting before. you share your solution. Create tension by describing the problem and the pain. Then let the reader or viewer know they are in the right place to resolve that tension.

3. Summarize and close. Always put a bow on your presentation by summing up the most important takeaways.

Applying the three-step framework

Let’s take a closer look at each of the three steps.

Step 1 – Start with a simple sentence

Let’s say you run a Software as a Service (SaaS) company. Your experience is there’s one primary reason your prospects put off transitioning to software and opt to stick to Excel and outdated paper systems instead: They think the learning curve is too steep.

Use that objection to tee up your opening sentence. Then, use it to give the reader a preview of the problem and how you will address and resolve it.

This simple sentence lays the groundwork for everything that will follow.

Let’s say your competitors are all using videos and tutorials to help users learn their software. But you’ve done your homework, and you know that users don’t complete the training. They also complain that it takes too long and it’s too hard to find the information they need.

So, you’ve developed a different approach. You film modules and write posts tailored to the most common use cases. So, customers can choose from step-by-step examples for the specific work they plan to do with the software.

With that in mind, here’s what your simple starter might look like:

Most traditional software training is time-consuming and ineffective, but it doesn’t have to be.

Step 2 – Use questions and objections to agitate the problem further

Draw on the customer’s queries and complaints so you can create the necessary tension. This is key.

Quick quality digital content must effectively create and resolve tension for the audience.

Let’s face it; people are driven to solve problems, but not until they recognize and acknowledge the need to do so. One way to create that need (agitate the problem) is to describe the gap between what they have now and what they want instead.

Take our software example. You could start by saying something along the lines of “Traditional software training takes hours to complete, but it isn’t effective because it doesn’t account for the specific use the client has in mind. As a result, users either spend too much time searching, or they give up.”

Then, you’d continue by asking a question like “What if I showed you an easier way?” or “What would it mean for your business if you could train users faster and easier?” Again, this shifts the focus to what they stand to gain with your solution.

Using this gap/gain approach, you’ll create a sense of need along with the desire to fulfill that need. This is where you can finally provide the details about your solution. A series of bullet points will do the trick. Just enough for them to get the gist of it and why it works.

Step 3 – Summarize and close

You’re almost done, but not quite.

So far, you began with a simple sentence that set up the specific problem you’d address. Then, you expanded on the problem and offered hope by way of a solution. Now it’s time to review what you’ve covered (like we just did in the previous two sentences) and wrap up.

But first, here’s a question to ask yourself; it’s called the empathy exercise.

Ask yourself, “If I were a client or prospect who had read this far, what reservation might still be lingering in my mind?”

This is the place to put a bow on your article by addressing that reservation. You may not have to think too hard to come up with it either.

Take our software example. A lingering doubt may be that it sounds too easy, or it sounds too hard. Whatever the case, it’s just a matter of using a sentence or two to dispel this hesitation.

The real reason the quick quality digital content approach works

It demonstrates and builds authority.

In our “simple sentence” opening to this article, we suggested that you don’t need to be a professional writer or media expert to create quick quality digital content. In fact, if it’t not a strong suit for you, you can actually use this perceived weakness to your advantage because your content is coming straight from the source.

Don’t underestimate the power of your working knowledge of the product or service you provide. When you match it with the understanding you have of your customer; you create instant credibility.

Excellent writing helps, and at some point, you may choose to have someone help you craft your messaging. Or, you may choose to explore some of the other tech tools available, such as AI or online editing.

But don’t forget that the real secret is you, your hard-earned expertise, and the way you leverage it to provide value to your customers with digital media.

The post A Small Business Owners Guide for Creating Quick Quality Digital Content appeared first on Platform Creator.

We don’t really understand your website. It seems to be about a number of things and it’s hard to tell which is most important.

Fortunately, most of our clients understand that clarity is something they need help with. After all, unclear messaging is usually why we’re having a conversation in the first place. But by opening with honesty, we can proceed to have a highly productive conversation. It turns out, honesty works. And this leads to the first and most important rule of honest ignorance marketing:

Honest ignorance prevents misunderstandings

“Raise your hand if you don’t understand.”

We can all clearly remember teachers encouraging us to speak up when we were confused. But some of us probably have even clearer memories of not being willing to expose our ignorance. Our teachers knew things would only worsen if we didn’t get the basics of a subject like algebra early on. Those of us who didn’t raise our hands became painfully aware of that last bit.

Similarly, it’s hard to overestimate how much effort can be saved if you state your ignorance and adopt a rookie mindset.

So, when you find yourself losing track of a conversation during a meeting with your customer or prospect, do yourself and them a favor by asking for clarification. It’s almost impossible to overstate the amount of damage such honesty prevents. And here’s why:

It prevents assumptions

Honest ignorance marketing means knowing you don’t know and being willing to say so. Exposing your ignorance is the first step. Testing your assumptions – or what we call the minding the assumption gap – is the second.

For example, experts say 55% of visitors will leave your website within 15 seconds. And to get them to stay, the user must clearly understand your value proposition within 10 seconds. The most common reason they fail to understand is the assumption gap. And it has two parts – the assumption and the gap. (Do you like that?)

These parts are depicted perfectly by one of the clearest and simplest writers of them all, C.S. Lewis, in his letter to an American schoolgirl on writing advice:

“Remember that though you start by knowing what you mean, the reader doesn’t…

Part 1: Your assumption is they know what you mean. They don’t.

…the whole picture is so clear in your own mind that you forget that it isn’t the same in his.”

Part 2: The gap between the picture in their minds and the picture in yours.

Summary: the two parts of honest ignorance marketing

We, humans, make each other smarter. We serve as mirrors to each other. Our biggest insights come from outside, not inside ourselves. Especially when we’re honest about our ignorance. After all, if we don’t tell the truth, we won’t learn the truth.

The two parts of honest ignorance marketing are actually straightforward:

1. First, when you’re listening to a customer, be honest and ask for clarification when you’re not clear about something they’ve communicated.
2. When communicating with your customer, be honest about your assumption that they understand you and use it as a prompt to clarify your message.

—

It’s not always easy to say so when we don’t understand or go through the rigor of making sure we are understood, but admitting we don’t know can be empowering – even liberating.

If you’re honest, you’ll probably find plenty of opportunities to admit it. 🙃

The post Two ways honest ignorance can be your marketing super power appeared first on Platform Creator.

At times you can even begin to think an insult or caustic comment would be better.

Allow for nuance

But before you chuck the whole marketing enterprise, recognize that customers are fickle and hard to predict. Even the best marketers in the world have their duds.

Exhibit A: watch the Pepsi/Kendall Jenner spot.

Oops… Guess they had to take it down!

Marketing your small business takes a dual-pronged approach

Effective marketing is a skillfull blend of art and science. To earn the attention of your audience, you’ll need to practice both.

The art is in understanding human nature and knowing what’s worked in the past. That is the past in terms of your own experience as well as the tried and proven practices of past marketing experts.

As for your own experience, draw on your customer’s experience of what it’s like to do business with you. Key in on their initial reluctance too.

Use what you learn to develop marketing plans that account for both and begin testing.

The science is every bit as important as the art. To know what works, you have to enter the lap and run experiments then analyze the data.

The scientific method has been around since the 1600s, but the idea is still going strong because it works. It involves seven steps:

Each of these steps could be a separate post of its own, but let’s focus on one for now.

Smack dab in the middle of ‘the method’ is step 4: experiment. Place it in the middle of your marketing strategy too. The nice thing about it being an experiment is that you can be objective about the results.

It’s only data – use it to adjust and adapt for your next experiment.

Be creatively consistent

Consistency is a hallmark of great marketing, but it’s not a replacement for creativity.

Hammering out content is a must because it will help you develop your voice. But consistently posting hasty, shallow content doesn’t help anyone.

The hard work of creativity is learning what doesn’t work, and then – to quote Churchill – “…going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

Check out the work of those whose content you watch or read consistently. Deconstruct it and try to figure out why it works. ‘Appropriate’ it, like we did the Churchill quote.

Don’t over-do it with novelty

We tend to think people are driven by what’s latest and loudest, or most clever. But people value reliable, proven help, and their BS detectors are more sensitively tuned than ever.

Give them what they want.

Better business and better marketing go hand in hand

Marketing your small business is difficult when no one is watching. Use this time to think deeply, not just about the marketing but also to think about building the kind of business you’ll be proud to market in the future.

You know…

… when everyone starts watching.

The post Marketing your small business successfully when no one is watching appeared first on Platform Creator.

Once you commit to developing your business writing fluency, you’ll find it challenging to come up with content ideas. But what’s most challenging is the process of developing your skills. And part of that process is developing a refined sense of taste when it comes to quality content.

Here’s the thing: if you don’t breathe in good writing, you can’t exhale it. The trouble is there are mountains of books, articles, and posts to read. How to make sure you get to the good stuff?

We know it’s essential, yet we browse through torrents of words online every day without a plan. And it gets even worse.

There are wonderful apps like getliner.com used to highlight web content for future reference, which seems to be an elegant solution. Even a godsend, perhaps. But like me, many soon find they only go back and look at the “read later” stuff… well, never. It becomes just another pile of words to manage.

The Japanese have a term for stacks of unread printed books: Tsundoku. But it’s much different when you’re dealing with digital piles of content. While you add to your read-later stack, the internet serves up 7.5 million more blog posts every day. Add to that the social media posts and youtube videos, and it becomes laughable to consider the idea of keeping up.

Your secret writing weapon

There’s a strategy that will ensure the quality of your reading: read good fiction. If you think about it, it’s very difficult to skim through a captivating story. It’s like trying to fast forward through a movie, stop at random points, and try to fill in the plot. It doesn’t work.

Read the classics, read contemporary fiction. There’s a whole world of fantastic literature awaiting you. Ask a well-read friend to give you some recommendations.

John David Mann has several NYT bestseller books and tells how he read only nonfiction books before his wife suggested he read Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Here’s how he described the effect it had on him:

Turning the last page and putting down my copy of East of Eden was when I first had the conscious thought: I want to do that.

You may not decide to write an epic, but that’s the kind of reading you want to do – you need to do – to put out good content. You must read content that moves you if you’re going to impact others with your writing.

Improve your reading to improve your writing

Do this consistently, and you will develop a more refined taste for premium content. Excellent literature will also inspire you to make your writing matter rather than merely post content.

You may be thinking that fiction has nothing to do with the writing you do. And, yes, you do need to do your research and cull your reference material. But consider that a separate bucket – something more like the table wine. Great fiction writers know how to keep attention, tell a captivating story, and stir emotion. Those qualities have everything to do with the writing you do.

If you want to improve your writing, make it a point to regularly uncork the good stuff and cultivate a taste for fine words.

The post To Improve Your Writing, Become a Content Sommelier (Wine Taster) appeared first on Platform Creator.