One thing I love about content marketing is that it’s a quality over quantity effort. This focus on the quality of our content includes everything from the big picture of a website down to, say, the headline of one little blog post.

Earlier this year we shared data on how to easily create clickable titles. I’m going to build on that today with a refresher on creating quality titles that are both captivating and honest.

Clickable, Not Clickbait

Let’s quickly revisit the main takeaways of Carrie’s post on writing clickable titles (link in the intro):

• Headlines often have opening and closing phrases, such as “X Reasons Why …” and “… In the World.” Look at the data on which phrases get the most social media engagement to create catchy title templates like “X Reasons Why You Need to Do Y Right Now” and “A is the Best B in the World.”
• Articles with numbered lists (listicles) should be titled accordingly. Multiples of five are well received, though once the list is longer than 20 items engagement declines significantly.
• Titles with between 60 and 100 characters (about 17 words) get the most engagement.
• Happy stories and headlines that give a sense of surprise, anticipation, joy and trust fare better on social media than do fear-inducing stories and headlines that give a sense of anger, fear, disgust or sadness.

Clickable titles do not equal clickbait. As Carrie said, if you provide what the title promises, you’re not baiting anyone. And good content always does what it says it’s going to.

The truth is, the most formulaic headlines containing the trendiest buzzwords can certainly be delivered on within the body of the content. And they get the clicks that lead to that great content. But maybe you don’t want to sound formulaic or trendy because it doesn’t suit your brand’s voice or tone or speak to your target market. If this is the case, your headlines are going to take a little more work.

Next, I’ll expand on the ideas of clickable headlines and think about how to make those titles even more captivating.

Up Your Headline Game

A good, honest headline comes down to one thing: Clearly telling specific readers how they’ll benefit from the content. Bonus points if you can make it concise and compelling.

Really though, those are bonus points you can’t afford to pass up. Millions of blog posts are written every day, and tens of thousands of links are shared on Facebook alone every 60 seconds. The competition is fierce.

To help you up your headline game, we like these tips from Sprout Social and Authority Labs:

• Be open to some hype and hyperbole. Sprout Social gives the example of a title promising “The Greatest Marketing Growth Hack of All Time (Hint: Cupcakes).” Assuming the tips are stellar, it’s alright to use such strong language and add the allure of cupcakes.
• Incorporate “power” words. In addition to the must-read vibe a “How To …” or “Why You Need…” can add, throw in some extremes like always, never, tragic or fortune. Exclusive, secret or new are compelling but should only be used if they’re undoubtedly true.
• Make a personal connection. Speak to readers directly with a second person “you” or make a firm statement of experience with the first-person “I.”
• Use controversial topics or causes to fuel a headline. Of course, the point isn’t to pick a fight or name-call, but if your audience likes to rally this can be a way to grab attention.
• Keep keywords second to clarity (stuffing them into headline is both awkward and bad for SEO). When you do include them, do so near the beginning of a title to support SEO.
• Consider how tweetable your headlines are. I mentioned earlier that 17 words can make a great headline. Just be mindful that Twitter has a 280 character limit for tweets, and you want to leave room for @ mentions, hashtags, etc.

We’ll add a few of our own to that list:

• Hold off on the title until you’ve written the meat of the content. Some articles shift during writing, and the main points change. Also, the headline is sure to reflect what’s in the content, and you don’t spend time clinging to a title that isn’t the best direction for the topic.
• Search your keywords on Answer the Public. You might find a question of phrase that makes the perfect headline on its own.
• Create more than one headline and have your colleagues weigh in on them (or use a headline analyzing tool) during the editing process. If possible, test more than one headline with A/B testing on your site and in your email campaigns.

When to Write Your Headlines

In the spirit of walking the talk of the above list, I’ll tell you that I didn’t even consider creating the title for this blog until reaching this point of the content body. And the one I wrote then isn’t the one you see up top – a proof point of the importance of having colleagues weigh in when you can.

Most likely, your first title idea won’t be the best one. Make sure those editing your content include the headline in the editing process and let you know if it’s vague, boring, too long, too short … Then look at the content you wrote and distill what is says to your audience into an informative and appealing phrase.

As an example, I’m remembering the story of Julia Child and the editor of her famous first cookbook:

Child and her editor long debated the title of her French cookbook for the American market. Potential titles included “French Cooking for the American Kitchen” and “Method in Cuisine Madness.” While that first one is clear enough, it isn’t nearly as compelling as “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” The two women finally agreed on a title that truly described the now timeless collection of recipes.

For more on keeping quality at the center of every aspect of your content marketing, sign up for our email list and get instant access to your content marketing blueprint.

Do you love or hate creating headlines? What are your best tactics? Tell me about it in the comments!

A few days ago, I was watching a video from one of Copy Hackers’ courses. It got me thinking about a basic content marketing concept that’s rarely discussed but highly essential: features versus benefits.

Although closely related, features and benefits are used for very different purposes, and it’s crucial that you know the difference between the two.

What Are Features?

Think of the last time you looked at a tech product online. Chances are that after the first couple sentences, the product page included a long list of specifications such as RAM, charging speed and screen quality. All three of those aspects can be categorized as features.

Essentially, features are the attributes of the product or service you’re selling. For example, if you’re selling an electric toothbrush, a list of its features will likely answer the following questions:

• What material is it made out of?
• What color is it?
• Where was it made?
• Is it battery-powered? If so, are batteries included?
• Does it need to be charged?
• How long does it take to charge?
• How many speed settings does it have?
• How much plaque does it remove?

What Are Benefits?

In contrast to features, benefits explain how a product or service will impact a customer. For a tech product, those might include a more efficient workflow, improved internet connectivity for faster browsing or increased storage space to store more of your photos.

Or, keeping with our electric toothbrush example, a list of benefits might include:

• Fresher breath.
• Whiter teeth.
• Healthier gums.
• Reduced risk of gingivitis, cavities or enamel loss.
• Brighter smile.

Which Should You Focus On?

Whether your content focuses primarily on features or benefits depends entirely on whom you’re addressing.

Why? Because your audience’s level of awareness directly impacts the approach you should take to your content.

This idea was defined and popularized by Eugene M. Schwartz, who was arguably the most influential copywriter of the 20th century. Essentially, there are five levels of customer awareness ranging from unaware to aware.

This handy graphic from CI-Group illustrates all five levels, plus the marketing approach that works best for each end of the spectrum:

So, content that’s targeted toward customers who are mostly unaware of your brand and products should emphasize benefits more than features.

For instance, a Facebook status you post could say:

“Want to find out how [company] used [product] to reduce operational expenditure by 25 percent? Check out our new blog post.”

On the other hand, content that’s targeted toward customers who are more aware of your brand and products should include plenty of features.

For instance, a white paper you send out to your email list subscribers could contain a detailed list of features, as well as a thorough, fact-based explanation of how those features can lead to benefits.

The bottom line is that both features and benefits have their place in your content, but you’ll fail to maximize your impact on customers if you don’t know which to highlight.

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Were you already aware of the importance of features versus benefits? Do you find one to be more effective than the other? Let me know in the comments!

Recently, Carrie wrote a great post about style guides, detailing what they are and why they’re important for your business.

I’m going to drill down a bit more into two of the pre-made style guides she mentioned: The Associated Press Stylebook (AP) and The Chicago Manual of Style. Both are well-respected and widely used, but depending on your industry and audience, one of the two will be better for your business. How do you know which?

This post will explore the backgrounds of each style guide, and how people use them today in academic and professional settings. We’ll leave you with points to consider as you make this decision for your brand.

Histories of the AP and Chicago Manual Style Guides

Both the AP Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style have histories going back more than 100 years and arose from groups concerned with responsible journalism and quality writing.

In 1846, five newspapers in New York City wanted to bring news of the Mexican War to the north. Unsatisfied with the pace of the U.S. Post Office, they funded a pony express route through Alabama. Those five newspapers became the Associated Press, which was the first private U.S. organization to operate on a national scale.

Today, AP maintains more than 260 locations in more than 100 countries and prides itself on continuing a tradition of top-notch journalism. The style guide is one aspect of that dedication with annual editions and continuous updates.

In 1891, the University of Chicago Press opened its doors. Soon after, the staff created a style sheet to bring consistency to the process of deciphering manuscripts and proofreading the results. The sheet became a pamphlet, and by 1906 the pamphlet became a book. Since then, the Chicago Manual of Style has grown from 200 pages to more than 1,000 and is now in its 17th edition.

To recap: AP originated from the newspaper and journalism industry, and the Chicago Manual originated from an academic university. That alone may help in your choice, but let’s dive further into the details of each.

Who Traditionally Uses Each Style Guide?

Any organization creating content on a regular basis should use a style guide. It’s a way to ensure consistency throughout your organization, as multiple people are often creating the content for one brand.

Further, style guides can provide guidance on referencing current events and the people involved in them, which is helpful when it comes to journalistic integrity.

Both the AP Stylebook and Chicago Manual have a list of typical users. These users go one way or the other based on audiences and the purpose of the content. One blog dedicated to the subject of AP versus Chicago puts it this way:

If I think of AP as governing “fast content” (newspapers, online articles) and Chicago as governing “slow content” (books, some periodicals), you can see how the different styles grew from different needs.

The post goes on to highlight three reasons organizations choose one over the other:

• Layout: The spacing guideline differences between the two (this has to do with the spaces around certain punctuation, which I’ll specify later in this article) make AP more convenient for the somewhat unpredictable layouts of newspaper and online text. Book and magazine publishers have more time to make sure breaks happen in exact spots, so Chicago spacing is less of an obstacle.
• Deadlines: Publishers who are always working against deadlines prefer the limited options and guidance of AP. Those who have more time between publish dates can afford to weigh the nuanced options of the Chicago style.
• Compatibility: In the digital space, content doesn’t always reach its destination looking the same as it did at creation – characters or attributes can change from one place to another. Journalistic-type content tends to do more digital traveling and translates better when using the plainer style of AP. Non-journalistic content makes fewer stops and is more receptive to the attributes of Chicago.

HiP B2B offers this advice for any organization trying to choose between the AP Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style:

… whatever your audience would pick … If you are stumped in a decision turn to your audience, because they actually care more about a style than you.

So if your audience is academics use the Chicago Manual, because it’s what they are used to in their own work and will be more comfortable reading. For most other readers (including those who pay no attention to what style they’re reading) AP is the way to go; it’s probably what they’re most familiar with. We use AP here at bizbuzzcontent, as the vast majority of our content is for blogs and websites.

Keep in mind that, even though you’ve committed to one style guide, you have some wiggle room if a guideline doesn’t match with your brand’s voice. For example, if the guidance on apostrophe usage looks odd or confusing with your company name, you can call that out in your brand’s own style sheet, which lists your exceptions to the chosen style guide.

Major Differences Between the AP and Chicago Manual Style Guides

Both style guides update on a regular basis and cover an incredible amount of detail, so I can’t possibly note all differences here (though this blog, which I referenced earlier, might come close).

Still, in addition to the Chicago Manual being much longer and more detailed, a few specific differences stand out:

Oxford/Serial Comma

This comma goes between the second-to-last item in a list and the conjunction before the last item (and/or). Chicago style uses it while AP does not.

AP: I like cats, dogs and lizards.
Chicago: I like cats, dogs, and lizards.

Em Dashes and Ellipses

I mentioned the spacing differences earlier, and this is where they come in. AP calls for spaces before and after an em dash and before and after an ellipses. Chicago adds spaces between the periods of an ellipses and uses no spaces on either side of the em dash.

AP: Hey … are you joining us? We’re planning an outdoor activity – biking or hiking – for this weekend.
Chicago: Hey . . . are you joining us? We’re planning an outdoor activity—biking or hiking—for this weekend.

Titles

To reduce the attributes that might get lost in translation, AP generally uses quotation marks around titles of significant works while Chicago uses italics.

AP: “Gone With the Wind”
Chicago: Gone With the Wind

Possessive Apostrophes

While both styles use an apostrophe-s for singular, possessive nouns that end in s, AP uses only an apostrophe if the noun is proper. If the (common or proper) noun is plural, both styles use only an apostrophe.

AP: Mathematics’s rules; Silas’ book; the babies’ hats
Chicago: Mathematics’s rules; Silas’s book; the babies’ hats

Numbers

AP spells out numbers under 10 and uses numerals for all others. Chicago spells out numbers through 100. The guides also differ on details of percentages, measurements and currency.

AP: One, two, three … nine, 10, 11, 12 …
Chicago: One, two, three … ninety-nine, one hundred, 101, 102, 103 …

Now that you know the basics of the AP Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style, it should be relatively simple to choose the best one for your business. The more challenging part might be determining where you brand will make exceptions.

Have experience with the style guides discussed here? Let me know how it went in the comments below!

In a space as crowded as that of online content, it can be pretty frustrating to feel like your content is just another drop in the ocean.

Here, I’ll explain how you can use a few simple techniques to make your content stand out from the rest, so you can get more readers, more engagement and more prospective customers.

Avoid Shallow Hooks

If you’ve ever taken a speech class, then you’re already familiar with the idea of a “hook.” Hooks are designed the grab the audience’s attention, and often involve trying to relate to the audience. That’s why many students’ speeches will begin with a something like “How many of you have ever watched a superhero movie?” or “Raise your hand if you love birthday cake.”

Of course, an opening hook like that is fine for a presentation, but many inexperienced content creators fall back on them for what’s supposed to be professional-grade writing. They do this because it’s a relatively easy and familiar tactic–find a way to relate to the vast majority of your audience, introduce your point and then dive in.

However, simple hooks like that are often completely transparent to readers, especially if they’re overly lengthy or only loosely related to the body of the content. To avoid this, you’ll want to spend a little more time on your opening sentences to make sure they’re genuinely relatable and intriguing.

Try to write hooks that are:

• Compelling.
• Brief.
• Closely related to the body of the content.

This way, your introductions won’t come off to readers as superficial, pandering or low-effort, and you’ll be able to foster more meaningful connections with your audience.

For example, in an article about cybersecurity, you might start off with a hook that looks something like this:

“According to a recent study, there were an astonishing 160,000 cybersecurity incidents in 2017. Clearly, the cybersecurity measures already in place aren’t adequate, and it’s high time we do something about it.”

A hook like that works because it’s only two sentences long, incorporates an interesting statistic and references an action.

Once you’ve written the hook, you can explain what the article will specifically address, which in the case of our cybersecurity example will be the prevalence of breaches, the security that’s being used and the security that should be used instead.

Establish Credibility

If you can establish credibility for yourself, your company and your content, you’ll automatically set yourself apart from the competition.

The easiest way to do this is to do deep research in your content and demonstrate your unique expertise while referencing and linking to credible sources. Of course, research and hard facts are ideal, but a thought piece that reflects the author’s personal opinion and viewpoint will do just fine as well, especially if the author is an established industry analyst or executive.

To take your expertise to the next level, start poking around to see if you can write a guest post on a popular blog or get a mention from a prominent person in your field. To do this, you’ll need to reach out to people you don’t know–in other words, you’ll have to start cold emailing. The Harvard Business Review has a helpful guide to cold emailing that includes tips like:

• Tailor your email to the recipient.
• Validate yourself.
• Keep it concise and actionable.

The more you put yourself out there, the more likely it is that someone will respond and accept your request to write a guest post or get referenced in their content.

Additionally, you can establish credibility in the eyes of Google by following their Search Quality Rating Guidelines.

According to these guidelines, a site’s quality is determined by four primary factors:

• Expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, which depends on factual accuracy, expert sources and professionalism.
• Main content quality and amount, which can be determined by evaluating the time, effort and skill that went into creating that content. Sites with too little content are generally rated lower than sites with more content.
• Website information/information about who is responsible for the website. Websites that provide clear information about who is responsible for the website generally receive higher ratings than those that do not.
• Website reputation, which can be gauged with the help of Better Business Bureau ratings, customer reviews and information from sites like Wikipedia.

If you adhere to these guidelines and meet Google’s standards of high-quality sites, your website will likely rank higher in Google search results, and will thus be more likely to experience an influx in traffic.

Chat a Little

If you comment on five companies’ social media posts and only one company responds to you, which company are you most likely to engage with again? Although I probably don’t need to say it, the answer is the company that responded to you.

This is why responding to your readers whenever they do reach out to you is so important. Especially if you have a small audience, fostering a sense of personal connection is absolutely crucial to your growth and your audience’s loyalty.

When chatting with your audience, be sure to keep it thoughtful, amicable and respectful. Address your readers by their first name for an extra sense of personalization, and remember to thank them for asking questions or contributing thoughts.

While responding to people is certainly important, it can sometimes be more important to know when to restrain yourself. In the age of social media, many companies have permanently tarnished their reputation by responding less-than-professionally to aggressive or critical comments. Learn from their mistakes, and always remain polite when interacting with critics. When in doubt, simply ask them to contact a member of your team to receive further help.

With these strategies in your tool box, you’ll be able to take your content from generic to noteworthy. If you remember to keep your hooks interesting, establish credibility whenever possible and engage with your audience at every opportunity, you’ll have no trouble standing out from your competition.

If you need some help making your content truly exceptional, check out bizbuzzcontent’s content creation services–we’ll work with you to ensure that your content will never go unnoticed.

Do you use any other tactics to make content stand out? Feel free to share them in the comments!

Every aspect of your company benefits from a set of centralized guidelines: Your budgets are created using a pre-planned format, your ads are run on an agreed-upon list of social media networks and your colleagues follow a dress code, whether casual or formal.

Why, then, should your content writing be any different? A unified, company-wide style is essential to the success of any content writing strategy, and yet many organizations leave multiple individuals responsible for editing and stylizing their own writing.

Here, I’ll outline the key elements of a stellar style guide, so you can start producing an impressive and consistent body of content.

Learn From the Pros

You’ll want to start by selecting a respected and pre-made style guide that reflects the tone you’re after.

Here at bizbuzzcontent, we use the AP Stylebook, which is perhaps the most popular guide in the content, journalism and news industries. It’s updated every spring, and contains rules for numerals, names, capitalization and more.

Another solid choice is the Chicago Manual of Style, which is updated less frequently and is commonly used for fiction and non-fiction books.

You may have also heard of the MLA Handbook and APA Publication Manual, which are typically used in academic works.

While only you can decide which style guide is best for you, we generally find the AP Stylebook to be the best—it’s up-to-date, easy to understand and astoundingly comprehensive.

Nail Down Specifics

Choosing a major style guide is a great start, but you can’t exactly have everyone in your organization read 1,000 pages overnight. That’s why you’ll need to create an internal style guide that everyone can use as a quick and easy point of reference.

Inside, try to account for as many specifics as possible. These can include:

• Oxford commas: Are they in or are they out?
• Paragraph styles: Do you want indentations at the start of each paragraph? What about line breaks? How long should each paragraph be?
• Links: Should you hyperlink in your word processor, insert links in the form of comments, or copy and paste links into the text body?
• Capitalization: Think about words and phrases specific to your industry. For example, “agile” or “Agile?”
• Headings: Should headings be bolded, italicized, underlined or all three? What about subheadings?
• Word count: What should the target word count be for blog posts, social media updates, articles and emails?
• Images: How should images be inserted?
• Font: Should you be using Times New Roman, Arial, Georgia or another font? What size should the font be?
• Lists: Numbered or bulleted?
• Logos: How big should they be and where should they be inserted?

Of course, that list is not all-inclusive. To create the most comprehensive style guide possible, think about the issues that come up for your company. This might mean adding a section for tweets, or deciding how to sign off on emails.

Don’t Forget Personality

Figuring out how to develop a voice and tone for your brand is another beast entirely. However, your style guide should at least include a general picture of your brand’s personality.

To get started, think about the general traits you want your brand to embody. Take a look at Aaker’s five dimensions of brand personality for inspiration:

Then, come up with some general words to describe how you want your company’s content to sound. The Tuts+ style guide contains a prime example of this:

To simplify the process, start with two lists: one with adjectives you want to be used to describe your company, and one with adjectives you’d rather not be used to describe your company.

At this point, the first draft of your style guide should be coming together nicely. Now, all you need to do is clean it up, format it properly and save it in an easily-shared file. As time goes on, don’t forget to go back to it and add stipulations as needed.

Does your company have an internal style guide? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments!