Have you ever thought of the benefits of having content writing virtual assistants(VAs)? Virtual assistants, in general, are a handy addition to any team. They possess a wide range of skills for dealing with day-to-day tasks.
Why Content?
Long before the internet and social media became global household phenomena, Microsoft founder Bill Gates had declared, “Content is king”. He wanted to emulate the examples set by successful media companies and apply them to his line of business. In other words, he believed that good content will be a potential tool for earning money on the internet.
“Content is king”
Bill Gates
Key areas where quality content can improve your business
1. Brand awareness
This is very important as it is the first step in customer acquisition. Once people recognize and remember you, they are more likely to choose your offerings rather than those from unknown providers. Furthermore, when people know what you stand for and what qualities your products have, they are more likely to trust you.
2. Generation of new leads
By providing relevant content on several sites, you have a good chance of attracting potential clients and customers. For example, people who are interested in buying something would want to know more about its features. They’re not searching the internet simply for entertainment. They are browsers with a mission. So, amaze them with superb content.
3. Search engine ranking
Quality content is the key to improved search engine rankings. In this regard, keywords are your best friends. Hence, choose words that relate to your products or services in relation to customer needs. This will ensure that potential buyers can easily find you on the web. They have enough trouble with the proliferation of click-baiting already. Accordingly, they would appreciate your efforts in making it an easier process. The more traffic your site receives, the more legitimate you would appear. This will result in higher rankings. Recently, Google has announced some changes to how they will rank sites in the future. They will introduce the concept of page experience as another metric for ranking. As a result, customer-friendly sites will receive higher ratings.
4. Backlinks
Posting content can help create useful backlinks. This is important as it redirects traffic to your website. The more traffic you have, the more credibility you will earn. This means that other sites trust you, thus the backlinks. However, you can’t just go around and post your URL on any website. Backlinks are earned. One way to do it is by linking to other sites. It’s a “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours kind of thing. To illustrate, you can guest blog on another relevant site and let them guest blog on yours as well. Another way to do it is by way of press releases. By using this method, you can get backlinks from the news sites and people who read the news.
5. Customer retention and acquisition
Oftentimes, buyers’ journeys start with an online search. Hence, publishing good content would allow existing and potential customers to check available product information. Customer education helps both you and your customer. On one hand, it allows you to reach out to them. At the same time, it empowers them to make intelligent decisions. If you can reply to a blog comment or give a shoutout on your Facebook page, it would definitely go a long way.
Where content writing virtual assistants come in
1. Content creation
Content creation is built around the goal of providing relevant information. Consequently, you’ll need to ensure that there is a match between what details you provide and what your customers or clients need to know about your offerings. Your virtual assistant can help by looking up relevant material and market information. Then, data gathered can be utilized to enhance brand awareness.
2. Image creation/royalty-free image search
Searching for an image or creating one can be time-consuming. Add to this the complexity of ensuring the proper format and editing. Thus, having someone with the expertise to do it would help a lot. By having experts perform certain tasks, you are assured of quality work.
3. Content promotion
Content promotion can be done in several ways. You can pay certain sites for online advertisements or connect with influencers. Posting on social media sites and creating blogs are other effective ways to do it. Virtual assistants who have a working knowledge of content promotion and the tools to achieve it can make your campaign more effective. Whatever methods you use, well-distributed content would always pay off in the long run. After all, it’s a numbers game.
4. Post scheduling
With the various tasks you have to do on a daily basis, you may have a hard time scheduling your posts. This is something you can assign to virtual assistants. This way, you can free up some time. All the while, you can rest easy knowing that your posts are being consistently distributed. Remember that consistency is an important ingredient for successful content marketing.
5. Market research
There are several areas covered by market research and we’ll discuss a few.
a. Brand research allows you to create strong and distinctive brands that appeal greatly to consumers. With a large number of competitors out there, it pays to develop a brand that stands above the rest. With this in mind, you should invest well in this area.
b. Customer research enables you to discover customer behavior and segmentation. This is another important area because it will help you fine-tune your efforts. To demonstrate, you may be trying to sell a certain product to the wrong segment of the market. You will fare much better by redirecting your efforts towards the correct customer segment.
c. Competitor research helps you analyze the rival’s strengths and weaknesses as well as your own. This is indispensable for developing better plans and strategies. To illustrate, a study conducted by Crayon revealed that companies that share Competitive Intelligence(CI) daily or weekly were twice as likely to see revenue increases as compared to those who share CI less frequently. As Sun Tzu had said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles”. In this age, knowledge is power indeed.
Summary
In today’s business context, quality content has become the vehicle of choice for successful operations. It can take many forms such as written, visual, oral, or even combinations of different types. So, make sure to utilize all forms available to improve audience engagement. “Facebook Queen” Mari Smith had expanded Bill Gates’ words years after they were published. She said, “Content is King, but engagement is Queen and she rules the house.” In this regard, having content writing virtual assistants to augment your team would greatly boost the chances of engagement. They can ensure consistent creation and delivery of excellent material. In addition, they can also help you with many other tasks so that you can focus on core functions essential to grow your business.
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