What you say matters!
Internet marketing companies are coming out of the woodwork with the same old song and dance. When it comes to creating content, they say MORE MORE MORE!!
Yes, creating a large volume of content can be effective in spreading your message and brand throughout the internet. We believe in creating content that means something. Quality over quantity.
We have broken this down to a science. It is important to understand the market. Addiction treatment and recovery is very specific, but that’s not to say there is a low volume of information that you are responsible to share with your followers.
Your delivery may be the difference between someone getting to your site, and someone calling you for help! If you are going to spend your valuable resources to create content, you need to have a purpose. You need to have a way to measure your effectiveness.
For this reason, we have broken our addiction treatment content marketing scheme into different categories. Every piece of content appeals to a certain vertical, and therefore, can be broken down and quantified on return. Let’s get started!
Evergreen Content
This is content that never ages. Just like an evergreen tree doesn’t change with the seasons, evergreen content will be relevant today, tomorrow, and 5 years from now.
Some examples of evergreen content are as follows…
- Fact-based articles on the science of addiction.
- Empirically based studies on addiction treatment models.
- Success rates of certain treatment models.
- Studying drug types and how they affect a person’s body and mind.
Evergreen content may not be appropriate for social media. Many times evergreen content is lengthy and requires a great deal of research. This is usually appropriate on static pages, and informative blog articles. Evergreen content is very labor intensive, but you should assign some time and budget for this because it is an investment for your future.
Be sure to use proper SEO techniques in this content as well. As your site builds in Domain Authority, these articles or pages should appear in search engines. This will build a solid foundation on your organic traffic.
Viral Content
We touched on viral content in our last chapter on 5 Tips To Building A Social Community. As we mentioned, viral content IS NOT designed to bring in admits (although many times that is a secondary benefit.) Viral content is designed to spread through social media.
Social media has changed many aspects of how we create content. New age sites like BuzzFeed, Gawker and Upworthy have laid the foundational blueprint for content that spreads. Examples of viral content are as follows.
- List posts. (Remember to use quality information and structure it in list format.)
- Personal recovery stories.
- Breaking news stories.
- Feel good stories or viral videos.
- Funny or profound memes.
We can continue to go more in depth on how each of these sub-categories of viral content should be formatted, and we will touch on that at a later time. For now, let’s look at the three criteria that make a post go viral.
Headlines
Any post that spreads on social media needs to have an engaging headline. The headline serves one purpose, get the person to click on the article. You need them to feel like they NEED to read or absorb the content that sits behind that window. Use the 4 u’s.
- Be useful to the reader.
- Create a sense of urgency.
- Be unique, convey the idea that this post and this content can only be found here.
- Be ultra-specific in all of the above.
You need to know that the headline will only get the user to click on the article. If the article is disappointing, the user will immediately leave. You must follow through with quality or else you will have a high bounce rate and a low time on site. This isn’t a bait and switch, it’s just bait.
The Post Image
Most companies just find a stock image, and use it. Although there is nothing wrong with this, keep in mind that the image is just as much an incentive to click as the headline is.
The image should relate to the article. Also, the image should be unique within itself. Don’t simply stick a featured image in there, take the time to think about it.
Using text over top of an image is a great idea. The text could essentially summarize the article, and leave users wanting more. Here is a great example of a post with a great headline, a great image, and proper use of CTA within the image itself. The results are self-explanatory.
The Actual Content
There may not be specific criteria for how the content on a viral post should read. Generally speaking, we recommend keeping the tone of the blog light hearted.
What do I mean by “light hearted?” I mean be conversational. Informative posts that rely on data have a place, and this is not it. If the blog is a news story, be journalistic. If it is a personal story, let the personality of the person sharing their story shine through.
For a post to go viral, the content must be engaging. It must be share-worthy. If it’s not something that makes the reader say “I bet my friend would like to read this,” then it is a failure.
Trial and error. You may not always hit the nail on the head, but this system works so stick to it.
Copy Writing
Copywriting is truly an artform. The purpose of copy is to create content meant to convert. This content can be tailored to social media or it can be tailored to rank in search engines. You could send this content in an email blast or even a press release. However this content gets in front of people is irrelevant in this case.
For now, let’s focus on understanding exactly what copy is, and how to properly write it.
Think of a blog article as a story. You want to tell a story that will leave the reader feeling that your services can help them. As per usual, we will touch on this style of content in more detail at a later point, but to know the basics of copy you need to understand one important criterion.
You need to understand AIDA.
AIDA is an acronym designed to make it easier for you to remember the conversion process in this copy. Together we will write a 4 sentence piece of copy to bring it all together for you.
A – Attention. You need to first attract the attention of the reader. Storytelling always starts with attracting attention. Use the first paragraph to paint a picture, and make sure that picture is only a third of the way complete.
Sentence 1 – Drugs kill people!
I – Interest. Now that you have gotten their attention, you need to keep their attention. No one likes a fast starter that can’t finish. Use storytelling to introduce a problem. Introducing a problem that people can relate to is the best way to keep them interested. Maybe you are the answer to their problem? (hint hint)
Sentence 2 – You may have a loved one who is killing herself with addiction.
D – Desire. Convince the user that you can solve their problem for them. Use your story to show how there may be help available to this user. That there is a better way. That there is a dream that you can help make a reality.
Sentence 3 – Attending a drug rehabilitation center will help your loved one get sober.
A – Action. Now that your user understands that you can help them, you want to complete the sales funnel to take action.
Sentence 4 – Call now.
Understand, this is simply a piece of copy we have created to show you the basics. It is minimal in terms of what can be produced with the freedom of an entire blog post. This is why storytelling is so important. You have the time and space to really captivate your reader, and show them that you can help them.
Pulling It Together
Understanding these three forms of content will get you started. Creating content for the internet is a specialized skill that takes practice, trial and error, and measurement.
However, if you combine your content scheme with good SEO tactics and social media you can build a community that shares your content, builds backlinks and ranks high in the search engines. A well executed online marketing plan that can keep your facility operational is the golden ticket for any treatment center.
When you combine these three forms of content and harness them in unison with your other marketing efforts, you will see outstanding results and you will have a systematic approach to all your marketing efforts!
Stay tuned to the Stodzy Facebook page to stay informed and engaged in the conversation!
