Have you ever needed to research something… (maybe an upcoming trip… or how to transfer photos from your phone to your computer… or a crash course in SEO, etc.) And only come across articles consisting of 4 paragraphs, each spouting the SAME set of advice. I know you know what I’m talking about… but if not, try looking up the best places to visit in Iceland. LITERALLY, every single post will list The Blue Lagoon as number 1 followed by the same 9 top touristy-as-hell destinations. I hate posts like that and feel like the writers of said posts should be a little ashamed of themselves. #sorrynotsorry. I, on the other hand, feel that going overboard with EVERYTHING is the way to go. I want my content to rock your readers’ worlds. I want links to my articles to be the ones that readers are bookmarking to refer back to again and again, and eventually enticing marketing teams to finally say, “Okay, call this lady. "
Most of my posts range between 1500 and 3500 words, and consist of 8 key elements:
Intro - A snippet-ready, keyword-optimized introduction of the topic (or answer to the question)
Overview - An overview of the industry, vertical, or strategy being covered (this is where you list the stats and tell readers why they matter)
Trends - Weird or interesting angles that either identify emerging trends or introduce new ways of thinking about the topic
Campaign examples - Relevant campaign examples (with screenshots directly from social media, YouTube, TikTok, or another content sharing platform) that aren’t just a lazy copy/paste from someone else’s article, campaign examples, and analyses.
Strategy - A detailed explanation of the strategy used in each campaign example you included.
Conclusion - Maybe to recap, maybe to add one more thing, maybe just to pave the way for my CTA.
Links - To credible sources, as well as to other content that relates to the topic
I also try to cloak all my sick knowledge in-jokes, pop culture references, and non-markety, regular-people talk. Yes, my writing can sound a little cheesy, but I want the writing to insert quirk and weirdness, plus some ever-so-slight stream-of-consciousness-style into an otherwise advanced style of writing.
It’s a lot of heavy lifting. Me? I LOVE research. I’m always on the hunt for cool ads. Sometimes I watch live TV just to see what kinds of campaigns are running. I actually get annoyed that I don’t have time to research and write all the cool or interesting ideas I dream up. And if I go a couple of days without researching and writing something, I get antsy.
(You can probably guess what I do in my free time.)