Writing articles for newspapers – how to do it effectively
Writing articles for newspapers is becoming less and less common due to the development of e-marketing. However, this does not mean that it has lost its effectiveness. Therefore, in the following article we will look at proven techniques for creating effective press content.
Newspaper articles – are they worth it?
In recent years, marketing texts posted on the Internet have taken the lead. There are solid reasons for this – increased positioning and, consequently, greater traffic on the website, enabling the presentation of the offer to recipients.
On the other hand, it distracts the competition from press materials, which still contain business potential. Newspapers are a good place to quickly reach numerous, unspecified readers, which is important especially in B2C industries. Moreover, sponsored articles are an effective way to build product awareness and even directly generate sales.
However, you need to know how to do it correctly, so below are some tips.
Writing articles for newspapers – ready-made advice
For the text to fulfill its task, it must meet several conditions, including:
Natural
The most effective newspaper articles are those that do not focus on promoting a product or service at all.
Instead, they objectively describe a given issue, present the problem, and only at the end propose a solution. This way of advertising your offer is extremely effective because:
- the beginning of the text arouses the reader’s interest;
- the middle creates an engaging story;
- the tip informs about the product.
In other words, users are more likely to read the article, remember it more easily, and ultimately treat the offer as a reliable proposition. Content marketing and native advertising are a good combination, so it’s not worth wasting the opportunity on too intrusive promotion methods.
The language of benefits
In the above-mentioned promotional segment, which should be preceded by an interesting story, care should be taken to convey the appropriate message. There are several ways to inform about a product/service, and the most effective of them is the language of benefits.
Language of benefits involves briefly informing the reader about the benefits of the product or service. Other issues (equipment, experience, awards) fade into the background – the most important message relates to what the customer can gain by purchasing such product or service.
In other words, the practical benefits of taking advantage of the offer come first, and all information about the company complements them.
Potential car wash customers are not particularly interested in whether you have 3 years of experience, passion and a new XL turbo vacuum cleaner. Their goal is simply a clean, smelling car. Therefore, if your equipment allows for faster cleaning, first of all, inform prospects about the quick visit (i.e., from the customer’s perspective – shorter time spent in the waiting room).
Call to Action
If a coherent story has already been created and the promotion segment has been smoothly integrated, you should include brief information on how to take advantage of the offer. For this reason, CTA (call to action) is the culmination of writing newspaper articles.
What is this all about? Once the client has read the entire text, he or she should receive specific instructions on what further steps to take – this may be sending an e-mail or calling the indicated number. He must know that it is quick and easy!
Summary
- Describing a given problem, providing a ready-made solution and calling the recipient to action – these are inherent elements of writing effective texts for newspapers.
- This completes the sales loop, in which we convince the customer to take advantage of the offer from beginning to end, although only a small part of it indicates the actual promotion.
- Writing articles for newspapers still has high business potential, but to make it a reality, you need to prepare the right content.
- It should not be intrusive, on the contrary – it is worth it objectively defining a given issue, and only at the end pointing to the promoted product that responds to the reader’s needs.
- The whole thing should end with a CTA, i.e. concise information on how to take advantage of the offer.Following the above guidelines when writing newspaper articles can significantly increase your marketing results.
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