Each week, we’ll share a roundup of interesting news, stories, campaigns, articles and insights from the world of copywriting, content marketing, social media, influencer marketing, brand development and narrative.

This week we’ll look at:

• Key insights to optimize your website content
• Why a well-practiced workflow can help writers create quality content
• The importance to retailers of maintaining and active social media presence for the holidays

Fix Your Funnel: 15 Things to Remove from Your Website Immediately

Writing great copy for your website can be tricky. You need to say enough to sell your services without saying too much and inundating your reader.

But there’s more to the picture than that. According to the folks at Orbit Media, there are some common killers that could be negatively impacting the effectiveness of your website, including:

• Vague headlines
• Meaningless headers
• Long paragraphs
• Press releases
• PDF files
• Mismanaged testimonials

Learn more from Orbit Media

The Ultimate Workflow for Writers Obsessed with Quality

Creativity isn’t always on tap. And for anybody who’s ever sat back and tried to produce high-quality written content, you know it isn’t always an easy task. I know I’ve spent many a morning sitting down and writing the first five lines of an article before erasing it all, starting over, writing another five lines, erasing them, getting frustrated, getting up, making a coffee and then sitting back down to try all over again.

There’s ultimately no one-size-fits-all approach to a successful workflow for writers – to each his own is the only way. But I found this article by writer

Within the article, Rob outlines his own 7-step workflow process for consistently creating high-quality content – idea, research (parts 1 and 2), mindmap/outline, structure, first draft, second draft, edit.

Learn more from Better Humans

‘Tis the Season: Retailers Can Expect 32% More Social Messages This Holiday Season

Coming out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I’m curious to know how many people made an online purchase over the weekend. More so than that, I’m wondering how many people made a purchase driven by social media over the weekend.

I know I did. Three of them, in fact.

And with Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, we’re heading directly into the holiday season – meaning a frantic rush to get our holiday shopping done. And as consumers start looking for the perfect gifts, they will inevitably turn to their favorite place to gain inspiration, insights and to heed the advice of their friends, families and favorite influencers: social media.

Just take it from Sprout Social. According to this very interesting article, retailers can expect 32% more messages from consumers this holiday season. That’s because consumers want to talk to retailers of all sizes. In fact, in 2017 in the US, small retail businesses of 50 employees or less received an average of 925 messages per day in November and December 2017. Mid-market retailers between 51 and 1,000 employees received an average of 5,229 per day, and enterprise retailers of 1,000 staff or more received an average of 6,055.

While these numbers are based in the States, the key lessons still clearly apply to the Canadian market: it’s not enough for retailers’ social media strategies to centre around simply pushing out product content this holiday season. They need to be actively engaged on their social channels, responding to consumers and conducting thorough community management.

Learn more from Sprout Social

Thanks for reading! Check back next week for more insights, ideas and news.