So, what is content? And how does it relate to copywriting? Well, content, as it is defined is everything that your customer reads, touches and interacts with, in order to gain awareness about your brand or product. It is basically anything that communicates or transfers meaningful information to a person. Now, I use this example when dealing with content. If I say potato, now, it's very simple.
We're talking about a particular food item. I'm just talking about a potato. You know what a potato is. I know what a potato is. But look what happens if I add something in here. Now.
If I say mashed the data, the content becomes much more complex. It's now the state of potatoes after being boiled, mashed, mixed with butter and spices, and then served. Just saying mashed potatoes may conjure up the meaning of their smell, their tastes, and now even your most recent experience eating them. Even different people or different cultures may make mashed potatoes in different ways. Do you see what happens now when I add in the word mashed potatoes just adding in that one extra word, so many other things can happen. So just adding the word mashed to the word potatoes, transfers meaning beyond the words, each person could have different interpretation of said words.
Meaning is not universal, which is where the notion of customer perspective is now coming into play content isn't just words. It can be also pictures and videos on your webpages, articles on areas of your sites. And also everything on your social media accounts Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube Snapchat. Now they're adding additional social media platforms like Tick Tock social media is such an integral part of advertising and marketing and content writing these days. So in other words, quote, content is the entire user experience, which Kristina Halvorson, the CEO of brain traffic, once said, content is how you communicate your own perspective to the world. And also going from that it's how your perspective is communicated, and thus, how you can also better analyze others perspective.
It's encapsulated through rhetoric, visual content, and everything. Else you use to show an authentic viewpoint of yours. You use content to create copy. You can't just use numbers or mathematical equations, you use rhetoric you use words you use meaning copy also needs to be able to grasp the perspective of the consumer. Now, there are many ways to do this. But one of the biggest ways is to use an avenue that you believe will stimulate the consumers interest.
Because in the end, it's about stimulating interest and getting a sale done getting a purchase done. This can be many things. This can be a topic that is part of the Zeitgeist or part of the modern age. It was like Geist means the defining spirit of a particular period in history. This could also be a trending topic in media such as entertainment, we all know how huge Game of Thrones is these days. I can't tell you how many products or brands that I've seen that are hopping on that wave and going alongside it.
Everything from travel agencies to even brands that make cookies going along the Game of Thrones advertising wave, this can even be a different subject that will generate discussion. As long as it is going with a topic that you know will generate interest. These things can always help when crafting content. That being said, though, you cannot just rely on a trending topic or cause in order to drive your copy. It must be good content on its own. It must catch the eye of the consumer and at the very start.
David Ogilvy, known as the father of advertising, who founded Ogilvy and Mather said quote, five times as many people read the headlines as the body copy and he also said that a wasted headline wasted as much as 90% of the marketing budget. Now this is back in the mid 20th century, but his words stand correct even today. 80% of consumers read headline, but not the body copy, talking about articles and number driven headlines for example. 30 ways to make a drinking tea or delightful are the most popular out of any type of Article headline 36%. Now, this isn't to unsettle you, or make you disconcerted or less motivated in any way. Actually, this should inspire you.
If you're able to catch a reader's eye right at the outset, then you immediately have them engaged and then they're listening