Content editing is a vital step if you want your B2B inbound marketing campaign to connect with the savvy people who have control of your target customers’ budgets. You just can’t afford to leave a bunch of Roving Deal Killers in your articles.
What’s a Roving Deal Killer, you say?
It’s anything that encourages readers to stop reading. A Roving Deal Killer could be as minor as a typo that makes you look sloppy. Or it could be as major as an article built around a specious premise (B.S., in other words) that makes potential customers write you off as a charlatan.
This content editing checklist can help you eliminate the Roving Deal Killers from your inbound marketing campaign copy. Before you click “Publish,” be sure you’ve asked — and found a satisfying answer to — these questions:
Content Editing Question 1:
Is the Content’s Premise Accurate?
Here’s where you have to be your own worst critic.
To find your answer, consider:
- Have you considered alternate explanations for your conclusions?
- Is your premise based on reliable data or personal observations?
- Have assertions of fact been double-checked?
- What are the possible ramifications of being wrong?
Content marketing is all about using credible, factual information to build trust in your brand. Anybody smart enough to run a successful company will see right through your argument if, for example, it’s built around a study with clearly unscientific methodology.
Content Editing Question 2:
Is the Content Free of Inexcusable Acts of Carelessness?
Some things just make you look lazy.
To find your answer, consider:
- Is every name of every product, company and person spelled correctly?
- Have you double-checked your math to make sure all the numbers add up?
- Is the copy free of typos and grammatical errors?
- Are all the links working properly?
- Do the links go to appropriate pages that back up or build on your premise?
Nobody willingly hires lazy people. But they do fire them.
Content Editing Question 3:
Is the Content Using SEO Best Practices?
SEO has become maddeningly complex these days, but there’s no excuse for not getting the basics right.
To find your answer, consider:
- Is the desired keyword or key phrase in the headline?
- Is the keyword or key phrase also in the first sentence?
- Are you using standard HTML structure, with H2 coding for subheads and H3 and below for sub-subheads?
- Does the content provide internal links to related copy on your website?
For all the talk about Google tweaking its algorithms to favor social sharing and such, all the above basics are still mandatory.
Content Editing Question 4:
Is the Content Structured for Maximum Usability?
Web content in particular should use the inverted pyramid — starting with the conclusion, not ending with it.
To find your answer, consider:
- Is the most compelling point of the content stated in the first paragraph?
- Do the succeeding paragraphs use credible information to back up the assertions in the opening paragraph?
- Are you using bullets and subheads to help readers scan the information quickly?
- Does the article flow naturally from one premise to the next, or do some sections need to be moved up or down?
Every medium has its peculiar usability requirements. Make sure you know them — and use them.
Content Editing Question 5:
Is the Content Free of Lazy Writing?
When they’re judging your content, smart readers have The Wall Street Journal — written and edited by some of the best business journalists around — as their standard.
To find your answer, consider:
- Is the content free of cliches?
- Is the content free of buzzwords and jargon?
- Is the content written tightly, succinctly and free of redundancies?
- Are acronyms well understood by your audience?
While your content will naturally cover material that’s only familiar to people in your industry, it should be accessible enough that any roving reader could stop in and immediately figure out what you’re talking about.
Content Editing Question 6:
Is the Content Helping or Hurting Your Goals?
Don’t assume the content in front of you is doing what’s supposed to doing.
To find your answer, consider:
- If your goal is to encourage people to buy things, is your copy discouraging people from buying?
- If your goal is to enhance your reputation or authority, is the article making you look smart?
- If your goal is to show your knack for creative thinking, does the article offer original, surprising insights?
Copy should always pass the “are we better off with it than without it?” test.
In Short: Keep It Clean
The best defense against Roving Deal Killers is an editor trained to identify and remove them, but you’re not always going to have an editor available. These tactics, tested in newsrooms over the course of decades, should help you make sure your content marketing is doing the most good and the least harm to your brand.
Reputation Capital Media Services is a Baton Rouge marketing agency that helps B2B companies and their marketing agencies produce high-quality digital content, including blog posts, e-mail newsletters, white papers and multimedia. Our editors and writers are experts in their fields, which include HR technology, employee benefits, and financial services and accounting. Contact us for a free 30-minute consultation to find out how great content can help you attract and retain your customers.
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