by Allison Kooser | May 12, 2022 | +Good Newsletter, Copywriting, Marketing, The Intro, Work Smarter
One of the first projects our Chief Strategist, Ian, completed as a young marketer was a how-to guide for MySpace. It was a PowerPoint. And he printed it to show his team. (I think this is where the kids say something like, “Ok, boomer.”)
The simple reality is that we’ve been at this digital marketing game for a long time.
And over the last 15 years, we’ve created a LOT of content.
Blogs, infographics, social media, web pages, articles, thought leadership…if you’re anything like us, you’re sitting on a treasure trove of great material that you have already created.
Yet our impulse is still to create something new. To come up with the next great idea. To start over. And start over. And start over again.
Why?
Why do more work when you can, instead, do more efficient work? And why reinvent the wheel when you have a perfect circle within arm’s reach?
The reality is that most of your audience doesn’t remember your content.
Sad, but true.
And if your audience is growing (we’d love to help you do this, btw), then the new people on your email list weren’t around to receive that awesome message three years ago. They didn’t see it at all.
At every conference we’ve ever been to, the “experts” tell us one thing, over and over: Create engaging content. We always laugh at that because, duh, but also, they’re right. Good content is marketing magic—it’s why we built a storytelling agency. But we’d like to add to their advice: Create engaging content. And keep using the content you’ve created.
If you’re looking for easy, accessible content to share, chances are you already have it.
So how do you make use of the amazingness at your fingertips?
You need to do a content audit.
Spend time evaluating the material you already have, and start answering these questions:
- What is still working for you? These are the pages that are still getting lots of traffic and the pieces that are still getting used, so make sure the data and stories presented are accurate! Also, make sure these pages and pieces have logical next steps—where does a donor or prospect go after reading it?
- What ISN’T working? In the wise words of Marie Kondo, if a piece of content isn’t bringing you joy anymore, it might be time to let it go. Or rewrite it. Or start over.
- What could be working better? This is our favorite question! What are the stories in your arsenal that are interesting but unread? What blogs still work, especially if you were to spend five minutes updating them? What long-form articles could be parsed into a full month of social content? What can you re-share, re-post, or re-work?
As you approach that last question, here are a few easy ways to get started:
- Throwback Thursday. Post an old story in its entirety—no extra work required!
- Repost your long-form. With well-researched long-form content, take the time to edit and update the information presented. Then repost the blog or article with an “updated” date—voila: new content. The SEO crawlers will love you.
- Parse a blog into social. A full blog might not be super relevant anymore, but chances are high that you could find one or two sound bites that might be great social posts! As we always tell young writers, plagiarize yourself! If you’ve done the work, you can reuse it across channels!
- Milk a piece for all its worth. Did you write a great impact report? Awesome. Now post it online. Pull five social posts out of the content. Turn it into a listicle. Independently share the infographics. Work smarter, not harder. You have so much existing content available to you!
You can breathe life into old content—and Swell+Good is here to help. We conduct content audits for many of our clients, helping them identify what’s working, what’s not, and what could be. Then we help them turn the materials they have into a robust content calendar that is bursting with powerful stories.
Want to learn more? Shoot us an email, we would love to talk to you!
by Ian Haisley | Aug 6, 2021 | +Good Newsletter
1. The metaverse and the not-so-distant future of the internet. 💻
First things first, what is a metaverse? It’s an old sci-fi term for a seamless virtual world experienced by first-person users with augmented reality technology. And according to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s transition from social media into “a metaverse company”, is not as far away as you might think. So what does this mean for you? And how long do we have to wait before this is our reality?
Dive into the metaverse. [via Digiday]
2. Maximize the ROI from your newsletter! 💪
If you underestimate your email marketing returns, you might be shutting your eyes to some huge potential. Businesses get an average of $42 out of every dollar put into a well-planned email marketing strategy—and we’d love for you to be part of that statistic! Learn about unique strategy building, success metrics to pay attention to, and how to help your emails meet their targets by checking out the link below! (And, as always, we’d love to help you get your email marketing rocking and rolling!)
15 ways to get even more ROI from your emails. [via Databox]
3. Don’t 🛑 make the most common monthly giving mistake.
Is it sending your donors too many messages? Putting the wrong titles in your newsletters? The answer is actually much more simple, and it’s something you can work on right now! Read below about the single easiest tactic to start boosting your monthly donations.
What’s the most common monthly giving mistake? [via A Direct Solution]
4. Start using episodic content. 🍿🍿
We’re all guilty of binge-watching our favorite shows, but what if you could bottle that anticipation and use it to keep your donors hooked? You don’t have to run a TV show, you just have to keep your audience engaged with content that makes the most of your organization’s stories!
Learn how to leverage episodic content from the experts. [via Content Marketing Institute]
5. How to test for barriers in your email 📝 flow.
If your emails are not producing your desired results, there are three likely culprits: barriers to deliverability, display issues, or lack of engagement. But how can you diagnose the problem? We’ve collected an email testing toolkit to help you 1) find what’s blocking your flow and 2) avoid easy email testing mistakes.
Start sending better emails. [via Smashing Magazine]
by Ian Haisley | Jul 2, 2021 | +Good Newsletter
1. Navigate 🧭 email privacy protections.
Last week, Apple announced its new Mail Privacy Protection feature, which will offer users more control over their personal data and is set to launch later this year. So what will this mean for email marketers? Simply put, senders won’t be able to track email open rates from Apple Mail, and content dependent on location won’t be accurately displayed when an email is opened on Apple Mail. Scary? Yes. But deliverability and data protection experts say this rollout shouldn’t have a big impact on the overall state of email marketing.
Don’t get lost in the woods. [via mailjet]
2. Upgrade your image 🏞 backgrounds.
Not a photoshop expert? No problem! Designify is a photo-editing tool that uses premium AI technology to help you edit backgrounds out of photos for professional-quality images. It’s not only free to use, but images uploaded to the site are safe and secure. Drop in one of your images and try it out now!
Test our Designify. [via Designify]
3. Five quick and easy steps to optimizing website images. 📷
Do the images on your website come out…different…than you hoped? Smaller? Larger? Blurrier? Stretchier? We love funhouse mirrors at carnivals, but not here. You shouldn’t have to guess how your site’s images will upload, so it’s time to learn the basics of image optimization. Dive into image compression tools for PNGs and JPEGs, “Lazy Loading” plugins, and how image quality can help your pages load faster!
Learn how to optimize images for a website. [via the Daily Egg]
4. Now you can 📈 fundraise in groups on Instagram!
It’s happening!!! Instagram released an update that makes the world a little better (and no, we’re not talking about new filters, but you look fabulous). The app is rolling out a brand new feature that allows users to share fundraisers with friends in posts. And best of all, 100% of all money raised for nonprofits goes directly to those organizations! Learn how to create and share fundraising posts without leaving the app.
Get ready for group fundraisers on Instagram! [via ADWEEK]
5. Get more eyes on your 📧 emails.
Your email marketing campaigns only work if people receive them. But the higher your bounce rate—the percentage of emails that subscribers from your email list don’t receive—the more likely you are to damage your domain reputation. Emails can bounce for various reasons, including full mailboxes or outdated addresses, but these nine expert-approved tips will help you reduce bounce rates and get more people to see your emails.
Don’t bounce away. [via Databox]
by Ian Haisley | May 21, 2021 | +Good Newsletter
1. The magic 🌟 of social proof.
Remember that movie you almost saw, but the reviews were so bad? Remember that restaurant you almost skipped, but the reviews were so great? Social proof is just good reviews transformed into free advertising. Learn how to take your clients’ testimonials, mentions, and case studies and use them to build trust in your services.
Turn your donors into advocates. [via unbounce]
2. The algorithms, 📈 they are a-changin’.
Next month, Google plans to release its Google Page Experience update, along with some additional SEO tools. These new features will ensure that websites provide the best experience to searchers, whether they are using a mobile, desktop, or tablet device. Preparing for a new update can be a challenge, but there are simple steps you can take now to get ahead of the algorithm changes and avoid declining traffic.
Get prepared for the update. [via Neil Patel]
3. Why do 📩 emails go to spam?
The most frustrating thing: putting so much time into your emails just to have them end up in a spam folder alongside ads and scams? You’re better than that! You deserve the inbox! Luckily, there is something you can do. Learn about 12 common mistakes we all make that land us in our readers’ spam folders—and get your emails where they need to be!
Get into the inbox. [via GetResponse]
4. Don’t waste good content. ♻️ Repurpose it!
Listen, content creators: we get it. You’re swamped with assignments. But what if you could re-use content instead of re-inventing the wheel each time you post? A few simple content strategy changes could save your heavy workload and boost web traffic on content that already works! Don’t let a good thing to go to waste—learn to build your customer base by repurposing content.
Reduce, reuse, recycle your content. [via Content Marketing Institute]
5. Unlock 🔓 Facebook’s full potential.
While LinkedIn may have cornered the market for professional social networking, Facebook holds valuable networking potential, too—if you can find and join the right groups. Check out this extensive list of the most active, supportive, and useful groups for marketers on Facebook. After joining the right group, you’ll be able to ask questions, learn best practices for growing and building your organization, and connect with your fellow industry professionals.
Join your peers on Facebook. [via Wild Apricot]
This issue of +good was written and produced by Allison Kooser, Ian Haisley, Sydney Bartlett, Kerry Jones, Lindsey Lincoln, and Katie Powers.
by Allison Kooser | Feb 25, 2021 | +Good Newsletter
1. Where great plans 📝 go to die.
Have you ever spent hours (days? weeks?) on a project document or campaign overview or editorial calendar…and then never looked at it again? There is no point in making a plan if it doesn’t actually guide your work. Here are a few of the likely culprits for why your beautiful strategy only lives in the recesses of your dreams—and what you can do to rescue it.
How to make a plan that you actually use. [via Nonprofit Marketing Guide]
2. The next new social media 📱 platform.
We know what you’re thinking: another social media platform to understand and manage? But it’s always wise to learn about the new major players, especially when they are gaining traction among business and media leaders (including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Oprah!). Clubhouse—which lets users listen in on audio conversations about key topics, often featuring big-name celebrities and thought leaders—is growing fast.
An inside look at Clubhouse. [via Hubspot]
3. How to do a content 📊 audit.
If you want to squeeze all the life you possibly can out of your content, it’s time to schedule a content audit. This strategic analysis of all of the amazing stories, blogs, and resources you have produced will help you identify what is working—and what isn’t. It will also help you make easy changes to extend the work that you’ve already done instead of reinventing the wheel.
Your step-by-step guide to content audits. [via Animalz]
4. Your email ✉️ deliverability vocabulary lesson.
You know that you want people to receive (and read) your emails. But do you know what all the terms mean that help you achieve this goal? Dive into MTA Reputations, DNS, Spoofing, SPS records, and more with this helpful email deliverability vocabulary guide.
Start here to improve email deliverability. [via Folderly]
5. Dust off that 📚 library card.
Typically, we recommend articles, tools, and videos that you can consume or test out in just a few minutes. But we are also big believers in books. (Sometimes, you need more than 1,000 words to make a point.) This week, we’ve been totally engrossed in David Epstein’s Range. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to think more creativity, cultivate curiosity, and break out of the trap of specialization.
Add this to your TBR list. [via Amazon]
