Converting visitors into prospective sales is where the success of a company lies. Visitors come and go without leaving a lead – quite literally. That is why the marketing departments have come up with the “magnets” to rope in visitors, offer incentives, and convert them into buyers.
However, is that as easy as it is said?
Not essentially.
Strategizing with lead magnet ideas to optimize your visiting traffic into returning ones, and potentially into customers, is not an easy game. This is mainly because lead magnets are popular bait, and you need to come up with relevant and value-adding stuff to gain the favor of your target audience.
The prospect is completely unaware of your brand, or of the solution, it offers to a problem. A visitor might have stumbled upon your website via organic search, so at this stage, you have to focus on making the prospects become “aware”.
Consideration Stage:
As the prospect makes it to the middle of your customer journey funnel, it “considers” and weighs the options against the problem. Countless businesses are offering similar solutions, if not completely the same. In that case, what makes your brand credible?
Decision Stage:
If a lead has made it to the decision stage, all it needs is a slight push to be converted into a consumer. Just a click away, the right or wrong move can influence their buying decision.
There’s a different mind map of the prospect at every stage of the funnel. Lead magnets, therefore, vary for each segment of the buyer’s journey.
The Awareness Stage
Educate with eBooks
In-depth, detailed, and comprehensive eBooks are a powerful way to attract qualified sales leads by giving them a free download to an inclusive guide. They act as a strong lure because eBooks are a reserved property and require extensive time and knowledge to compile.
Make sure your eBook is thoroughly researched, is relevant to the brand’s core values, and has visual appeal. Using original infographics, charts, and images is an effective way to get your message across.
Increase Productivity with Checklists
You can use checklists as a lead magnet considering the target audience of your company.
Visitors find these quick lists helpful in optimizing their productivity – for instance, an ultimate to-do-list for backpackers so they do not miss out on anything. You can stash away valuable insight or tips and tricks in these “cheat sheets” in return for their email addresses.
Businesses customize the checklist lead magnet by turning it into steps of a process, top requirements, or best practices. As they are easy to consume and condenses a lot of information into an easy-to-scan list, it propels the prospect from the first stage to the next.
Bring Interactive Quizzes
Interactive quizzes are one way to entertain and interact with users while can be tailored to keep them invested in your preposition. Quizzes are custom-made – it is so much you can give and take from only a few interesting questions. They can be creative, whacky, and still remain relevant to the problem at hand.
For instance, if your company sells athletic wear, you can create a quiz to get users to find out which sports movie character they would most likely play. Or, if you are an interior designing company, you can host a quiz asking people of their likes and dislikes to offer an end-result telling which design will suit their taste best.
The Consideration Stage
Exclusive Webinars
The king of converting leads, Neil Patel, recommends webinars as a strong magnet to attract genuinely interested sales leads. Webinars are classified under the “educational” lead magnets – schooling your visitors about something they didn’t already know.
In return for an email address, prospects can watch live or pre-recorded presentations as many times as they want. Offer valuable insights, wisdom speech, and informative content with, perhaps, a host-interactive session or an attractive offer at the end to make it to the prospect’s shortlist. Knowledge is the key, and an exclusive webinar behind a gate is a promising way to catch potential buyers.
Make sure you design the webinars in a way that it compels the prospect to “consider” your brand.
Whitepapers
Whitepapers are compelling reports or guides with exhaustive knowledge on a complex issue. They are a marketing magnet that takes on the form of an authoritative and credible problem-solving stance and has rich, in-depth methodologies presenting solutions.
Readability is imperative, always. Keep the text boxes short, to-the-point, and backed by visuals to grab the reader’s attention. Since whitepapers are golden freebies for consumers to read, evaluate, and make a decision; you need to keep them power-packed with original facts and stats.
The Decision Stage
Prospects at this stage are waiting for the final push to help them make their decision. Consider the lead magnets under this section as the final straw to your conversion. You need to come up with personalized content that would interact with your final prospects and creatively address their pain points.
Provide Discounts
Discount coupons are the prime lead magnets to convert visitors into buyers. This magnet came into existence when the internet wasn’t ever found. So, you cannot undermine the effectiveness of discount coupons acting as the most successful incentives.
Offer whooping discounts to first-time users, free shipping perks, giveaways, and free gifts on first deliveries.
Seal the Deal with free demo/trials/consultation
Did you know that ASOS introduced a “try before you buy” model to gain the blind trust of their customers? And it worked – it worked better than anything else. Using this tactic, they not only conquered the hearts of their loyal customers, but it was another powerful generation of leads and referrals.
Seal the deal for your customers at the last stage of the funnel by offering them free trials/demos or consultations of your services.
Final Thoughts about Lead Magnet Ideas
Backed up marketing metrics and data, you can easily monitor the performance of your lead magnets and devise improvisations accordingly. There is nothing more challenging than converting visitors into buyers – and once they have converted, there’s nothing worthier.
One of the first questions asked by anyone trying to get into freelancing is: Where do I find clients? Getting work from clients is the lifeblood of a freelancing career—it’s how you make the money to pay your bills.
And while you could start off on sites like Upwork and Fiverr, you may find that you’re not getting the high-paying gigs you had hoped for.
So how do you land the high-ticket clients? Whether you’ve been freelancing for a while or you’re just getting started, these tips should help.
When you’re freelancing, a resume usually won’t be enough to convince a potential client that you’ll do a great job. You’ll need a portfolio of past projects and work samples to really win them over. So, before you start trying to track down any high paying clients, you should build a professional portfolio that showcases your best work.
First, you should create a general portfolio that you make public. You should make this portfolio available on your website, your social media pages, freelance job sites, and any relevant industry sites. Make this portfolio look nice and presentable so that potential clients immediately trust you. For ideas and inspiration, research other professional portfolios or use an online portfolio building tool.
In your general portfolio, include the work you’re most proud of and try to make the samples as diverse as possible. Demonstrate that your skills are versatile and can translate to different topics and different industries.
If you’re making a pitch to a specific client, however, you’ll want to tailor your portfolio so that it aligns with their needs and goals. Show them that you can work in their industry, write in their voice, design with their style in mind, etc.
2. Network
Networking is important for any professional, but it’s absolutely essential when you’re a freelancer.
33% of freelancers report finding work through referrals, 15% get work through social networks, and 14% get work through networking sites like LinkedIn. Thus, if you want to start landing high-ticket clients, you’ll have to make an effort to build a professional network.
There are a variety of effective ways to go about building a network. You could start by asking family members and friends if they know of anyone looking for the services you provide. It takes very little effort on your part and they may be able to connect you with some great clients.
You should also try to use social media to generate business for yourself. Create profiles on networking sites like LinkedIn, as well as any networking sites relevant to the industry you work in. Advertise your services on other social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using either your personal profile or a profile you create specifically for your freelancing services.
Reach out directly to companies you want to work for and people you want to connect with via these social media sites. Try to not only connect with potential clients, but also other people in the same industry as you. It’s important to build relationships with people in your industry, even if they’re not clients, because they may be able to provide you with work opportunities in the future.
3. Know your worth
Many freelancers undervalue the services they provide for too long, resulting in low pay that they can barely use to make ends meet. In order to get the high paying jobs that you dream about you’ll first have to realize your own value.
To start, you’ll need to determine a fair rate for your services. Look around online and do some research into what other freelancers in your industry charge. Alternatively, use Referral Rock’s online rate calculator tool to determine your freelance rate.
Image courtesy of Referral Rock
When you’re just starting out and trying to build a portfolio, it makes sense to charge a low rate—but don’t do this for too long. You’ll find that charging next to nothing for your services isn’t a sustainable strategy for attracting and retaining clients. When you set a low rate, you attract low-paying companies who are unlikely to be flexible in raising their rates in the future.
Besides, most reputable companies are looking to hire a great worker rather than the person who charges the lowest price.
Companies are often willing to pay well above bottom-tier rates in order to ensure that they receive quality work in return. In fact, many companies will actually be put off by freelancers who charge very low rates, as they assume the work won’t be as good or the freelancer won’t handle the project with much care.
So, even if you start off by charging a low rate, quickly raise it. Steadily raise your rate as you accumulate more experience, learn more, and sharpen your skills.
If you hesitate about setting high rates, keep in mind that, as a freelancer, you’re often much cheaper for a company to hire than a full-time employee since you’re used on an as-needed basis and the company doesn’t need to provide you with the same benefits or bonuses that it would with a full-time worker.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, when a potential client expresses interest in your services, don’t be afraid to talk about money.
If a company offers you a project at a price below your usual rate, it isn’t rude or ungrateful to ask for more money.
Negotiating over pay is a completely normal part of any business relationship and, if you don’t negotiate, you could end up leaving a lot of money on the table.
So be firm with your rate (of course you might lower it based on the client, project, the promise of continued work, etc.) and don’t be afraid to say no to potential clients whose budget is too low.
4. Work in a niche
Finding a niche is a great way to build a steady client base and start earning more money as a freelancer. When you pick a specialty and become an expert in that area, you effectively reduce the amount of competition you face and provide a greater value to potential clients within that niche.
For example, if you brand yourself as just a general freelance writer, you’ll be competing with tens of thousands of writers with years of experience, and long, impressive portfolios. However, if you were to brand yourself as a freelance writer specializing in interior design, you would face far less competition and have a much more specific client base that you could pitch to.
By becoming an expert in one area, you’ll build up a specialized knowledge and skill set that not many people have, and more clearly define who your client base is, making it easier to pitch to the high-paying ones.
Conclusion
Following these tips can help you step away from those low-paying clients and work with ones that pay you what you’re worth.
Not only can you earn more money by doing this, but you’ll be able to devote more time and energy to projects you care about instead of jumping from one low-paying assignment to the next.
Samantha Rupp holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She lives in San Diego, California, and enjoys spending time on the beach, reading up on current industry trends, and traveling.
Blogging holds its ground firmly in this new age of social media platforms. There are currently more than 600 million blogs on the internet out of 1.7 billion websites! It has found a way to weasel its way into all kinds of content online, from YouTube videos to Facebook promotional content. How we define a blog now has become increasingly open-ended.
Blogs have acquired a stronger position in the wake of COVID-19 because people have to rely on their computer screens for information and entertainment. This means bloggers do the most they can to optimize their content and website.
Managing blogs and writing content can be challenging and might not yield positive results. But this is a trial and error phase. Every blogger goes to reach a point where they can get enough traffic. To minimize this phase’s duration, I’ve created a list below that will help you increase your blog traffic.
While you must have a smattering of SEO-based content available throughout your blog, you can also use it in headlines and first-page content.
Take careful steps to ensure that you’re using optimized keywords for your blog. But how smartly are you doing it? Blog titles are crucial to the success of the article you post. They need to be attractive and engaging but must also be keyword-optimized.
Use keywords in your meta tags as well as snippets that you have on your first page. It would help if you integrated targeted keywords into your headlines to optimize your blog further.
There are different tools that can help with the optimization of your web pages for specific keywords. For example, you can test a free on-page SEO tool by Wincher.
Revise Your Keywords Strategy
Every website or blog requires an effective keyword strategy to boost rankings and traffic. One of the easiest ways to understand how you can improve your keyword search is to know your audience.
Knowing who you are targeting is crucial before you start writing or uploading content on your blog. This helps you streamline your viewers. Conduct small-scale and relatively simple research and make data-driven decisions based on the needs of your audience.
An important blogging tip to add to your list is finding a niche that will help you organize your keyword research. A niche is a specialized but profitable corner of the market. Narrow your blog’s focus, so it does not feel chaotic or difficult for the audience to follow.
Promote Your Content
Promoting can be done in either of two ways: finding mediums you can use to promote, or self-promote your content. The latter should be done tastefully so it does not feel like you’re bragging or needlessly spamming. But tooting your own horn isn’t bad! Finding a balance between self-promotion and humility takes some time and practice.
You can also use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and everything else to do paid promotions for your blog. Facebook has a well-integrated ad system that all influencers, bloggers, or businesses should use.
A few more tips to spread the word about your content:
Submit the article to relevant online communities, for example, Growth Hacker.
Be active on Quora. Find relevant questions, answer them, and add your link
Reach out to the sources that you’ve mentioned, and ask for a share.
Repurpose your content in different formats. For instance, you can set up a YouTube channel and convert all your blog posts into videos, essentially making you a YouTube blogger. You can link back to the original posts in the video description so viewers can read the post.
When someone reads a blog, their eye automatically veers towards the one with the right balance of pictures, gifs, and videos. Notice that we said balance because sometimes an overload of images with less text to provide any quality content will put off the reader.
They might have clicked on the blog, thinking they’ll find useful information coupled with pictures, but when both aren’t what they end up getting, it becomes useless.
Use high-quality, royalty-free images to not only increase your blog traffic but also make the traffic stay. Websites like Pexels or Pixabay are great resources for your blogs!
Consistency matters in everything you do. When you’re asking for ways to boost your blog after every strategy has been discussed, the one thing that sustains all your success is the consistent effort you put in your work.
Writing blogs every once in a while will not cut it. The more you write, the more you’re going to find ways to make that piece of writing more effective. Your traffic will also become consistent, and you’re bound to have frequent visitors. This is extremely important to increase your blog traffic.
As I previously mentioned, writing and experimenting with your strategy will help you improve your blog in general. This trial and error phase is significant for learning new strategies or revising the old ones.
Keep an eye on your traffic jumps and keyword rankings. You can gain lots of insights by tracking your positions and spying on your competitors. It’s obvious that higher positions you have – more traffic you get. That’s why don’t forget to track your keywords and see which content brings the most traffic for your website.
Add Clear Call-to-Action
Call-to-actions are essential for both blog writing and general content on your website. When you’re writing a blog, end it each time with a CTA but do so in a tasteful manner but still calling to the customers.
First of all, think about what you want to empower your audience for. Sign up for a newsletter, leave the feedback or probably follow your social media. Don’t hesitate to highlight CTA to let the audience easily find the relevant next step.
Useful Call-to-actions are easily distinguishable and stand out. In the case of blogs, CTAs will usually ask readers to share their content if they liked what they read or promote their website to read similar blogs or promote a specific business.
Remember, asking is okay!
Conclusion
Creating and maintaining a blog is time-consuming and challenging, but something doable. We hope the strategies listed above help you increase your blog traffic. But most importantly, your passion enables you to add depth to it, and your drive for it makes the blog more consistent. Having both is important as you delve into this world!
Author’s bio: Julia is a professional business development manager with proven experience in customer acquisition, strategic partnerships, and outbound marketing. Now she takes care of customer success and business growth at Wincher rank tracker.
All your writers must uniformly produce articles and blog posts. That means they have the same format, tone, and voice according to your or your client’s specifications.
However, this is impossible unless you have shared with your team the guidelines on how to do these.
If you don’t have a process for this yet, then you need to set up one ASAP. This helps you onboard all your writers, whether old or new, to how you want things done. If done correctly, all your writers will produce consistent articles across all boards.
First, you need to lay out all the steps in a clearly defined format.
Tools like Process Street or Trello with its built-in checklist feature for cards allow you to list down the steps writers need to do when writing the content.
It would even be better to share a screen recording of you running down the steps of writing content. One such screen recording software program, CloudApp, let’s you annotate images as well. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And nowhere is that more clear than trying to captain a team of content writers. Show, don’t tell to make sure your writers get all the information they need to be successful.
Once done, you can set up a Trello board that your writers can review and access every time you start writing an article for you.
Oversee each task like a hawk
One of the most important factors managers like yourself need to instill among its team members is accountability.
You must provide them all the information to write the article, but the rest of the work must come from them. If they can’t submit the work on time despite having agreed upon a deadline, then they are responsible for not getting the job done.
Using Trello, you can set up the card containing the job description with a deadline on each. You can also take screenshots on different records and upload them using CloudApp when snipping an image is faster than restyling.
Writers must either comply with the details of the work or ask for a longer period to finish it. Either way, this part should allow you to lay down the groundwork for the project for you and the writer to discuss and agree upon its terms.
Do this for all your writers and for their respective tasks so they commit in writing to a deadline for a job to be completed by. And if they fail on holding up their end of the bargain, it’s clear that timelines aren’t being met.
Communicate visually
There are times, however, when writers can’t finish the job on time due to reasons such as faulty internet connection, health-related issues, family-related problems, and others. While deadlines are important, you should also give writers a benefit of a doubt in these cases.
This goes both ways as well. If the client wanted some changes with the project while you’re in the middle of getting the job done, it’s best to inform them ASAP.
That’s where a messaging app like Slack is beneficial to your team. You can update each other regarding work-related issues so each one is in the loop.
The goal here is to create an open line of communication among writers without the usual distractions and multiple emails.
The good thing about these apps is you can set up different channels for your team as needed be. For example, you can create a channel for a client with multiple writers.
Also, Slack allows you to focus on your project only unlike on different messaging apps where non-work-related discussion pop off. And just like with Trello, CloudApp’s screen recorder integrates seamlessly with Slack. You can tie CloudApp to Slack by installing the integration from the Slack app marketplace.
Set up a writing workflow
The most important part of managing a content writing team is to get people to follow the guidelines to a tee. We’re not just talking about the format and tone of the articles – we’re also dealing here with quality, grammar, and the actual content.
Therefore, developing a writing workflow is in order. This allows your team to pass off work to you that is proofread and contains actionable items and insights points in the content about the topic.
First, providing an outline for the content is important so writers can just focus on churning out great content based on the specs of the project.
I have written the importance of creating an outline before writing the article to help writers finish it faster and better. You can read it here.
You can also serve as the team’s editor if you don’t have one yet. For this job, getting help from writing tools like Grammarly or ProWritingAid would prove beneficial to you. Manually editing work is ideal, but some things in the content would fall down the cracks.
Using either tool, at the very least, consistently checks for the grammatical errors and sentence structures. You can then focus your attention on the level of detail in one’s work.
Better yet, what I do is sign up for a ProWritingAid account and install the GDocs extension on your domain (if you have a GSuite). This way, all your writers with access to your GSuite can edit their work on GDocs using ProWritingAid. This takes out a step from your process and simplifies the workflow as a result.
Hire more qualified writers for the job
Part of your work includes hiring and screening new writers for your projects. Maybe some of your current writers are worn out from the other clients you’re working with. Or others don’t have the experience yet to take upon this demanding client.
In this case, it’s best to get the right writer for the job instead of overpromising and underdelivering with your current staff.
I have detailed things you must do to find the best writer for the job in this post. It details what to look for in their freelance writing portfolio, how to screen each one, and more.
Conclusion
As mentioned, running a tight ship with your content writing team is possible. But realize that everything starts with you as their captain.
By setting up the necessary processes and workflows to make sure everybody is on the same page, everything else will follow. Writers can then focus on producing better work for you so you don’t have to worry about reviewing and rewriting their content.
Freelance writing can be a stressful job. Not only are you responsible for creating great content for your clients, but you also have to find said clients.
You always have to keep marketing your services hoping to get clients that will provide you with consistent work and the job security you need.
Worst of all, you’re lucky if you don’t encounter clients who don’t pay on time, if at all. So you have to chase them with emails and private messages to get the payment in full.
Combine all these things over a period and it’s no wonder why you eventually feel burnt out.
That’s why you need to learn the art of taking a break from writing, which is what I’ll be discussing in this post.
I’ll be discussing how you can take breaks in between writing and how to spend your time wisely while away from work. This way, you can always approach writing for clients with vigor.
Before ending the week, I usually schedule the things I need to do for next week. Even if you do not understand what you’ll do for the coming week, at least block the times when you think you’ll be working in your calendar.
Setting a schedule also determines the times when you’ll be having your breaks. Therefore, it’s good to space out the breaks in between writing so you don’t overexert yourself.
For planning the week ahead, I use Clickup to help me organize my projects and set the tasks for each.
You can even enter the start and end time for each task. The tool will then remind you via email if there’s something you need to finish for the day and what time.
If you’re not into project management tools, you can use Google Calendar to do this. In fact, even writing it on a planner should suffice.
Ultimately, where you write or type your schedule doesn’t matter. The point is for you to set expectations on what you must finish for next week so you can take breaks appropriately.
Use productivity techniques
One of the major causes why people need taking a break from writing is burnout. And to avoid burnout, you need to make the most of your time working.
That doesn’t mean you should squeeze in as much work as possible when writing.
Instead, you must maintain consistent levels of productivity over time. And you can only achieve this if you can practice productivity techniques when writing.
Much has been said about the Pomodoro Technique so I won’t have to discuss that here. Also, there are other tactics you can implement to help you keep up with the writing demand of clients without feeling burned out.
Jerry Seinfield’s monthly streak is a simple but effective way to keep your productivity going. You must set up a one-page calendar on your wall and mark the days when you’ve finished your writing tasks for that day.
The goal is to keep finishing your tasks consecutively, forming a chain of marked dates on your calendar. It encourages you to build a habit of completing your task in the calendar. As a result, you can deliver your work for your clients on time.
Reserve a “no writing day”
As a freelance writer, it’s common for us to write even during the weekends when we don’t have to work. It’s an occupational hazard for sure, and it’s not exclusive to just writers.
Since you don’t work a 9-5 job like the general workforce does, your freelance work spills over time when you’re supposed to be taking a break.
That said, you should be able to block at least a day without writing. Taking this when planning your week into consideration.
Use your breaks wisely
There is no right or wrong way to spend your time away from writing. Any activity that allows you to disengage from your work is time well-spent.
However, there are optimum ways for taking a break from writing.
A great example is taking a walk in the park or by going outside. This helps clear your mind and gives you a fresh perspective when you write again.
Even watching shows and movies from streaming services can be a good idea. If you want to watch the latest episode of Killing Eve or What We Watch in the Shadows, for example, you can watch BBC iPlayer outside the UK.
Take writing prompt challenges
When taking a long time away from writing because of vacations with family and friends, getting back to work can be quite difficult.
When not using a particular skill, you become rusty with it. The same thing goes with writing – you can’t expect to write epic content after weeks or months away from work.
Most of these prompts will recommend you to join the content by submitting your written work. Here, I treat writing prompts as greasing the nuts and bolts of my writing engine.
Take as many prompts as you need and just write away. You don’t have to edit yourself when writing – let the ideas and words flow. Once you get in the groove of writing, then you know you’re ready to get back in the saddle of work.
Taking a Break from Writing: Conclusion
By following the unique ways of taking a break from writing correctly, you can boost your productivity and accomplish your goals without feeling tired.
Just practice the tips above consistently until you turn them into habits that are hard to break.
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Fact: Content marketing can be challenging. While it’s lucrative and promising, it can cause you to flip tables out of frustration and go all over the place.
So, this is for bloggers, owners of online businesses, and anyone who wants to step up their content marketing game.
In this ContentStudio review, let’s discuss ContentStudio and find out whether it is the ultimate social media marketing tool that it claims to be. We’ll dig into its features, pricing, pros and cons, and my verdict on it. We’ll also take it out for a spin and walk through a step-by-step process on how to use it.
ContentStudio was founded by Waqar Azeem, a world-class digital marketer, in 2018.
It’s a cloud-based content marketing solution that primarily works as a social media management tool. Its concept lets you work more effectively as you manage all your content in one place.
It kicks things off by prompting you to create workspaces — with the ability to work closely with team members. And regardless of whether you’re a part of agencies and startups or flying solo, you can enjoy this powerful tool.
INTERFACE
The commands and navigation menu are incorporated clearly. As a result, ContentStudio offers no distractions.
USEFULNESS
This automation tool performs very well. The Assistant feature is handy, too.
USABILITY
ContentStudio distributes your content across multiple social media accounts. Additional integrations would be better.
EFFECTIVENESS
The tool lives up to expectations. When it says it can help you with content curation and social media management, it delivers.
Features
The reason ContentStudio works seamlessly is the suite of products behind it. Use the suite well and you’re about to elevate your marketing.
What the products can do for you are:
Discover
It unearths everything you need to make your content more powerful. You can get your hands on the best content and influencers out there.
Content Discovery Feature
This is where you can easily research top-performing content in your niche. All you need is a keyword or domain name to get the flow going.
What makes this feature so unique? ContentStudio crawls over 4,000,000 domains to find the best and most relevant content for you. Plus, a vast search comes with an incredible content variety.
And as if this isn’t enough, you can also add your own source. If you have an RSS feed of a website or blog that you want to keep tabs on, you can add it as a source.
Influencer Discovery
It lets you identify the right people who can amplify your content’s reach. This includes pioneers and key influencers in your niche.
It is useful because it gives you a peek at an influencer’s following. You will see their number of followers and their engagement level.
Here’s a sample image I took when using this feature:
Publish
This feature introduces tools that allow you to publish content better. You’re granted better control of all the unlimited social posts you can create here.
Composer
Here, you can create, collaborate (with teams and clients), and distribute content. For example, what you can compose is a social media post or blog post.
It also prompts you when you want your post to be published. The more familiar options are Post Now and (save as) Draft. You can also Schedule your post, Add to Queue, and Add to Content Category.
And before you publish your post, you should specify whether you want it to be distributed repeatedly. If you do, the tool will automate the repeat process for you.
Approval workflow
The Composer is also equipped with a feature-rich approval workflow. The approval workflow permits every team member to customize the content’s structure.
When you tag a post as “Needs Approval,” that post doesn’t leave ContentStudio until a team member approves it. This feature helps grant the freedom to each team member to create a post for a higher-level member to give their green light.
Here is a screenshot of an approval workflow when I was creating a social media post:
And here is a screenshot of an approval workflow for a blog post:
Some of the Composer’s most useful sidebar features are:
Assistant
This helps you easily locate the content you want to include in your post. As a result, you can save time and keep your focus while “your assistant” hustles on your behalf.
To use this feature, enter a search term and specify the channel you want to look into. The list of channels includes YouTube, Dailymotion, and Twitter.
Comments
This lets you add comments to posts. With comments, you can leave notes and end up collaborating with your team better.
SEO (blog posts only)
The SEO Toolbox can guide you as you create SEO-friendly content. This feature is straightforward. Once you load it up, you’ll immediately notice your content’s page score.
Are you familiar with a popular WordPress plugin, Yoast? That plugin also helps create SEO-friendly content. So, if you can understand how Yoast works, you’d have no trouble using this ContentStudio feature.
To use it, type in a target keyword. Then, read through the notes to determine areas in a post that needs improvement.
Planner
This is where you can visualize and monitor the content that goes into your blog and social media accounts. It’s useful for helping you handle your account from a long-term perspective. For one, it can help you identify the kinds of content that you’ve already posted.
Also, it comes with powerful filters and list and calendar views. With these filters and view options, you can decide which planner entry you want to see — and how.
Here is a screenshot (in calendar view) of the feature:
Automation
This is where you can auto-fill channels using Automation Recipes. Go through a four-step process to begin.
And as the default setting goes, you can use seven Automation Recipes. These recipes can assist you as you repurpose readily available quality content.
Analyze
This feature lets you analyze posts based on the social media accounts that you connected to ContentStudio. Here, you can determine the total number of shares, reactions, and more. You can also look at the overall performance of your posts.
You can also access the Reports Hub here. It’s where you can view the engagements for the posts you published.
Inbox
This is ContentStudio’s new feature. The Social Inbox is unique because it gives you better control of all the exchanges across all social channels.
It comes with various filters so you can easily segregate conversations. For example, you can segregate conversations based on their status or go through each conversation by channel.
Additional features
Another impressive aspect of ContentStudio? The team behind it addresses customers’ feedback.
The team listens. And as a result, it loaded up the tool with features based on what customers were asking.
How to Use ContentStudio
To use ContentStudio, create an account (or sign in to an existing one).
Then, proceed to the following steps:
Step # 1 – Create a workspace
Specify a workspace name and slug for a project. Choose an appropriate time zone and workspace logo, too.
Want to create multiple workspaces? Your desire to do so isn’t impossible to understand.
The tool’s pack of features can lessen the load if you have multiple projects and clients to watch over. However, you still might get lost because it comes with various features.
So, here’s a tip. Start with one workspace to get a feel of the tool. Then, you can easily add more workspaces only after you get the hang of using ContentStudio.
Step # 2 – Discover influencers, content insights, and new content
You can get inside ContentStudio and access the tool’s dashboard with a workspace. There, you can use its core features.
Launch the tool’s DISCOVER feature to begin the simple process of creating and publishing a social media post. Under it, fire up the Influencers section to determine the people who can help you out.
You can reach out to these influencers later on (once your content is ready). Or you can take inspiration from the content they post and how they engage with others. You can also check out how they run their account.
Under DISCOVER, you can also load content and search for relevant content using a keyword.
Here’s an example. Based on the search term “productivity,” here’s a glimpse of the results:
This is also where you can discover key insights (through graphs and charts) on the top-performing content. You can then review this information to understand the content that will be most impactful to your target.
Examples of content insights that you should look into are:
Articles Published Over Time & Engagement
This refers to the number of published articles and their engagement levels. With these data, you can determine the piece with which people will be most involved.
Articles Published Over Time and Sentiment
This refers to people’s sentiments or how people feel about a particular piece of content. You can use this data to use people’s sentiments as the basis for the direction of your post.
Let’s say the majority’s sentiment over content is negative. Therefore, you should consider creating different content.
Average Engagement by Network
This singles out the engagement levels of the particular kind of articles posted on specific networks. Based on the information you gather, you can get a clue about the networks that are more responsive to the articles you’re about to compose.
Step # 3 – Connect accounts
You can explore ContentStudio as much as you want. However, you can’t maximize the results unless you connect an account.
So, on the dashboard, click your account’s picture and expand the general settings. This way, you can access the Workspace Settings and Account Settings.
There, expand Social Accounts under Workspace Settings. This will redirect you to a page where you can easily connect your social media accounts.
This is when you should add integrations, too. So far, the tool allows these integrations (featured in the following images):
Step # 4 – Compose a post
Now, hit up Composer. You can find it in the drop-down menu under PUBLISH.
From there, you’ll be asked what you want to compose. Here, choose Social Media Post.
You’ll then be redirected to a window where you can compose your social media post. There, use the sidebar features as you see fit. Then, based on the content insights you gathered earlier, write a post that will be a hit over time or for years to come.
Ready to get going? All you need now is to specify when and how you want to publish your post. And if your post requires the approval of someone in your team, tick the box that says Needs Approval. Then, complete the process by clicking post Now.
Step # 5 – Invite team members
To add team members, access the tool’s general settings. Under Workspace Settings, launch Team Members.
You’ll land on a page where you can click the Add button.
Step # 6 – Analyze
Remember, a way that ContentStudio can give you an edge is by providing useful reports about your post’s performance. So, don’t forget to hit up the ANALYZE section from the dashboard regularly.
Here, you can check out how your post is doing and find out what it can do for your business.
ContentStudio Pricing
ContentStudio offers plans available for businesses of different sizes. The good news is, regardless of which plan you subscribe to, you can save — and get 2 months free — if you pay annually.
Below is a screenshot that can provide you with ContentStudio’s annual pricing structure.
Want to see if it’s the right tool for your business before you officially go on board? Then, sign up for a 14-day free trial.
The process is easy and doesn’t require a credit card. Simply sign up with an email account. Or you could use your social media account.
Pro
Having a single workspace to manage without team members to chip in makes you ideal for this. For example, if you’re a solopreneur, ContentStudio’s Pro plan can accommodate all your needs for $49 per month.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Pro plan also includes:
Discovery, Publishing & Scheduling features
Social media and blog posting automation
Editorial Calendar
Small
Have you assembled a small team of five members? Need about five workspaces to work effectively?
Then this package, for $99 per month, is for you.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Small plan also includes:
Everything in Pro
Workflow & Collaboration
Medium
Upgrade to the Medium plan for $199 per month if you want something over five workspaces. With it, you can create up to 10 workspaces and invite 10 team members.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Medium plan also includes:
Everything in Pro
Workflow & Collaboration
Large
For $299 per month, ContentStudio’s Large plan will cover the needs of social media companies. It allows you to create up to 20 workspaces and manage 20 team members.
The image below will show you what’s included in the package.
Beyond the features above, the Large plan also includes:
Everything in Pro
Workflow & Collaboration
Enterprise
Don’t you think the above plans can suit your business’ size and cater to its needs efficiently? Then, subscribe to ContentStudio’s Enterprise plan.
As to how much cash you will shell out, it’s up to ContentStudio’s team. First, it will evaluate your business, then propose a reasonable price.
ContentStudio Review: Pros and Cons
Like any other product, ContentStudio comes with upsides. And like any other product, some aspects are worth ironing out.
Here are the pros and cons of the tool:
Pro: Automation feature saves resources
Time, energy, and money will be used with ContentStudio’s automation feature. Once your social media accounts or websites are connected, the tool can automate content distribution — like clockwork.
Two ways to play this out? You can compose a post and then schedule it to be published later. Or you can leverage the tool’s automation recipes.
Con: Doesn’t allow direct posting to certain social media channels
If you run lots of social media accounts, you’d be disappointed to know that ContentStudio doesn’t support some of these networks.
For one, there’s Instagram. Considering how it’s one of the most popular social media networks, the tool’s inability to directly post to Instagram is a bummer.
Pro: Assistant feature is a winner
Inarguably, ContentStudio makes curating high-quality content easier. This feature doesn’t require you to open a new tab to look for content.
It acknowledges that searching the internet for the content you want to add to your post isn’t effortless. Instead, it can consume time and mess with your focus.
When you’re in the middle of composing a post, hit up your assistant. Enter a search term, and you’re good to go.
Con: Extra features and integrations could be better
A muting feature would be handy. Since ContentStudio is feature-rich, it can call your attention to non-urgent aspects of the tool.
Its limited allowance for integrations is a concern, too. Integrations with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks have the green light. The tool has your back if you want to post to blogging networks such as Medium and WordPress.
However, if you want to join forces with your account on Slack or Zapier, you won’t get your way.
Pro: Social Inbox feature makes for flawless collaboration
ContentStudio acknowledges how transparent communication is integral to a marketing team’s success. And with the Social Inbox feature, social media managers will have a much easier time getting each team member on the same page.
It’s a big plus that it comes with search functionality. This way, you won’t have to spend hours looking through your inbox for important details. Instead, you can enter a keyword and then dig through specific conversations.
Con: Commands can be challenging to learn
ContentStudio isn’t for people who lack patience. After all, it takes a lot of time to set up.
You need to key in many answers, and the process isn’t straightforward. For some social media marketers, it cannot be very encouraging.
An example is when you set up a new campaign for the tool’s Automation Recipes.
The good news? Once finished with the setup for these Automation Recipes, you can jump to using the tool seamlessly.
Pro: Reliable 24/7 support
Once you invest in the tool, ContentStudio will invest in you, too. With the tool’s pursuit of regular upgrades, it’s understandable to have concerns at some point.
Fortunately, the staff can support you anytime. You can raise concerns through the website’s contact page or chat with a dedicated client relationship manager.
You can even book a live demo and have one of ContentStudio’s experts show you around. Then, you have nothing to worry about, from account setup to how this social media management platform can help save time and maximize your efforts.
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