Online Marketing: It All Comes Back to the Written Word

No matter how you communicate with your online business, to potential and existing customers, words are always the cornerstone and more to the point, the written word.

Today’s online business owners are moving into other forms of media like video and audio to market to their prospects. But, in this arena, it is the words that you pen which will have the greatest impact.

When speaking of the written word, did you know:

• Your headlines (composed of written words) are what catch the reader’s attention. Multi-media tools use headlines to catch and grab the attention of the audience so they will “tune in.”
• Written content is just about universal. A large majority of the public can access a piece of written content, even when they can’t audio or video. Think about your mobile users and those in rural areas with slower connections. Words are easily accessible.
• The written word is the most effective form of communication to keep your customers satisfied. If you provide online customer service (as opposed to telephone support), you’re going to be relying on the written word to decipher your customer’s issue and to resolve them.
• You can’t send an email without words. No subject line or no explanation means no response. You use words to get your subscribers to open your emails AND to click to view a video, listen to your audio, etc.
• Social networking needs written words Everyone seems to be connected through some social network. Think of the ever popular Twitter which is a system of short texts. MySpace and Facebook rely on words to communicate information, even with other forms of multi-media tools at their disposal.
• People surf the Web for information. Giving them an article or review they can read or a step-by-step how-to that they can follow requires you to use words – everywhere.

The truth of the matter is that words will always be big part of marketing your business online – and it’s worth learning how to do it well. The Internet runs on words. Even though some envision a television-type experience sometime in the distant future (personally, I don‘t buy it – we don‘t need another TV…we want the Internet!), words will still play a big role. The Internet is a user-controlled experience and through words, people can easily find what they need and utilize it.