8 Marketing Terms Every Writer Needs To Know

The most trusted way to perfecting any art form is through plain practice; however, one thing freelancers often forget is that to be the best at bragging about ourselves, what we in reality need to know is how to best market ourselves.

In the words of Susannah Breslin, “These days, it’s not enough to be a good writer online. You have to be a smart marketer, your own content factory, your own publicist.”

Although marketing is thought of as the center of a strong business, marketing is also the center of a strong job hunt. Goals, accomplishments, and skills are all the makeup of a fantastic resume, but what makes a resume stand out in seven seconds or less is one that includes how you will create profit and success for a company – that is where the power of marketing comes in hand, because that’s ultimately what your employer is asking when considering you as a candidate.

As writers and freelancers we know all too much about how many views and shares our work generates, but do we know exactly what these numbers mean and what terminology can most powerfully articulate the value of our work?

Read through these must-use terms and phrases below and learn how they can instantly take your bragging from nothing to something real quick!

1. Inbound Marketing – a model of marketing that strives to attract individuals to a brand or company and convert them into lasting customers. Inbound techniques work to flow users to a company’s website by drawing customers to a brand by producing eye catching content. Example: “My stand out content such as my branded e-book series serves as an excellent inbound marketing tool.”
2. Call to Action – often tied in at the end in the form of a button, whether on a blog post or business card, CTA’s are an important marketing aspect that helps persuade a person to perform a desired action such as signing up for a newsletter or viewing more content. Example: “Click Here For Your Free E-Book!” (Other examples, courtesy of HubSpot)
3. Lead Generation – defined as the initiation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services. Leads can be created for purposes such as list building, e-newsletter list acquisition, or for sales leads. Quality leads that result in sales, equal more revenue: precisely what your potential future employer wants to hear. Example: “Through developing a weekly newsletter I’ve enhanced my blog’s lead generation efforts and distributed more eye catching content.”
4. Audience – total number of people who may receive an advertising message delivered by one or more medium. Example: “Consistently write articles with top views to a monthly audience of 50K plus users.”
5. Influencers – people who can influence buying habits of others. Your employer wants to know your content is always powered by big-picture thinking. In other words, they want to know you’re thinking long-term with your content, but also that it’s targeted and gets in the right hands — influential hands that can start movements among larger audiences, indirectly getting your content into other hands. Example: “Develop content strategies through interactive lists to create relationships with music and entertainment influencers.”
6. Page Views – number of times a user requests a web page. Indicative of the number of times an ad was potentially seen or gross impressions. Example: “Gains regular viral traffic with an average of 300K views on content such as …”
7. SEO (search engine optimization) – the process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a Web search. Using SEO in your resume will show that you actually know how the internet works. Example: “Maximize full SEO potential with original content reaching upwards of 40K views.”
8. Unique visitors – the measurement of individuals who have visited a web site at least once within a specific time frame. Example: “My blog reaches an audience of 50K unique visitors each month.”