Did you know that companies with blogs have 55% more visitors on their website? More and more brands are adopting content marketing now, which is a very good news for content creators= from bloggers to freelancer writers. Correction – It’s good news for content creators who are prepared to make the best of this opportunity. With brands employing content creators more than ever, you need to know how they talk, and cracking their jargon is the key. So, here’s a list of brand jargon that can help you understand what exactly brands are looking for in your content:

1. B2B and B2C Marketing

B2B stands for business-to-business. For B2B, your consumer is a decision maker in some capacity, looking for the best possible solution for his/her company. So, your writing should be rational, and logic-driven. B2C stands for business-to-consumer. Here your target audience is an individual. The brand needs to connect with the consumer and content that incites some emotion in him is going to work better than simply comparing statistics. Why this matters to you: Rule #1 of writing branded content is to ‘understand who you are writing for’. To understand your audience, you must understand the difference between B2B and B2C content. Read about: Why Blogging is important for marketing a business

2. Call to Action (CTA)

A brand’s objectives behind content marketing are very specific – sales, conversions, impressions, shares, leads etc. To achieve these results, your content needs to direct your customers to perform a desired action. That’s what CTA is. You would have seen clickable CTAs on your favourite websites or apps with phrases such as  ‘Download now’, ‘Subscribe for the monthly newsletter’ or even ‘Play now’. Why this matters to you: When a marketer asks you to make your content ‘actionable’ or says that the content’s aim is to increase conversions, you should know exactly what he/she means. Learn how to create effective CTA approaches here.

3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

A lot of consumers reach certain blogs while looking for related answers on Google. And how likely they are to reach the site where your content rests depends on how high it ranks in search results. This is where SEO comes into play. To make your content SEO friendly, you must include relevant that people are using to search. Why it matters to you: Editor’s and brands always prefer SEO friendly content and if what you write has enough relevant keywords and phrases, you automatically impress them and stand out of the other million freelancers. Read more about 5 Things that you didn’t know about SEO writing as a freelance online writer in 2017.

4. Native Advertising

Native Advertising is a type of online advertising that tries to emulate the editorial environment it is in so that it appears less like an ad. These are less likely to interrupt the reader’s experience. When writing a Native Advertising piece, ‘subtlety’ is the key- neither your title nor your creatives should outwardly mention the brand. The product thus becomes a subset-  rather than the end point- of your piece. Why this matters to you: Native Advertising is a hot trend in the digital content business and as a creator- with or without a platform of your own- it’s essential you master it and increase the chances of creating engaging content. Here’s a look at some of the best examples of Native Advertising.

5. Target Audience and Buyer Persona

This is the age of customisation. From what you watch on tv to what you eat, you can customise all. Similarly, your audience wants to see what concerns them. You cannot expect the same content to work for everyone across different age groups, economic state, geographical location etc. Knowing the TG helps you understand what they want, and thus you can deliver a more customised piece of content. Developing Buyer Personas helps you zoom into the personalities of the buyers, their emotions and what could drive them to avail the services you offer.

Why it matters to you: Understanding the target audience and the buyer persona of the brand allows you to connect closer with them and hence your content is more likely to work. Here’s how you can identify your blog’s target audience. Understanding brands and their expectations from every piece of content you create is a huge step towards succeeding as a content writer. Knowing these terms would also save you the effort of asking them to explain everything, which often makes you look unprepared for the job. Read: Here’s how you can integrate blogging with brand storytelling