If content is king, then the wordsmith is the kingmaker.Roughly nine out of 10 marketers today are content marketing according to the Content Marketing Institute, and that’s regardless of company size or industry.Of course this isn’t news to hotels, resorts or hospitality brands, which have been on the forefront of populating timelines, feeds and blogs. But it’s precisely because so many competitors implement a rich content strategy that it’s more important than ever for a brand’s storytelling to stand out.Successful hospitality teams are often built around battle-tested sales associates and inspirational industry leaders, but how many have an English degree? Many of the strongest marketing and PR people, the ones crafting campaign language, don’t have a formal language background.Enter the wordsmith.While the moniker itself might evoke images of a bygone era, the task of the modern wordsmith – someone formally trained and practiced in the crafting of language – is to polish campaign content, refine copy for persuasiveness and tone, and customize a brand’s story according to audience and medium.Inviting a wordsmith into the content crafting process can ultimately make the difference between a potential guest clicking “book now” and navigating to a competitor.Here are five specific reasons hospitality brands are embracing wordsmithery.
- MULTICHANNEL MADNESS IS REALEmail campaigns, social media, review websites … hotels are active on more channels than ever before, each with its own message structure, audience, even nomenclature (hashtags, etc.). A wordsmith can help efficiently repackage content for an array of mediums without losing the core message elements, successfully repurposing that official media release for broadcast via Twitter, blog, or anywhere else that’s appropriate.
- ROBOTS ARE INVADINGIn the digital age, a one-size-fits-all approach to storytelling is an ineffective. Technology is making it easier to push content across multiple channels, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s efficient. It can be painfully obvious when a brand relies on a one-click “share” button or automated tool to push content from one channel to another. Messages get truncated. Punctuation looks sloppy. Tasking a wordsmith with manually polishing and publishing content for each individual channel is a smart way to battle the bots, and maintain an authentic voice.
- BECAUSE “BAE”As lean hotel teams are tasked with creating more and more content, they’re increasingly recruiting colleagues to contribute. But brand management needs to remain paramount. While the summer intern might have a knack for navigating social media, it’s vital someone who fully understands the brand’s voice review content. In that added layer of review, a wordsmith can weed out misguided “Game of Thrones” references and off-brand slang-of-the-moment like “bae.”
- THE INTERNET IS AN ELEPHANTThink of a wordsmith as insurance. The internet never forgets. An ill-timed Tweet can haunt for years. A tone-deaf reply on TripAdvisor can have a lasting negative effect. A wordsmith is trained to catch those slippery typos and shape the right tenor before content gets published for all eternity.
- VALUE IS A LANGUAGE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDSAt the end of the day, it’s all about conversion. The added cost (if any) for including a professional to punch up copy likely pays for itself with a single booking. Wordsmithing is thus a means of maximizing the time, effort and funds already being invested in each marketing campaign.
So how can a brand take its storytelling to the next level without hiring its own bard?
- Get a good agency. Any quality agency partner already has talented, formally trained writers on its team.
- Scrutinize those resumes. When hiring for marketing and PR positions, consider qualified candidates who’ve earned an English degree.
- Test the freelance waters. Though there’s risk involved, finding an experienced freelance writer familiar with the hospitality industry can be a short-term solution for stepping up a campaign, as long as you work with them to understand your brand and its audience.
If content is king, then the wordsmith is the kingmaker.Roughly nine out of 10 marketers today are content marketing according to the Content Marketing Institute, and that’s regardless of company size or industry.Of course this isn’t news to hotels, resorts or hospitality brands, which have been on the forefront of populating timelines, feeds and blogs. But it’s precisely because so many competitors implement a rich content strategy that it’s more important than ever for a brand’s storytelling to stand out.Successful hospitality teams are often built around battle-tested sales associates and inspirational industry leaders, but how many have an English degree? Many of the strongest marketing and PR people, the ones crafting campaign language, don’t have a formal language background.Enter the wordsmith.While the moniker itself might evoke images of a bygone era, the task of the modern wordsmith – someone formally trained and practiced in the crafting of language – is to polish campaign content, refine copy for persuasiveness and tone, and customize a brand’s story according to audience and medium.Inviting a wordsmith into the content crafting process can ultimately make the difference between a potential guest clicking “book now” and navigating to a competitor.Here are five specific reasons hospitality brands are embracing wordsmithery.
- MULTICHANNEL MADNESS IS REALEmail campaigns, social media, review websites … hotels are active on more channels than ever before, each with its own message structure, audience, even nomenclature (hashtags, etc.). A wordsmith can help efficiently repackage content for an array of mediums without losing the core message elements, successfully repurposing that official media release for broadcast via Twitter, blog, or anywhere else that’s appropriate.
- ROBOTS ARE INVADINGIn the digital age, a one-size-fits-all approach to storytelling is an ineffective. Technology is making it easier to push content across multiple channels, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s efficient. It can be painfully obvious when a brand relies on a one-click “share” button or automated tool to push content from one channel to another. Messages get truncated. Punctuation looks sloppy. Tasking a wordsmith with manually polishing and publishing content for each individual channel is a smart way to battle the bots, and maintain an authentic voice.
- BECAUSE “BAE”As lean hotel teams are tasked with creating more and more content, they’re increasingly recruiting colleagues to contribute. But brand management needs to remain paramount. While the summer intern might have a knack for navigating social media, it’s vital someone who fully understands the brand’s voice review content. In that added layer of review, a wordsmith can weed out misguided “Game of Thrones” references and off-brand slang-of-the-moment like “bae.”
- THE INTERNET IS AN ELEPHANTThink of a wordsmith as insurance. The internet never forgets. An ill-timed Tweet can haunt for years. A tone-deaf reply on TripAdvisor can have a lasting negative effect. A wordsmith is trained to catch those slippery typos and shape the right tenor before content gets published for all eternity.
- VALUE IS A LANGUAGE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDSAt the end of the day, it’s all about conversion. The added cost (if any) for including a professional to punch up copy likely pays for itself with a single booking. Wordsmithing is thus a means of maximizing the time, effort and funds already being invested in each marketing campaign.
So how can a brand take its storytelling to the next level without hiring its own bard?
- Get a good agency. Any quality agency partner already has talented, formally trained writers on its team.
- Scrutinize those resumes. When hiring for marketing and PR positions, consider qualified candidates who’ve earned an English degree.
- Test the freelance waters. Though there’s risk involved, finding an experienced freelance writer familiar with the hospitality industry can be a short-term solution for stepping up a campaign, as long as you work with them to understand your brand and its audience.
