Retail Content 101: Taxonomy Vs. Classification and Why Both Matter

There are many things to consider when crafting an ecommerce strategy. However, website organization may be among the most important. A website that’s easy to navigate makes a huge difference in the customer experience. It allows customers to find products without browsing a company’s entire stock. It also provides a more personalized shopping experience – something every customer wants from their retail services. Here, Virtucom Group highlights what taxonomy and classification are and how they work together to create an efficient ecommerce strategy. 

What Is Taxonomy?

Product taxonomy refers to the specified category that a retail product falls under. It goes further than general categorizations and ensures products remain organized and easy to find by customers. For example, a store that sells furniture may categorize nightstands as Furniture > Bedroom Furniture > Nightstands. 

When a website lacks rules and categorization strategies in its ecommerce content, customers can become confused and lost in a company’s website. This can deter them and lead them to competitor sites. Separating product categories into further product types is essential for improving the customer shopping experience. For starters, it makes products easy to find and websites more convenient to navigate. This allows customers to find exactly what they need and encourages them to shop from your online store in the future. 

The idea of taxonomy is to provide an in-store shopping experience through online outlets. Customers expect products to be organized and readily available when browsing a store in person. Stores typically have different departments and sections holding certain products, making it easy to navigate. Product taxonomy offers the same type of experience, allowing retail goods to be organized in ways that make sense to customers. 

What Is Classification?

Classification is another method of organizing retail goods on a company’s website. But instead of looking at the product category, this method uses customer purchasing behaviors to categorize products on a website. 

By evaluating customer behaviors, companies can find ways to push underselling products or promote popular products in ways that make it easy for consumers to purchase. Not only does this allow convenient website navigation, but it also helps to earn customer trust. When companies highlight popular products and goods, customers can see that they pay attention to their target audience and listen to their purchasing demands. 

Thinking About Taxonomy and Classification in Your Ecommerce Strategy

Although the ideas differ, businesses must think about both taxonomy and classification in their ecommerce strategy. Taxonomy works to organize retail products into specific product categories, making them easy for customers to find and navigate. Classification allows businesses to cater to their customers by highlighting popular products. It also lets companies see which products are underperforming. This makes marketing efforts clear and helps to target more specific audiences. 

Companies that consider both taxonomy and classification in their ecommerce strategy can succeed in upholding customer retention and satisfaction. Customers can easily navigate websites to find what they need using product categories and conveniently search for their most-used and popular products. All this and more contribute to a better customer experience. 

Find Ecommerce Content Solutions at Virtucom Group

Businesses across the U.S. can receive assistance with their ecommerce strategy at Virtucom Group. Our team of writers and editors ensures products remain organized and easily accessible. We also provide content writing services, which help to enhance existing content and better cater to your customer base. To learn more about our services, contact us today.

Attracting Prospective Students and Donors with Higher Ed Content Marketing

Institutions of higher learning need to promote brand values and services to several different types of audiences. To be effective, digital marketing communications must resonate with each group, addressing their specific concerns and challenges. Content marketing for higher education has the power to engage these various stakeholders. It offers solutions, options, and information that assists decision-making processes, including the size of donations, where to apply for admission, or employment. 

Virtucom Group offers content creation services that will engage and attract your target audiences. Here, we describe how colleges and universities can attract prospective students, donors, and support. 

Why Content Marketing Is So Important in Higher Ed?

There are many nuances at work in university marketing campaigns. Students can range widely in age and goals. Donors may arise from alumni organizations, or simply be interested in certain disciplines or societal outcomes. Do you need to emphasize particulars of your geographic area or certain lifestyle values when recruiting faculty or administrators? How can marketing materials assist the efforts of your admissions and development departments? How is it possible to speak to potential students when they are interested in such a wide variety of subjects? 

With careful selection and volume of different types of stories, colleges and universities can rightfully get the attention of those whom they want to serve. To this purpose, Virtucom Group offers content writing services that create a variety of digital communications. We utilize up-to-date SEO practices and strategies to help your messaging reach the targeted interest groups and community members. 

The Basics of Effective Content Marketing

Content marketing is a way of using stories and other narratives to catch the attention of interested parties. Higher education content marketing helps pull apart the interconnected strands of campus life, highlighting different aspects. It can focus on athletic achievement, profile top lecturers or the college president, or explain the development of the curriculum for a popular academic degree. 

Storytelling is adaptive and flexible. It can isolate small bits of the college experience, or it can describe a whole generation of students. Through content marketing, you can meet the goals of your overall marketing strategy, while at the same time appealing to discrete subgroups of your target audience. 

Virtucom Group can provide a variety of content marketing formats, including: 

Blogs

Blog content is an excellent point of entry for potential students, donors, or employees. A search term or question has led them to your blog, and in it, you can provide answers, as well as introduce important aspects of your college or university.

Landing Pages

Landing pages serve several functions and can help people who live in your area locate your services and programs. A well-designed landing page can also provide a next step for those who are interested in finding out more about offerings. For example, they can guide potential students or donors to knowledgeable staff who can answer more questions, or they can lead to a curated list of more articles. 

Social

Social media content can get a short message across Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter. Longer messages can be promoted on LinkedIn, Facebook, or more specialized social media platforms. These forms of communication can link to information on your institution’s web pages, helping the audience find out more about what has piqued their interest.

Articles

Buy articles that introduce the key players and celebrity figures of your campus. This sponsored content, or native advertising, strategy can educate your audience, showcase expertise, and position the staff at your university as thought leaders. Student achievements, new scholarly programs, and other unique aspects of your university are all of interest to your audience. Articles can provide a more fleshed-out look at your institution and the people that make it tick.

Ebooks

Ebook content is a great way to provide a tangible, useful piece of information to your audiences. In return for providing an email address, the potential student or other interested party can download scholarly information, in-depth assistance with application decisions, or information about employee benefits. The campus museum collections, celebrated scientific research projects, or a detailed look at the theater arts department may all appeal to different audiences. 

Let Virtucom Group Help You Attract the Right Audience

It’s not always easy to pinpoint all the different aspects that people want in higher education. By providing rich stories about people and projects, higher education content marketing can demonstrate many unique aspects of your institution. Stories share the atmosphere of your campus and programs. They generate excitement for readers by describing the educational journeys of students and faculty. You can attract multiple audiences with higher education content marketing, positioning your college or university as a friendly, welcoming place of learning. Virtucom Group can help you design a content marketing strategy that combines and interweaves formats so that your audiences can find their way to your college or university. For more information, contact us today.

How Digital Product Content Can Increase Brick-and-Mortar Sales

The discussion about brick-and-mortar stores and ecommerce is often presented as one or the other. However, retailers may not realize how much these touchpoints interact. By combining the benefits of both, businesses hone their overall sales strategy. For example, while many customers discover and purchase products directly from your ecommerce site, others may use this online content as a first step before purchasing in-store. This is called webrooming. 

At Virtucom Group, we offer digital content services to help you hone your ecommerce strategy. Here, we explore how digital content influences brick-and-mortar sales and strategies your business can use to enhance the customer experience. 

Key Ecommerce Trends: Showrooming and Webrooming 

Thinking about ecommerce content and in-store shopping can make some retailers nervous. This has to do with webrooming’s opposite — showrooming. With showrooming, a customer visits a brick-and-mortar store to check out products in person. If they find something they like, instead of purchasing it, they research the item on their smartphone to see if any online retailers are selling it for a lower price. 

Showrooming is great for ecommerce stores and customers — not so much for physical stores. Yet, retailers may not realize the opposite can, and does, happen. This is webrooming, where consumers review online product content to see available stock, compare prices, and understand their options (colors, sizes, styles). Then, when they’re ready to purchase, they go to a brick-and-mortar store. 

Webrooming is a common phenomenon. Think with Google conducts research into consumer trends and offers two valuable insights: 

Unlike showrooming, webrooming offers an opportunity for traditional retailers to get a leg up against ecommerce competitors. What’s more, as many physical stores have ecommerce platforms, webrooming can enable a more comprehensive customer experience. 

How to Leverage Digital Product Content to Boost In-Store Sales 

The research shows many customers have already looked up products online before setting foot in your store. So, how can retailers use this trend to their benefit? Consider these aspects when factoring webrooming into your ecommerce strategy: 

Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store 

There is perhaps no customer service feature better designed for webrooming than buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS). This sales model enables customers to purchase or reserve items online but pick up them at the store. 

BOPIS combines the convenience of online shopping with the speed of in-store shopping. Think of it as online shopping without waiting for delivery. More importantly for sales, it can increase the likelihood that an online browser but in-store shopper follows through with a purchase. 

Incorporate In-Store Considerations Into Online Product Descriptions 

Optimize your digital product content so customers arrive at the store more knowledgeable. A simple yet effective way to enable webrooming is by inputting aspects like stock availability at nearby locations into product descriptions. This simplifies in-store shopping. Customers don’t have to drive from store to store; they know exactly which location has what they need. 

Focus on Your Store and Products – Not Competitors 

Although webrooming can help you win customers over competitors, that shouldn’t be the focus. Often, potential customers aren’t looking at competitor sites first before going to your store; they’re looking at your ecommerce site before heading to the nearest physical location. 

What does this mean for digital product content? Beyond providing rich product content, retailers want to showcase their stores. For example, you could promote in-store-only sales and customer service teams with specialized knowledge of product types, i.e. electronics, available to answer questions in-store. The more information customers have about what’s going on in-store, the more likely they are to visit. 

Produce Engaging Digital Product Content With Virtucom Group 

Understanding how customers interact both online and in-store can strengthen your ecommerce content. It also helps to have a digital content partner who knows what consumers expect from retailers. At Virtucom Group, our team of content strategists and professional writers will help create unique, engaging product content that increases leads and drives sales. Contact us today to learn more about how we can enhance your ecommerce strategy. 

Retailers Must Take Springtime Seriously – Focus on Ecommerce Holiday Content Now

The spring season might have a handful of holidays, like Easter and Mother’s Day, but it’s not considered to be the true holiday season we recognize at the end of the year. During a time when many retailers become complacent and put off holiday content creation, successful ecommerce entities are planning ahead to ensure success during Thanksgiving sales, Christmas promotions, and the like. 

Based in Syracuse, New York, Virtucom Group is a trusted ecommerce content solutions firm serving Fortune 500 retailers across North America. We believe it’s crucial for retailers to take springtime seriously and prepare their website now with strategic holiday content. That’s why our team has released “Holiday Content Preparation Guide for Retailers: Why Having a Productive Spring Is the Key to Holiday Success.” Learn more about what the guide covers and how to access the full version. 

The Importance of Springtime Holiday Content Planning

When it comes to ecommerce holiday content, the competition is plentiful in the crowded online marketplace. Your content must be written to outrank your competitors on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Quality content creation takes time, and to achieve the desired organic traffic and sales numbers, retailers cannot wait until the last minute to work on holiday SKUs, category pages, blog posts, and more. 

Retailers that don’t prepare in advance are much more likely to experience holiday woes, such as:

  • High bounce rates and return rates
  • More shopping cart abandonments
  • Disappointing organic web traffic
  • Questions about the brand’s trustworthiness
  • Complaints about the online user experience

Instead of having strained in-house employees work hastily on holiday content, a partnership with Virtucom Group can prove to be priceless. Virtucom Group deploys time-tested tactics for search engine optimization (SEO), working with retailers to publish everything from shorter product content descriptions to extensive buying guides. Our holiday content creation guide describes how our content creation partnerships can help retailers publish SKUs and other content faster and plan far ahead for holiday-specific sales and promotions. 

Recommendations for Retail Holiday Content  

Our retail holiday content guide also provides some of our top recommendations to help businesses remain competitive on SERPs. At any time of the year, retailers require a mix of longer, more in-depth content (i.e. blog posts and buying guides), as well as shorter product descriptions and category pages. But during holiday sales periods, these kinds of strategic SEO content are even more crucial. Check out our guide to learn more about the importance of content such as:

  • Promotion-specific landing pages and blogs
  • Unique category and product pages
  • Buying guides, ebooks, and whitepapers 

Our guide also discusses why it’s so important to avoid publishing duplicate content, one of the cardinal sins of SEO. With Virtucom Group’s trustworthy capabilities, our team ensures that our retail clients never fall victim to poor SEO or content creation practices – especially during the highly competitive holidays. 

Access the Entire Guide Now 

Many major retailers rely on Virtucom Group’s ecommerce content creation, data solutions, and other services, which have a time-tested track record of success. For over 20 years, we’ve witnessed firsthand the struggles retailers face during holiday sales periods, from Black Friday and Cyber Monday to Christmas Eve. When non-optimized, bland, and even duplicated content is to blame, Virtucom Group steps in to revamp retailers’ holiday content strategies and help them experience success throughout the entire year. 

To access “Holiday Content Preparation Guide for Retailers: Why Having a Productive Spring Is the Key to Holiday Success,” simply fill out the form below, and you’ll be able to read the full version for free. For more information about Virtucom Group or to schedule a risk-free consultation, contact us today. 

[formidable id=4]

Why Content Marketing for Financial Advisors Is a Must in 2024

We’ve all heard that storytelling, or content, is an effective way to connect with customers. Content marketing for financial advisors can introduce new clients to your professionals, products, and services. Creating content that explains investment choices and management strategies, or simply provides helpful information is a good way to attract new business. Addressing these topics through interesting stories about people and companies, or providing short, effective explanations about some of the more complicated issues in the finance industry can help gain trust. 

Our digital content and data solutions firm, Virtucom Group, assists financial advisors, planners, and wealth managers with these content creation services. Here, we describe the importance of content marketing for financial advisors. 

What Are the Benefits of Content Marketing for Financial Advisors?

Content marketing is a way to provide information to existing and new clients. The more pertinent and readable that information, the better. Many of your current and potential clients want to research their options for financial products and services before they speak with you. This can help financial advisors manage their workload and empower clients to make financial decisions at the same time. 

According to HubSpot marketing statistics, it’s common to target three different marketing segments. As an example, this type of content marketing for financial advisors might be directed at clients who want to learn about stock trading, those looking for long-term care policies or Medicare navigators, and new employees starting their very first retirement accounts. By diversifying digital information and messaging to cater to discrete groups of clients, financial advisors and planners can speak to each group’s concerns or areas of interest.

How Is Content Marketing Presented to Clients?

Flexibility is a hallmark of content marketing. Useful information can take many forms, and clients discover it through a variety of digital platforms. Here are a few of the methods we use for delivering and distributing content marketing to attract new clients and maintain existing relationships:

Landing and Location Pages

Virtucom Group works to help clients find and explore your website by crafting effective landing and location pages. What’s more, these web pages can be targeted to different types of clients, and they are always crafted with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. 

Blog Posts

Blog posts are the go-to solution for answering specific questions or presenting a set of ideas or perspectives to clients. This is a cost-effective method that can help financial advisors message about the importance of budgeting for the future, or comparing the function of stock and bond markets. Blog content can also be used to introduce new members of the team or exciting new investment platforms. This type of content marketing positions your company as knowledgeable and helpful.

Social Posts

Social posts are an important way to attract interested clients. When succinct, helpful bits of social media content grab attention, it’s an easy click to find out more about the subject and your services. Virtucom Group can help you coordinate a social media campaign that includes social posts, blog posts, and landing pages so that you can grow your email marketing lists and get visibility for your brand.

Ebooks

Ebooks seem particularly well suited to the financial industry. These longer, more detailed publications are easily downloaded as PDFs. They can include photographs, logos, infographics, and even references. Providing new clients with polished, published Ebook content is another good way to earn trust by providing immediately useful information. What’s more, it’s a win-win for gaining additions to your email marketing lists because prospective clients usually don’t mind providing their email addresses in exchange for the information.

White Papers

White papers are a way to establish yourself as a thought leader. This is the type of content that can spark conversation on LinkedIn or be presented as a high-level, professional handout when presenting to colleagues. Sharing your experience and knowledge provides credibility. Create persuasive, informative white papers that express your viewpoint on aspects of the financial industry and become part of the conversation that guides new policies and product development.

Articles

Articles are vehicles for brand storytelling that appear in a variety of publications, as well as organizational websites and other digital platforms. Utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) the Virtucom Group writing team provides articles that explore new products and services, community involvement, partnerships with government or business entities, or spotlight accomplishments and awards. Whether these are called sponsored content or SEO articles, when you buy articles created in partnership with the Virtucom Group content marketing team, they can effectively raise awareness of your company or financial services.

Explore Content Marketing Options with Virtucom Group

Content marketing for financial advisors extends the reach of your brand. It helps financial wealth managers and planners provide useful information while building email marketing lists.

Virtucom Group can help you create a strategy that digitally delivers content marketing to increase your email marketing lists, provide greater impact with messaging, and get your company brand and services in public view. We can help you create content that appeals to and informs your client base. For more information, contact us today.

Prepping for Summer Travel with a Content Marketing Strategy for Hotels

While hotels still have year-round travelers, summertime is often the busiest season for those in the industry. The sunshine and nice weather make for the perfect time to explore, meet new people, and find new adventures. Because of this, hotels should have a content strategy in place to prepare for the coming influx. 

Virtucom Group is a content marketing company based in Syracuse, New York, serving hotels and other businesses across North America with content writing services. Here, we discuss the benefits of having a content strategy, the types of content hotels can produce, and how our team can help. 

The Importance of a Content Strategy

Hotels may not think they need a content strategy, as their services and prime location can speak for themselves. However, even the most successful hotels can still benefit from developing a plan to maximize content. A content strategy is how companies display information about their product or service. It can involve one or many platforms, including:

  • Your website, like landing pages and blog posts
  • Social media, like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter)
  • Video media, like YouTube or TikTok
  • Email
  • Text messaging 

Implementing the right content strategy can provide many advantages to hotels, offering ways to improve customer communication. Your content is usually the only way to interact with your customer base, and it can say much about your brand and vision. 

Website pages should maintain consistency, as this allows customers to view you as a reliable resource for information. Landing pages and blog posts should also display notable advice about your hotel and the surrounding area. This gives customers a clear idea of what you offer and things to do in the area, making for an easy planning experience. 

Types of Content Marketing for Hotels 

Hotels are unique in that they have more flexibility to add fun and exciting language to their content. Travel is usually a joyous experience, giving people time to relax, explore new sites, and make memories. Your content should reflect this idea, using enticing rhetoric to draw clients to your website and book rooms from your hotel. 

Hotels can cater to a wider audience through their content in many ways. For example, they can add guides to their website that outline fun activities to do in the area, including:

  • Shopping opportunities 
  • Seasonal festivals and fairs
  • Nightlife 
  • Family-friendly activities 
  • Places to eat

Hotels can also use social media advertising to their advantage, encouraging user-generated content. They can entice customers to post about their travels to your hotel using customized hashtags, tagging, or geo-location features. As users post about your hotel and implement these hashtags or additional features, it opens up your audience. Scrollers can click on the hashtag to see other posts from your hotel. 

In addition, the poster’s social media following will also see your hotel and think about staying there for their next vacation. This encourages more views to your hotel’s social media pages. 

How Virtucom Group Tackles Content Marketing 

Virtucom Group’s content marketing approach involves careful consideration of your existing brand and customer base. Hotels provide us with a list of important talking points, such as:

  • Targeted audience
  • Geo-focus
  • Selling points 
  • Terms to avoid
  • Content goals 
  • Preferred tone/writing style
  • Special writing instructions

From there, we compile this information into one style guide, which writers frequently reference to guide them in crafting content. After the piece is written, it undergoes a rigorous editing process, during which editors fact-check information, assure quality, fix grammar, and make final proofs. The account manager gives all content a final look-through before delivering. 

Our extensive process ensures hotels and other businesses are satisfied with the content they receive. If a client requires revisions or requests content additions, we can accommodate their needs. We pride ourselves on our open, timely communication and talented writers and editors knowledgeable in many subjects. This allows for seamless content strategy integration.

Discover Content Marketing Solutions at Virtucom Group

With a team of experienced writers and editors, hotels can find content marketing solutions to help them prepare for summer travel. Virtucom Group offers data solutions, as well as assistance with ecommerce content. We have worked with many agencies to successfully fulfill the need for content, which speaks to their brands and customers. To learn more about how to get started with us, contact us today. 

Hard Work Pays Off with Content Marketing for Personal Trainers

Virtucom Group understands that personal trainers have busy work schedules. Traveling to visit individual clients or teach group classes, creating specialized exercise routines, and keeping up with new developments in your field all take time. However, we strongly recommend that you also assign time and resources for advertising your business. 

Content marketing for personal trainers is a great way to share your unique approach and attract the clients who will most benefit from your services. Virtucom Group can help with content writing services targeted to reach your ideal audience. Here, we describe the basic elements of a content marketing strategy for fitness professionals. 

Introduce Yourself and Find the Right Clients

There is increasing demand for personal training services. At the same time, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. Word of mouth is an important advertising vehicle, but it can also be limiting. Virtucom Group can help you successfully promote your services with content creation and digital advertising tools. With a larger pool of potential clients, you will be able to exercise more choice when it comes to new clients. Influence the speed and direction of growth in your business with content marketing for personal trainers.

Find a Partner to Help You Reach Your Goals

You might encourage clients to find a workout partner, someone who offers them a needed boost at the gym. Choose Virtucom Group as your advertising partner. We are ready to assist you with a variety of marketing tools. We have skills and are motivated to help you describe how you work with clients, your specialties, and the types of certifications you’ve earned, as well as your overall perspective on fitness. Here are some methods for using content marketing for personal trainers:

Blogs

Use blog content to provide fresh information about your services or discuss issues in the field. Virtucom Group helps you by creating blogs reflective of ideas that you want to share with your audience. We can also suggest topics of interest. With every piece of content we create, we utilize up-to-date digital marketing techniques, including strategic use of keywords and other methods that increase visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Social Media Posts

It’s probably obvious to you that most of your clients use social media platforms to keep up with friends, patronize businesses, and discuss the news of the day. Take advantage of social media content with posts that promote your fitness philosophy, provide tips in line with your specialty, and encourage new clients to investigate your offerings. Virtucom Group can help create short, effective content that cross-promotes with other digital advertising modalities and keeps your followers engaged.

Articles

Would you like to see your business promoted in a magazine or newspaper? Are there new developments in your fitness field that you would like to bring to a wider audience? Virtucom Group can help by writing SEO articles that can appear in a variety of physical and digital publication sources. These types of articles can help you educate about important issues related to fitness, and place you as a thought leader among potential customers and colleagues.

Ebooks

Creating ebook content is a really fun way to promote your ideas and services. Virtucom Group can help you publish a downloadable book that includes illustrations, photos, references, and other useful items. As an educational tool, new and old clients can download your ebook as a PDF and receive workout routines or health advice. Ebooks are also a very effective way to grow your email list. An ebook gives tangible, useful information in exchange for an email address, to which future marketing promotions can be sent.

Ready to Try Content Marketing for Personal Trainers?

Explore how content marketing for personal trainers can help you gain prominence in your fitness field. Virtucom Group can help you attract clients who have the most to gain from your services. We accomplish this by writing content that gives a clear idea of who you are and what you do. Bring your gifts as a fitness professional to the attention of more people with content marketing for personal trainers. For more information, contact us today.

Need Content Marketing for Medical Practices? Turn to Virtucom Group

When individuals think of content marketing, they may think of social media. However, content marketing encompasses much more than Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. It also involves your website design, landing pages, blog posts, and more. 

While medical practices may put their content strategy on the back burner, using their time to provide patient care, ensuring the production of strong, informative content is essential to boosting engagement. The right strategy can increase new patient visits and allow you to engage with your audience personally. Here, Virtucom Group talks about content marketing for medical practices and how medical facilities can benefit from enhancing their content. 

Handling Medical Content at Virtucom Group

Medical content is unique in that the information it provides is incredibly useful. However, it can also harbor information that’s hard for the general population to understand. Medical terminology and rhetoric can get lost on an audience, leading them to turn to other resources for information. It can also cause patients to become bored with content, as they can’t understand the message you’re trying to convey. A skilled team of writers knows this, adjusting content to fit a wider reading level. 

At Virtucom Group, we ensure information is clear, accurate, and in an easily digestible format. We do this by always putting ourselves in the reader’s perspective. We understand that, when visiting a website, readers want detailed and engaging content. This is especially true for medical practices, as many patients refer to you for information about various diseases and conditions. 

Our process involves evaluating the information at hand, readjusting it to make it clearer, and using creative thinking to display it in an engaging way. 

Types of Medical Content We Work With

Our team of writers is knowledgeable in a variety of medical fields, having worked with many medical practices in the past. The types of medical content we have written include:

  • Orthopedics
  • Neurology
  • Cancer specialists
  • Primary care
  • Spine specialists 
  • Obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN) care
  • Dermatology
  • Assisted living with medical specialties 

Alongside these medical specialties, we can also accommodate a variety of other fields within the healthcare industry, like content marketing for B2B healthcare. 

Our Research Process

As a medical practice, patients use you as a resource for finding medical information. This makes it essential to use updated, correct, and accurate information within your content. At Virtucom Group, our team understands that medical content requires an extra level of knowledge and expertise. Because this type of writing is so complex, we take the time to ensure it is up to standards. The research we conduct comes from established, reviewed medical sources – always staying away from unreliable sources. 

It can be difficult to write medical content without the proper knowledge. This may be why many medical practices have avoided hiring outside companies to write their content. Virtucom Group knows this, which is why our team ensures to complete extensive research before even starting the piece. As writers have a deeper understanding of the subject matter, they can produce better, more accurate medical content. 

Our research process for content services also involves looking at style guide notes and adhering to them. The style guide is where medical practices can list the goals of their content, along with other information like:

  • Key medical terms 
  • Geo-focus
  • Intended audience
  • Important medical information to include 
  • Distinct features of your facility
  • Client-specific language
  • Priority focus areas

To further deal with the complexities of medical content, the pieces we write also undergo an extensive editing process, where editors fact-check the information presented and ensure all medical terminology is spelled correctly and completely. Our editors also read the pieces to make sure they are easily readable from a general public perspective. This provides an added layer of security for medical content, ensuring information is accurate and up-to-date, but also evergreen so it can be used and referred to in the future without issues. 

Benefits of Hiring Content Producers 

Many medical practices may not think about their website strategy in the midst of all they do for their communities. Working in healthcare requires much time and energy – something Virtucom Group understands most. That’s why many healthcare facilities can benefit from hiring outside companies to write their content. 

By hiring a company like Virtucom Group, medical practices can:

  • Create personal relationships with patients: Interact with patients and engage them in a more personal way through your content.
  • Educate their audience: Medical content should inform readers, allowing them to walk away having learned something new.
  • Save on hiring costs: Instead of putting together your own team of writers and editors, you can hire an already well-established team to produce content.
  • Boost engagement and new patient visits: The right content strategy can increase views to your webpage, thus increasing the number of new patients visiting your office.

Find Content Marketing for Medical Practices at Virtucom Group

If you are a medical office or an agency with medical clients looking for ways to improve your content strategy, turn to the experienced team of writers and editors at Virtucom Group. We provide content writing services, ecommerce content, and data solutions to businesses across North America. Based in Syracuse, New York, Virtucom Group adheres to its promise of creating engaging, informative, clear, and accurate content. To learn more about content marketing for medical practices, contact us today. 

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month: Get Ready Now with Content Marketing

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the perfect time for healthcare providers to highlight their mental health services. Hospitals and doctor’s offices want to ensure content and messaging reach the right segment of their target audiences at the right time. They also want to be extra careful with tone and language, as the topics surrounding mental health are often very sensitive. 

Virtucom Group has extensive experience crafting marketing content for a range of industries, including healthcare, and recognizes the value of engaging content. Our team of professional writers and editors creates content with your brand and customer’s needs in mind. Here, we discuss topics healthcare providers may wish to discuss during Mental Health Awareness Month and how our content services can help. 

Topics to Consider During Mental Health Awareness Month 

Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM) began in 1949 to raise awareness about the role of mental health in one’s overall wellness. Today, organizations like the Substance Abuse and Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) continue using this month to address key mental health topics. These include: 

  • Educating people about mental health disorders to combat stigma 
  • Informing people of policies at the state and federal level that will better the lives of those affected by mental illness 
  • Discussing ways people can support loved ones with mental illnesses and advocate for policies 
  •  Celebrating innovations in mental health treatments and sharing recovery stories 

In addition to these topics, healthcare organizations can use this time to educate patients about their mental health services. They can also connect patients with resources from national or state agencies or inform them about events happening in May. This marketing strategy enables you to join the rest of the health community in acknowledging the importance of mental health and drawing more awareness to your services. 

Tips for Mental Health Content Marketing 

Healthcare providers have many avenues for publishing mental health content marketing. The question is where to post which material. The following discusses different types of content and how to share it with your audience to have the biggest impact during MHAM:

Blogs and Landing Pages 

Blogs and landing pages offer some of the most meaningful opportunities to discuss MHAM. For example, you can create blogs to educate patients about new developments in behavioral health policy and treatment. With patient permission, you can post a series of recovery stories. You can also optimize landing pages to include information about MHAM. You may consider a designated page with links to resources from organizations like SAMHSA and NAMI. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for blogs and pages. It ensures content contains the most relevant information for patients and ranks well on search engine results pages (SERP). This includes researching keywords and phrases, link building, and incorporating local SEO. 

Social Posts 

Mental health concerns aren’t unique to adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20% of people ages 13 to 18 experience serious mental illness. This group is also more likely to respond to marketing on social media than other channels. Social media posts can increase awareness and engagement among teens and young adults, leading them to services they might not find otherwise. 

Social media enables healthcare marketing teams to interact directly with people by responding to questions or concerns left in the comments section of posts. You might consider partnering with an influencer popular among the target demographic to increase your message’s reach. 

Email Newsletters 

Email personalizes mental health content marketing. Healthcare marketers can encourage patients to sign up for email newsletters and segment audiences to send different messages to each group. During MHAM, you can use email newsletters to highlight the key topics mentioned above or direct readers to relevant blogs you’ve published. You may also want to share other resources, like educational eBooks, via email newsletters. 

No matter which avenues you choose, you want to ensure you pay extra attention to language with mental health content marketing. This will help avoid reinforcing stigma. Some examples include: 

  • Use second-person language to validate the feelings of people with mental health problems who may read the content. 
  • Replace terms with a strong connotation with less negative terms. For instance, instead of “alcoholic”, say “patient with a substance use disorder”. 
  • Recognize that people aren’t their conditions. This means saying “a patient who has a condition” rather than “a patient is bipolar, schizophrenic, etc.” 

Seek Help with Mental Health Content Marketing from Virtucom Group 

Whether educating your audience about Mental Health Awareness Month or informing them of your services any time of the year, trust Virtucom Group to help you with content creation. Our expert team of writers and editors craft content for many industries and take extra care when handling potentially sensitive topics. Contact us today to learn more about our content writing services. 

The Importance of Case Studies in a Content Marketing Strategy

Few marketers doubt that content creation is integral to increasing awareness and boosting sales. Every customer goes on a journey, from their first interaction with the business to the moment they purchase a product or service. The kinds of content a brand offers at each stage either brings prospects one step further along the sales funnel — or sends them to competitors. Case studies are an effective way to transition prospects from consideration to decision. 

Case studies provide an in-depth look at what your business offers and how your products/services benefit customers and clients in a real-world context. They allow brands to expand on features and advantages, more so than is possible with a standard landing page or social media post. Learn more about case studies and why they matter for your content marketing strategy from Virtucom Group. 

What Makes a Great Case Study? 

Each type of content has its uses. For example, a landing page is ideal for providing an overview of product categories and services. Blogs educate users about topics related to your offerings, answering their most pressing questions. So, when is a case study the right choice? 

Defining Case Studies

First, what is a case study? Case studies take testimonials to the next level. They go beyond sharing words of praise to show evidence of the specific benefits a product or service provides. Case studies aren’t always about a product or service. Sometimes, they can be about one feature of a product or service or how the business helped resolve a challenge. They give customers and clients the context to confidently choose your offerings. 

Case Study Methods

Brands can take multiple approaches with a case study. A common approach is the third-person case study, which details a customer’s or client’s experience working with the business. There are also explanatory case studies (how a business strategy helped achieve goals) and implementation case studies (discuss an innovative solution and its impact). 

No matter the approach you take, be sure to include the following elements of an effective case study: 

  • An eye-catching title that accurately describes the case study 
  • Background information on the customer/client and the problem that sparked their interest in your products/services
    • If conducting an explanatory/implementation case study, background information will discuss the situation leading to the proposed solution or business strategy.
  • Overview of the products/services/solutions your business provided to resolve the problem 
  • The results the customer/client experienced by working with your business
    • For explanatory/implementation studies, it’s the benefits the solution or strategy provides 
  • Images and infographics that showcase data in an easy-to-digest way 
  • A call-to-action — what’s the next step for the prospect reading the case study? 

Why Consider a Case Study? 

Ultimately, case studies combine various elements that help sell prospects on your company. Part of why case studies are so effective is that they tell a story of a customer or client whose challenges the prospect understands. At the same time, they offer the “cold, hard facts” through data that gives the story credibility. Nearly 75% of the most successful content marketing strategies include case studies

The most direct benefit of a case study is that it pushes prospects further down the sales funnel. The following are just some other reasons why your content marketing strategy should include case studies: 

They Offer Social Proof 

By focusing on a particular client/customer, the case study speaks from their perspective and not only from the brand’s. It shows that the business recognizes the various challenges those in their target audiences face – and has the experience to offer meaningful solutions. 

They Allow You to Speak to Different Personas 

Many brands service multiple industries. Businesses across these industries may have some similar concerns, while others differ. By creating a case study with a representative client from each industry, you show different target audiences how your products/services can benefit them in a context they recognize. This also makes content marketing more personal. 

They Help You Find Brand Ambassadors 

Since you’ll be going into much detail with your case study, you’ll likely want to mention the customer or client by name. This is especially true for B2B companies. This means you need to work extensively with the client to get their insights. If clients are eager to talk about how much they love your products and services, they might be willing to become brand ambassadors. This means they’ll contribute to more than just that one case study and (hopefully) partner with you for multiple marketing initiatives.

Trust Virtucom Group for Case Studies and More  

Help prospects understand how your products, services, or solutions can solve their problems with case studies. If you struggle to find the time or resources to craft compelling content like case studies, turn to Virtucom Group for content marketing services. Our team of committed writers and editors will create engaging content with your style preferences and marketing goals in mind. Contact us today to learn how we can enhance your content marketing strategy.