“Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s life.”
As rightly said, every word counts. In this digital era of content, where every word has the potential to influence people, how you present and frame it, can make a huge difference, speaks Hasan Ali Gumani– an author, content marketer & content writer.
Born and brought up in Udaipur, Hasan did his schooling from St. Pauls Senior Secondary School and pursued graduation from MB College. Passionate about writing, Hasan moved to Hyderabad for post graduation.
He is a creative writing whiz and holds an expertise in the niche of technical writing.
At a recent Meetup at Digication, Hasan took a session for students and offered valuable insights into the world of Content Marketing.
With his vast knowledge, he well explained students how Content is the backbone of Digital Marketing and without content, how all the Digital Marketing efforts land in vain.
Mr. Gumani shared with students about different models, and how adopting these models can change their approach towards work and help the students come up with best results.
In a chit-chat with Hasan at DIGICATION Meetup.
1) What was the spark that initiated your journey to Content?
I would give the credit to my love for words. Creative writing was something that always fascinated me. The same even encouraged me to write and publish two books. I, then, explored various other forms of writing too and forayed into the content writing industry.
2) What is Content in your perspective?
I believe anything that informs you about a subject in a crisp and clear way is content. It is, in fact, a great way to make the target audience take the desired action.
3) According to you, what place does content hold in Digital Marketing?
It’s the backbone of digital marketing. Be it an ad copy, article, or a webpage, content is present everywhere in different forms. Without content, all the digital marketing efforts land in vain.
4) Suggest some Content tools that you personally prefer.
There are different tools for different content types. For example, those who look forward to creating text content, there is Microsoft Word, PDF Creators, Notepad, etc. For editing and proofreading, there is Grammarly, Naturalreaders.com (it helps to maintain focus as you proofread), quetext.com (plagiarism checker), etc. For images and graphics, Canva, Adobe Illustration, and Adobe Photoshop can help you out. Similarly, we have Adobe After Effects, Filmora, Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro, etc. for video content.
5) What were the challenges faced by you in your initial days of this field of content?
As aforementioned, I was more into creative writing. And when it comes to Content Writing, it is more inclined towards the technical aspects, for instance, SEO. Understanding the difference, understanding the technical writing niche, and working on the guidelines were some of the things that stood as hurdles for me in my initial days. However, as practice makes a man perfect, I overcome these challenges with time and practice.
6) How is your experience working as Content Writer? What do you feel is important to make sure the work gets done efficiently?
When you work as a content writer, you work with clients from different industries and sectors. As research is an integral part of content writing, you get to know these niches and industries quite well. You can leverage this knowledge in your future work or utilize the same to acquire more clients. Second, to ensure that you deliver quality work to your client, understand the requirement properly. Further, ask the client for guidelines and make sure to raise important queries without hesitation so as to keep any sort of rework at bay.
7) What challenges do you feel one might face in this domain?
Anyone who is not thorough with the language they are writing the content in may find it difficult to survive in this domain. One needs to be exceptionally well with the grammar, sentence structure, formation, punctuation and other similar factors. A client especially emphasizes on these factors because the content so created and published reflects his brand to a great extent. Secondly, one needs to have strong research skill too. Last but not the least, it’s the competition that poses a great challenge. There is a slew of content writers/creators in the industry. It is all about how well you establish yourself in the content domain.
8) How do you measure the success of your content?
The success factor on my content is zero rework or amendments. Second biggest factor that I consider to measure the success of my content is by ensuring that the bounce rate is quite less on the content that I have written.
9) What is the major scope for content in the coming years?
Content is the King and it will rule the Digital Marketing industry forever. But it is necessary to
understand that content has many types and one should not stick to only one of them. If one is an expert in text content, they should try their hands on visual content and vice versa. In terms of trend and scope, infographics, short videos, audios, explanatory clips, etc. are some of the content types that will be seen at most of the places.
10) What are the most important Factors one needs to keep in mind while creating content?
There are many essential points that one should remember while creating content. Firstly, one should understand the requirement for the content correctly. It includes the type of content that is required, the objective behind the content, and understanding the target audience. Further, one should undertake a research on the client, its USPs, and its competition. Lastly, when it comes to the execution of the content, one should refer to the guidelines, adhere to one writing or content creating style, and look for errors before submitting the content.
11) Tell me about a time a content strategy went wrong. What did you learn from it?
It happened when I was employed with a digital marketing firm. My team and I made a content strategy for a client and even executed the same. However, we later realized that we have not included any content bucket to the same. While our competitors were following a content bucket and creating content accordingly, we had to stick to our strategy as amending it at the last time was not an option.
However, this really taught us some of the biggest lessons. First, to forecast the upcoming events and occasions before making a content strategy. Second, to always have a plan B and a buffer so as to rectify the things even at the last moment.
12) What are some of the most common myths people have about content?
People give last priority to content when they decide to go digital. They believe content can be created by anyone and does not need any special expertise. However, it’s the biggest myth that prevails. Be it writing an article or creating a video, when it comes to the development of the content, it requires research, expertise, time, and efforts. It is indispensable that people understand this fact and give content the attention and focus that it deserves.
13) What are your future plans?
As I mentioned above that one should explore different niches of content. I am quite interested in filmmaking and photography. I am learning more about these two domains and looking forward to getting practical exposure on them. As a part of the same, I am currently shooting and uploading minimal stories on my Instagram page ‘Ministory Wale.’ Also, I look forward to completing and publishing my third book.
14) Message for the students to get into content.
First, get acquainted with the digital content and its various types. Finalize one type and explore it more. Go for an internship before a job as it helps a lot and gives you a practical exposure. In case, you want to freelance in that niche, understand how to acquire clients. Know how to quote and how much to quote. And the most important tip – Don’t Overcommit anything until and unless you are cent percent sure.
All the Best!
Thanks Hasan, for joining us at Udaipur DIGICATION Meetup and sharing your experience and mentoring our students regarding the importance of Content Marketing. It was indeed a pleasure to interact with you and our students were really enlightened by your wisdom and experience.
To join our meetups & for more information write us at info@digification.in.