Compelling content is critical to a successful content marketing campaign. Writing material that will interest and educate your audience will help you to position your company as one that can be trusted with their industry-related questions, concerns, and business. Here are 7 tips to help you more easily create this kind of material for your content marketing campaign.
Write a compelling headline.
The first step in creating compelling content for your content marketing campaign is to write a compelling headline. Research shows that 80 percent of people will read a headline, as opposed to the 20 percent of people who will read an entire article or blog post. If you can write a headline that grabs their attention, you are more likely to get your audience to read the rest of the piece. In order to write these kinds of effective headlines, you should focus on active verbs and words that provoke emotion. In addition, research shows that the most shared articles on Facebook tend to be those that are between 12 and 18 words long, so developing headlines of approximately that length can help your content to perform better in certain channels.
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Develop content for your content marketing campaign that includes headings and subheadings.
People like to be able to skim content. When faced with an unbroken wall of text, they are more likely to abandon the article (and the website on which it appears) than they are to continue reading. Dividing your material up into headings and subheadings will clarify the structure for readers and allow them to quickly find the information they want. In addition, consider utilizing short paragraphs and lists that add white space to the article. Doing so will make it easier for readers to glance through the piece to find the parts that they want to read.
Create material through your content marketing campaign that addresses your audience’s pain points.
The audiences you hope to reach will each have their own particular pain points (areas of discontent and need) that your company can help to ease. For example, if you are selling fair-trade coffee, your target audience’s pain point might be a need to purchase ethically sourced products. If you are providing IT support for business owners, their pain points might be affordability and reliability. Whatever pain points you identify in your target audience, try to address them through your content. By writing about the things that concern your audience, you will automatically get more of their attention than if you were talking about something they have no interest in. And, when they can see that you understand their needs, and have a way to meet those needs, they will be more likely to engage with your brand.
Tell a story with the material you create for your content marketing campaign.
People naturally gravitate toward a story. The structure and intrigue of a story will keep their attention, and make your content more memorable. As a result, if you want to create compelling material for your content marketing campaign, consider telling stories. For example, if you are trying to raise money for your nonprofit, consider sharing stories of the people your company has helped. If you are selling jewelry or other items, consider sharing stories of satisfied customers. If you are trying to build brand awareness, consider sharing the story behind the founding of your company. The goal is to communicate the information you want your target audience to know in a way that will grab and keep their attention.
Back up the claims you make in your content marketing campaign with facts.
Stories are thrilling and engaging. However, unless those stories are also filled with solid information that educates your readers, you may find your audience losing interest in what you have to say. If you want your content marketing campaign to establish your reputation and thought leadership in your field, you need to supply reliable facts and figures. As a result, try to incorporate factual information into your content marketing campaign. For example, if you are talking about the success of your company, provide information about the percentage by which sales have grown in the last year, the numbers of customers served, and so forth. This information, when presented in an engaging format, can enhance the effectiveness of your content marketing campaign.
Draw your audience into your content.
Another way to create compelling material for your content marketing campaign is to draw your audience into that content. For example, use second-person words such as “you” to make it clear that you are speaking directly to your audience. Ask questions in your blog posts that people can respond to in the comments section. Connect with them by showing that you understand where they are coming from. Occasionally, you can even consider using contests, raffles, and other strategies to elicit responses from your target audience that will encourage interaction between them and your company.
Use a call to action to tell your readers what they should do next.
If you have successfully written engaging content, your readers will stick with you to the end of your article, blog post, white paper, etc. At that point, in order to keep their attention, you will need to use a call to action to tell them what to do next. For example, say you have written a fundraising letter outlining the story of someone your organization has helped. At the end of that letter, you will need to ask people to give money, sign up to volunteer, or take some other action to further your organization’s cause.
The key to creating successful calls to action is to give your readers specific and short ideas about what to do. Use action verbs like “give,” “sign up,” or “learn.” By doing so, you will encourage further engagement with your brand that your content marketing campaign is all about. If you need help creating compelling content, try using these tips for building more interesting materials for your target audiences. In addition, consider hiring a company like WEBii to help you not only create this content but put it into the context of a vibrant content marketing campaign and search engine optimization campaign so you can enjoy as much response from your material as possible.