Interruptions are infuriating. There are only so many times that you can demand your audience’s attention and persuade someone to buy a product, consider a service, read more, click here…or whatever your call to action may be.
Since you only get a few chances (if that!) to connect, producing relevant content that brings value to its readers is key to engaging with them.
Positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry is essential for establishing trust, proving authority, building awareness, and, ultimately, on market share.
But how do you go about creating killer content that will set you apart from the rest?
Be a giver
“The paradox is the more info you give away; the more people will buy what you have to give.”
Brian Clark hit’s the nail on the head. Your reader must feel like he or she has something to gain – or else they’ll quickly disengage.
Show them your unique perspective. Teach them something they didn’t know. Give advice that they can act on.
Business leaders want to learn before they invest, so set out to inform your audience – not to pitch to it. This not only shows that you know your stuff, but establishes an association between you and added value.
Be readable
This is obviously essential – but often overlooked. Your content has to be effortlessly digested, if is to pack a punch.
Be clear. Be concise. Be compelling. Make sure it is easy to absorb:
• Utilise bullet points (see what I did there?)
• Use images to break up the text
• Bold key words so that they stand out
• Look at the typography and font size
• Consider column width
• Think about colour
• How are the lines spaced?
• Where will your ‘call to action’ go?
It is important that your content is, not only readable, but also usable. Make it interactive by including links – both to other areas of your own site and to relevant third party content if this applies.
Incidentally, there is more on how to write better copy.
Sharing is caring
So, you’ve written something tremendous? In today’s world (where cat videos go viral in minutes) you need to ensure that your content is shareable.
Integrate social sharing tools to make it is easy for your reader to spread the word – your word.
All you need is a button, for example, that allows your reader to tweet your content with one click of the mouse. There are a ton of tools out there to help you to encourage others to promote your work. Help them to help you.
Think SEO
Not only do you want to enable someone to share your stuff – you also want others to be able to stumble upon it.
To boost your search engine ranking, and help readers find your content online, you will need to assign it at least one strong key word. You will then need to optimise your content, and its metadata, for your chosen terms.
This might involve doing some initial key word research (again, there are several tools to help you with this) but it will pay dividends in the end.
Read more on the do’s and don’ts of SEO.
Build a strategy
Yes, you can write something that will rock your reader’s world, but it’s what you do with your content that really counts:
• How is it distributed? Through which channels, on what devices, and in what form?
• To whom is it delivered?
• Where is it hosted?
• How regularly is it updated?
• Is it consistent?
• Is it relevant?
• Is it current – and how do you plan to keep pace with hot topics?
• What is the overall objective?
• Who is going to follow up – and how?
How you promote your content is truly essential – or your words may fall on deaf ears. If it’s searchable, shareable, and you’re shouting about it, you have a powerful weapon at your disposal.
At Bright Innovation we believe that if you get your content marketing right, it will speak for itself, and help you to build the relationships that will ultimately drive revenue.
If you’d like to talk about the kind of approach that might work for you, contact a member of the Bright team!