Let’s face the truth without shielding ourselves from it — content creation is a tedious task.
First of all, you need to come up with ideas that are interesting and engaging. Then figure out how to turn those concepts into content that speaks to the reader’s needs. After a lot of hard work, you finally hit publish.
But here’s the catch – it doesn’t end there! You can’t just create any content and expect people to convert. You have to be strategic with your approach.
We have compiled ten secrets to crafting content that converts every time. Read on to find out how to make your content work for you:
1. Use Emotions to Motivate
Imagine your content as a tiny pitchman. Your goal is to make him so convincing that he could sell sand in the desert — it’s all about tapping into emotions.
Use stories and examples to connect with your audience. Show them why they should care about what you are selling and how it can benefit their lives.
Appeal to their desires, dreams, and passions. Make them feel something.
The question is, how do you elicit desire?
Simple:
Peer Pressure: People are motivated by their peers in this increasingly social-conscious world. They’re more motivated by knowing that other people experience the same thing, have had a successful outcome from doing something, like things they should be aware of, or are engaging in the things they aren’t doing.
Fear of Missing Out: FOMO has become a powerful emotion that drives people to take action. Use this fear against them, but not in a negative way. Show them what they are missing out on if they don’t take the opportunity now – this will create urgency and encourage them to act quickly.
Example, “Find Out How I Increased My Sales By 25% In Just One Month!”.
Self-Improvement: People are always looking to better themselves. Show them that the product or service you’re offering can help them do just that – make them look good, feel good, and gain confidence in their abilities. Give examples of how your content has helped others improve their lives, and they will be more likely to convert.
The five points are just as important in content creation as they are in landing page optimization:
- Urgency: Create a sense of urgency in the content.
- Clarity: Keep your content simple and clear.
- Anxiety: Reduce anxiety by addressing people’s concerns about the product or service.
- Distraction: Make sure your content doesn’t contain any unnecessary elements that could distract the reader from taking action.
- Relevance: Speak to the reader’s needs and show them how the product or service can benefit them.
2. Add Urgency to Your Content
Adding a time-sensitive element to your content can help spur readers into taking action.
The fear of missing out, or FOMO, is a powerful emotion that, when used right, can help you drive massive conversions.
Adding deadlines and time-sensitive offers can create an urgency that compels readers to act quickly. You can also use scarcity techniques to make people feel like they have to act now or risk missing out on a great opportunity.
Another good way to add urgency is through personal stories and testimonies. Show readers what has worked for other people and how quickly they achieved success. That will give them a sense of urgency and motivate them to take action to have the same positive outcome.
Another trick, if you’re charging people for an upcoming eBook, conference, or webinar, you can make it free for the first 100 people to sign up. This will increase the assumed value and create a sense of urgency as people scramble to be among the first to join.
Here are a few blog ideas that capitalize on this idea:
- Create a countdown for the “100 Early Bird Specials.”
- Before it closes: the last chance to save on the upcoming webinar
- Don’t miss out: your chance to increase Facebook organic Reach by 330%
- Stop making excuses: join the free webinar now
- The 45 Strategies you need to skyrocket your sales, the time is NOW
- If you do this today, you’ll be one step closer to your goal
These are just a few ideas that can help add urgency and compel readers to take action immediately. Remember, once the time-sensitive offer expires, so will the motivation of your readers to convert. So use these techniques wisely, and watch as your conversions sour.
3. Increase Your Content Relevancy
Always write for the reader and ensure your content is relevant to their needs. To increase conversions, you must focus on the topics that interest readers and pique their curiosity.
Only write content when that content genuinely provides value to your readers, and make sure it’s something they can use right away.
The content must appeal to their needs, concerns, and interests. It should be relevant to the product or service you’re offering and provide actionable steps they can take immediately.
For example, if you’re selling a blogging course, your content could cover topics such as generating leads with blog posts or growing an engaged community on social media.
You can also increase content relevancy by doing the following:
- Segmenting Your Target Audience: Not everyone in your audience list has the same needs. Sometimes, you may find it necessary to exclude certain segments of your audience that don’t fit the target market you’re trying to reach.
For instance, you could create a segment-based eBook or webinar that you could use to target a specific group of people who are interested in a particular topic. You could also use this trick to segment your list and create multifaceted personas.
- Cover all the Bases when it Comes to Varying Experience Levels: Make sure your content appeals to different experience levels and provides something for everyone.
For instance, if you’re writing a blog post about SEO, you could provide beginner tips and advanced strategies that experienced marketers can use. This way, your content will be relevant to a broader range of readers.
- Root Your Content to Reality: If you want to increase content relevancy, use real-world examples and case studies. Show readers how other people have used your product or service to solve problems or make their lives easier.
Keep yourself updated on the latest events, holidays, or other cultural trends, and use this as an opportunity to create content that’s relevant to your target market.
Not only will this help you keep up with the trends, but it will also make your content more personable and relatable, thus increasing its relevancy.
4. Increase Your Content Clarity
Verbosity is like that one perky loudmouth at a party – nobody likes him, but he’s always talking.
He has everything to say and nothing to say all at the same time, and he’s usually annoying everyone within a five-foot radius.
Content clarity is important for a few reasons. First, it ensures that your readers understand what you’re trying to communicate. It also helps keep them focused on the task at hand and reduces distractions.
When content is clear and concise, it also helps to boost conversions. So make sure your content is free of unnecessary clutter and hard-to-understand jargon.
To increase the clarity of your content, use these tips:
- Start by introducing your topic: Give your readers a glimpse of what they’re about to read. It will help them better understand the context of your article or post and get them in the right mindset for reading.
- Break it down into bite-sized pieces: Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up your content into smaller chunks. That makes it easier for readers to scan and quickly find the information they’re looking for.
- Be specific: Avoid using general terms that could mean different things to different people. Be as detailed as possible and use language that is easy to understand.
- Explain the problem you’re solving and how it affects the reader: Help your readers understand how it affects them. Explain why it’s important and how they can benefit from your solution.
- Provide relevant email-gated content: Offer additional resources for readers who want to dive deeper into a topic. It will help increase the relevancy of your content and encourage more engagement from your audience.
5. Reduce Anxiety
You’re a stranger trying to sell yourself to a potential seller, which can be nerve-wracking.
Can you be trusted? If so, what are you doing to prove it?
Content is a great tool to reduce anxiety and build trust with your readers. Content can be used to answer questions, provide case studies and testimonials, or even showcase your expertise in the field.
You want to figure out how to incorporate trust within your sales funnel. Before you hand over prospects to your sales team, you must ensure they are comfortable enough to buy from you.
Here’s how creating content can help you build trust:
- Empathize, don’t sympathize: Wear your reader’s shoes and try to understand their pain points. Create content that empathizes with your readers and shows them you know what they’re going through. What issues are they dealing with? Have you experienced something similar? Show readers that you know what it’s like to be in their shoes.
- Describe how you overcame the issue: Show your readers how you overcame the same problem they are facing. Give them real-world examples of how you or someone else has used your product or service to solve a problem.
- Talk subtlely about your tools, products, or services: Don’t be too salesy or pushy when talking about your products or services. Talk in a subtle yet informative way, so readers can easily understand how you can help them.
- Tell a Story: Stories are a powerful way to build trust and inspire your readers. Talk about real-life experiences and how you overcame them. It will make your readers feel more connected to you and make them trust your advice.
- Show Yourself: Feature your team or the people behind your product or service. Showing your face and introducing yourself takes some of the anxiety away from buying something online.
- Create an author profile or headshot: If you’re writing blog posts, author profiles can help build trust with your readers. It will also help them remember you and your content.
- Above all, be genuine: People can sense when you’re being inauthentic, so make sure everything you write is honest and sincere. Showing your readers who you are will foster trust and loyalty with them.
- Express frustration and be vulnerable: You’re human, and humans make mistakes. Show your readers that it’s OK to make mistakes and own up to them. Expressing frustration or vulnerability will create a deeper connection with your readers and make them trust you more.
6. Eliminate Distractions
Every content piece must be focused on a single “ask” or goal, and any unnecessary information should be eliminated. Too much content can overwhelm readers and make them lose interest quickly.
Just answer the question the reader asked without going into too much detail. Provide only what’s necessary to help readers make an informed decision and then move on.
Stay focused on the goal to convert them or move them to the next step in your sales funnel. Eliminating distractions will help you better meet those goals.
If you can keep your content focused and concise, readers are more likely to stay on the page longer and engage with your content.
Too many links can also be a distraction, so limit the number of links to only the important ones directly related to what you’re talking about.
Re-using statistics and quotes from eBooks, infographics, and other sources is also a great way to quickly capture readers’ attention and keep them engaged with your content.
7. Add Another Voice, or Two
You’ve probably seen brands work with others, especially when starting. It’s not uncommon for larger, more established brands to collaborate with smaller ones.
You can collaborate with industry influencers, experts, or even other companies to add a different voice to your content.
Your readers and subscribers are more likely to be convinced of your legitimacy if they see associating with someone they trust and respect.
Here’s what we suggest you do:
- Push for an interview, podcast, or webinar with a well-established influencer. You first have to identify them, then give yourself time to interact with them and register on their radar before making a formal request. When the time is right, ask for their feedback about your product or service, and invite them to collaborate on a content piece.
- Invite guest bloggers to contribute to your blog. That also allows you to collaborate with someone else and get their voice on your blog. You could also start a series of Q&A interviews with industry experts. These collaborations can help you build trust and credibility with your readers and boost engagement on your content pieces.
- Give a few well-known influencers free access to your product and ask them to write a review. Ask them to share their honest feedback with their followers and readers. This will give your product or services more visibility, legitimacy, and trust.
- See if you can get another business to co-author content with you. Even better, collaborate on an eBook or white paper. They can offer their insight and expertise, while you can add your own spin, and vice versa.
Bottom line: Collaborating with influencers and other businesses can help increase your reach and add another layer of trust within your readers.
8. Poke the Pressure Points
Poking at your readers’ pressure points is a great way to get them to take action. A pressure point can be a problem that needs solving, a need for speed, or an urge to do something better.
The idea is to keep pushing buttons until you get the desired result. Ensure that your readers feel like they need to take action immediately. Otherwise, they will move on and forget all about you.
You can use a few tactics to poke their pressure points, such as:
- Offer limited-time discounts or freebies to get people to act quickly.
- Make them feel like they’re missing out if they don’t take action soon.
- Highlight the consequences of not taking action.
- Talk about how much time and money they’ll save by taking action.
- Talk about the benefits of taking action soon.
It sounds callous, but it works. People tend to respond more strongly to a sense of urgency.
So, whenever you create content, think about how to poke at your readers’ pressure points to get them to act.
The questions you ask aren’t just to pique interest; they should be questions that provoke and compel them to take action.
9. Give Advice, Don’t Pitch
If your content promotes your product, service, or brand, it can make readers turn away.
We’re not saying you should never promote your product, but don’t make it the only thing your content is about.
Instead, focus on giving your readers advice, tips, and tactics. Use the 90% rule: 90% of your content should be about providing helpful information, and only 10% should be promotional.
Your goal should be to provide value to your readers and build trust with them.
For example, if much of what you’ve been doing is educating, informing, and guiding your readers on how to solve a problem they have, then it wouldn’t be out of place to mention a product or service you offer as a solution.
That will give your readers the confidence that your advice is genuine and that you’re not just trying to make a sale.
Giving advice also shows your readers that you know what you’re talking about and have the necessary experience to help them.
It will build trust, demonstrate your industry knowledge, and make readers more likely to take action and buy from you.
10. Be Consistent and Keep Testing
Creating content that converts requires both consistency and experimentation.
You must be consistent with your content creation, which means you must produce high-quality and engaging content regularly.
At the same time, you should constantly test different content types to see what works best with your target audience.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different content formats, images, videos, and infographics.
Test different strategies and tactics to see what resonates most with your readers.
The more you experiment, the better chance you have of finding success.
The key is to keep experimenting and trying out new things until you find what works for your audience.
We suggest dedicating some time each month to testing new ideas to determine what works best for your content and conversion goals.
11. Close with the Right CTA
Once you’ve crafted content that engages and resonates with your readers, close it off with the right call-to-action (CTA).
The goal is to have readers take action and do what you’ve asked.
The CTA you write must be clear, simple, and to the point. A strong sense of urgency should also accompany it, so readers won’t hesitate or drag their feet.
Ensure your CTA ties into the content you’ve created so readers know exactly what to do once they reach the end.
The right CTA can make all the difference in whether or not readers take action, so make sure you craft it with care.
Here are a few suggestions:
“For more information on [Your Blog Subject], here’s a comprehensive eBook”
“Click here to learn how to save time and money with our product.”
“Sign up now for our free webinar to learn more.”
“Start receiving our weekly newsletter from dedicated experts on the subject. Sign up here.”
11. Keep It Simple
Sometimes, when it comes to content creation, less is more.
Keep your content straightforward. Don’t try to be overly clever or use too much jargon.
Using simple language will help ensure that your content is easy to understand and accessible to all readers.
Focus on making your content concise and to the point so readers don’t have to waste time trying to decipher it.
In other words, don’t be afraid to edit and trim out unnecessary words or sentences.
The simpler your content is, the more likely readers will be to understand it and act on your CTA.
It’ll also help ensure that your content gets read rather than skimmed or ignored.
So, don’t let your content get bogged down by too much jargon and flowery language.
Here’s what you should do instead:
- Keep your content short and to the point.
- Use language that’s easy for readers to understand.
- Make sure your key points are clear and concise.
- Edit and trim out unnecessary words or sentences.
- Use bullet points and subheadings to make your content more scannable and easier for readers to digest.
