How to Write Content that Inspires Action
It’s tempting for marketers to focus more on content promotion than content creation. Considering many individuals judge the success of a marketing campaign based on the number of clicks, likes, shares, and views their content pieces garner, the practice of prioritizing promotion over substance is understandable. Yet, content that doesn’t elicit some sort of reaction from the reader will ultimately prove ineffective. After all, content marketers and copywriters are always trying to get their audience to download something, visit a storefront, or buy a product. To that end, here are three proven ways to build content that motivates consumers to heed your calls-to-action.
Trade Info for Loyalty
Trust is the essential element of every good business relationship. This is especially true for consumers who are researching a product or service they don’t quite understand. Companies that offer in-depth articles on their site and provide objective analysis will win a consumer’s loyalty –– even if they don’t immediately gain their business. The wonderful thing about most marketing content is that it’s evergreen –– i.e., it remains useful over long periods of time. In that sense a well-written blog can truly be the gift that keeps on giving!
Construct with Care
Online consumers don’t want to have to hunt for information. The massive edge ecommerce stores have over brick-and-mortar locations is, of course, convenience. However, if your content offers aren’t structured correctly, and if your website is difficult to navigate, you’ll struggle to retain many visitors. One good rule of thumb to follow for long-form content is the Wikipedia test. Wikipedia boasts an easy-to-follow setup and a seamless navigation strategy. Just think how easy it is to find pages on related subjects on Wikipedia and you’ll have a good idea of how best to arrange your own page layout.
Incentivize Action
Most blog posts end with some variety of call-to-action (CTA). Regardless of whether you’re trying to motivate someone to visit an ecommerce store or a local testing center, copywriters need to incentivize their CTAs. It may be obvious to you why a given consumer would benefit from medical advice or a new widget, but it’s not always so clear cut to the general public. What’s more, be sure to inject some urgency into your writing. Let your readers know that they stand to gain a clear advantage (or can avoid a major setback) by acting now. Many decisions made online carry a degree of impulsiveness, so keep that in mind when tailoring blog posts. Work that lacks a sense of immediacy simply won’t generate the leads or conversions businesses need to grow.