There is big talk of Content Marketing these days. It’s become the new ‘marketing thing’, although it’s been around for years.
What is Content Marketing?
Put simply, Content Marketing is exactly that. Marketing your Content. The following can be classed as content:
- Blog Posts
- Articles
- Newsletters
- Social Media Posts
- Videos
- Email Marketing
The trick with Content Marketing, is to do more than just churn out and begin converting your content into sales and enquiries. There is no doubt that Content Marketing v’s Sales Copy are two different things. However there are certain principles which, when applied, can help turn your content into excellent sales copy.
Keep Your Content Interesting and Engaging
For your content to attract potential customers to your website, it needs to be interesting and engaging. This is crucial in the sense that if you bore your audience to tears, chances are they won’t be digesting your content as you would hope.
Many businesses, especially those in the not so exciting industries (I’m looking at you Accountants, Finance and Insurance – no offence), can find it difficult to make content fun and interesting. Guess what, there is no such thing as a ‘boring’ industry. Even the most boring topic can turn out to be a fun read when written with some ‘style.’ So how do you do that?
- Use bullet points (walls of texts is difficult on the eye)
- Use short sentences where possible
- Tell a story or insert an anecdote somewhere – make it relatable to the reader
- Use memes or animated GIFS instead of simple images
- Inject humour when it’s appropriate
This list is by no means exhaustive. There are plenty more tactics out there that you can use to grab your intended audience’s attention. It’s time to get those creative juices flowing.
Put Value into Your Content
Often, this can be where content can fail. At some point, we all fall into the trap of ‘click bait’, clicking to read content, only to realise half way through it’s full of fluff and useless information.
Give content, be generous and connect with your readers. You want them to finish reading and have some value added. Whether it’s amusement, entertainment, learning something or making them think about your topic in a way they haven’t previously.
If you’re unsure what to write about, then put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Think about what questions they may be asking and use these as topics for your next blog.
Build Trust
Behind the tips mentioned above lies one fundamental element – trust.
By building engaging content, you build rapport with your audience, and by giving them value, you gain their trust. People will buy from you when they trust you. Use your content to engage and you can begin turning casual readers into paying customers.
