When you visit a website, what keeps you on the page? When you receive a direct mail content marketing promotion in your mailbox, what motivates you to open it up and read it? Think about what causes you to want to know more . . . read more . . . take action. Then, think about your prospects and customers. Does your content come alive when they read it? Does it inspire them, motivate them or encourage them to take action?
If you’re feeling like your content is slowly fading into retirement and needs to be revived, here are six pointers to help you bring your content back to life. They’re easy to follow for any marketing promotion – from brochures and direct mail to emails and website content.
How to Bring Your Content Marketing to Life
Write A Compelling Headline for Content Marketing Pieces
Touch their emotions, fill a need or paint a picture and you’ll capture your readers’ attention. Which one of these headlines captures your attention: “How to lose weight.” OR “Announcing 10 remarkable ways to stay in shape without exercising daily.”
“On the average, 5 times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.” – Advertising pro David Ogilvy
Use an Attention-Grabbing Opening
In his book, Breakthrough Advertising, my mentor Eugene Schwartz wrote, “Your headline has only one job—to stop your prospect and compel him to read the second sentence of your ad.”
How can your headline grab and hold their attention? Consider using a startling statistic or a thought-provoking question.
Deliver on The Promise in Your Headline
Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Whatever it is you offered in your headline, be sure to address it in your piece. If you don’t deliver, beware. You may upset your customers, and bad news travels faster than good.
“News of bad customer service reaches more than twice as many ears as praise for a good service experience.” (Source: HelpScout.net)
Make Your Content Inviting to Readers’ Eyes
This is a pet peeve of mine. When I see long paragraphs I cringe. Make your content easy for your prospect/customer to read by using short paragraphs, bullet points, sub-headlines or numbered lists. This Rocks Digital post highlights 7 tips to help make your content inviting to readers’ eyes:
Use an Image
Whether it’s a photo or a video clip, images capture people’s attention. Here are 5 free image sites to help you rock your marketing: https://www.rocksdigital.com/best-free-social-media-image-sites/
“Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images.” (Source: jeffbullas.com)
Don’t Forget That Call To Action For All Content Marketing
If you’re blogging, your call to action can be as simple as “please share your thoughts in the comments section below.” If it’s a sales page where you’re selling a product online be sure to tell readers what you want them to do, such as “click on the buy now button,” “email us,” etc. It may sound obvious, but it’s important that you convey a clear message and make it easy for your prospects and customers to respond.
Remember, these six tips apply to all forms of marketing communications. If you’re not already using them, no worries. Just be sure to start doing so now.
Have a tip you want to add to this list? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
