Content marketing is built around developing and publishing a variety of pieces in different mediums to attract, intrigue and prompt audiences into completing a certain action. It is a strategy that continues to grow in popularity, leaving search engines and social media platforms saturated with material from every industry, making it more competitive than ever.
So, when it comes to your blog articles, how are you supposed to cut through the noise? In this article, the Clearwater team explore some key tips to help you write articles that will attract and convert your audience.
Establish Your Audience
The first step to writing a blog article is to establish your audience. Who are you this writing for? What are their needs and pain points? Do the work to understand them, even outlining demographics, the tone of voice they prefer, where they find their information, and perhaps even some common objections to sales. Once you know who your target reader is, you can craft content that appeals directly to them.
Build Scroll-Stopping Headlines
Given that they will be bombarded by a seemingly never-ending list of options, you want to make sure that your article seems the most provocative, helpful, insightful, comprehensive, engaging and so on. This may sound like a tall order, but all you really need to focus on is writing headlines that are clear, interesting, and make use of rich keywords. Essentially, craft something that compels your audience to choose your article to consume over all others.
Segment Your Pieces with Subheadings & Short Paragraphs
No one likes huge blocks of text. Breaking up your content with subheadings and short paragraphs makes it more digestible and easier to read. Use subheadings to segment your article into different sections, and make use of short paragraphs to keep readers engaged (3-4 sentences). This not only helps readers to better absorb information, but also, even if you are an extremely talented writer and work tirelessly to craft a well-structured piece, many of your readers are first going to skim the content to find the points most relevant to them. As such, develop headings that offer clear answers or offerings to keep readers hooked.
Utilise Bullet Points
Understanding that your audience will likely do an initial scan of your article also shows the benefits of bullet points interspersed through the content. They help to cut straight to the point, delivering clear statements in an uncluttered, direct format. Readers then have the compulsion to review the surrounding paragraphs for greater context.
Introduce Images
Images are a great way to add visual interest to your article and break up large blocks of text. Choose images that are relevant to your topic and add value to your article, as it will stimulate readers’ brains into processing the information differently. You can try stock images or take your own photos, or even try your hand at creating infographics and videos to keep readers engaged and improve the overall variety of your article.
Search Engine Optimisation
Search engine optimisation is important for any blog article, but it’s especially important if you’re looking to convert readers. Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions, and be sure to include links back to your website. Be sure to include image captions and ALT text to improve your article’s SEO. In fact, content marketing and SEO campaigns often work hand in hand to build traffic towards your website and pad a larger sales funnel, shaping brand awareness, consideration, conversion and retention.
Clear Call-to-Action
The whole point of writing a blog article is to get readers to take a specific action. Make sure your call-to-action is clear, concise, and relevant to the topic of your article. Include a strong offer that will entice readers to click through, which doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘BUY NOW’; sometimes it’s enough to send them to another article, to subscribe to your ongoing emails, or make an enquiry.
Improve Your Content Marketing Strategy with Clearwater
Maybe writing blogs isn’t your thing? If you want well-crafted articles that engage and convert audiences within your wider content marketing strategy, speak with us at Clearwater today, and one of our specialists can walk you through our process during a free, initial consultation.
