Our question du jour comes from Rosemary T., who ask, “How can I make my blog posts and social media posts more popular with my readers?”
It’s a good question Rosemary, though, it’s worth first noting that copy and content are two different, if related, beasts. Copy is used to sell things (products, ideas or actions) while content provides added value for the reader by giving them things to read/view that are useful, entertaining or inspirational.
You may have heard the phrase “Content is king.” What it means is that providing your customers with useful, entertaining or inspiring content will get them to keep visiting your site and help to entice them to eventually purchase from you.
Without compelling content, your prospective customers may visit once, leave and only come back if they’re interested in purchasing. But when you create great content, you give your prospective customers reasons to return to your site again and again.
The great thing about writing content as a copywriter (besides having just one more thing that people will pay you to do!) is that you can apply many of the things you’ve learned as a copywriter to make your content even more compelling. Here are just a few tips you can use to make your content as sensational as your copy:
– As with copy, your content must always be beneficial to the reader (that can mean that it’s informative or just plain funny, but it must improve their lives in at least some way). If you write content with just your company’s goals in mind, it won’t resonate with your reader
– Examine your target audience to create your strategy: What are their needs? What kinds of information could address these needs?
– You need to decide if the content will come from you or from your company—if it’s your company’s, it can be more conversational, but it should still be identifiable as your company’s brand voice
– Even if the voice is you as a representation of your company, the voice can’t be purely your voice; you need to meld your voice with your company’s standards
– As with copy, your content should have next steps for your readers to take as often as possible (read: pretty much every single time.) Ask them questions in your post for them to answer in comments or send them to another post on your site—keep them engaged
Speaking of engaged…it’s your turn! How do you apply these rules to your own content? Let us know in the comments below!
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