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Guest Post Written By Anita Jacob
Words On Us is a Content Development Agency based in Africa. Our aim is to create diverse and unique content for our clients, helping them engage their target audience and also establish their brands as thought leaders. We do this with blog articles, LinkedIn posts, Facebook and Instagram too. We also offer graphic design and social media management. It’s the complete content solution.
It’s a tough market out there, and if you’re not getting the engagement that you need online, you’re probably feeling quite off about it. You feel that your posts are great, but it they just don’t seem to hit the spot and get people to connect with you.
If you are thinking, “What am I doing wrong?” you’re already on the right track because you know you’re not doing something right. Keep reading, because this article is sure to put you on the right track.
When it comes to creating engaging marketing content, you should know that every piece of content you create has to speak directly and appeal to your audience on a personal level.
An audience avatar is a representation of your ideal customer. Think of it as the perfect person to buy your product/service. An audience avatar is important because it gives you focus; it lets you know who you are talking to when creating content. When creating an audience avatar, here are some things to consider:
Demographics: This refers to the customer’s age, gender, background, level of education, social status, etc.
Psychography: This refers to the customer’s beliefs, language, pattern of thinking, attitudes and perceived character, lifestyle etc.
Geography: This is the customer’s area of residence, but you knew that.
Creating an audience avatar is the first thing to consider when creating content. How else would you know who you are talking to?
You could tell your audience, “Hey, I’ve got a great product! Buy, buy, buy. Or you could tell a relatable story about a client who used your great service and how well it worked for them. The thing about using storytelling to communicate with your audience is that it lets you create a happy and satisfied scenario for your audience; one where they end up the winner.
For instance, if you want to create content selling an ice cream recipe to a Mom with toddlers, you don’t say: “I’ve got a delicious and healthy ice cream recipe for your kids.” Everyone says that. You say, “Are you tired of the sugar rush and want your kids to eat healthy? Try our ice cream recipe! It’s sugar free! Yet every ingredient is mixed so perfectly creating a delicious taste, your kids won’t be able to tell the difference. With this recipe, you can stop the sugar rush!”
The best thing about telling a story is that you can create one that connects directly to the experience of your buyer.
When creating engaging marketing content, remember that the aim is to appeal to your audience and not to confuse them with big words; when you do that, you could come off as condescending. Even worse, you could simply confuse the reader, and if you are unable to communicate, you cannot connect.
So, keep your words easy to read and understand, if your audience cannot understand what you’ve said, they cannot take the action you want them to. Whenever you want to create content, remember that no one goes through their feeds with a dictionary in their hand. Big words do not show your creativity; they might be making you lose clients.
Every social media platform has a distinct tone and language. You don’t want to go sounding too serious on twitter and too playful on LinkedIn. The tone and language of content must match the medium.
Another thing about tone and language is that you need to let your content mirror the way your ideal audience would sound. If they are nerdy, then your content should sound nerdy. If they sound savvy, techy, corporate, snotty; whatever it is, your content has to mirror that, or your audience cannot relate to it.
Also, always include a graphic, photo, infographic or video; give them something to see. Some social media platforms need these more than others, but always remember that visual communication is incredibly important when creating engaging marketing content. You can’t tell your audience that you make great cakes, without showing pictures of your great cake. We want to see it, and when we do, we’re going to leave a “Yum!” comment; that’s engagement right there. You’re one step in the door.
When you are done writing your copy, always, always include a call-to-action. A call-to-action is what you want your audience to do after reading your post. Do you want your audience to make a decision about their lives, make a change, share, like, or click on a link to make a purchase? If you don’t do this, you are going to leave your audience with no prodding to take action, and that’s not what you want.
So there you have it! Five steps to create engaging marketing content. If you’ve still got issues with creating engaging marketing content after this, your solution may be the invisible number 6, and that is to hire someone to do it for you.
A clear fact is this; you don’t always have to do it yourself. Some tasks are better left for professionals no matter what. You need as much time as you can get to create better offers and give better service.
Let someone help you.