How to Create Content That Converts

Peter Sharkey in Content marketing on 18th of Dec 2015
Creating Content That Converts

Creating Content That Converts

It’s 5 p.m. You’re walking into a restaurant for your first date with that nice person you met at a friend’s BBQ last week. You see them sitting at a table, and they wave to welcome you over. After a few seconds of pleasantries, you order a drink and begin chatting. They’re nice, attractive, and seemingly a good match on paper. But by the end of the night, you notice something is missing. That chemistry. That mutual interest. That desire to go out on another date or take the next step. Every day, people create content that looks just like this date. It may be beautifully designed and well written, but ultimately, it falls flat. That’s because good writing goes beyond the_ words_ and drives right to the heart of communication and connection. Anyone can write a catchy headline or engaging paragraph, but does it answer a customer’s question or move them any further down your marketing funnel? To gather the information needed to create marketing content that converts, ask yourself these five questions before you start writing any piece of content.

1. Which business goals will this content help achieve?

Whether your company has a formal strategic plan or a few objectives scribbled on the office whiteboard, every piece of marketing content should map back to at least one of those goals. If not, why are you spending time, money, and energy on it? When it comes to business goals, specificity is key. Look for opportunities to dig deeper. For example:

  • If you’re a SaaS company that wants to increase revenue, which revenue-generating actions could your content encourage? The answer might be scheduling a demo or signing up for a free trial.
  • If you’re a creative agency that wants to attract larger clients, your content could support this goal by driving newsletter signups or ebook downloads to build your reputation as a trusted expert.
  • If you’re an ecommerce company that wants to decrease costs, your content plan could include customer support articles that answer more questions online and reduce the number of service calls, or clear product descriptions that help people understand exactly what they’re buying so they’re less likely to return it.

This approach to identifying your specific business goals makes it easier to hone in on the types of content and calls to action that will support those goals. **Trick of the trade: **Sara Wachter-Boettcher created a helpful framework for identifying the core elements of your content strategy. Fill in this Mad Lib to think through your business goals and desired actions. Mad LibMad Lib worksheet courtesy of Sara Wachter-Boettcher

2. Which user goals will this content help achieve?

Your audience is constantly asking themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Think about why they’re reading your content in the first place. What problems are they trying to solve? What keeps them up at night or frustrates them during their daily life? No matter how well you think you know your customers, doing even just a little bit of user research helps avoid blind spots and missed opportunities. Erika Hall, author of Just Enough Research, explains, “Research is necessary for a successful design project because it gives you a shared basis for decision-making, grounded in evidence rather than in sheer authority or tenacity. And this saves time and money.” You can collect information about your users in many ways: interviews, Google Analytics or other analytics tools, ethnography, usability tests, and more. If you can’t speak directly with them, look for the clues they’re sending you in their actions and communication, such as email inquiries, customer service calls, and site search data. Here’s how a SaaS startup, design agency, and ecommerce company could use everyday interactions to infer user goals. Observation and discovery table Trick of the trade: User research is scalable. If you don’t have lots of time or budget for research, try holding a few one-on-one interviews with your audience or sending free surveys through services like Survey Monkey or TypeForm. Hearing the problems your company helps solve and the benefits you deliver_ in their own words _will help make your marketing content — and product or service as a whole — better.

3. What is the reader feeling, thinking, and doing?

As humans, we all suffer from confirmation bias, which causes us to search for information that confirms what we already believe. It’s a tough tendency to overcome, but empathy is essential to creating content that truly resonates with customers. Understanding the reader’s frame of reference — what they’re feeling, thinking, and doing as they’re interacting with our content — helps us see things through their eyes instead of our own. Only then can we know what information they need to make a decision and take action. Audience personas and empathy maps are two valuable tools for thinking through your audience’s physical, emotional, and psychological state. These are great supplements to real customer feedback, or at a minimum, they can be easy alternatives if you don’t have the resources for first-hand user research. Empathy map by Paul BoegEmpathy map courtesy of Paul Boag Trick of the trade: Don’t let your personas or empathy maps collect dust on a shelf or in a file. Design them into desktop wallpapers, office posters, or other visual reminders of who you’re speaking to and how to connect with them.

4. What is our company’s voice and tone?

Once you know the right messages to communicate, how are you going to say them? What kind of personality do you want to convey (e.g., clever, comforting, funny), and how do you want readers to feel after interacting with your content (e.g. entertained, at ease, informed)? Southwest Airlines is a perfect example of a company that has found their unique voice and consistently applies it at every touchpoint, from billboards to bags of peanuts. Southwest Airlines voice and tone example It’s tempting to use your personal voice when writing because it’s easy and comes naturally. However, your voice may not align with your organization’s style or be appropriate for the customer’s context. Instead, solidify and document your company’s voice and tone to reinforce your brand, build trust with your readers, and increase consistency when you have multiple writers or marketers. **Trick of the trade: **Push past the default answers (e.g. “professional,” “knowledgeable,” “friendly,” etc.) by using a card sort exercise to articulate your voice and tone. The Apples to Apples board game includes a deck of cards with tons of adjectives you can sort through to decide which phrases your company relates to most. Buffer’s Voice / Tone Guide also is a great resource for learning how your voice and tone could manifest in different contexts.

5. What is the next step to converting the reader?

Tangible next steps prevent leaving readers at a dead end, move them closer to solving their problem, and help measure results. Consider questions #1-4 above a roadmap for writing your call to action. Once you have an idea for your call to action (e.g. “Start your free trial,” “Sign up to receive updates,” “Download our free guide”), evaluate it against the following criteria. Does it: a. Map back to a business goal? b. Help the audience achieve their goals? c. Acknowledge what the reader is feeling, thinking, and doing in that moment? d. Align with your company’s voice and tone? Trick of the trade: Try creating a journey map to determine which stage of the buyer’s cycle your customers are in as they’re reading your content and choose an appropriate call to action. For instance, if your product or service is a complex or high-ticket item that typically requires research and consideration, don’t pressure people to commit before they’re ready. Instead, nudge them through the lead nurturing funnel by offering other helpful content that will aid in their decision-making process. On the other hand, if your readers are further along in their journey, don’t be afraid to ask for the sale or guide them toward the desired conversion. Check out Adaptive Path’s free guide or Rebekah Cancino’s presentation for more insights on journey mapping, and keep an eye on Autopilot’s blog in the coming months for even more journey mapping tips.

True love and conversions

With the answers to these five questions, you’ll be well on your way to not only writing strong copy that gets you a first date, but also creating effective marketing content that leads to true love — and conversions.

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