If your integrated marketing team posts blogs, writes social media posts, produces podcasts or uses video to share information, they are involved in the practice of content marketing. But creating content and producing results are two entirely different things. In this post, we'll share a few secrets on making content campaigns more attractive to your followers.
Content Writing Vs. Copywriting: What is the difference and why does that matter?Content means sharing information your customers and prospects will find interesting. That could be anything from a case history to a tip sheet to a white paper. Copywriting is all about writing attention-getting headlines, building attractive landing page, crafting magnetic emails and the like. For many marketers, these two disciplines are like night and day. But smart marketers know that the persuasion techniques practiced by top copywriters can be infused into their content marketing efforts.
A recent article from Copyblogger points out two things:
- Content marketing is used by a whopping 86% of businesses these days, but...
- Effective content marketing isn't quite so easy to find.
Copyblogger suggests that by leaning on techniques used by successful marketers, content creators will be more likely to find readers willing to sign up for content updates - and share them with their associates.
So, what exactly are these principals of persuasion? Follow this famous acronym: AIDA.Students of advertising and marketing may recognize the well-known AIDA formula, which stands for, " Attention. Interest. Desire. Action." Here's how it works, in a nutshell:
The first step in attracting a prospect is to get their Attention. Once they're aware you exist, create Interest by communicating the benefits of your product or service. Knowing your potential customer is interested, the next step is to appeal to their emotions and build Desire for your product. Finally, you make them the proverbial offer they can't refuse - an offer so compelling that they will want to take Action and purchase it.
How AIDA works for content marketing.Unlike paid marketing campaigns, which aim at getting customers to take action right away, content marketing focuses on building bridges and forming relationships. But the same AIDA formula - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action - still applies.
You still must get a reader's Attention in order to attract them to your content.
You still need to attract their Interest in your blog, social media post, podcast, etc. It's critical that they Desire the information enough to agree to subscribe to your content. And the way they do that is by taking Action on your request.
Don't be content with the same old content.Instead of just publishing content, focus on effectiveness. As Copyblogger puts it, "...it's content that people desire and seek out, and it's great content that Google wants to rank well in the search results so those people can find your business."
Ready to commit to high-impact, high-quality content marketing? Study: The Do's and Don'ts of Writing Conversationally."
