We need to understand why we are always saying to unleash creativity and produce content that hasn’t been seen or heard yet. All of this is to drive the business better and generate more revenue.
Producing good content is tough, but to market that content to reach the right audience, you surely have to go the extra mile.
Some ways you can use content marketing to drive conversions:
Tip 1: Add Customer Reviews and Ratings
Your potential customers always want to know what your old customers are saying. They are likely to take it as important as a friend’s suggestion before buying a product offline.
It would be nicer if you could ask your customers to post honest reviews and images of the product they have received.
When people plan to buy a product, they browse the customer reviews before concluding. So, make sure your customers become the ambassadors of your products and services.
Moreover, it will only happen if you provide them with the quality they need at a competitive price.
Imagine if a person has added the product to his cart but is not sure about buying the product. What if he sees positive reviews about it and changes his mind about buying the product?
Tip 2: Invite Collaborations and Connections
Focus on brand awareness. Initially, your potential customers might not know about your brand.
However, they would know other brands in the market that are doing good. Try to connect with them through emails or meetings. The collaboration can be paid or cross-promotions, etc.
This will help people know about your brand and, in fact, build credibility based on the communication you set up.
You can connect with influencers who can talk about your platform on their social media handles. The nice way to go about it is to find influencers with good followers and those who connect with your brand values.
Tip 3: Give a Call to Action
Write an impressive copy on the website, but it has to have a call to action; otherwise, what’s the point, right?
Certain elements include the size of the call to action button, the text written on it, and the colors you choose for the text and background. Everything acts as a stimulus for the user to click on it. So, you need to be careful about it.
For instance, if a page has two calls to action. The top one says, ‘Shop Now’ while the bottom one says ‘Read More,’ then the size of the top button needs to be more than the one at the bottom. The reason is that attention decreases when users reach the bottom.
Take a look at this call-to-action button used by Walmart.
It is better to keep the page top-heavy for better click rates. Also, starting with a verb, such as Shop, Explore, Read, etc., is better.
Tip 4: Inform Your Audience
You must understand your entire website cannot look stuffed with ads, promotions, etc. It has to address the user’s pain point and provide the information they want.
If the user is satisfied after navigating through the web pages, he will likely remain your customer. On the other hand, if you try to bombard the same user with ads and promotions everywhere, he will unsubscribe from everything you try to showcase.
You still got that space to promote your content. Use banners, dropdowns, and footers with the right call to action.
As a ratio, 4:5 should be the information you want to share through your platform. And only 1:5 can be promotions for your user to have faith in what you are saying.
Tip 5: Spoon Feed Your Users
You need to serve your content on a platter to your users. You can’t leave missing links and let them imagine to bridge them.
For instance, if you are looking for engagement on social media posts, you need to show them how. If you are asking a question, answer one on your own and then let them answer the rest.
Ensure that the content on your website or any other platform is simple enough to understand.
Moreover, it is always better to follow a single path and not mix multiple ideas to confuse your users.
Keep it simple, as it has a long way to go. Also, be present where your user is likely to find you.
Tip 6: Keep the Focus Intact
You need to cut it down whenever you see more than one number of insinuations coming up from your content. It will distract your user.
For instance, if you are a brand willing to work on women-oriented products, you must stick to that. You need to segregate your audience as well as ideas.
Take a look at this boutique shop targeting women’s audience.
If you try to include the products for a gender-fluid company that is not restricted by age, shape, size, color, etc., you are inviting some deep trouble soon.
You have to be specific so that everything that goes as a part of the content from your platform has some direction to it and is constructive.
Tip 7: Explore Different Ways to Share Your Message
You don’t necessarily have to stick to one way of communication. You can employ different methods to tell a story.
Always think like a reader or user on your website. What would you want to see? You would expect things to be said interestingly yet without losing their authenticity.
Therefore, you can use various methods like picture stories, infographics, recorded messages, or videos, making your website visually appealing.
See how amazon has added images, videos, and descriptions to their products.
It is always nice to give your users a space to communicate with you on your website easily. After all, what could be better than interacting directly with your customers and getting to know exactly what they are looking for?
Tip 8: Pay Heed to Readability
Consider readability when you imagine the layout of your website or any other platform.
Do not publish anything without thinking about how it would appear to the user’s eyes.
Use indentation, the right font size, white space, colors, and everything to make it crisp and clear for the user.
Also, it is essential to double-check the look and feel of your website on a mobile phone. Around 80 to 90% of the users are now on smartphones.
Moreover, while presenting your content, you need to understand that there are two kinds of readers: one who loves to read and others who just scroll through. Your website should be able to cater to the needs of both categories.
Tip 9: Connect to User’s Personal Lives
When working on a website, you must focus on the user’s life beyond the screen. You need to connect those dots with your content.
If an important event or festival is coming up, you should know that your user would probably be into it. Now, think of tweaking your content as per the current scenarios, and that’s when you bridge the gap between online and offline events.
This indirectly tells your user that your brand is aware of what is happening around the globe and gives it the human touch.
After all, who will your user relate to better? A machine or human? You know the answer.
Tip 10: Strategize Your Content
The content you put out should not be out of the blue. You should strategize it beforehand.
You should have researched well to know what your audience is typing in on a search engine platform.
Your meta titles, meta descriptions, blog posts, and ALT texts should all share a similar story based on a certain set of primary and secondary keywords.
However, you also need to ensure that your website doesn’t look like it has been stuffed with keywords. Keep the frequency of keywords such that it looks organic and does not affect the readability.
This way, your website has a higher chance of appearing in the top searches when anyone looks for relevant keywords.
If your website is on the top, it will certainly be clicked on now and then, increasing your conversion rates.
Tip 11: Infuse a Sense of Urgency
When your user finds something compelling enough on your website, along with a limited-period offer, he is likely to purchase. After all, who likes the fear of missing out on an amazing sale or discount, right?
For instance, if your user has added an item to his cart but has not bought it yet, you can provide him with a coupon code over email or call.
This will make him feel special, and he will buy the product as he will get it at a lesser price than what is mentioned on the website. This will spike up your sales and boost your customer retention rate.
A nice way would be to show a sand clock or timer, so your user knows he is running out of time.
FAQs on Content Marketing & Conversions
1. What Is A Content Conversion Funnel?
A funnel that starts when the user becomes aware of your brand or business through a piece of content until he becomes your customer is termed a content conversion funnel.
There are some steps involved, from brand awareness to not seeing the product, seeing the product, adding it to the cart, and finally making a purchase.
2. What Is the Average Conversion Rate of Content Marketing?
The conversion rate varies according to different ways of presenting content.
If your content goes out through an emailer, it has a conversion rate of around 0.2%. At the same time, a hero banner gives you a 1% conversion rate. The conversion rate for pop-ups or promotion ads can vary from 5 to 6%.
3. What Is Content Marketing?
It is a form of marketing to attract potential customers through your content on different platforms. It can be through both written and visual content.
How you present your content directly links to how your customers will likely get engaged with it.
So, keep it creative and crisp. It also helps you to build a relationship with your customers.
4. What Is the Difference Between Content Marketing and Digital Marketing?
Content marketing majorly revolves around adding value and building trust for your brand. It can happen by sharing information through blog posts, social media, images, eBooks, etc., to attract the right audience.
While in digital marketing, you boost that content to reach more and more eyeballs through keywords, ads, promotions, emailers, etc.
5. What Is the Difference Between Content Strategy and Content Marketing?
You can consider content strategy as your foundation or plan to publish your content. In contrast, content marketing is when you come into the execution phase to convert those plans into actions.
Content strategy helps you present your business to the right eyeballs, and content marketing helps transform those viewers into your customers forever.
6. How Do You Measure Content Marketing?
You can measure your content marketing strategy based on certain aspects, whether it is helping to get you a higher return on investment than before.
Do more people know about your brand? Are your customers regular and loyal? Are your users engaging with the kind of content you produce? Can you generate new leads because of the content you put out?
About the Author
Cristian Ward is the Co-founder & CEO of Sandiegoseo.company With a strong data analysis and strategy development background, Cristian specializes in helping businesses increase their online visibility and drive sales through targeted campaigns.
This content was originally published here.