One of the best ways to reach new customers online is with useful and engaging content. Although opinions on what is engaging content may vary, good content ultimately pulls customers in and leads them.
With brands continuously competing on the internet to pull in new customers and to rank highest on search engines, a strong content engagement strategy can set your business apart from the rest. By having a focused strategy for creating engaging content, you can grow your online presence, generate new leads and develop the trust of new customers.
What Is Engaging Content?
The term “engaging” may look different for everyone, but it paints a clear picture. Something that is “engaging” should leave an impression and elicit some sort of response. When it comes to creating content, engaging content should be relevant, meaningful and informative to your target audience that follows Google’s E-A-T guidelines. Engaging content should always answer a question that prospective clients may have.
Content that engages your target audience properly will bring in new clients, leave a strong impression and cause them to develop an interest in your services. When done right, strong content has the potential to lead to conversions and sales. This makes engaging content a necessary component of a business’s marketing strategy.
How to Increase Content Engagement
Many businesses today recognize the importance of having accessible content on their website. However, not all businesses focus on the quality of that content. Quality, targeted content makes all the difference when competing with other websites and service providers.
Effective Content Engagement Strategies
An effective content engagement strategy can look different for everyone as content producers should consistently find ways to make their content personal to them. The following tips will help any business strengthen its content marketing strategy and begin the path toward building a stronger customer base.
1. Produce Unique Content
With tons of content on the internet already, engaging readers requires you to be unique in the content that you create. This does not mean that you cannot write about a topic that has already been written about, but it does mean that it should not be a carbon copy of content that is already out there. Choosing unique topics is a great way to set your content apart from others, but that is often hard to do, especially when you want to be sure to cover specific, popular topics.
Producing unique content may mean discussing topics from your unique lens with your expertise. Of course, your experience on a matter is unique, and a reader can tell when content is written from the perspective of someone who knows what they are talking about. Do not be afraid to use your experience to your advantage in your content.
2. Create Valuable Content
Obviously, everyone wants to create valuable content. However, that is easier said than done. A lot of content that is created for websites is done only because it is a recommended strategy, making it unlikely that the content will actually be valuable enough to read. Creating valuable content relies on multiple factors.
The first way to ensure you are creating valuable content is to know your audience. A business that interacts with its customers on social media, reads customer reviews or understands what local prospects are searching for is much more likely to create engaging content. When you study what your audience is hoping to learn, you are able to write about topics that are more relatable and more engaging.
Valuable content is also useful and relevant. To reiterate, content should not only be produced because a website “should” have content. When producing content, it should be about questions that readers actually have and provide information that readers may not have considered. When content is written about thoughtful topics that will expand a reader’s knowledge about a topic, it is sure to stand out amongst the rest.
3. Make it Personal
Even if a topic has been covered before, nobody can question or take away from your personal experiences. Storytelling is one of the oldest art forms in human history. It engages us, interests us and makes us feel a personal connection to what we are taking in. Sharing your experiences by telling a story is also a great way to demonstrate your credibility on the topic. Readers are more likely to trust someone who has personal experience on a subject over someone else writing content with no background.
An audience that is hooked by strong storytelling is also more likely to engage with your content as they will likely want to hear more. This opens up a large number of conversion opportunities as readers are more likely to read more articles, subscribe to a newsletter or contact you about your experiences.
4. Create Content with a Purpose
One of the most important ways to make content engaging is to provide a way to engage with it. This means that your content should provide a clear and direct way for readers to engage with your business or services. A great way to do this is to incorporate a call to action at the end of the content or provide a way for readers to contact you.
However, the purpose does not have to wait until the end of the article. In fact, the content itself can be written in a manner that points readers in the direction of engaging with your services. For example, an article that discusses the dangers of performing your own HVAC repair provides a great segue into hiring a reputable HVAC repair business. Regardless of the topic, the content should lay out a clear method to connect with your services, whether that is a hyperlink to a contact page or a form that one can fill out at the bottom of the article. It is also important that this action is simple. Asking a reader to follow multiple hyperlinks will likely not result in the conversion you hope for.
5. Focus on Accuracy and Validity
At this point, the internet is full of content, and it is surprisingly easy for anyone to post information on the internet, accurate or not. This means that one of the biggest ways to set your content apart from others is to ensure that it is accurate and reliable. Content that includes accurate statistics and information from reputable sources is more likely to engage readers. This also shows that you know what you are talking about and that accuracy is important to you.
One of the best ways to develop relationships with new clients or customers is through trust. If their first interaction with your business is through the content they read, then the content should be correct and trustworthy to start the relationship right. This can go a long way toward establishing a strong first impression.
Do not be afraid to refresh past content either. If you have a high-performing article or blog post from multiple years ago, then refreshing the article with up-to-date information only makes it stronger and more capable of engaging new readers.
6. Hook Readers Right Away
The best way to engage readers is to do so right from the start. Your headline is your first chance to engage readers. By creating a headline that gives readers a desire to learn more, you have already hooked them in and engaged them in some way. Once readers click on your article, it is your responsibility to keep them interested. This means that your introduction must also be interesting enough to keep your reader engaged.
A majority of readers will skim the articles they click on, meaning that the first paragraph they skim through must provide them a reason to keep reading. By providing engaging information at the beginning of the article and informing the reader of the value that they stand to gain from reading the rest, you greatly increase your chances of keeping them hooked throughout the rest of the content.
Boost Your Content Marketing
Content marketing engagement will easily set a business apart as clients search for services and answers to their questions online. For more information about how to make your content more engaging and develop engaging content ideas, contact Kanbar Digital. With our experience, we are happy to help you discuss a content strategy that works for you and highlights your expertise to bring in new customers or clients. We know the importance of engaging your readers and are here to help you make the most of your content.
