How To List to Beat the Content Blues

Boring content is not a reflection on your business; it is a reflection of boring content! Sure, without a doubt, those who own small to medium sized businesses in ‘interesting’ industries, such as tourism, food, travel and culture, they don’t have to fish too much to think of something engaging to write about. These are industries that each and every person is going to be interested in to some extent.

But what about content for pest control, or software? They don’t quite have the same ring, do they? The truth is though that even if you own a business in a niche industry, there are people out there who will need your business, and therefore, they will certainly need the information you offer at some stage or another. What is boring for some people is very engaging to others. For example, with the days getting warmer and longer, those creepy crawlies are hatching and searching; it’s the perfect opportunity for a pest control business to write about what people should do to prepare for the insect onslaught!

So to help cure your boring content, here are our content marketing hacks you can use to ensure your content knocks your readers’ socks off.

 

Educate yourself, and then educate others. In other words, become an expert in the field you are writing for/about. Being an authority in your industry will naturally come across when you communicate with others. People will naturally want to listen (or read) what you have to say (or write) because you know what you are talking about. Content can comes across as boring when the person writing about it doesn’t know enough about it. So research, research, research!

Make the topic relevant. For example, if you are a tax accountant, make the content relatable to your audience. I for one do not know or understand the first thing about tax. If you can put yourself in the shoes of your reader, you can edit your content from their perspective and make sure it is interesting and relevant to them. If it isn’t relevant, why on earth would they spend their time reading it?! Another hack to make your content relevant is to use examples which your audience will be able to relate to. To use the pest control example again, you could start with an anecdote of a monstrous spider you once found in your bathroom (include images or even a GIF showcasing a terrified, and hilarious, reaction) for which you can guarantee everyone will be able to relate to on some level. So always write with your audience in mind. This will also form a meaningful connection between you, your content and your audience.

Ask your audience questions. If your content can start a conversation, you know you have hit the jackpot when it comes to audience engagement and participation. Asking a question also transforms your content into a two-way conversation, because a one-way conversation screams one thing and one thing only; boring.

Writing engaging content is not just for search engine optimisation purposes. It is there to help educate people and to provide them with the information they need to solve their query. Give your content purpose.Find out what questions your audience need and want answered. This is a great stepping stone if you are struggling to think of ideas.

Make your content look good. Incorporate relevant visual content as well. This could be in the form of an image, a visual clip, a gif, or tables/graphs which help to explain technical language in your content. The majority of people are visual learners, and everyone is able to interpret content much faster if it is visually represented. It makes it more appealing, and it is always a great addition to any content piece. But it must be relevant! Don’t include images if it doesn’t add to your message. Your audience will pick up on it and assume you are inexperienced (not an authority) and that is not the message you want to send.

Show, don’t tell. I cannot explain the number of times I heard this during my university days. If you are able to show someone something, they are much more likely to act rather than if you just tell them. It is aligned with the same notion that if you try to tell someone to do something, they will not want to do it simply because you told them to. But if you can show them how something works, why something works, your content will win them over. What this does is it leaves the ball in their court. They get to decide to act on your content, so they own the decision.

With these content marketing hacks you’ll have readers coming back for more of your fantastically engaging content! If you would like to learn more about the benefits of content marketing, particularly for those of you running, or interested in running, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaigns, then all you need to do is get in touch with the professional team at SponsoredLinX on 0800 480 078, or visit our website.

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