By Nick Usborne

Every page you create has a purpose.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a sales page, a subscription page, an about page, a blog post, or any other kind of page.

You publish it for a reason. You want something to happen.

Maybe you want someone to share the page on social media. Or you want readers to sign up for a newsletter. Or register for an event. Or click through to a sales page. Or complete a purchase.

Scratch the surface and you’ll find every page has a purpose.

But that purpose is rarely achieved if people don’t read to the end of the content.

To maximize the number of people who take action, you need to review every page you write and ask yourself if anything is getting in the way of them reading it from start to finish.

Remember, your reader’s attention is fragile. There are plenty of other pages she could be reading. Give her half an excuse and she’ll abandon you in a heartbeat.

And when that happens, your page just failed to achieve its purpose.

Let’s look at four common causes of that scenario.

Reason #1: You use too many empty words or phrases

Keeping in mind your readers’ fragility of attention, avoid writing like this:

“Always striving for excellence, from our very inception, a visionary, vigilant, and flexible approach has ensured that we are awake to the exciting possibilities science and technology allow, so that we can offer you beautiful, precise, and high-quality hardwood floors.”

I know. It’s hard to imagine that sentence ever got to see the light of day. Forty-one words that tell us absolutely nothing. But yes, that’s a real example, taken from the wild.

Here’s another one:

“These changes reflect our view that tighter integration and closer collaboration between our teams is a critical component of sustainably growing our business. While this process has required us to make some really tough decisions, we believe that rigorously ensuring our team structure always aligns with our goals will make us stronger.”

This is what they were trying to say … (in my own words, not theirs):

“Yeah, we had to fire some people.”

The point being, all that blah blah blah is a great way to drive people away.

Long phrases and sentences with almost zero meaning instantly dilute your readers’ interest and attention.

Empty calories. Air bubbles in a water pump. Not helpful.

Reason #2: You focus on more than one thing

This is a problem as old as marketing itself.

A savvy copywriter knows that to achieve the best results from any page, you need to stay focused on just one thing.

• Coffee makers. Not coffee makers and coffee grinders.
• Time tracking. Not time tracking and invoicing.
• Running shoes. Not running shoes and climbing boots.

But it seems every marketing overlord in history always thinks it would be a cool idea to cover more than one topic per page.

I think it’s a bet-hedging thing.

“If they don’t buy the coffee maker, maybe they’ll buy the coffee grinder.”

Unlikely. Because by dividing everyone’s attention into two different directions, you’re halving the likelihood they’ll buy either one.

By all means, add links to related topics. But keep the focus of your page on a single item, service, or idea.

Reason #3: Your page looks or feels like hard work

This is a close cousin to Reason #1.

Empty words and phrases make it harder to read your page.

That 41-word sentence about hardwood floors is difficult to read because your mind is trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

A huge cognitive load is dumped on the reader. The author is asking his readers to do the work he should have done himself.

“Dear Reader, I’m too lazy to spend the time communicating my point simply and with clarity, so I’m going to dump 41 words of nonsense on your lap and ask you to figure it out at your end.”

Not going to happen.

Never ask your readers to do the heavy lifting.

Always find the simplest ways to make your point.

And then use short words and short sentences.

Like this.

Makes it super-easy to read. And understand.

Reason #4: You fail to engage your readers at an emotional level

Readers are not engaged by descriptions or facts, so don’t just list 25 amazing features of the software you’re selling.

If you want someone to keep reading to the end, you need to make him feel something. Find a way to engage him emotionally.

Tell him how using the software will free up tons of time he can then spend with his friends and family. Or how it will make him look good to his boss. Or make him a hero to other members of his team.

Give him a strong emotional stake in the outcome.

Lists of features do have a role to play. They can seal the deal.

But first you need to engage people at an emotional level. Touch them. Move them.

An emotionally engaged reader is not only a lot more likely to keep reading to the end of the page, but he’s also more likely to buy and then become a fan of your business.

Bonus: a 5th and final reason

I thought I was done with four reasons.

But I have one more suggestion. It’s a bit of a mashup of what we’ve covered so far.

When you get to the end of any page you’re writing, go back and make sure there is no break in the flow or unintended shift in the pace.

Sometimes a single sentence or paragraph can break the flow of an entire page.

And when that happens — when you make the reader pause or stumble — you lose a ton of readers. Remember the part about attention being fragile.

What do I mean by a break in flow or pace?

It could be you’re falling victim, even in a small way, to reason #1. Too much blah blah blah. Wading through that stuff is a total pace-killer.

Or maybe you’re having a problem with reason #2. You’re inserting a related thought or idea that’s kind of relevant, but actually more of a distraction. And as a result, you’re breaking the flow.

That last point? That’s one of my personal weaknesses as a writer.

I have the mind of a magpie and the attention span of a gnat.

The longer I spend on a page, the more likely I am to start breaking the flow with distracting ideas.

There’s a lesson there for all of us.

Know your weaknesses as a writer. Be aware of how you’re likely to fail your readers and lose them before the end of the page.

Then go back and revise.

By Nick Usborne

Nick Usborne has been working as a copywriter and trainer for over 35 years. His book, Net Words, published by McGraw-Hill in 2001, paved the way for a new generation of online writers and copywriters. Nick is the founder of Conversational Copywriting.

Sourced from copyblogger

By Lauren McMenemy

If you’re working in content marketing and have never heard of nor seen the sales or purchase funnel, stop what you’re doing right now and go talk to your sales team. This funnel—where you aim to raise awareness of your goods, help your customers make the decision to buy, and then take the action to buy—is Sales and Marketing 101. It’s a tried-and-true model illustrating how you draw a consumer from the outside to the inside.

It’s also closely aligned with your content marketing funnel, your content strategy, your target audience, and your audience development.

Far too often, sales teams—and many content strategies—stop at that action or conversion moment, the point where a prospect becomes a customer. For many, it’s almost like that’s the final chapter, the end of the story. However, according to Content Standard contributor and and digital marketing expert Christine Warner, retaining customers is just as important as acquiring new ones, if not more so. Bain & Company reports that when customer retention rates increase by just five percent, profits increase between 25 and 95 percent.

Herein lies the crux of this story: The content marketing funnel never actually ends. While you’re focusing all that attention on top-of-funnel awareness content, or creating white papers and e-books for middle-funnel decision aids, all those leads you’ve already generated are languishing in Forgotten Customer Land. Yes, new customers are important—but so are your existing ones. What can you do to make sure they stay with you and continue to buy more from your brand?

Make Audience Development a Priority

In 2017, the Content Marketing Institute reported that 90 percent of those who consider their content marketing successful cite building an audience as their main focus—a notable increase from 60 percent in 2016, according to author Robert Rose.

Image attribution: Alexis Brown

“What these businesses are discovering is that looking at content only as a campaign or as a replacement for other marketing assets is a flawed approach,” writes Rose. “When content is only seen as a means of feeding direct marketing campaigns, there is only one directly attributable value—a replacement for advertisements, brochures, or other creative marketing assets. And, guess what? Content is often more expensive than those other options. It’s harder. And, it takes longer. So, it’s frustrating. The successful businesses have discovered that content marketing must provide more than one type of value to be worth the investment. It must provide integrated value across multiple areas in the business.”

And the best way to provide integrated value across multiple business areas? Return to the funnel, but approach it from a new angle. Rose actually advocates turning the funnel on its head, saying it’s the audience and not the content that provides the value.

Publishers get it. The Economist launched an app last month to drive subscriber retention because they found that “it’s cheaper to keep readers than to acquire new ones.” They want to demonstrate “that you don’t need to read from cover-to-cover to get value,” which is a good objective to aim for. Not everyone will engage with every piece of content you create, so how can you keep them in your ecosystem for longer, whether it’s pre-sale or post-sale?

Top Rank writer Evan Prokop stresses the value for marketers to stay memorable in your audience’s mind through frequent, consistent communication:

“While our primary focus so far has been to attract new eyes to our content, it’s important to keep the attention of those eyes as well. The internet is awash in content these days, and people have short attention spans, so it’s important to keep people coming back or they might forget you. The key to staying memorable with your audience is to maintain consistent regular touch points by converting them into subscribers. While it may not be the trendiest tactic in digital marketing, email lists are the gold standard when it comes to building a subscriber base.”

Prokop advocates making your email list “dead simple to join” through having prominent links on your main site, blog content, and on your social channels. He also tips a hat to the controversial option of pop-up subscribe boxes. They may be annoying, but they have been shown to get results through increased subscriptions.

Optimize Content Conversions and Beyond

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Back to that funnel: The strategists among you may have heard of PRISM, a framework designed to optimize content conversions. This system works just as well for existing customers as it does for capturing new leads.

Let’s first break down the PRISM process into steps as defined by Razor Social writer Ian Cleary :

• “P” for People: First you need an audience. If people aren’t aware of you, everything else is irrelevant. No one will consume your content, subscribe, or purchase your product.
• “R” for Relationships: We buy from those we trust. A great way to initiate a relationship is to offer your audience value in the form of free, engaging content.
• “I” for Inbound Traffic: If there’s value, people will come for it. If you share valuable content on social media, people will visit your website where the action takes place.
• “S” for Subscribers and Social Re-targeting: Most people won’t purchase the moment they land at your website, but don’t lose them. Capture their details and stay in touch with email and social media.
• “M” for Monetization: Once you have subscribers in your funnel you can work to monetize them.

“Two things happen from this framework,” Cleary says. “First, if you offer value to someone, at some point they’ll want to pay you back. They’ll purchase your product, or at least share your content. Second, as trust grows, they’re more likely to purchase. There’s no reason not to believe your product will be of high value to them if they’ve already gained so much.”

Image attribution: Ben White

Nurture Your Brand Ecosystem

Now, let’s look at this through the lens of the existing customer. They’re already part of your audience, because they’ve already gone through the content marketing funnel. You have a relationship with them because they’ve purchased from you, which means, in this GDPR world, you have legitimate business interest to contact them.

When someone has already reached the end of your funnel, they’ll still be part of your inbound traffic. They’ve clearly found your content valuable, and given they’ve already established a trusting relationship with you, they’re more likely to share your content with others. This is the key to keeping the funnel going: When existing customers share your content, they become brand advocates, that most compelling of all testimonials.

As a final thought, let’s look at that initial awareness/consideration/conversion funnel—and I mean, really look at it. The funnel is leaky; it has a hole at the bottom. Once the consumer hits conversion, they fall right out. Your content marketing and audience development is the best way to plug that hole.

By keeping that customer in your content ecosystem—by making them a subscriber, by engaging them on social media, by entertaining and informing them about the world in which your products or services exist—you are on your way to plugging the hole. You’re creating a community around your brand and building an audience that’s ready and willing to hear your message. And the next step on from loyalty is advocacy. A brand advocate is more likely to buy again, or buy more. Consider that 92 percent of consumers trust brand advocates, or that customers who are referred to a brand have a 37 percent higher retention rate.

Your content marketing funnel is in fact not a funnel at all. It’s more like a funnel connected to a pipe, and what matters is where you aim that pipe. Will you aim it out into the ether and hope that your customers stay with you? Or will you aim it back to the top of that funnel, continue to engage with your audience, and create a well-rounded ecosystem of brand advocates?

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By Lauren McMenemy

Sourced from Skyword