Most businesses know that content is the key to winning customers. However, building a content creation strategy that actually engages users is still a challenging issue.

There are a few mistakes that businesses continue to make. For example, focusing on quantity over quality. And creating content that sounds “professional” but impersonal to users.

In this post, we’ll cover several practical ways you can create engaging content. And with the tips given here, you’ll be able to make content that’s appealing and gets attention – which in turn will lead to more sales for your business.

Create content customers want to read

This tip seems obvious, but many businesses approach content creation by keeping their business goals in mind.

For example, I once came across a website selling high-end bathtubs for personal use. The creator of the site and the content focused on technical specifications such as the model names and numbers of the tubs. If they had thought about what their customers want,  they would have focused on how their bathtubs could be a way to relax or add a classy touch to their homes. And they could have optimized their SEO for bathtubs and the location they catered to.

To create content your customers want to read, keep the following in mind:

• Learn about your primary demographic. You should have a clear idea of whom you are selling your product to. Even if your product is for everyone, you’re better of picking your most important demographic and learning about how they use your product
• Focus on the benefits your product provides rather than the features you think are important. Specs matter but what your customers really want to know is that your product will meet their needs

The remaining sections of this post will give you more guidelines on how to make content people want to read. Start with researching who your audience is and what they want. And use the rest of the ideas here to build content that shows them that your business is the right fit for them.

Imagine your audience in clear detail

Have you noticed that when you know someone well, your conversations with them are meaningful and generate a positive response? This is something you can do even when you’re writing email posts, blog content, or ads for your audience.

When you write for a faceless mass, your communication will lack liveliness. But if you can build a customer persona, your content automatically becomes more interesting. For example, a clothing company for plus-sized women will have a different view of their customers when compared to how a fabric manufacturer for furnishings will think about their target market.

When imagining your audience, give them an age, a name, a profession, and make them “real.” Then, when you think about them and write your blog post or create your video, you’ll approach your material with greater energy and personalization.

Have a tone of voice

In a sea of impersonal content, having a ‘voice’ and a specific tone for your brand can set it apart. As an example, consider how Old Spice differentiates itself from other grooming brands for men. All their marketing, from their website copy to their ads, use a fun, humorous, and cheeky tone. This makes the brand memorable and people immediately associate their content with grooming and self-care products for men.

After you’ve made a clear picture of your audience, imagine that you’re talking to them directly as you would a friend. With practice, you’ll find that creating and maintaining a tone becomes easier and will also engage people more.

Choose a tone of voice that’s right for your business. Humour in content is always engaging but is not necessarily appropriate in all situations. You can opt to be professional, academic, uplifting, or choose any other tone that makes sense for your audience and your business. The important thing is to remain consistent across your communication.

Engage your audience’s emotions

A critical element that makes content jump out online is the use of emotion in your blog posts or social media content. Always look for ways to connect with people at an emotional level. Here are my suggestions for doing this:

• Make use of power words that are proven to get people’s attention. Words like “Free”, “Best”, “Guarantee”, and many others create an impact when you add them to email subject lines, blog titles, and ads
• Craft blog titles with “How-tos” and “X Best” or “X Easiest” and similar formats as these tell users that your content will help them
• Pique your audience’s curiosity by building a suspenseful opening sentence in  your emails
• Ask a question that makes your audience think
• Make a bold statement or an assertion that compels people to keep reading your content
• Add stories, case studies, and news to add examples to your posts and provide context to users

The next time you’re on social media, observe posts that go viral. You’ll note that virtually all of them evoke people’s emotions in some way or the other. Keep working on making emotional content and track the impact of your content through analytics. You’ll identify what works and how to leverage your content for the best effect.

Format your content

Nothing will put your readers off as much as a badly formatted blog post. Even though an article may contain extensive information, your audience will not consider it helpful if they can’t scan it and understand whether it’s relevant to them in a brief glance.

Here’s how to format your content for the best effect:

• You can make your content scannable by breaking your text into smaller paragraphs – keep each paragraph to three or four lines each
• Run your content through an app like the Hemingway Editor. It will detect sentences that are too wordy and highlight them for your attention
• Use a casual way of speaking or writing in your posts. A friendly and conversational writeup will make your content easy to understand. What’s more 83% of people prefer an informal and chatty tone.
• Break up long posts with images and video content. Images retain people longer on your website and illustrate your point well. Posts with images get 94% more views as opposed to ones without any visual elements.
• Use headings and subheadings to tells users what each section of your posts is about. This makes it readily apparent to your users whether your post will help them or not
• Make use of bullet points and numbered lists to break up long paragraphs into actionable points

A well-formatted blog post or article will make your content look appealing to people seeking relevant and informational material. These tips will keep people on your page longer, impacting your engagement rates and SEO too.

Leave a call to action

When you end a piece of content, whether it’s a video, social media post or a blog article, be sure to give your users something to do.

A call to action serves the purpose of driving customers to take action that leads to further engagement. These actions can include following you on social media or liking a video. You can direct users to subscribe to a newsletter or join an exclusive membership site.

When you don’t add a call to action, even one as simple as telling people to check out more of your content, your audience will lose interest fast and find content elsewhere.

With calls to action, you’ll be able to reengage your audience. When they receive your emails, get notifications for new videos and posts, you’ll have the opportunity to continue nurturing your relationship with them.

The tips given here are practical and proven to work. By implementing just some of them, you’ll see an improvement in how well people respond to your content.

Of course, you’ll have to go through some trial and error before finding what works for your business in particular. But if you keep working on these tips and use analytics to support your efforts, you’ll see a boost in customer engagement.