The most successful marketing content stirs a response. It creates a successful call to action, making the reader do something. This can mean many different things.
An Internet sale. A phone call. A share. A blog comment. There’s a wide variety of actions that a marketer can ask for, and a reader can take. Like anything else, becoming proficient takes practice. In order to develop an active following, you have to write great content.
Quantity should not outrank quality. Give your readers useful information in an entertaining way. Part of doing this is finding examples of what has worked in the past, and studying them.
What makes particular headlines successful?
How To ___________ In 5 Easy Steps
Why _________ Is Important To Your Cash Flow
Six Ways To _________
The Truth About __________
All of these headlines clearly, concisely tell the reader EXACTLY what they can expect by reading on.
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Find examples that have worked in the past, and apply them in your writing. You can do the same thing with your blogs, website pages, articles, and other marketing materials. Find successful examples, and adopt them to your message.
Writers call this a swipe file. It’s not plagiarism. It is finding a useful idea–one that your readers will benefit from–and refining it to fit your message.
It’s important to always be thinking about the best ways to communicate your message. This means reading your competition’s marketing materials. It’s also a good idea to read industry news, magazines, blogs, websites and books.
But don’t stop there.
What do you read in your spare time? What do you watch? What do you do? One definition of creativity is to connect two ideas that have never previously been created. Continuously expanding your horizons gives us the ability to do that. Tell us how your industry relates to baseball, or basket weaving for that matter.
Finally, it’s important to stick with it. It’s important to continue blogging, posting on social media, and working hard to interact with people and develop your message. These things take time and hard work in order to develop. Stay in it for the long haul, and keep writing!
What keeps you motivated to produce great content?
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing writer and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.
