Producing content is easy for anyone. But content without any objective has no value and is ineffective. For content to qualify as engaging it needs to be original, valuable, rich, and should trigger a measurable response in people. Content should be impactful on the target audience for it to be considered as engaging be it in the form of an article, a blog post, a video, report, podcasts, or visual content. It is all about generating results such as an increase in traffic, clicks, conversions, sales, comments, mentions, opt-ins. These metrics help in measuring engagement.
There are certain prerequisites to keep in mind before creating engaging content for your organisation.
- Know your Audience– The technology-driven era gives a better chance to know your audience. Presence on the web and through social media platform presents an opportunity for a business to interact with its target audience and understanding their interests. Knowing what the target audience is looking for online helps in devising the content that will lead to higher engagement.
- Create with Intent– The preparation phase for creating compelling content that connects with the audience is of prime importance. Know the objective that you want to achieve with the content, be it creating brand awareness or increasing conversions. Understanding what the audience is looking for, understanding what you want to accomplish with content, experimenting, and altering content to best suit the audience and the organisation objectives will lead to creating engaging content.
- Be original, tell a story, and make it valuable– Creating unique content is a challenge in today’s day and age. The main goal should be to create content that stands out. Focusing on being original and making a connection with the audience by sharing your experience and expert insights on topics is the key. This connection with the target audience will make it more likely for them to read the content and know where to look for when the content in the future as well. This is a great way to create a target audience into loyal customers. E-books and newsletters are some of the tools offered by organisations to offer value to the target audience.
- Produce content that is actionable– As an organisation you need to be aware of what objective will you achieve when you engage your audience with the content. For example, writing a blog on the new product launch highlighting its features and benefits and how it can improve the lives of the target audience will drive them to make a purchase. Ensuring a hyperlink on the page that redirects them to a landing page where they can make the purchase will achieve the action required.
- Focus on the strengths– One of the most effective ways to create engaging content is to focus on the strengths. If as an organisation, you are good at something, make sure to use it to your advantage. If social media is your strength, make it attractive, and use it to get your content across to your target audience to engage them. Similarly, if the blog posts gain more traction, then the focus should be on that medium. Make sure to be consistent in your method of engaging with the audience to make a lasting impression on the audience.
- Diversify content– The content marketing strategy for any organisation should not focus on one medium. Vary the content with visuals through the use of images, infographics, videos, etc. as they impact the audience more. Infographics and videos are used to enhance content and take it to the next level. The possibilities with video content are endless. Video content can be shared on the website, through newsletters, and across social media channels to generate higher engagement.
- Focus on creating a compelling headline and use subheadings– Before your audience engages with the content, it should be attractive enough for them to click it. Focus on creating a headline that is clickable as that is what people will see first. It should generate curiosity amongst the target audience to learn more and explore the topic you are presenting. Some of the popular top-performing headlines by engagement metrics on Facebook by BuzzSumo are “can we guess”, “that is why”, “the reason is”, “will make you” amongst others. After getting the attention of the audience to ensure that content is presented in a way that is easy to follow. Content should be presented with clear headings and subheadings, lists, bullet points to ensure the audience stays on the page and consumes the entire content.
- Mix up the content to make it more engaging– Putting out the same type of content is boring. Mix up the content by using articles based on research followed by a video, writing about recent events, and promoting a product. This keeps the customers excited about the content leading to higher engagement levels.
- Share the content– Great content serves no purpose if no one gets to see it. When planning the content, think of ways how best it should be distributed and shared to achieve its objective. Planning a detailed schedule or a calendar will add consistency and ensure that the content is shared to engage with the target audience.
- Use Artificial intelligence– All the elements stated above help in creating engaging content but we cannot ignore the role AI can play in making content engaging and successful. It not only helps in identifying the audience but also helps in understanding the performance of the existing content. AI-powered solution helps in predicting the best performing content for each audience to guide and improve content planning. It also helps in giving insights for every content to better understand who it attracts. It provides key metrics like top content views, conversions, and more to measure the impact of each content on the business.
Creating engaging content is not an easy task and presents its own challenge. Connecting with the target audience through compelling and original content is what drives engagement and turn them into loyal advocates for your organisation. Focusing on the steps mentioned above will surely lead you to create engaging content.
