In the world of marketing there are three things you can never have too much of: time, money and conversions. Whilst shouldering the burden of your content is one of the ways we free up more time for business leaders to get back to what they do best, we also like to think we can help you out with the latter two issues as well. Of course, creating the sort of content that boosts conversions, consequently results in more money for your business; it’s a one stone, two birds sort of scenario – here are a few ways you can do it:
1. First impressions count
When it comes to that blog post you’ve been painstakingly poring over, first impressions count. By first impressions, I mean the primary thing your audience notices about your content and the one thing that has the capacity to really grab the reader’s eye: the headline. Now, there is no one-size-fits-all magic formula to writing the perfect headline, but those in the know have found a few elements the more successful versions have in common. Research by Hubspot and Outbrain found that in a study of 150,000 content headlines:
- those with eight words received the highest click-through rates.
- those featuring a colon or hyphen performed 9% better than those without.
- those with a question mark received a higher click-through rate than those with a full stop or exclamation point.
- lists with odd numbers had a 20% higher click-through rate than those with even numbers.
Additionally, WiderFunnel have identified a selection of power words that are particularly persuasive when employed in a headline with “you”, “free”, “because”, “new”, and “instantly” coming top of the list. Why not give these a spin and see how you fare?
2. Video rules
Unless you’ve been living under a rock in recent years, we’re sure you’ll have heard about the power of video to attract and engage an audience. Whilst some SMEs may let this sort of visual content fall by the wayside in the misguided belief that it costs big bucks to incorporate video into their content strategy effectively, bear in mind that the Animoto survey which showed that 76.5% of marketers and small business owners who have used video marketing say it had a direct impact on their business – while a Hubspot report revealed that 4x as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than read about it.
Additionally, when Dropbox first put a video on their homepage a few years back, conversions went up by 33%, an impact which has only increased over time. Whether you’re showing your audience how to use your product or service, showcasing testimonials, giving a sneak peek behind the scenes or simply expanding on the points you’ve made in a blog post, video is one of the best ways you can boost conversions with your content. If you’re thinking of giving it a go, get in touch with us – our experienced designers can supply quality videos that are sure to show you what the fuss is all about.
3. Don’t forget that CTA
If your content’s struggling to drive conversions, it could be that your call-to-action is lacking. After all, no matter how informative and engaging your content, without a strong CTA, your audience are likely to be on their merry way straight after the event. The Content Marketing Institute suggests a few top tips for getting your CTA on point.
Firstly, be brief – don’t drone on in a long-winded way, beating about the bush because you want to avoid coming off as too sales-y. It’s true, that is something you want to avoid but bear in mind that time is precious and your audience won’t thank you for wasting theirs. Be short, sweet and concise about what it is they ought to do next and there’s no harm in injecting a little urgency with words like “today” or “now”. Time-sensitive offers are also great for this sort of thing. Finally, be sure to focus on the benefit for the consumer, should they take the desired action.
That’s your lot for today – we can’t be giving away all our secrets now, can we?