It’s all well and good when a lot of people see your content, but if those views are not translating to purchases or conversations, then it matters less how many people are seeing your content. When creating written content for a website or digital space, you will want those eyes reading your content converted to sales, otherwise, it’s just a pretty thing to look at.
Before we jump into the ten tips, here’s a bonus tip to remember: It’s easier said than done when it comes to creating written content that will convert your audience into customers. This is known as CRO copywriting (Conversion Rate Optimization). So it’s okay to ask for help.
When it comes to what defines CRO copywriting which often includes A/B testing, there are some varying opinions of what it is. Some would call it an artform while others would claim it’s a science. Really, it’s a mixture of both. There is a science to getting people to respond the way you want them to, and there is an artform to creating the content that gets them to react.
So let’s look at ten tips for creating written content that will convert readers into customers.
1: Know Your Audience
This is a concept your English teacher tried to get across. Remember, you’re not writing for the entire world here; you’re writing for a specific target audience who will likely add to your conversion output by focusing on the user experience when they’re consuming your content. Write to that specific audience. Think about what they might respond to and what will help them be persuaded into buying your product or service and put together a content calendar for creating your blog posts, landing page copy, or a new sales page for promoting a timely offer.
Some pieces you create will be hyper focused on a smaller segment of your readership, and that’s okay. You don’t need to cover everyone in every post or landing page.
2: Use Emotion to Connect
Not only will dry and stuffy content push away readers, it will push away customers. Unless of course your goal is to lure in dry and stuffy customers. Savvy marketers utilize this concept of “use emotion” in all of their advertising and content marketing. Why? Well, because humans respond to emotion over logic. That’s the science side of it.
This doesn’t necessarily mean telling a sad story or a funny one. It means “hacking” the reader’s emotion. There are some tried and true tactics you can use to elicit an emotional response that converts to sales:
- Peer pressure: We like to think that we outgrow this after high school, but the reality is, we respond to it. It’s easy to see what everyone else is doing and what everyone else has in this digital world. Directing your content towards how your product or service will allow the reader to be included is a good method for converting to sales.
- Adding to them/self-improvement: How often have you clicked on a “top ten best…” or “top 15 worst…” articles? Well you clicked on this one. There’s a reason why it’s a common title style. It gets our attention and lets us know what to expect. They are also great for SEO. This lets the reader know what’s “missing” from their knowledge or experience and how they can improve.
- Use FOMO: The fear of missing out (FOMO) is real. Social media sites thrive off it. You can as well. Advertisers love this. It ties into peer pressure of course, but it also works on business. Putting a bit of fear about their competition having these great services is a good way to convert them with compelling messaging. This doesn’t mean telling horror stories. Instead, success stories have a similar effect. Make them fear not having the success you can provide.
3: Create Urgency
This ties into using emotion. The urgency of FOMO is a great motivator. This is of course what advertisers do on a daily basis, but it needs to be in your written content as well. You can see this all the time in advertisements where they give away the first 100 slots or free shipping to the first 100 buyers or have slashed pricing (discounts) clearly showcased on their site. This approach creates an urgency and strong value proposition that tells the buyer they need to act now and not wait.
You can create this same urgency when writing copy for your blogs. For instance, check out our title: “10 Tips for Writing Your Next Conversion-Focused Content Piece.” The urgency here is “your next piece.” Other examples would be saying “Use these ten tips before publishing your next blog.”
This is meant to create a sense of “I gotta do this now.” You don’t want potential conversions to walk away “considering it,” you want them to feel they need to act now. People don’t want to “lose out.”
4: Clarity
It can be tempting to flex and show off to your readers that you’re well read and intelligent. Perhaps that’s the audience you’re working towards, but don’t overdo it. To put it plainly, the average person reads at about a 7th-8th grade level. Plus clarity helps move the piece along faster and will increase conversions more efficiently in terms of direct response to the CTA’s you’ve laid out for them.
5: Create Ethos
Oh, there’s a fancy Greek term. It just means to create credibility. Why should we trust you? You want to reduce the anxiety your reader might feel about trusting you and your product/service. A great way to do this is by including testimonials about your product/service. It’s a common one, but it also feeds into the FOMO and peer pressure.
6: Don’t Overload Them
The goal here shouldn’t be asking them to buy your whole store or to get them to sign up for all your services. Keep it focused. Trying to throw the whole kitchen sink at them will likely push them away rather than reel them in.
Pictures and infographics can be great, but don’t do so much that it just distracts the reader from the main point.
You want support and statistics and all the credibility they can lend, but sending your readers away from your site or distracting them with a new article can result in a lost conversion. But of course, cite your sources.
7: Challenge The Reader
This doesn’t mean challenging them to a debate or fight that might end with them so mad they never return to your site. Instead, what this means is don’t be afraid to play off their worries or insecurities.
Asking your reader important questions that they are either afraid to ask themselves or are bothered by can work well for engaging them. For example, an online search marketing agency might challenge the reader to consider if they really even know how to optimize their website for SEO or know how much money they should put into these efforts on their own.
Tying in how your service can help alleviate these stresses is a great way to convert readers into sales.
8: Offer Some Advice Rather Than a Sales Pitch
But wait, shouldn’t I be trying to sell them? Yes, and no. You don’t want to come off as a used car salesman trying to hock a car with the check engine light on. Instead, your content should be directed at offering the advice of looking to your product/service to solve the challenges they are facing.
However, be sure to keep up the urgency. They don’t have to follow your advice, but they might miss out if they do.
9: End With An Appropriate Calls-to-Action (CTA)
Just like your freshman composition teacher told you to end your essay with a strong conclusion, as should your content if you’re going to convert to sales. At this point, if the reader has made it to the end of your content, then you’re already in a good place.
The idea of “appropriate” ties back into your audience. What are the right CTA steps for the audience you’re trying to convert? You should end with that. You want them leaving inspired, but they should also be ready to take that next step such as subscribing to your feed, signing up for a free trial, or heading to checkout in your digital store or any other conversion goal you’ve laid out for them in terms of strategic CTA placement. Be sure to set up Google Analytics goals as well to monitor your site’s performance.
10: Don’t Be Afraid to Hire a Professional
We all have our talents and skills. Sometimes, it’s better to turn to a professional copywriter to get the best content. They know what works and what doesn’t (so long as they are worth their salt). This can be great for taking the stress off your back if writing isn’t your skillset and a digital marketing painpoint. There are plenty of freelance writers out there who can create wonderful content for your website.
Now What?
In this continuously growing world wide web, it’s important that you’re creating the right content to convert the right audience. Finding the solution to this proper combination of content and audience is both an artform and a science. That’s why it’s important to consider who is in your corner, helping you succeed.
It takes a team to find the best success, so don’t be afraid to outsource certain tasks to the professionals, especially when it comes to advertising.
Here at Lead to Conversion™, we have a rich history of CRO copywriting that not only lures visitors into your site from our SEO optimized copy which is led by keyword phrase research, but is written with conversion-focused language. This equates to nothing less than quality content that pulls in large volumes of site visitors that pushes them into your sales funnel quickly and efficiently.
Whether you’re looking to create new homepage content, sales copy for PPC landing pages, fresh content for ongoing search engine optimization efforts, or product descriptions for your ecommerce store, look no further than content experts at Lead to Conversion™ to help ideate, create, and execute a strong CRO-focused content marketing strategy for your brand.
Our 100+ collective years of digital marketing experience ensures a customized content marketing and messaging strategy built around your target audience and your company’s goals in converting site visitors into paying customers.
Let us help your company’s content stand out from the competition and convert better than ever before.
Call 855-473-6582 or Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation.
