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Content without purpose is just like writing for yourself, in a diary that you will never share with anyone. If you are writing for an audience, content needs to be dedicated not only to them, but on point with what they want to read. If you write about something that your audience cares about, your content will already be more engaging. But you also need to reach some goals for your brand to grow.

Define Your Content Goals

When asked “Why do you write” you need to have a clear purpose in mind. Is your writing to drive traffic? Increase your sales? Get likes? So, the first thing is to setup a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals. Whether you’re a writer building your own blog or a company pushing their brand out to increase its sales, you need to be realistic in the goals you define from one month to another. One goal that comes to mind is building trust with your audience. Useful and valuable content will automatically create trust with your audience. A sales pitch for your product won’t. So what is your brand goal and how are you measuring it?

Key Metrics for Content Performance & Engagement

You need to factor in some key metrics to determine if your content is highly engaging and if you are connecting with your audience. Here’s the list of metrics you should be measuring:

  • Site Traffic
  • Clicks
  • On-site time
  • Social Shares
  • Likes
  • Returning Visitors
  • Conversions (if applicable)

These metrics will allow you and your brand to follow up on your content engagement and performance. You can use these metrics as well to follow up with your SMART goal from one month to another. Now that you know what to keep an eye on for, here’s how to make your content highly engaging.

The best content you can produce is the one your readers will find helpful.

Be Original

This should come to no surprise. In many cases, I spend a lot of time with the companies I work with to help them define their brand personality and build the tone and voice of their content. This allows me and my writers to write on-brand content that is original and unique. Readers want to connect with something that feels real and human. Otherwise, your content is as exciting as a math book. I mean, math is exciting, but its not something that appeals to the masses. Be up close and personal with your audience. Let your personality sip through your content and let your audience feel your presence as if you were reading to them.

Invite Your Audience to Act

If your content appeals to your audience, don’t leave them hanging. Give them more and help them act on your content. Tell them what is expected out of them. If you are mentioning a video you saw, give them the option to click and see that video. Better yet, invite them to do it. Don’t you hate it when people talk about that funny cat video and then you have to go on your own to find it? Be nice and invite them over to watch it right away. Speaking of funny video, you should watch this Family Guy one. Has me cracking every time. Ahhh… So funny. Moving on.

Be Accurate

Being original is great, but if you top it off with accurate information pertaining to your audience, then your content becomes valuable and will increase your visitors return rate. By accurate, it means adding external links to your content and interesting stats. If you ever asked your self how efficient content marketing is, know that content marketing leaders have 7.8 times more traffic to their website. So don’t be afraid to use information to help convince your audience.

Build a Story

Finally, to really tie up your overall content strategy and keep it highly effective, you need a story. Writing a story with useful information is not always easy. But it comes with experience and your own personal background. Storytelling allows your audience to better integrate the information. That’s why blogs are so popular and create a lot of traffic. They all come with the writer’s story. The best you can do is to relate to your personal experiences on the subject. It makes your article more credible and real. Would you trust someone that writes about nutrition that only eats pizzas and burgers? Neither would I.

Conclusion

There’s a lot more to tell about writing content, but these will get your started just right about how to create highly engaging content. It takes time to find your voice. I know. I started also writing a personal blog with over 50 articles. Each of them brought me a step closer to understanding my audience. And it might take another 50 articles to really find that perfect sweet spot of writing articles for both my audience and myself. So don’t beat yourself up it you don’t get 100k traffic on your site after your first article.

If you need feedback about your content or want to build your own, just let me know. You can contact me right below! Amazing, I know. And yes, I love coffee.

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