Source: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/08/convert-blog-readers-customers/
When creating appealing content, especially for entrepreneurs strapped for time, making sure that the final output moves the needle for their businesses, drive conversions and gain positive ROI. To help you turn blog readers into customers, here are tips and techniques you can apply.
1. Understanding your audience
- Prior to creating content that’s designed to drive readers into becoming customers, it is important that you have a thorough understanding of the type of person you are targeting. Here are few key factors you need to find out:
- Age
- Gender
- Marital status
- Profession
- Interests
- Problems and challenges they face
2. Focus on pain points and resolve them
- Helping your readers overcome a pain point is the best blog topic for driving conversions.
3. Create content according to buying cycle
- Understanding the buying cycle of customers should be your focus when creating content.
4. Regardless of the purpose, always be sure to format your content for skim readers
- Here are the standard rules in formatting for skim readers
- Write in short paragraphs
- Utilize subheadings, bullet points and numbered lists
- Using images to break up text and to illustrate keypoints
5. Emotions
- Purchasing decisions also include emotion as drive. So monetize on emotions.
6. Streamline your posts to reduce distractions
- Stick to your point and include as few diversions as possible.
7. Add in-content testimonials
- Adding written testimonials have been shown to increase conversion rates by as much as 25%.
8. Urge your customers
- Incorporate urgency into your blog posts as this is a highly effective sales tool.
9. Avoid being overly promotional
- Trying too hard to sell may alienate your customers as well as destroy your credibility
10. Use remarketing
- Remarketing or retargeting will allow you to create ads that essentially follow your visitors as they browse the web.
11. Create clear and concise CTAs and be bold about it
- Half-hearted call to actions won’t suffice. At least be a little pushy and tell your customers what they need to do.