No one wants to feel like they’re being manipulated. If you write a personable, compelling introduction, but your blog amounts to “buy my product,” you’ll lose your readers faster than you can say “Don’t give my top Google ranking to my competitor!” Creating content isn’t about keyword stuffing or slapping facts on a page; it’s about sharing useful, well-researched information in a way that’s interesting and easy to follow. Instead of dropping straight into your sales pitch, share the info you’d want to know if you were your reader.
Introduce yourself!
Give your readers an overview of the hard work, trials, and life experiences that helped you become an innovator in your field (and why it matters to them).
Share changes in the industry.
Your customers don’t only want to know about your business; they want to be kept apprised of the changes in the industry that could affect their experience with you. Share interesting information, cutting-edge innovations, and potential changes in your industry with your readers.
Answer FAQs
Chances are, most of your readers have the same basic questions. Keep a tally of the 10 most common questions customers ask you, and share the answers in a blog to create great, evergreen content.
Compare and contrast
Then vs. now, us vs them, good vs. bad: it’s all fair game (and useful content) for a blog post in any industry.
Provide history or context
How did you get started? Why did you get started? How has your industry changed over time? Create great content by giving your customers insights into the history and context of your business.
Share timely information
There’s nothing more frustrating than a blog that shares relevant information too late! Keep your customers aware of events, promotions, sales, and company news on your blog.
No matter what industry you’re writing for, your readers have one thing in common: they trust you as an informational resource. Reward their faith and keep them coming back for more by providing well-researched, compelling information that will enrich their user experience.
Continue to check back for more from our content marketing checklist. Next up is having a reader-friendly format for the best user experience.
Content Marketing Checklist
- Catchy headline
- Attention-grabbing introduction
- Useful information
- Reader-friendly format
- Choosing a visual
- Call to action
- Effective Closer