How to Create Content that Delivers: 5 CRO Writing Tips

A recent survey conducted by the Content Marketing Institute showed that almost 50% of B2C marketers publish more frequently than once a week. The majority of content marketers and e-commerce decision makers actually insist on increasing the number of their blog posts and other publications, since posts equal revenue.

The logic behind this approach is certainly not a flawless one. The answer to the question of quality vs quantity depends on the type of strategy that you are using, and the overall type of industry that you are working in. While distributing more content will certainly help you to stay present in people’s search, and you just might increase the number of visitors, one thing that you should never do is neglect the overall performance of those blog posts. If your bounce rate starts increasing and your referral visits begin to drop, ask yourself – at what point will this strategy of pushing countless posts become unprofitable?

Another approach, which may seem like a more daunting one, is to invest in the production of your content, but not in terms of quantity. Putting emphasis on quality and delivering fewer, but more engaging posts to your audience still remains a bulletproof tactic. Which is, of course, easier said than done. However, if you manage to master this skill, you won’t just increase your shares and visits, but your conversions will respond to that boost as well. So, without further ado, here are five elements of your posts that you can tweak in order to deliver a more CRO-friendly content.

The Importance of Headlines

In content marketing, no matter how good your material is, no one is going to read it if you do not have a captivating headline. According to Peter Koechley, switching from a bad headline to a good one can increase your traffic by as much as 500%. The eye-catching headlines you see on Buzzfeed or on the covers of Cosmopolitan are based on well-established formulas; they have proven their worth repeatedly, so why not use them as an inspiration. There are also numerous platforms that will grade your headlines, suggest alterations etc.

The important thing is to always remember that you can’t mimic organic, fresh ideas. So, no matter how good a certain suggestion is, take the time to run that headline around the office and brainstorm with your co-workers.

Hook Your Readers from the Get-go

Once you get the reader’s interest in your headline, your work has just begun. Unfortunately, our attention span is getting shorter and shorter. In fact, according to latest research by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the average attention span of an adult is eight seconds – a second less than the average goldfish. That means that you have to hook your audience from the first sentence. If you fail to interest them in what you have to say, they will probably just wander off.

You’ve probably seen quite a few of those UX maps, and you are well aware that a great chunk of published content never gets read. This is why your posts have to deliver an impact, provide useful information and, of course, look good at the end of the day.

The Power of Emotional Content

From our daily struggles to our biggest dreams – we all experience a great variety of emotions every day. It doesn’t matter how rational your target audience is, emotions still play a huge part in their decision making process. Data from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising reveals that ads with emotional content perform nearly twice as well as those with rational content (31% vs. 16%).  Furthermore, positive emotions have a bigger effect on consumer loyalty than any other factor, as Psychology Today reports.

So, if your industry can be connected in any way with some thorough written explanations of certain feelings, or if you can push content that reflect certain type of occurrences – think about putting an emphasis on that too. One thing that you shouldn’t miss are holidays. Make sure that your blog posts cover all the favorite holidays of your audience.

Formatting for Readability

Even though writing top-tier, engaging material is essential for your strategy, presenting it in an attractive way is almost as important. Nearly twenty years ago, in his seminal web usability study, Jakob Nielsen found that almost 80% of web users scan the text without actually reading it. Therefore, if you want your writing to engage your readers, you need to make it as readable as you can – just keep in mind that 95% of all web design is typography. When structuring your articles, you have to be aware of header hierarchy – if the headline is smaller than the subheading, there will be a sense of mismatch when someone reads your post. On the other hand, you should try and come up with some new ways of presenting your content. Not just with various images, you could also test out a few structural designs.

The Psychology of Exclusivity

Now, once you connect with your audience, it is time to convert them into leads. However, encouraging a prospective consumer to take a desired action is not so easy – that is why you need to make your prospects feel special. Tell them that they have been handpicked to receive your offer, because people love feeling important.  As a matter of fact, self-esteem is near the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and it is a need marketers have been taking advantage of for decades.

The Customer’s Journey

Content marketing is all about taking your customers on a journey – attract their attention, get them hooked, build a connection, and make them an offer. You should be increasing your customer’s engagement at every step in the journey, so when you finally make them an offer they can’t possibly refuse it.