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Write Content That Drives an Immediate Response [Sponsored]

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Write Content That Drives an Immediate Response [Sponsored]

Provided by Writer

The content landscape gets more complex and competitive every day. That means it’s more important than ever for content marketers to do everything they can to capture their audience’s attention.

Writing effective, attention-capturing content means knowing how to truly engage the reader. Driving that reader to respond to your content clearly shows you’ve achieved that goal. By following the six tips below, you can improve your ability to connect with consumers – and do it in a way that compels them to take action immediately.

It’s no secret that engaging your audience is critical for content marketing success. But, not all engagement is created equal, and your objective should be to elicit a meaningful, timely response – whether that’s by subscribing to your email list, buying a product, or sharing your content with friends.

Why is timely action so important? Here are a few key reasons:

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  • It helps you get your content seen by more people. When your audience acts on your content – for example, by sharing it with their friends – it increases your brand’s visibility and helps get your content in front of more consumers. On many content platforms, including search and social media, the speed at which you can get your audience to share or react to your content directly impacts your potential reach.
  • It helps you build stronger audience relationships. When someone responds to your content, they aren’t just consuming it – they’re interacting with it. It creates a connection with your brand that you can measure — and reinforce by sharing additional content that might interest them. This can lead to more consistent engagement and help establish your brand as a trusted voice in your industry.
  • It helps you achieve your content and business goals. Whether you’re looking to increase sales, generate leads, or build brand awareness, driving an immediate response from your audience is key to achieving those goals. For example, your article may compel a prospect to comment, which puts them on your sales team’s radar as a potential lead. Or your thought leadership piece may get shared in a new online community, generating brand awareness among that target vertical.

It’s hard enough to get a reader’s attention once, let alone twice, so don’t let the opportunity go to waste. Capitalize on that moment of attention with copy that encourages readers to act promptly.

What does it take to write that copy? These six tips will point you in the right direction.

Looking to write content that engages your reader and drives them to respond? Check out these 6 tips from @ryanejohnston #sponsored. Click To Tweet

Tip #1: Write a compelling headline

Your headline is the first – and sometimes only – chance you’ll get to grab a reader’s attention. A compelling headline can mean the difference between taking the time to read your piece or quickly moving on to something else.

There are a few key elements that make up a great headline:

  • It should be attention-grabbing. A headline that doesn’t immediately grab the reader’s attention is likely to be passed over in favor of something more interesting. Consider why you created the content and why your audience should care. Are you challenging the status quo? Providing actionable tips? Sharing stories about a well-known brand? Be sure to include these details so your headline stands out.
  • It should be relevant. If your headline doesn’t accurately reflect what’s in the article, you risk losing the reader’s trust once they realize they’ve been misled. Remember, you’re not just looking to get clicks. You also want to drive your readers to take action – something they’ll be less likely to do if they feel like you’ve deliberately misinformed them.
  • It should be clear. A headline that’s unclear or too difficult to understand will likely be passed over in favor of something easier to digest. You want to be specific and concise, removing any unnecessary filler words. If your content includes steps or a list, add clarity by putting a specific number in the title. Another way to add clarity is to use brackets that indicate more about what the reader can expect, such as [infographic] or [interview].
  • It should be length appropriate. A headline that’s too long or too short is less effective than one that’s just right. It’s recommended to stay around 80 characters for your headline, with 100 characters being the maximum.

Tip #2: Write to a specific person

Content should be more like a conversation than a broadcasted message. When you write to a specific person, you create a personal connection that makes readers more likely to listen and respond.

Think about it this way: If you were at a party, and someone started shouting at everyone in the crowd, would you stop to talk to them? Probably not. But if that same person approached you personally and started chatting, you’d be more open to engaging in a conversation with them.

Here are a few tips for writing to a specific person:

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  • Picture an actual person. While researching and writing, hold a customer persona or specific member of your community or audience in mind. Would Jordan, a content strategist at an enterprise B2B SaaS company, find this compelling? What about Jesse, a UX writer at a mid-market consumer technology company? Be sure to pick or design a persona based on your goals for the piece.
  • Use personal pronouns. Using personal pronouns (e.g., “I,” “you,” “me,” “we,” “us”) makes your writing more relatable. In particular, the second-person pronoun “you” makes your writing feel more like a conversation between the writer and the reader.
  • Be specific. The more specific you are, the more you’ll be able to connect with your reader. When making a point, support it with specific examples so your reader can better understand how the idea works in theory and practice.

Tip #3: Make it easy to read

It’s important to make your content easy to read if you want to generate an immediate response from your reader. There are a few ways you can do this:

  • Use short sentences and paragraphs. Shorter paragraphs are easier to parse, especially if you limit each paragraph to one idea. Another factor is that content is increasingly consumed on mobile browsers with narrow screens. What looks like a short paragraph on desktop might actually look like a long paragraph on mobile, so aim to have your paragraphs be no more than five lines long and no more than 100 words long.
  • Use bullet points or numbers when possible. If you are conveying a series of related ideas, try formatting them in a bulleted or numbered list. List formatting helps the reader identify key takeaways more easily.
  • Use simple words and language. When you write in clear and simple language, you make it easier for your reader to find the information they need and understand that information when they find it. Additionally, writing in plain language means that your content will be more accessible to less fluent readers.
  • Highlight important information. Use formatting elements, like pull quotes or bold text, to emphasize the most important information for the reader – like your key brand messages or the specific actions you recommend taking.

Tip #4: Use active voice

Writing in an active voice makes your content more engaging and easier to understand. It also helps your brand sound more authoritative, which helps to gain your audience’s attention and trust.

To increase content engagement, try writing in an active voice. Your content will sound more authoritative – thus more worthy of your audience’s attention and trust, says @ryanejohnston #sponsored. Click To Tweet

To encourage your reader to act, you need to make it clear what action you want them to take. Because active voice emphasizes the action a subject performs, it’s better suited to content marketing than passive voice, which emphasizes the recipient of the subject’s actions.

Many of advertising’s most famous slogans, like Nike’s “Just do it,” Apple’s “Think different,” or Burger King’s “Have it your way” all urge the customer to take action. For example, when Nike says, “Just do it,” it puts the decision to act into the customer’s hands.

Active voice is particularly important when writing headlines. In fact, if you look at blog posts from companies like Buffer, HubSpot, and Intercom, you’ll notice that nearly every headline is written in an active voice.

Yet, there are times when passive voice can be used effectively, as well. For example, this CMI article, 4 Metrics Not To Be Missed in Your Next Content Audit, uses the passive voice to emphasize the metrics rather than the potential act of missing the metrics.

Tip #5: Add visual interest

To capture even more attention, consider using images, infographics, and video to add visual interest. These visual elements break up the text while also reinforcing the message you are trying to communicate. This approach also helps to engage visual learners with written content pieces.

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Follow these tips to add visual interest in a way that drives an immediate response:

  • Choose images that are relevant and relatable. A well-chosen image can illustrate a point or create an emotional connection that goes beyond what you can accomplish with text alone. A common use case for images would be to show examples of the subject being discussed – for example, including images of actual newsletters in an article about newsletter best practices.
  • Make sure your infographics are clear and easy to understand. An infographic can be highly effective at helping your audience digest any data discussed in your content. Try to use simple charts and graphs, then provide support text to help explain how the reader should interpret the information.
  • Keep videos brief and to the point. To maximize engagement, aim for your videos to be less than 30 seconds in length. You can also break up longer videos into smaller snippets, if necessary. Also, make sure to caption your videos so they’re accessible for everyone, including viewers who may not want to use audio at the time. Don’t forget to add your CTA at the end of the video, as well.

Tip #6: Create a sense of urgency

Driving your reader to take action is only half of the equation – you need the reader to take action now. Otherwise, they might get distracted and forget to return to complete the action.

Creating a sense of urgency is one of the most effective ways to accomplish this. Here are some tips to try:

  • Highlight the consequences of not taking action. For example, you could write about how not taking action could lead to missed opportunities or negative consequences.
  • Use language to imply the time-sensitivity of the action. For example, you could use phrases like “don’t wait to improve your ROI” or “the end of the quarter is quickly approaching.”
  • Offer a limited-time offer. This could be a discount, a freebie, or access to a one-time event that’s happening very soon.

For great content marketing that performs, you need to know how to write to engage your audience. By following the six tips outlined above, you can improve your writing and compel your readers to respond when it matters most.

So, what are you waiting for? Put these tips into practice and see how they can help you drive better results with your content marketing efforts.

About Writer

1660654658 426 Write Content That Drives an Immediate Response SponsoredWriter is the leading AI writing platform for teams. Writer empowers GTM leaders to build a consistent brand across every customer touchpoint. Automated language generation and writing suggestions make it possible for teams to accelerate content, align with their brand, and empower more writers across all types of content and communications.

Writer recently launched CoWrite, which helps you produce high-quality, on-brand first drafts in a fraction of the time, using AI that is custom-trained on your best content. You can learn more about CoWrite on our product page: CoWrite.



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How To Combine PR and Content Marketing Superpowers To Achieve Business Goals

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A figure pulls open a dress shirt to reveal the term PR on a Superman-like costume, reflecting the superpower resulting from combining content and PR.

A transformative shift is happening, and it’s not AI.

The aisle between public relations and content marketing is rapidly narrowing. If you’re smart about the convergence, you can forever enhance your brand’s storytelling.

The goals and roles of content marketing and PR overlap more and more. The job descriptions look awfully similar. Shrinking budgets and a shrewd eye for efficiency mean you and your PR pals could face the chopping block if you don’t streamline operations and deliver on the company’s goals (because marketing communications is always first to be axed, right?).

Yikes. Let’s take a big, deep breath. This is not a threat. It’s an opportunity.

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Reach across the aisle to PR and streamline content creation, improve distribution strategies, and get back to the heart of what you both are meant to do: Build strong relationships and tell impactful stories.

So, before you panic-post that open-to-work banner on LinkedIn, consider these tips from content marketing, PR, and journalism pros who’ve figured out how to thrive in an increasingly narrowing content ecosystem.

1. See journalists as your audience

Savvy pros know the ability to tell an impactful story — and support it with publish-ready collateral — grounds successful media relationships. And as a content marketer, your skills in storytelling and connecting with audiences, including journalists, naturally support your PR pals’ media outreach.

Strategic storytelling creates content focused on what the audience needs and wants. Sharing content on your blog or social media builds relationships with journalists who source those channels for story ideas, event updates, and subject matter experts.

“Embedding PR strategies in your content marketing pieces informs your audience and can easily be picked up by media,” says Alex Sanchez, chief experience officer at BeWell, New Mexico’s Health Insurance Marketplace. “We have seen reporters do this many times, pulling stories from our blogs and putting them in the nightly news — most of the time without even reaching out to us.”

Acacia James, weekend producer/morning associate producer at WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., says blogs and social media posts are helpful to her work. “If I see a story idea, and I see that they’re willing to share information, it’s easier to contact them — and we can also backlink their content. It’s huge for us to be able to use every avenue.” 

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Kirby Winn, manager of PR at ImpactLife, says reporters and assignment editors are key consumers of their content. “And I don’t mean a news release that just hit their inbox. They’re going to our blog and consuming our stories, just like any other audience member,” he says. “Our organization has put more focus into content marketing in the past few years — it supports a media pitch so well and highlights the stories we have to tell.”

Storytelling attracts earned media that might not pick up the generic news topic. “It’s one thing to pitch a general story about how we help consumers sign up for low-cost health insurance,” Alex says. “Now, imagine a single mom who just got a plan after years of thinking it was too expensive. She had a terrible car accident, and the $60,000 ER bill that would have ruined her financially was covered. Now that’s a story journalists will want to cover, and that will be relatable to their audience and ours.” 

2. Learn the media outlet’s audience

Seventy-three percent of reporters say one-fourth or less of the stories pitched are relevant to their audiences, according to Cision’s 2023 State of the Media Report (registration required).

PR pros are known for building relationships with journalists, while content marketers thrive in building communities around content. Merge these best practices to build desirable content that works for your target audience and the media’s audiences simultaneously.

WTOP’s Acacia James says sources who show they’re ready to share helpful, relevant content often win pitches for coverage. “In radio, we do a lot of research on who is listening to us, and we’re focused on a prototype called ‘Mike and Jen’ — normal, everyday people in Generation X … So when we get press releases and pitches, we ask, ‘How interested will Mike and Jen be in this story?’” 

3. Deliver the full content package (and make journalists’ jobs easier)

Cranking out content to their media outlet’s standards has never been tougher for journalists. Newsrooms are significantly understaffed, and anything you can do to make their lives easier will be appreciated and potentially rewarded with coverage. Content marketers are built to think about all the elements to tell the story through multiple mediums and channels.

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“Today’s content marketing pretty much provides a package to the media outlet,” says So Young Pak, director of media relations at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “PR is doing a lot of storytelling work in advance of media publication. We (and content marketing) work together to provide the elements to go with each story — photos, subject matter experts, patients, videos, and data points, if needed.”   

At WTOP, the successful content package includes audio. “As a radio station, we are focused on high-quality sound,” Acacia James says. “Savvy sources know to record and send us voice memos, and then we pull cuts from the audio … You will naturally want to do someone a favor if they did you one — like providing helpful soundbites, audio, and newsworthy stories.”  

While production value matters to some media, you shouldn’t stress about it. “In the past decade, how we work with reporters has changed. Back in the day, if they couldn’t be there in person, they weren’t going to interview your expert,” says Jason Carlton, an accredited PR professional and manager of marketing and communications at Intermountain Health. “During COVID, we had to switch to virtual interviewing. Now, many journalists are OK with running a Teams or Zoom interview they’ve done with an expert on the news.”

BeWell’s Alex Sanchez agrees. “I’ve heard old school PR folks cringe at the idea of putting up a Zoom video instead of getting traditional video interviews. It doesn’t really matter to consumers. Focus on the story, on the timeliness, and the relevance. Consumers want authenticity, not super stylized, stiff content.”

4. Unite great minds to maximize efficiency

Everyone needs to set aside the debate about which team — PR or content marketing — gets credit for the resulting media coverage.

At MedStar Washington Hospital Center, So Young and colleagues adopt a collaborative mindset on multichannel stories. “We can get the interview and gather information for all the different pieces — blog, audio, video, press release, internal newsletter, or magazine. That way, we’re not trying to figure things out individually, and the subject matter experts only have to have that conversation once,” she says.

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Regular, cross-team meetings are essential to understand the best channels for reaching key audiences, including the media. A story that began life as a press release might reap SEO and earned media gold if it’s strategized as a blog, video, and media pitch.

“At Intermountain Health, we have individual teams for media relations, marketing, social media, and hospital communications. That setup works well because it allows us to bring in the people who are the given experts in those areas,” says Intermountain’s Jason Carlton. “Together, we decide if a story is best for the blog, a media pitch, or a mix of channels — that way, we avoid duplicating work and the risk of diluting the story’s impact.”

5. Measure what matters

Cutting through the noise to earn media mentions requires keen attention to metrics. Since content marketing and PR metrics overlap, synthesizing the data in your team meetings can save time while streamlining your storytelling efforts.

“For content marketers, using analytical tools such as GA4 can help measure the effectiveness of their content campaigns and landing pages to determine meaningful KPIs such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, lead generation, and conversion rates,” says John Martino, director of digital marketing for Visiting Angels. “PR teams can use media coverage and social interactions to assess user engagement and brand awareness. A unified and omnichannel approach can help both teams demonstrate their value in enhancing brand visibility, engagement, and overall business success.”

To track your shared goals, launch a shared dashboard that helps tell the combined “story of your stories” to internal and executive teams. Among the metrics to monitor:

  • Page views: Obviously, this queen of metrics continues to be important across PR and content marketing. Take your analysis to the next level by evaluating which niche audiences are contributing to these views to further hone your storytelling targets, including media outlets.
  • Earned media mentions: Through a media tracker service or good old Google Alerts, you can tally the echo of your content marketing and PR. Look at your site’s referral traffic report to identify media outlets that send traffic to your blog or other web pages.
  • Organic search queries: Dive into your analytics platform to surface organic search queries that lead to visitors. Build from those questions to develop stories that further resonate with your audience and your targeted media.
  • On-page actions: When visitors show up on your content, what are they doing? What do they click? Where do they go next? Building next-step pathways is your bread and butter in content marketing — and PR can use them as a natural pipeline for media to pick up more stories, angles, and quotes.

But perhaps the biggest metric to track is team satisfaction. Who on the collaborative team had the most fun writing blogs, producing videos, or calling the news stations? Lean into the natural skills and passions of your team members to distribute work properly, maximize the team output, and improve relationships with the media, your audience, and internal teams.

“It’s really trying to understand the problem to solve — the needle to move — and determining a plan that will help them achieve their goal,” Jason says. “If you don’t have those measurable objectives, you’re not going to know whether you made a difference.”

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Don’t fear the merger

Whether you deliberately work together or not, content marketing and public relations are tied together. ImpactLife’s Kirby Winn explains, “As soon as we begin to talk about (ourselves) to a reporter who doesn’t know us, they are certainly going to check out our stories.”

But consciously uniting PR and content marketing will ease the challenges you both face. Working together allows you to save time, eliminate duplicate work, and gain free time to tell more stories and drive them into impactful media placements.

Register to attend Content Marketing World in San Diego. Use the code BLOG100 to save $100. Can’t attend in person this year? Check out the Digital Pass for access to on-demand session recordings from the live event through the end of the year.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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Trends in Content Localization – Moz

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Trends in Content Localization - Moz

Multinational fast food chains are one of the best-known examples of recognizing that product menus may sometimes have to change significantly to serve distinct audiences. The above video is just a short run-through of the same business selling smokehouse burgers, kofta, paneer, and rice bowls in an effort to appeal to people in a variety of places. I can’t personally judge the validity of these representations, but what I can see is that, in such cases, you don’t merely localize your content but the products on which your content is founded.

Sometimes, even the branding of businesses is different around the world; what we call Burger King in America is Hungry Jack’s in Australia, Lays potato chips here are Sabritas in Mexico, and DiGiorno frozen pizza is familiar in the US, but Canada knows it as Delissio.

Tales of product tailoring failures often become famous, likely because some of them may seem humorous from a distance, but cultural sensitivity should always be taken seriously. If a brand you are marketing is on its way to becoming a large global seller, the best insurance against reputation damage and revenue loss as a result of cultural insensitivity is to employ regional and cultural experts whose first-hand and lived experiences can steward the organization in acting with awareness and respect.

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

AI and startups? It just makes sense.

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