Every company needs to be producing great content. But, great content can be variable. You may not have the time and effort necessary to create top-notch content only to have it fall on deaf ears. If the content you produce doesn’t resonate with your audience, it won’t entice them to act on it.
We’ve all heard the spiel about how great content must deliver valuable information and offer a compelling story, actionability is equally important. Content must persuade your audience to engage with your business.
So, what makes content actionable, and how do you write actionable content?
Elements of actionable content
Before you can create a strategy, you have to understand what makes content actionable. Here are some common elements of actionable content:
- It’s relevant to your target audience.
- It’s valuable.
- It’s trustworthy and builds a relationship with your customers.
- It aligns with your marketing strategy.
- It engages your audience.
- It communicates clearly and effectively.
Have an obvious goal in mind
Before you spend time creating content just to have something to add to your website, make sure you know why you’re writing it. Once you have a goal in mind, make it obvious to your audience and stick to only that goal. Explain what your audience will walk away with after reading your content.
Answer all pertinent questions
As important as it is to outline clear goals with your content, it’s equally important to ensure that you’ve covered and fully answered any questions your audience might have had beforehand. Focus on user intent, and put yourself in the shoes of your average reader.
Include images
Images make it easier for readers to digest the important information without having to read a long block of text. This is ideal because of our audience’s busy schedules and shorter attention spans. Visual content is surprisingly effective and is changing the way we approach content marketing.
Engagement, engagement, engagement
Engagement is the most important aspect of creating valuable content. You want your audience to be participants, not just bystanders. Unfortunately, creating engaging content is easier said than done, and it’s one of the top obstacles that content marketers face.
So, how do you engage your readers? Adding interactive infographics, videos, gifs, and memes are all great possibilities of creating actionable content. Throw in some statistics about your topic to really back up your content. Engaging content should leave your readers feeling like they really learned something interesting.
Have a clear call-to-action
Creating calls-to-action sounds incredibly easy, but it can actually be extremely difficult to create the perfect CTA. A CTA should evoke a sense of urgency because if they don’t go ahead and complete the action now, they probably never will.
So, how do you create a clear and urgent CTA?
- Keep it short and sweet
- Cover all of the benefits
- Keep readers curious
- Create a CTA button, increases conversions by 62%
- Use persuasive words
Although actionability isn’t talked about as often as other content strategies, it’s so important and essential for maximizing your conversion rate.
Need help creating actionable content? Let’s talk!