1. Know Your Audience
Before you pound out a blog, consider the characteristics of your reader. Are they busy people who appreciate concise material that gets straight to the point without one iota of meandering, or would they appreciate a good in-depth personal story to illustrate your point? If you’re not sure, experiment with short action-based posts and long story-based posts to discover what format results in more interaction, shares, and traffic. Be a relentless self-experiment until you discover what makes your audience tick.
2. Keep It Real
Trying to write material that connects with every single person will guarantee that you connect with no one. Think about it: do you enjoy reading generic content devoid of personality or purpose? Let your personality shine because phoniness can be detected from miles away.
3. Illustrate Their Pain and Provide a Solution
Every post you write should solve a problem your reader is struggling with. Hook your reader by illustrating their pain in agonizing detail. If you need some help, ask yourself the following questions to get started:
What are some common shared goals of my target audience? Why do they typically fail to meet those goals? What negative thoughts are they telling themselves that prevent them from taking action? How would taking action directly benefit them today?
4. Be Aware of Why People Share
People share content online as an extension of themselves, so you need to be aware of the psychological triggers that lead your readers to engage with your material. The easiest way to grasp this concept is simple: think about the last few blogs or articles you shared and ask yourself, “Why did I share this particular piece of material?” Below are the most common reasons people click the share button: Helpful: If a reader was helped by a blog, they might feel inspired to share it with their friends so they can benefit too. Funny: People love to show everyone how witty they are, so they will be more than happy to share some laughs with their friends. Exclusive: The best bloggers make their readers feel like they are part of a special club or movement. If you can make your audience feel like insiders, they will be unable to resist talking about you. When in doubt, consider the firmly held beliefs of your audience and write a blog that is in complete agreement with their existing worldview. Pay attention to the comments people make on shared articles and you’ll probably notice things like:
Amen! This is SO true! I couldn’t have said it better myself!
In other words, no one ever changes their mind about anything important because of a blog on the Internet. Write material that speaks to the beliefs of your reader and they will share your content as an extension of themselves.
5. Use Power Words Full of Emotional Weight
Tell me which passage sounds better: Yawn. Now we’re talking! To craft top-notch content people care about, don’t merely consider what your audience wants but become aware of why they want it. Help your reader visualize the specific benefits they desire by using power words that elicit a strong emotional response. Click here for a comprehensive list of 317 power words that will instantly make you a better writer. To maximize the impact of your new-and-improved vocabulary, combine those power words with these 8 qualities of powerful writing.
