They started out as online diaries of sorts, with people sharing their every waking moment with the world (interesting to a mere few), but blogs, and all forms of content for that matter, have evolved into key components of every manufacturer’s marketing plan aimed at generating leads and converting website visitors into paying customers. The fact is, content has become a powerful tool that, when done correctly, can drive people to download, sign up, join, and heck, even purchase! But how exactly do you create content that maximizes conversion rates? Well, here are a few tips that just might do the trick:
Make sure it’s optimized!
The greatest content in the world is worthless if no one reads it. Wise words from some smart marketing person somewhere. If customers can’t find your website and all the awesome content that’s on it, well, obviously that makes it kind of tough to convert them. To improve your chances of securing a coveted spot on the first page of search results — the key to being found — you need to use SEO best practices whenever you blog or create content, and stay on top of changing trends that occur due to ever-evolving search algorithms.
Keep it Clear and Concise.
Content that’s complicated, long and drawn out is just plain inviting readers to bail! People don’t want to spend time reading through a bunch of gobbly-gook to get to the important stuff — if the info they’re looking for is buried, they will have no problem going elsewhere to find it. The point is, get to the point! Don’t let them leave your sales funnel without a fight! You got them to your website, now keep them there by providing clear and concise content that is simple to understand and broken up with headers that can be easily skimmed over for quick takeaways.
Inbound like your success depends on it.
Because, quite frankly, it does! Inbound marketing focuses on attracting and engaging your audience, then nurturing and guiding them through their buyer’s journey. Instead of pushing features and benefits, your content should educate, offer relevant and helpful topics geared toward your audience, communicate the value of your product or service, the solution it provides, and why you’re different than all the other options out there. That’s the kind of content that earns a conversion!
Consider your goals before you craft your CTAs (calls-to-action).
You can’t just write conversion-driven content all willy-nilly. You first need to define your goals so you know what types of conversions would make the most sense for your manufacturing business. Maybe you want more newsletter sign-ups, more requests for demos, more downloads of your ebooks, or — going out on a limb here — more sales. Identify your conversions then write your CTAs accordingly and include them in your copy.
Track and Test.
How do you know if you’re improving conversions if you don’t know how many you started with and how many more you have? Be sure to set up some baseline metrics that you can track and compare against ongoing data collection. This is also a good opportunity to do some A/B Testing with your CTAs to see which convert the most visitors. We did this with our “Contact Us” CTA compared to another that read “Let’s Get Started.” You’d be amazed at how big the difference in conversion rates can be simply as a result of what words you use. (By the way, Contact Us was the winner by a landslide!)
Now, we know what you’re thinking: “Boy, that sure seems like a lot to remember, not to mention a lot of work!” Not to fear. If you need help, we know some people who are really, really good at driving conversions. Hint: that was a shameless plug! Call us at our Muskegon, MI office today by dialing (231) 727-9778.
