Easy Ways to Get Readers to Engage with Your Content

Having readers engage with your content is the cornerstone to any effective content marketing strategy. But what if they're not taking the bait? This article tells you easy ways you can instantly make your content generate discussions, be shared far and wide and help you convert readers into customers. Included is in-depth advice on how to adapt your content to different social platforms, how one sentence at the end of your article can generate tons of engagement and exactly how you can make your content shareable.

Every entrepreneur worth their salt knows that one of the quality content. High-value content allows you to capture new customers, establish your brand and discover more about your clients' needs. However, not all content is created equal: it's simply not enough to write 1,200 words, add a photo and publish to Facebook anymore. To get full mileage from your work, you
need to ensure that your content is engaging readers and potential customers. By engaging, we mean encouraging a reaction in your reader that inspires them to post a comment, head to your online store, or share it with their social media network.

 

Quality is Everything

In the old days of content marketing, it was enough to simply pull a thousand words together, stuff it with a few keywords and click publish. But not anymore: readers want to be truly informed and entertained by what they read and, if they're not, they'll simply stop reading. So, the first step to engage readers is to ensure that what you're publishing is accurate, timely and well written. Avoid simply rehashing old content or plagiarising other websites and always look for the new angle or new information that you can offer that will make your content valuable.

It should look good too, so make sure that your work is properly edited, proofread and illustrated with high-quality photos, illustrations and infographics. Readers will lose trust in you immediately if they spot sloppiness, like a misspelling, and will forgo reading your work in the future.

Make it Shareable

Next, you should ensure that it's as easy as possible for readers to share your content to their social networks. Invest in a sharing product, like AppSumo for instance, that allows your readers to share your content to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest at the touch of a button. Your content, the less likely they are to share it so make it as easy as possible.

Encourage a Conversation

Hordes of marketers spend days and nights working out how to spark discussions with their content, overlooking the easiest way to start a conversation, whether in real life or online: ask a question. Instead of finishing your article with a regular conclusion, take some time to tack on a simple question at the end that might encourage your readers to comment. Mark it as separate from the article body and draw attention to it by formatting it in bold. Opt for something simple that will encourage even the most hesitant of readers to comment; even 'What do you think?' can be a great conversation starter. Questions are also a good tool for sparking a debate on Facebook. When you post your content to the platform, they allow you space to add a comment above the article link and you should use this to ask a relevant question. Remember to keep it short and simple again; if it's too long, your readers will simply switch off.

Tailor Your Content

Most eventual readers of your website will find your platforms nowadays, however, you will need an intelligent strategy that puts your content to work on all of them and is responsive to each of the platforms' differences. What works well on Facebook, for instance, doesn't usually translate over to Pinterest. Your best bet is to diversify and experiment with how your content works best on each different network. Here's a quick taster on what content works best on a few of the most popular platforms:

• Facebook: A video or image with a link to your website content, along with a provocative question.
• Twitter: An image with a link to your content, paired with a pithy and witty comment or headline.