All forms of content that are used for marketing purposes are created to persuade the consumer or prospective lead to move further into the conversion funnel. The ultimate aim for any type of marketing content is to convince consumers that your product is the best and that they need to favour your brand over the others. Traditional forms of marketing use content that is quite blatant and in-your-face.

On the other hand, content marketing on the Internet is much more subtle and aims to provide information that is useful to the consumer and not just to promote the brand and its products. This is why many find content marketing much more trustworthy and respond better to it. However, even content used in content marketing needs to be persuasive, albeit less obvious. Here are some ways by which you can make your content marketing campaigns persuasive without putting off the consumers.

1# Optimize the headlines

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The first thing most people read is the headline. The headline of an article or piece of content often decides if the reader is going to stay on and read the rest or not. The headline is the most important component of any piece of content and has the power to grab the reader’s attention in just one glance. This is why the headlines of your content pieces need to be perfect and you need to spend a lot of time optimizing them. Always present the benefits in the headline itself.

Headlines also need to be short and precise and eliminate flowery words that most people won’t understand. It also helps if you use attention grabbing words such as “failure”, “success” and “mistakes”, which also instantly get the reader thinking. Stick to proven headline structures for best results.

2# Make it memorable

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Your content may be easy to read, but at the end of the day readers are not remembering anything from it. To make sure that your content, your brand and its products are always on the minds of readers make your content short, accurate and simple without complicated statistics and words. Always try and use sound bites. Make sure to include phrases and sentences that sound like proverbs that are easy to remember and recall.

Avoid obvious statements and try and get every piece of content to sound like a story that is interesting and also invokes emotions in the readers. Try and make readers feel strongly when they are reading with the help of metaphors and powerful adjectives. Always show cause and effect by using words like “because” and “as a result”.

3# Get the design right

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Content marketing is not just about writing and publishing content, but it is also about presenting the content in an attractive manner to the readers. This is why content marketing and graphic designing often go hand in hand. Web design needs to allow the content to make an impact. Use whitespace to make the content stand out as this makes it more readable, without overwhelming the readers. Highlight numbers separately in bold colors and always alternate between pictures and text to get the message across.

4# Connect with the audience

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Consumers want to feel like brands care for them and are truly sensitive to their needs. Never create campaigns that make the customers feel stupid. Content marketing campaigns are not avenues to show off your obscure knowledge in certain subjects. Never make the customer feel inferior to you or your brand, and never seem preachy. Use a conversational tone, add in a few anecdotes and use some personal examples if you have to.

Another excellent tip is to avoid jargon completely and to use the kind of language that consumers are using on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Always try to be likeable with your content and bring forth your passion.

5# Present the benefits

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Always highlight the true benefits of the product or service or even the topic of the piece of content. These tug at the true desires of the consumers and allow them to make an informed decision, which is always highly appreciated. Never try and make up fake benefits just to amp-up the product. Consumers these days are smart and will spot these fake benefits. Trying to make your content seem convincing with fake benefits can have the exact opposite effect of persuasive content on readers.

You also need to anticipate objections and doubts that can crop up in the minds of readers and answer them through your content. Create curiosity with your content by using words like “best”, “top”, and “secrets”, and quote pertinent statistics.

6# Appeal to both, the left and right sides of the brain

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Each side of the brain works differently – one part processes emotions and language and the other deals with cold, hard facts and logic. The most persuasive content is the one that can appeal to and engage both sides of the brain. This is why whenever you present facts; always follow them up with stories, anecdotes and quotes.

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