Content marketing is all about getting information to the right people at the right time. If well implemented, content marketing will help you build good reputation as well as increase your brand visibility. This will help your business grow.

Content marketing is perfect for every business because it is an affordable form if marketing and it is also diverse. Any entrepreneur will tell you that engagement in content marketing is gold. If provide valuable content that adds value to your customers, they will comment, like and even share it.

When they do so, then that a clear sign that you your brand is providing value to them. However, earning customer engagement via content marketing is not easy. You need to be consistent, creative and provide relevant information that your customers are looking for.

In this article, we are going to give you tips on things you can do to increase engagement in content marketing.

1. Know your audience

The first very important thing that you need to do to increase engagement in content marketing is knowing the persona of your audience. This way, you will be able to provide content that specifically caters for their personal needs. Studies have shown that customers relate well with content
that addresses their needs on a more personal level.

You need to conduct extensive research to know your buyers persona.

Key elements that you need to consider when researching about your audience persona include: where they live, their age and gender, their interest, their relationship status, their educational level, their income and job title and their buying motivation.

It is very difficult to engage with people that you don’t even know. That is why it is very important to first take your time and research about your audience to know what they want.

This way, they will engage with your brand because you are creating content that is addressing their needs on a personal level.

2. Demonstrate that you care about your audience genuinely

Once you identify your target audience you need to show them that you really care about their welfare.

If you care about your audience, then you will not only create content that is informative but you will create one that solve their needs. Instead of asking yourself, “how can I create content that will help me market my business”, ask yourself customer-centred questions such as what issues can my content solve for my audience? What can I write to motivate and brighten my reader’s day?

When creating content, you should always put your audience first, then your business second. This way, your customers will know that you genuinely care about them. They will return the favour and care about product or services that your business offers.

3. Create content that grabs your audience attention

Don’t just create a flat content, you need to create marketing content that grabs the attention of your audience. Your content should spark emotions on the customers and inspire him/her to take an action.

Use unconventional humor that your audience can relate with. Be unique and creative. Don’t just do things the way other marketers are doing.

Go out of the norm and create content that is unique, informative and fun to read.

4. Don’t overlook the power of headlines

One thing that most people don’t know is that in content marketing, headlines is equally as important as the content that you post. Headlines, be it for email, video or social media post matters a lot.

The first thing that people read before clicking on the content is the title. This means that if the title is not grabbing their attention, then most people will not bother to read the content that you have just posted regardless of how interesting or informative that content is.

Therefore, you need to spend as much time on title as when creating content. Always test your headline before you post it.

5. Respond to engagement

Engagement is a two way thing. Don’t expect your audience to engage with you if you don’t respond to them.

Always monitor your content and respond to comment that your audience post be it positive or negative. Studies have shown that business that engage with their audience enjoy more growth and have more loyal customers that those that don’t. Don’t wait for one week to respond to engagement.

Respond promptly. If you take too much time to respond, then your audience will perceive that you don’t value them.

The author, Hanafi Mohd Sam, also blogs at https://www.hanafimohdsam.com.