As a blogger, content marketer, or online business owner, you invest time and effort into creating content with a specific goal in mind: to engage your audience and drive a return on investment. However, achieving the desired response from your readers can sometimes be a challenge. Instead of taking the actions you hope for, they might merely skim through your content, offer a smile, or worse yet, leave without any meaningful engagement.
Such disappointments occur when your blog posts fail to elicit the desired reactions from readers, missing the crucial hooks that could encourage their engagement. In this article, we will explore five fundamental reactions your blog posts can trigger in readers and provide writing strategies to achieve them, tailored to your content marketing objectives.
First and foremost, let’s clarify what we mean by a blog post’s desired action.
The desired action of a blog post refers to the impact it has on the reader. Various objectives are conceivable: your content can prompt a specific action, impart new knowledge, entertain, or encourage readers to contemplate a particular subject.
In the context of business blogging and depending on your desired outcomes, a blog post can have one of the following desired actions:
It’s important to note that these desired actions can complement each other. For instance, a blog post can simultaneously educate, entertain, and enhance your brand's authority while eliciting emotional responses. When writing, it’s vital to pinpoint your content’s core desired action to better guide your readers.
Determining a blog post’s core desired action has a direct impact on your readers’ behavior, ultimately benefiting you as the author. By considering this action before writing your blog posts, you set the stage for long-term success, generating immediate reactions from your audience.
To identify your blog post’s central desired action, ask yourself, “Why do we need this?”
If you want to boost profits quickly, it’s essential to ask readers to purchase your online course directly.
To grow your Facebook group, you must connect with your audience and encourage them to join your community.
To maintain popular newsletters, share intriguing content in your blog.
For increased likes and shares, craft entertaining content that has the potential to go viral.
To sell more effectively, publish in-depth, expert content that convinces readers of your competence.
In addition to clarifying the desired action of your blog post, this process will guide your choice of promotional methods.
Once you’ve identified the desired action for your blog post, you can employ specific writing techniques to effectively control readers’ reactions.
The most straightforward technique for encouraging readers to take action is the use of a clear and compelling call to action (CTA). Whether you want readers to make a purchase, download, subscribe, sign up, share, or engage in any other action, it’s crucial to communicate this directly in your content. Be cautious with overly salesy CTAs in blog posts, as they can be off-putting.
Types of CTAs suitable for blog posts include blog subscriptions, comments, social media shares (encouraging readers to “Tweet this!”), in-line CTAs within the content, and bottom-of-the-post CTAs that are more matter-of-fact. These techniques are also effective in landing pages, e-commerce product descriptions, social media ads, and event announcements.
Emotions are powerful drivers of action. If you can evoke specific emotions in your readers, they are more likely to respond as desired. In this case, your core desired action is to stimulate emotions.
You can achieve this by:
Touching on sensitive topics that evoke empathy.
Challenging conventional wisdom or personal opinions.
Highlighting potential risks and showcasing how your brand can mitigate them.
Eliciting feelings of pride, solidarity, or humor.
For business blogging, authors often work with five primary emotions:
Guilt (prompting a need for change)
Fear (suggesting dire consequences if action is not taken)
Love (appealing to readers’ affection for loved ones)
Pride (highlighting how readers can stand out)
Greed (offering opportunities for financial gain or savings)
An effective technique for evoking emotions is storytelling, as it allows readers to establish a personal connection with your content. Stories activate areas in the brain associated with experiences and enhance emotional responses, making readers more likely to remember and empathize with your brand. Utilize storytelling not only in blog posts but also in website news, social media posts, comments on other blogs, video ads, and more.
If your goal is to provide readers with new knowledge, it’s essential to create content that fulfills their desire to learn. People are naturally driven to seek information that helps them address personal challenges, enhance their status, gain approval, and achieve their goals. To maintain readers’ attention and build trust between your brand and the audience, address these challenges and provide practical tools for overcoming them.
Educational content can take various forms, including how-to guides, step-by-step instructions, infographics, guides, case studies, and lists. To ensure that readers stay engaged, it’s crucial not only to provide high-quality content but also to adhere to web writing guidelines:
Use short sentences and paragraphs, incorporate subheadings, bullet points, and bolded text.
Enhance interest and readability with bucket brigades and transitional words.
Write in a clear, conversational style that resonates with your audience.
Break up the text with visuals such as images, graphs, GIFs, videos, infographics, and more.
Offer added value through citations from influencers, links to authoritative resources, testimonials, downloadable templates, and other resources.
Entertaining content captures readers’ attention, ensuring that they remain engaged. It should be easy to understand, require minimal effort, and appeal to a broad audience. Your blog post can provide a moment of relaxation or amusement, which doesn’t necessarily have to be humor. Personal stories, and interactive content like quizzes, surveys, or games, can also achieve this effect.
Entertaining content serves several marketing purposes, including increasing brand awareness, fostering customer loyalty, and driving engagement in the form of likes and shares. It helps establish a unique identity for your target audience, strengthening their connection with your brand. Besides blog posts, this format is suitable for social media and email marketing.
Content marketers adopt this approach when the primary objective is to sell services. The goal is to establish trust with readers by showcasing your expertise. This can be achieved through case studies, interviews, insights, and other forms of content that portray your brand as a knowledgeable problem solver.
This format is particularly effective in initial interactions with the audience, creating a perception of expertise and sparking interest. Subsequently, you can reinforce this impression through informative and educational content.
In your subheadings and blog post bodies, consider employing the following writing techniques to build authority:
Pose thought-provoking questions and incorporate relevant quotes.
Support your arguments with data and statistics.
Utilize active verbs to engage readers.
These strategies will help you guide and control readers’ responses to your content, enhancing the effectiveness of your content marketing efforts.
In conclusion, selecting the right desired action for your content is essential for influencing and managing readers more effectively. Your choice depends on various factors, including your target audience, the platform of publication, and the desired reaction from users. Writing without a clear plan for the intended impact is not only a missed opportunity but also a risk to your brand’s reputation and lead-generation efforts.
To determine the appropriate desired action for your content, consider what benefits you aim to achieve, define the reader’s role in attaining those benefits, and choose the most effective way to motivate them to act accordingly, all while expressing this desired action clearly in your content.
We at Digital Media Calendar understand the nuances of effective content marketing and have a track record of delivering exceptional results. Our team of experts is dedicated to helping you achieve your desired actions in your blog posts and other content. Whether you aim to prompt action, evoke emotions, promote learning, entertain, or build authority, we have the experience and expertise to tailor your content to your specific goals.
With our guidance, you can create engaging and effective content that resonates with your audience, drives action, and helps you achieve your ROI targets. Let us be your partner in achieving content marketing success. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you take your content marketing to the next level.
1: What is a “desired action” in the context of a blog post?
Answer: A “desired action” in the context of a blog post refers to the specific response or outcome you want to achieve from your readers. It could include prompting them to take action, evoking emotions, educating them, entertaining them, or building authority and credibility for your brand.
2: Can a blog post have multiple desired actions simultaneously?
Answer: Yes, a blog post can have multiple desired actions, and they can complement each other. For example, a blog post can aim to educate, entertain, and build authority all at once. The choice of desired actions depends on your content marketing objectives and the reactions you want from your audience.
3: How can I prompt action in my blog posts effectively?
Answer: To prompt action, use a clear and compelling call to action (CTA) in your content. Your CTA should be specific and directly ask readers to perform the desired action, whether it's making a purchase, subscribing, sharing, or any other action. Be cautious with overly salesy CTAs, as they can deter readers.
4: What are some emotions that can be effectively elicited in blog readers?
Answer: Emotions are powerful drivers of action. You can evoke emotions such as guilt (prompting a need for change), fear (suggesting dire consequences if action is not taken), love (appealing to readers’ affection for loved ones), pride (highlighting how readers can stand out), and greed (offering opportunities for financial gain or savings).
5: How can storytelling be used to evoke emotions in blog posts?
Answer: Storytelling allows readers to establish a personal connection with your content and enhances emotional responses. You can use personal anecdotes, case studies, or stories that evoke the desired emotions. Stories activate areas in the brain associated with experiences, making readers more likely to remember and empathize with your brand.
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