Today, people are always in a hurry. Watch yourself as you skim through the daily newspaper. Oil prices went up, stock market went down, mass killing here, impeachment proceedings over there. That is why headlines in the newspaper are made so short and yet so full of relevant information so that even without reading the clipping, the reader would know pretty much about it. The thing is, we want to capture and make the reader continue reading. We want viral content.
Catchy lines, fantastic facts, social experiences that are too personal to pass — these are just a few things that will make someone pause for a while and continue reading an article in the paper or a small ad at the sidebar of your Facebook profile. So you got your target reader’s attention. What now?
WHO DO YOU WANT AS READERS?
Identify beforehand who your target readers are. Are they from Generations X, Y, and Zed or are you talking to the Baby Boomers? Fashionistas or sports enthusiasts? Identifying your audience will make it easier for you to know which voice to use when writing your article. You may even want to employ some lines or jargons that the group understands. Everyone wants to be a part of a group, and if you make someone feel that they are indeed a part of this group, then you might stand a chance to be heard. But this is just the beginning.
CONTENT AND NOVELTY
Keep in mind that whatever you do as part of your content marketing strategy, whichever topic you are writing about, keep the contents of your article interesting. Interesting- not in the sense that you will invent fictitious things to make people think you have a novel idea, but interesting in the sense that you have to present something new, probably a new angle that has never been seen before or some kind of a twist to a universally accepted fact.
KEEP IT SENSATIONAL
There is nothing wrong with writing about a fifty-year old topic so long as, as mentioned, you have something new to say about it. Unless you are in high school writing about a descriptive article on how telephone was discovered, then there is no excuse to this. One thing you should always remember when writing is that you have to stress the importance of your article. Why should people know about it? Is it beneficial to them? Make the approach as personal as possible.
TEASE ME
Photos with one-liners are one of the greatest product teasers out there. It saves the readers time and energy of reading yet another paragraph. Photos are easier to comprehend and registers faster than pure text, which is why in kindergarten, teachers use pictures. Readers will be excited with your upcoming post so make it good with an imagination-inducing one with a catchy line. But be sure not to reveal everything there. Keep them curious and make them excited. Make sure that the photos are relevant because nobody wants to be misled.
K. I. S. S. Keep it Short and Sweet
No need to post a lengthy paragraph when you are simply introducing yourself. Readers might be angry at you and not read your next posts.
The bottom line of in making any article a hype is simple. Make your entry worthy of other people’s time. Invest your time in creating something you would love to read yourself. Discover new techniques and twists to convey your ideas and make it yours. Create your own mark in writing so that even without seeing your byline, people will know that it’s you who wrote it. Do research on your topics well and avoid plagiarism. Remember that success in anything greatly comes from passion, and so if you are passionate and happy enough in writing, you will certainly create wonderful and interesting articles for readers. Getting your articles to become a hype will come in no time.
Alexis Thompson is a former Mountain Backpacker, Real Estate Sales Personnel and a 26 year old mother of 2 daughters, Sophie and Rhian. She is into almost all types of Music especially The Fray and Hillsong. She also has a passion in Singing and Scrap Booking. Follow her escapades on her Twitter account.
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