100 Quick Ways To “Engage” Your Audience With Content Marketing

If you want to “engage” your target audience, making few tweaks can help.   

And does it really matter if you’re a great content marketer?

Yes, it does 100%.

You can’t shy away from the fact that thousands of people want a piece of the cake – companies, individuals and even animals (just kidd**ng) are starting their own blogs.

Content marketing has become the easiest way to dominate your niche in and out.

But how do you ensure that competitors don’t destroy your hard work?

I’ve 100 quick ways for you. Use few of them to become amazing.

Your target audience would literally run after you.

You’d get engaged readers, attract clients that want results and become the authority you’ve always dreamt.

It’s a long post my dear, so let’s begin:

1.      Stop worrying about what you don’t have (traffic, readers, comments, income et al) – tomorrow holds so much for those who appreciate today.

2.     Write with an open mind – don’t be scared of revealing your best information. The best information you share today will bring results into your life tomorrow.

3.      Write your headlines first – this way you can be guided as you write the content itself.

4.      Learn how to tell good stories – it’s the only magnet in the world of blogging.

5.      Spend quality time answering your readers’ questions – it’s the best way to stick your name (brand) around their necks and hearts.

6.      Ask intelligent questions – it’s the ideal way to extract intelligent answers.

7.     Don’t waste time on social media networks – tweet when it’s necessary.

8.     Customize your blog theme – because people connect with good designs first, before quality content.

9.     Balance your work life – don’t be a guest blogger and forgot your own blog readers.

10.  Spend the blissful moments of the day meditating – you’ll surely receive amazing blog topics for your amazing audience.

11.   Make Google Alerts your best friend – your best friend should be able to give you ideas when you need them, and not drain you out.

12.   This is rather harsh, but it’s the reality – don’t spend the whole day commenting on other blogs. You should write more content, than commenting.

13.   Stop comparing your writing to others – you’re the best writer on earth as far as your readers and Google is concerned.

14.   If you’re still thinking of a blog as a personal diary where you share your life’s experiences – stop right there and think business.

15.   Each time you solve reader’s problems, a feather will be added to your marketing cap – that’s the true essence of writing and blogging.

16.   No matter how busy you’re in other projects, make sure you update your blog once or twice a week. A stale blog leaves a negative impression on reader’s mind.

17.   Be angry with blogging failure – and challenge yourself to change the hands of failure to success.

18.   Don’t try to impress your audience – some people are so difficult to deal with. Just keep doing the right thing and those who love you will appreciate it.

19.   Don’t dwell on past failures – you can’t do anything to change yesterday. But you can make today worthwhile for tomorrow’s exploits.

20.   Take baby steps – so that you won’t be overwhelmed when you get to the top.

21.   Don’t try to carve a new niche out of blogging – instead, dedicate your time on what’s available and just stand out.

22.   Serve your prospects like you would your grand mom (except you don’t love her).

24.   Blog readers are goldmine – disciple them with everything you’ve got. It’s worth it.

25.   When a blog reader asks a question – don’t put it off for tomorrow, answer it now.

26.   If you want more comments for your posts, go out and invite commenters (be the first to leave a comment on a high trafficked blog).

27.   Make your comment to stand out – avoid those quirky “thank you for this post” styles. Rather than thank the author, ask him a question or contribute your 2 cents.

28.   Commenting can be a source of traffic, but if you spend time to write quality content and get featured on A-list blog, you’d receive rich and read-to-act visitors.

29.   As at today, guest posting is the most effective way to grow a new blog – don’t take it lightly or lazy about.

30.   When it’s time to write your content – put every other thing on hold. Writing is a serious business because you MUST pour your heart into it.

31.   Any article you write with a distracted mind will be boring, too generic and irrelevant – clear your mind of every worry, write because you’ve something good to say.

32.   Avoid the temptation of using free Blogger or WordPress to run your blog. You’d regret this in the future (it’s not a curse, but the truth).

33.   If you don’t collect email leads of potential readers – you’re not a real blogger. You’re still faking it. Get started with email marketing today.

34.   The blog header works better when building your email list.

35.   When I added an optin box in my header (this blog), my subscription rate grew from 2% to 50% in 30 days – you’re free to steal my ideas, it’s no crime.

36.   Make your comment counter visible – why hide it when you want more comments from readers?

37.  Write epic shit – like the one you’re reading right now. 95% of bloggers don’t have time to compile a huge list like this, which is good news for you (no more competition).

38.   Educate your audience – but don’t bore the hell out of them with irrelevant research and stories.

39.   Use screenshots & customized images to give your blog posts life – stock photos looks too professional (not so cute for community building).

40.   Comedians make a good blog – you must make people laugh or they’d go home dejected. Add light humor to your content, even ghost do laugh. Lol!

41.   Write a specific introduction – don’t confuse reader with the first paragraph in your post.

42.   Arouse curiosity – let readers be expectant as they read through your entire post. If readers continue to skim your post, they can’t get the juice that lies between the lines.

43.   Promise a thing and make sure you deliver on time – target audience doesn’t have enough time to waste, they’ve problems and wants solution desperately.

44.   If you copy another writer’s work – give credits to respect their creativity. If you fail to give credits, nature would penalize you and you can be prosecuted for Plagiarism.

45.   When you want to eat the Elephant – don’t start from the head or you’d be overwhelmed by the LARGE ear. If you want to solve a BIG problem, address the symptoms first.

46.   Email subscribers are not robots – don’t treat them as one. When you send paid products regularly (even if it’s helpful), you’re call them robots, no longer as human beings.

47.   Give generously to your target audience – don’t always wait for people to give back. Push the walls down and move on with your life.

48.   Learn to innovate – blog readers are tired of seeing and reading the same “7 ways to drive free traffic” posts. When you innovate, you’ll write with new and deep insights.

49.   Always remember that informative post + practical tips = short term success.

50.   And don’t forget that keyword research + ever green content = long term success.

51.   Do things that can bring about content marketing success in your business. If tweeting a link to your twitter followers would bring more results than sharing to Facebook fans, do it and forget about FB.

52.   Prioritize – map out strategies to pursue your objective. Put other things aside and pursue one good thing.

53.   Don’t be too anxious about making money – or you’d spend the rest of your life chasing the next money making opportunity.

54.   There is no secret to making money online, it’s all hype out there. To make money, you just need to over something “valuable.”

55.   If you want more money, bring more value to the marketplace and money would pursue and overtake you, which is good thing.

56.   Diversify your portfolio – isn’t it time you create an app that people can download and use on their mobile devices? I’ve BIG plans for this.

57.   Start a podcast – You might not know it yet, but some of your readers would prefer to listen as you speak. Yes, video isn’t enough especially for those prospects of yours whose internet connection is damn slow for video streaming.

58.   Don’t cloud your mind with unnecessary tasks – outsource to professionals and skyrocket your business easily.

59.   Don’t say you’re the best – blog readers find it very difficult to believe what you say about yourself. Instead, praise, appreciate and entertain your readers. That’s how to get the best “image” from their mirror.

60.   Find a name for yourself – if you call yourself a blogger or copywriter, what difference does it make since everyone can answer that name. You’re a solution provider. You help businesses to build social media presence; you train people to make money online.

61.   If you’re not productive, what exactly is the problem? Find out what the problem is and adjust accordingly.

62.   To stay productive at all times, don’t bite more than you can choose. I usually write 5 guest posts in the past and I did that for 6 months nonstop. But when my productive level decreased, I reduced my guest posting schedule to 2 per week.

63.   Your blog is by you, but not about you – yes you can share your personal story, but it must align with your reader’s goal or else, you’re being selfish.

64.   Stop committing a marketing crime – when you write about yourself all the time without listening to readers, you’re committing a crime. Stop it right now!

65.   Pay your tax as at when due – it’d give you peace of mind knowing that your business is in good hands.

66.   Content marketing goes beyond article writing, seriously, you should consider making a video that shows “before” and “after” picture of your product.

67.   Write blog posts using common words and grammar. Big and academic rules make you look like a serious educated professor.

68.   Writing on the web is different from academic writing – be personal and as much as you can, make it funny. Yes baby!

69.   Edit your content in and out – Spelling and grammatical errors is a sign that you don’t care about others.

70.  Protect your blog – limit login attempts, Ban recurring IP address that always want to infiltrate your database. Deny public access to your WordPress folder. I highly recommend a Bulletproof security plugin.

71.  Relax and take a vacation from your content marketing hard work. Your health is of paramount to your long term success.

72.  Write in “bursts” – Don’t leave the seat until you’ve written for 15 minutes at last. Deactivate your internet connect and focus on writing.

73.  Don’t waste your time on the headline – If a headline has ever hooked you, copy the headline and craft yours from their idea.

74.  Always use seesmic.com to syndicate blog posts to Facebook, twitter, Tumblr and others. It’s automatic and cute for SEO.

75.  Create your own newspaper online by using Paper.li

76.  When you write a guest post, don’t send people to your homepage. Send them to a landing page to capture their email addresses first.

78.  When you’re replying to threads of forums, ensure that your signature has your landing page or squeeze page URL.

79.  Write compelling content that your readers can’t find anywhere else – this is the best way to win their hearts and spirit forever.

80.  Google Panda and Penguin isn’t supposed to make you give up on content marketing or blogging, it’s for your good because irrelevant web pages can give way to your quality content.

81.  If you’re scared of competition, you don’t have to be any longer. Google is your best partner and wants to send you more traffic than you can contain.

82.   Have a purpose when writing content online. Oftentimes, when you want more than one thing, your article becomes boring and full of hype. If you want sales, reveal all the values you can – don’t hide anything; expose the ugly aspect of what you’re selling, not just the good parts.

83.  Affiliate marketing is for those who’ve built a list – Sure you can earn few commissions when you don’t have a database – but having a list makes your future income sure.

84.  Take care of your email subscribers – don’t be a money-monger (always selling and never give away valuable information for free.

85.  Tweak your landing page – you need to understand that there is a BIG difference between “Download Free Ebook” and “Download Ebook For Free.” So…

86.  Give away valuable e-books and short reports for free, but never call it a free ebook. Readers won’t appreciate it.

87.  Email marketing is a long term project – don’t capture a single email unless you’re ready to cater to the needs of subscribers. If you treat your subscribers like “amazing kids,” they’d feel obliged to reward (word of mouth referrals, comments, repeat visits, purchase your product, join your membership site et al) you.

88.  Use vaultpress.com to backup your blog’s database, comments, images, pages and everything you can ever imagine. I use VP and I’ve peace of mind.

89.  The first SEO rule is “quality content.” – Keyword research, link building, Meta Tags and social media proofs are secondary. Handle the first rule and you’d be doing fine.

90.  Word of mouth marketing can grow your business rapidly – It doesn’t matter whether you attract 1000+ daily hits from Google, if 2 responsive prospects come to you from a satisfied client, you’d make more money. Quote me wrong if you can.

91.  Nothing beats customer service – as a blogger, your readers are your customers. Whether they buy, click or comment. Celebrate them from your heart.

92. When you meet a potential client – Look straight into their eyes and salute them like a professional. If you show a trace of inferiority complex, you’re doomed.

93.  Stay in your niche – Don’t write about real estate if you don’t even know what foreclosure, mortgage, asset and liability means.

94.  Use subheadings to break up your writing into an easy-to-digest piece –  If everything is cloudy, your blog get drowned by a thousand others.

95.  Most people don’t use bullet points to format their writing and content – it’s to your advantage. Don’t write another blog post without it.

96.  Break large chunk of paragraph – and make them easily readable. Most professional content marketers are making this mistake, which is why I don’t even read their blogs again. Your paragraph should be 3 lines or less. 4 lines of text tend to be scare readers away.

98.  Test your colors, fonts and every vital element – If you don’t test, you’d be operating in false assumption. Guess what? A/B Split testing is powerful – it’s not magic at all – start testing today.

99.  Reduce the number of blogs you read – because most of what you need to make a successful content marketer is already in you. 65% of the time, reading other people’s blog every now and then can retard your own growth and make you hopeless, especially when you see those $10,000 monthly income reports.

100. Rather than criticize other writers and bloggers, invest the time wisely. Either you write a blog post or you visit your family (blogging shouldn’t break your relationship with mom).

BONUS POINTS

101. Make plans to write and sell your first product (ebook, short reports, membership site, software, plugin, themes, webinar and so on). With your own product, you can earn passive income – which is better than AdSense, one-off affiliate offers and freelancing.

102.   When you achieve your goals, take your Fiancée on a date and celebrate your achievements.

103. Invest in your own personal life – buy books and make sure you read them. Learn about grammar and spellings. Sharpen your writing skills; join an English Class in your city.

Add your 2 cents?

What is that “one” thing that makes you unique? You should bookmark this post and come back to it later.

I’ve spent 3 hours compiling this post just for you. Please tweet and share it with your fans. Leave a comment below and see you at the top!