Engage!
7 Strategies for Driving
Relevance & Resonance
in Written Content

Good writing does not succeed or
fail on the strength of its ability to
persuade. It succeeds or fails on
the strength of its ability to
engage you, to make you think, to
give you a glimpse into someone
else's head.
~Malcolm Gladwell

This is the outside of Malcolm Gladwell’s head.

When our content doesn’t address the
audience’s needs right from the start,
they move on to content that does.
An inconvenient truth

What is engagement?

Engagement prompts action.
Purchases
Referrals
Likes,etc.
Social sharing
Subscriptions
Comments
Reviews
Clicks
Links
Queries
Surveys
Conversations

Raises awareness
Provides info & knowledge
Creates interest & consideration
Offers supporting info & context
Engaging content:

Drive engagement with:
Audience focus
Call to action
Relevant details
Voice & tone
Formatting
Heads/subheads
Images
Shareability

Audience Focus

1. Be the Audience
What gets and keeps you interested?
Investigate your own experience as a
content consumer to learn what
compels engagement.

2. Define Your Audience(s)
Who, specifically, are you trying to
reach?
Develop persona(e), not labels, to
understand your audience better.

People
How you describe your audience in terms
of traits, values, needs/concerns and the
experience/feeling they want to have.
Busy parents seeking safe, educational after-school
care for their kids.
or
Tenants who need off-hours repairs.

Purpose | Call to Action

3. Focus on Purpose
What do you want the audience to
think, feel and/or do?
Guide content & improve results with
a clear purpose & call to action.

Purpose | Call to ActionPurpose | Call to Action
What you want the
audience to think/
feel
What you want the
audience to do
TAC is a good steward of
my donation/I trust TAC
The people I like to
associate with support
TAC
I’m proud of my
involvement with TAC
Come to TAC events
Continue to support
TAC/increase support
Encourage others to
support TAC

Relevance

3. Increase Relevance w/Questions
What are the questions and
objections the audience may have?
Anticipate & address audience
questions, push-back & concerns.

Questions
What questions/objections might your
audience have?
What’s in it for me?
Why should I care?
Is this relevant to me?
What do you need me to do?
I can’t afford it/I don’t have time.

5. Increase Relevance w/Details
What evidence, explanations &/or
examples address needs, support
ideas?
Use details to expand on key
concepts, answer questions &
enhance relevance.

ContentContent
Main Idea Key Details
The one most important
thing you want the
audience to know
The big idea or take-
away
Evidence
Examples
Explanation

3 Kinds of Details
Evidence: facts, data; helpful to
decision-makers
Examples: anecdotes, stories;
useful for re-affirming or showing
Explanations: definitions,
descriptions; critical for curious,
uninformed or new people

Connection

6. Connect w/Voice & Word Choice
Who does your audience want to
hear from?
Use voice and word choice to appeal
to audience & build credibility, trust.

Word choice builds trust, drives voice
Choose accessible, meaningful words.
Use plain, not boring, language.
Explain jargon & technical terms as
needed.
How-to tips: http://bit.ly/RSruBI

Choose a voice that sounds like
someone your audience trusts and
wants to hear from.
Connect audience and writer
personae.
How-to tips: http://bit.ly/MUrgqN
Voice establishes credibility,
relatability and trust

Yet another inconvenient truth
94% of reading decisions happen
before the prospect has even read a
word of your content.
- Heidi Cohen

Design & Visuals

7. Design to Entice & Inform
How can we make the content more
accessible and interactive?
Formatting, design, links,videos,
images and social sharing help
readers engage by consuming,
interacting with and sharing content.

Putting it all together.

Audience Persona(e)
Writer’s Personality
Relevant Ideas & Details
Think/Do/Feel
Questions & Objections
The Content-Purpose-Audience™
Strategy

The C-P-A

One more inconvenient truth
These techniques improve engagement.
Coupling them with a healthy dose of
analytics increases results dramatically.

Measure what makes your
business better.
Sales & queries
Leads & referrals
Feedback, surveys & ideas
Subscriptions & downloads
Retweets, comments & shares
Reviews, ratings & recommendations

Get more detailed information on
using the C-P-A!
http://bit.ly/UseTheCPA