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Building an Audience
You know that updated content is the best way to keep people coming back to your shop’s website and social media pages. But how do you create compelling blog and social media posts to engage your audience and drive action?
Whether you’re writing a post for social media or your shop’s blog, or crafting an update for your website, there are some common principles you can use to guide you. Implement these tips for writing effective blog and social media posts and watch your traffic numbers increase.
Know Your Audience
Before you write a single word, you must know who you’re attempting to reach. Writing a post for customers would likely take a different tone than a post directed at industry insiders. Having a clear understanding of your target audience will guide you in what to say and how you say it.
Select a Topic
What do you want to write about? Select a topic that is relevant and useful to your audience. Useful content has drawing power; it can generate clicks, likes, tweets and retweets. Need help coming up with topics? Think about common questions you get from your customers – this can be a good way to come up with ideas that will resonate with your audience.
Organize Your Thoughts
Gather your thoughts and make an outline of the points you want to cover in your post. Take a close look at your outline; are there too many points that will make the post too long? A long post can lose readers; if it makes sense, consider breaking it up into two posts.
Come up with a Catchy Title
Hook the reader with a catchy title that gives them a preview of what the post is about. Keep the title short and memorable – don’t be afraid to be creative and use a play on words. Using relevant key words can help you in search rankings.
Create a Captivating Introduction
Keep your audience engaged with an introduction that piques their interest. If you lose their attention in those first few sentences, you can be sure they’ll stop reading and click away to a new page. An amusing anecdote, funny joke, thought-provoking question or interesting fact or statistic are all good ways to start a post.
Craft the Body of the Post
Using your outline, fill in the body of your post. If necessary, do additional research to back up your points. Be sure to give proper attribution to any sources that you use; acknowledging your sources gives credibility to your post. If you’re having trouble finding your writing voice, look at blog posts that have resonated with you – what did they do to draw you in?
Give Them Something To Do
Don’t forget to include a call to action at the end of every post. Whether it’s to book an appointment or purchase a product, you want to drive readers to complete a specific action that will drive sales or achieve another objective. If the post is about the importance of brake safety, then your call-to-action could be: Schedule an appointment to get your free brake inspection today (include link to page on website with details on what is included in the inspection).
Make it Visually Appealing
Words alone won’t keep a reader engaged; a visually appealing post will ensure that your audience reads until the end to see the call to action. Pictures, videos and illustrations are all great ways to add visual interest to your post. Use of formatting such as headlines and subheads in a larger font size can help your post stand out by breaking up your copy so it doesn’t appear looking like one big blob.
Be Consistent
Consistency is the key to building and maintaining an online audience. Posting on a regular basis gives readers a reason for returning to your website and social media pages. Make that content useful and meaningful to your readers and you have a winning combination. Create a content calendar and put reminders on your phone to keep yourself on track.
The content contained in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be used in lieu of seeking professional advice from a certified technician or mechanic. We encourage you to consult with a certified technician or mechanic if you have specific questions or concerns relating to any of the topics covered herein. Under no circumstances will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any content.