Content marketing for sales: how to create articles and videos that convert

Content Marketing for Sales: Is it possible to create a content strategy that aims to lead to real conversions?

Blogging is dead, no one reads articles anymore, people want to watch videos. You’ve heard this refrain a thousand times.

The battle between blogging and video creation, however, is ongoing. Some say that no one reads articles anymore and that creating video content is healthier, both for a marketer’s wallet and budget. After all, YouTube is the second most used search engine in the world .

However, the idea that blogging is dead is a huge fake news story. Although the digital landscape has changed in recent years, blogging continues to be an effective tool for converting users into customers.

It’s true that there are new digital marketing platforms and tools like social media, email, and paid advertising that may seem more immediate and easier to manage, but blogging still plays an important role in the marketing strategy of many companies (especially B2B ) and professionals.

Blogging allows businesses to create quality content and share useful information with their audience. Blog posts can be optimized for search engines , increasing company visibility and website traffic. 

However, times change and things change.

People don’t read the same way anymore

According to recent research, people today spend just 15 seconds on a piece of content before leaving. This is obviously a large-scale study, taking into account many different types of readers. Some users linger longer on other types of content, such as tutorials, scientific articles, and more niche content.

However, this data should make us reflect on the fact that people are increasingly less inclined to spend time on written content . Other studies have shown that people struggle more to read an online article than a magazine one. In fact, they spend up to 30% more time .

Finally, you’ve probably heard of the F-scan of articles . It’s a topic covered in any copywriting or marketing course. You may also have heard of the Z-scan. Whichever letter you’ve encountered, know that people don’t often read an article from cover to cover carefully, but tend to scan it for content that interests them.

Nielsen Norman Group is a pioneer in analyzing human behavior. Its research has led to some of the most significant studies on web page crawling.

Why are we telling you all this? Because if you want to sell through your written content, you’ll need to pay attention to many factors regarding text construction and information placement.

How to write a good sales article? 4 tips

In light of what we discussed in the previous section, we offer four tips you can implement immediately to start selling through content writing. Be wary of anyone who tells you that blogging is dead and that no one reads online articles anymore. This isn’t true; the written word is still a powerful sales tool, but there are some precautions you should consider:

1. First of all, texts must be short . Yoast SEO has taught us that to make Google your friend, we must write articles longer than 300 words. However, this number will soon be lowered: it seems that articles with 200 words are now the most interesting, as they don’t even require scrolling (less effort, more interest);
   
2. Not just brevity , but also conciseness . Avoid long, convoluted sentences to convey a point. Google, when scanning content, notices if the text is difficult to read and assigns a score. If this is low, your article will appear in the last search results. Furthermore, users want to quickly understand what they read, and overly long, complex sentences that don’t get to the point can tire them and put them off;
   
3. When scanning articles, make sure the main information is at the beginning, on the first line, in the middle, and at the end of the article . The rest is just background. It’s in these places that you should include calls to action or information that users absolutely mustn’t miss. This is helpful because if a user scans instead of reading, they won’t “skip” what we want to communicate.
   
4. Formatting is crucial: each paragraph should be no longer than four lines, separated from the previous and next paragraphs. Add bold, italics, 
   and justifications to make it easier and more fluid to read.
   
5. To make an article easier to read, insert images , videos, and infographics here and there, so as to save space and explain in a single image something that would otherwise have required many words.
   

If users don’t like reading, then I show them videos

It’s clear that people today enjoy watching videos , otherwise there’s no explanation for TikTok’s huge success. Many might think that creating articles is a better idea than creating videos, but they’re wrong. The two content marketing strategies aren’t mutually exclusive, and you need to understand your target audience before eliminating one or the other.

For example, if a company or professional’s target audience is readers, people over 40, and who spend a lot of time online but not on social media, it wouldn’t make sense to create TikTok videos every day.

Furthermore, don’t think that creating videos is a valid answer to increasing conversions. Video content requires the same attention as written content. Indeed, competition on social media today is at its highest, and our videos aren’t always taken seriously by users, especially if they’re not specifically crafted.

Some people think that simply standing in front of a camera is enough to be successful, but if that were true, we’d all be doing it. Creating videos that convert requires strategy , in-depth market research, and a lot of time dedicated to creating and editing content.

Anatomy of a video that converts

• Your video should be engaging and grab viewers’ attention 
  from the start . Use eye-catching images, familiar music, and 
  intriguing narration to keep viewers interested and engaged with your message. For example, you could start the video with a question or phrase that evokes a strong emotion in the viewers;

• Your video must clearly demonstrate the 
  benefits of your product or service. Don’t just list the features of your product, but show how it solves a problem or meets a specific need of your audience.

• The caption is just as important as the video itself if it’s published on social media. First of all, it’s a good idea to optimize the caption for SEO, but we’ll discuss that shortly. The caption for a video selling a product must be captivating, concise, and persuasive, capable of grabbing users’ attention and convincing them to learn more about the product. I recommend an effective structure:

• incipit with a question or a sentence that strikes the reader’s emotions by identifying his problem
• Describe the benefits of the product clearly and convincingly, highlighting how it can improve the customer’s life
• use words that suggest the idea of ​​scarcity or limited time, to make the customer feel motivated to act immediately
• invites the audience to take a specific action, such as clicking on a link or purchasing the product.

Finally, pay attention to video quality. You don’t need expensive professional cameras to shoot content that people will enjoy. However, try to make your videos look good, with the right lighting, framing, neutral backgrounds or backgrounds that match your feed, and good audio quality.

Choices that unite videos and articles

When creating or writing videos and articles to sell online, you should remember some rules that apply to both types of content :

• The first step to writing effective content is understanding your audience . Try to understand their interests, concerns, and needs. This will help you create content that is relevant and useful to them.
• It’s important to communicate clearly and directly . Use simple language and avoid overly technical terms or jargon. Make your messages easy to understand and ensure your readers can immediately understand how your product or service can help them;
• Brevity . Always be brief, don’t go on too long, otherwise you reduce the chances of someone reading or watching your content to the end;
• Use familiar formats . For videos, you can leverage current trends, like those on TikTok. Or you can reuse templates used by your competitors or other users. The key is to create short, engaging content that combines your brand identity and tone of voice with something familiar. The same goes for articles. There are many formats that work well, such as “How to…”, “The 10 Ways to…”, “The 10 Best…”, etc.
• Don’t forget to include essential elements in your written or video content when selling something . These include social proof, one of the most effective techniques for convincing potential customers to purchase your product or service; calls to action, a specific instruction on what to do after reading your content, such as visiting your website, filling out a form, or purchasing your product; and optimization.
  

Video and SEO? Is it really necessary for content marketing to sell?

One element that links video creation, especially for social media, and written articles is SEO research . There’s a branch of marketing called social SEO, which focuses on making content more visible on social media.

Social SEO focuses on using social media to promote and rank content on feeds and search engines . It may seem strange, but today, many users perform searches that were once common on Google, on social media.

For example, if you use TikTok, you may have noticed that the search bar offers suggestions on the most popular topics on the social network, or completes your sentences as you type based on the most popular content, much like Google does. This is because many users use TikTok as a search engine. If a guy wants to take his girlfriend out to dinner, he searches for “romantic restaurant in Milan” on TikTok and finds a series of videos from other users sharing their experiences at restaurants perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Social SEO activities include optimizing social profiles, regularly updating social media content , sharing relevant, quality content that generates user interest and interaction, building backlinks, and promoting content on social media to increase engagement.

Adding relevant keywords to videos and captions is vital , as social networks like Instagram and TikTok scan and categorize content to make it easier for users to find.

Videos and articles: complementary in the same strategy

While blogging isn’t dead, it’s important to integrate it into a broader marketing strategy . Integrate your blog with other digital marketing tools, such as social media and newsletters, to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing strategy. This may involve using videos to convert your users into customers.

Writing effective digital content and creating videos for social media or the web to sell products or services takes time and effort , but by following the advice I’ve offered in this content (which, by the way, you’ve read this far, so it works!) and tracking your results, you can increase your chances of success.

Want to learn more? Request a free consultation!

Kashish Arora

SEO & GEO specialist.