Must-Know Content Writing Techniques for Impactful Writing

Tips and Tricks on How to Craft Content That Drives Impactful Results

Good writing – and especially good copywriting, where the objective is to persuade people to act – is often more difficult than it seems. Though it may look quite simple on the surface, there’s quite a bit of strategic thinking going on underneath that you may not be aware of.

When you’re reading a great piece of content, you might not notice all the specific tools and tactics that the writer employs. You’ll only know that you feel enchanted and inspired to act. But what are these tools and tactics? How can we craft a masterpiece that’s impactful, engaging and mind blowing? 

But before we jump in and start writing, we first need to know who we’re writing for.

Digital marketing refers to the connection from brands to potential consumers through various online channels. Examples include but are not limited to: carrying out advertising campaigns on social media platforms, utilising data to measure consumer interest, as well as enhancing brand exposure through the use of tools and strategies such as SEM and SEO, among others. Digital marketing allows the sharing of content and experiences, strengthening the bond between businesses and customers.

Who Exactly is Your Target Audience?

In essence, the goal of content writing is to get readers interested in certain products, services or information, and eventually persuade them to make a purchase or submit an enquiry. But how can we begin to do this if we don’t have a laser-sharp understanding of who exactly we are writing for?

At first, we might want to say “I’m just writing for potential customers.” But this is, at best, an inadequate way of looking at things – and it will almost certainly result in ineffective writing that leads to lower conversion rates, as well as fewer sales and enquiries. After all, how can we write impactfully if we don’t know who our audience is? 

So how do we accurately define our target audience? Are our ideal customers young or old? Experienced or fresh? In what industries are they working? Based on that, what are their goals? Their worries?

For this purpose, specificity is your friend and vagueness is your mortal enemy. This is why an answer like “Any potential customer” isn’t great – it’s way too broad! A broad or vague sentence doesn’t captivate the reader. 

What’s an example of a specific, workable answer to “Who is our target audience?” Let’s try “Business owners in the retail sector.”

Based on this, what can we infer about the people who fit this description? They are probably experiencing the growing pains that come with rising costs, tracking inventory, monitoring metrics across different locations, and more. 

By understanding our target audience, we have an idea of what they want, the lingo they use, and also the words and phrases to avoid. Armed with this knowledge, we can start writing content that is designed to capture their attention – and ultimately, get them to take action.
Now let’s look at some go-to techniques that can help maximise the effectiveness of our content writing.

Writing Impactful Sentences

If your goal is not just to get people interested but also to get them to take action, then writing impactful sentences is one of the most important things you can do.
Great copy isn’t just about facts, knowledge, or logic; it also excites emotions. How do you want your reader to feel? Inspired? Hopeful? Determined? If you can make them feel a certain way, you lay the groundwork to convince them to take an action, whether it’s to pick up the phone and make a purchase, or to grow your brand and product presence.

Be Specific and Concise Whenever You Can

Writing descriptive sentences that contain rich imagery is one thing, but being too focused on descriptive language while neglecting clarity is something else. For the most part, keep your sentences as specific as possible to avoid losing clarity or meaning. Most busy readers will appreciate information that’s simple to understand and easy to digest.

Evoke a Sense of Urgency

Communicate to the reader that it is better to act now than later. You can do this with words such as “now”, “today”, or “don’t wait”. Or, you can remind the reader of specific risks associated with delaying for too long. If there is a deadline or promotion that the reader should be aware of, you can also mention this in order to encourage timely action.

Use Call To Actions as Signposts to Motivate Deeper Engagement

Use Call-to-Actions (CTA) to guide readers towards a specific action. Examples of common CTAs include “Sign Up,” “Call Now,” “Book Appointment,” “Join Us,” and more. CTAs help turn your content from a block of text into a clear and actionable message, directing your readers on how to access your products or services.

Highlight Benefits

Describing features is good – Regardless if you are promoting a product or service, but it’s better to describe benefits.

What’s the difference between Features and Benefits?

Features are the attributes of the product, i.e. what the product can do. Benefits, on the other hand, spell out the ways in which the user’s life becomes better or easier as a result of using the product or service. 

The features of an inventory tracking system might include: 

• Automated Tracking
• PDF Reports
• Cloud-Based Software

The benefits of the inventory tracking system mentioned above might be described as:

• Save Time 
• Increase Efficiency
• Reduce Costs

In other words, highlight the ‘What’s in it for me?’, aka benefits. Essentially, how the product or service can be useful to the reader would interest them greater as compared to simply listing features which may not resonate with the reader.

Again, being as specific as possible when speaking to your intended audience while maintaining clarity maximises the effectiveness of your writing.

Structure Your Sentences to Avoid Monotony

Sticking to plain declarative sentences, and nothing else, is a quick way to make your writing dry and boring. Neglecting to spice up your sentences with a multitude of sizes, colours and flavours is like eating nothing but plain rice every day. It might get you through each day, but would you look forward to it? Probably not. 

Here are a few tips for structuring sentences to avoid monotony:

Utilise a Combination of Long and Short Sentences

Utilise long sentences sometimes, and short sentences at other times. Both are useful, and switching from one to the other every now and then can have a noticeable effect on reducing monotony.

Tactfully Sprinkle Rhetorical Questions

Want to get your reader thinking and agreeing with you? Ask them rhetorical questions. Occasionally seeing a question and mentally answering it can keep your readers engaged, and feeling more like they’re part of a conversation. Don’t you agree?

Leverage the Power of Effective Punctuation

Use all the punctuation marks at your disposal; there’s more than just the period. Proper use of punctuation can help you emphasise important points, as well as prevent too much monotonyin the sentences.

Strategically Employ Figures of Speech

Use figures of speech strategically to mix things up a bit. If your writing is too plain, factual, or dry, readers will get bored quickly. Conversely, including the occasional metaphor or analogy can help with hooking readers in.  

In summary, a variety of sentence structures and tools, used in the right amounts and at the right times, can do a lot to make your writing more memorable – and more impactful.

Concluding Thoughts

There’s a lot more to writing effective content than just making logical or factual statements and hoping that this will be enough to convince your reader. By using the tactics and techniques described above, you’ll be a few steps closer to creating content that gets your readers to feel, and thus to act.

But there’s more to good content writing than what we’ve covered here. Check out some other ways of writing effectively for business. Or, if you’d like to work with a team of writers who make writing great content their mission, contact us directly.

Have you implemented impactful writing yet?