Targeting the audience: Using the written word to boost conversions

Share via

You wouldn’t just show a new product to a friend without explaining why you love it and why you think they would too? The same goes for the product or service you are selling, you need to use content, directed at your audience, in order to boost conversions and persuade them to part with their cash.

According to a survey by SurveyMonkey, 94% of customers will abandon a site if they can’t find the information they require to make an informed purchase. Likewise, 88% of shoppers said that the product content plays an extremely or very important role in their purchase.

So, how do you do this?

First you need to determine who your audience are…

Before you can target your audience through content and boost conversions, you need to understand exactly who they are. There are tools to help you build a picture of your specific audience – including comScore, Facebook Insights and GWI.

Create content that is targeted at them…

Understanding your audience – those that will buy your product or service – will enable you to create content that is directly targeted at them.

Once you have the information you need, use it to create personas that represent members of your audience. You can refer to these ‘people’ every time you create content. Will it answer their ‘pain points’? If not, what will?

Your content may be well written and on an interesting subject but if it is targeted at a male teenager when your audience is predominately mid-30s mothers then, although there are eyeballs on it, you won’t boost conversions.

Regular content

Product descriptions are, of course important when it comes to boosting conversions but your blog is a equally important and can actually enable the potential customer to get a better understanding of why that product or service is particularly beneficial to them. You must post regularly and make sure that your content does the following…

Entertain – some content, by its nature, will be dry. But, the more you can entertain the more chance you have of it actually being read. Just be careful, there is a fine line when it comes to humour and this needs to be in keeping with your company tone of voice.

Inform and inspire – you need to explain what the product or service is, with particular emphasis on USPs. Why should the customer buy from you and not your competitor? At the same time, you must inspire – how will it improve their life.

Persuade – you need to explain not only why the customer needs it but why they need it right now.

It is also vital that you invest in trained writers. Everyone thinks they can write but, in order to boost conversions, it is imperative to employ a writer who can incorporate all the above into the copy while capturing the relevant tone of voice throughout and ensuring it is right for your audience.

The written word is the best way to target the audience. If you get it right then you will start to see a real boost in your conversions.

Share via
Samantha Acuna is a writer based in San Francisco, CA. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and Yahoo Small Business.