Confidence and cognitive dissonance between words that usually don’t go together can draw a lot of attention while also conveying the right message to the reader. And we all want to read texts from confident people, don’t we?

But adding strong adjectives isn’t the only tip we’ve got when it comes to coming up with your blog headers. Let’s see what other tips there are.

The Importance of a Compelling Title

A headline is the first thing a reader sees about your blog. Whether they’ve specifically been searching for your article or not, and it just makes an impression on them, the title has to make them gravitate toward it.

Headlines play a very important role in search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines like Google utilize headlines to interpret a blog post’s subject matter and assess its relevance to a given search query.

A carefully constructed title with chosen keywords in it can improve your blog post’s search engine ranking and increase site traffic.  Moreover, headlines may establish the mood of your blog article and let visitors know what to anticipate. A compelling title may spark a reader’s interest and encourage them to continue reading, but a dull or deceptive headline may leave them feeling let down or deceived.

The Elements of a Killer Headline

There are several weapons a good writer has in their arsenal which could help them write a killer headline. We will list a lot of tips below. Combine 3 or more of these to achieve solid results.

• Use active tense, instead of passive, use verbs, and be the protagonist in your headline urging someone to take action. Push the reader to action right from the start. “Discover The Mysteries of Oak Island’s Hidden Treasure.”
• Curiosity is very easy to implement in titles. Just find a search term, and go for it. “I Drank only Milk for 12 months, and This Happened.” Although this is an example more suitable for YouTube videos, paired with a thumbnail, it can also work well for blogs.
• Be Concise, don’t go overboard with 15 words for a heading unless you absolutely know what you’re doing in terms of keywords and SEO. That’s why our heading is a bit longer.
• First 8 words matter. If you go for a longer heading, make sure the reader can know what’s going on from the first 8 words.
• Humor can also be used in some cases, depending on the topic you’re writing about.

How to Craft the Perfect Title

Use 2 or more of the work-frames below in order to craft the perfect title to capture the attention of any audience:

1. Curiosity (You Won’t Believe…)
2. Negativity (Best Writer Avoid…)
3. Make the heading a List (Top 5…)
4. Use Timeliness (Fix Your SEO in 5 minutes:…)
5. Use Authority (This is How Gary Vaynerchuk Writes his Headlines…)
6. Target Deep Desire (Reach Millions by…)
7. Beginner-Friendly (Best Beginner Tips…)
8. Extreme Scenario (I Climbed Everest Naked…)
9. Reject an Objection (Shampoo isn’t the Best Way to Wash Your Hair…)

Once you’ve chosen 2 of these, combine them and get good results. For example, combining #7 and #3 is quite common in any space. There are many other combinations you could use for great results. Experiment! Here are some cool examples.

Always  A/B Test Blog Titles

Use analytics to compare different versions of your headlines and how they perform. It’s a mystery. Sometimes you write a perfect headline and another one that you didn’t really like performs twice as well.

Don’t underestimate user-friendly and simple headlines, the can often beat complex and smart titles, that not everyone can grasp. After all, we’re trying to reach many people here, come on!

Avoid These Mistakes at all Costs!

There are plenty of things that can go wrong while writing headlines. So, what to avoid when writing headers for blogs?

• Avoid click-baiting people all the way through. If your title is a bit over-enticing, make sure you deliver in the article you are offering.
• Don’t mislead people with inaccurate information to make them click on your blog.
• Never use all caps in headlines or a lot of punctuation.
• Avoid insider language and jargon, that only your readers would know. That limits your audience to your already established fanbase.
• Try to steer clear from writing unclear headlines, which don’t give out the essence of what your blog is about right away.

What Comes Next After Killer Titles?

After you master the trade of writing great titles, there’s another step of the blog optimization journey. It’s called Ad Optimization. Cash flow is essential for any website, and if yours isn’t generating enough, you should seriously start thinking about it. Get a closer look at how easy it is to optimize the Ad placements on your website and increase your revenue with Publir’s solutions.

The post 5 Top Tips and Tricks for Writing Killer Headlines: And Why They Will Increase Your Website Traffic first appeared on Publir.

Sponsored content presents bloggers and website owners with the rewarding option to monetize their material and work with sponsors. However, it can carry the risk of sacrificing editorial integrity and alienating some readers. This should always be taken into account. In this post, we’ll examine the benefits and potential pitfalls of this well-liked marketing tactic as we weigh the pros and cons. 

What Is Sponsored Content and Why It Matters?

So how does sponsored content work?

It’s simple, really. Someone pays you to publish a post on your website, and you do.  But if you want a solid definition, here it goes:

Sponsored content is a kind of advertising in which businesses pay bloggers and other content producers to produce articles that advertise their goods or services. Videos, podcasts, blog articles, and posts on social media are all common formats for this material.

A brand often approaches a blogger or content producer with an invitation to cooperate as the first step in the process. The brand may have certain content concepts in mind, or it may leave it to the blogger to come up with content that supports the brand’s messaging.

Even your favorite YouTuber’s 10-second mention of a product falls under the category of sponsored content.

As a blogger or website owner, you can either receive a flat fee for your services, or you can be paid an affiliation commission per sale that comes from your audience. All of this is great; however, It’s important to note that sponsored content should be clearly labeled as such in accordance with advertising regulations. 

This helps readers or viewers understand that the content is promotional in nature and can help maintain the trust between the content creator and their audience.

The Pros of Sponsored Content

• Increases your cash flow: Sponsored content gives content producers the chance to monetize their platforms and profit from their labor.
• Gives you exposure: Sponsored content may bring new goods or services to a blogger’s readers who might not have known about them otherwise, boosting exposure for both the business and the blogger.
• Allows for artistic freedom: Content creators frequently have the ability to generate material that supports their own brands and interests while also supporting sponsors.
• Helps build relationships: Sponsored content partnerships may result in long-lasting bonds between brands and content producers, which may open up new options for cooperation and employment.

The Cons of Sponsored Content

• Poses a risk of content blur: Sponsored material may occasionally blur the distinction between editorial and commercial content, putting the blogger’s editorial integrity and audience confidence in jeopardy.
• May alienate your audience: An unduly commercial may push readers or users away, which can result in a decline in audience engagement and trust.
• It’s more time-consuming than simply running ads: Producing sponsored content might take a lot of effort because it frequently involves more preparation and organization than creating regular content.
• Comes with legal considerations: Sponsored material must adhere to advertising standards, and doing so may subject both the company and the blogger to legal repercussions.

What Are the Best Practices for Sponsored Content Posting?

When you’ve already built an established audience, they know you. The last thing your audience wants from you is to change. Be transparent with them, and if you mention anything that is sponsored, make sure it is clear right from the start that you are profiting from it.

That way, people would know what you genuinely promote and share with them for free and what is simply an advertisement. 

Aside from being 100% transparent, it’s a good idea to make sure the sponsored material is consistent with your brand and the interests of your audience. Work with companies that share your beliefs and don’t promote contentious or objectionable topics.

And another very important thing to do is to never prioritize sponsored content over your own. Keep a healthy ratio of promotions and real content on your website. Because eventually, you might drown in your own promotions. 

Disclose your affiliate links, and never accept all propositions that come your way. Some of them will have a bad effect on your followers. Rule them out, it’s your business, you are the boss!

Create the Best Experience 

Sponsored content is a good way to go after you’ve built a great audience that trusts you. However, losing that trust is never an option. Be careful. Before you dive into sponsored content, there are many other safer options to go for like subscriptions and subtle ad optimization that can generate a great and steady cash flow that doesn’t rely on partnerships. Make sure to check Publir’s solutions for these.

The post What Are the Pros and Cons of Sponsored Content? first appeared on Publir.

Incentivize Engaged Customers to Pay

Once a user has signed up for your services, it doesn’t mean your job is done. The recurring nature of subscription-based models gives the power to customers to cancel anytime if they are not satisfied with the product or service. As such, businesses should always take proactive steps to engage their customers consistently. Offer your subscribers exclusive offers and deals to make them feel like a part of an exclusive/elite community. If customers are loyal to your business, they expect something in return too. Reward them with freebies and gifts to maintain and increase their loyalty. Highly engaged customers are more likely to upgrade to your premium-tier content when you add another pricing tier.

Premium Content Should be Kept Simple and Familiar

Premium content does not mean something drastically different from your brand’s content style. It should still be in line with your brand identity and style. This is especially important if you have different formats of content, as it can become more challenging to describe what you are offering. If customers don’t understand, they won’t buy. Don’t sell something completely different or new, as customers will not resonate with it. Add a layer of value without changing the core foundation of your product/services.

Make it Easy for Subscribers to Pay for Premium Content

Keep your pricing model easy and simple to understand for customers. Offer suitable and convenient payment options. Customers use subscription-based products and services for the convenience of instant renewal and delivery. As such, make sure to offer several payment options to your customers. This is why recurring direct debit payments are so popular. Customers can set up Direct Debit Payments, and every month the subscription fee is directly charged from the customer’s bank account. Besides offering multiple payment options, you should display your pricing right at the front and center so that customers are not confused about the price. Do not confuse the customer by hiding the pricing. Complete transparency goes a long way in building customer loyalty and more long-lasting, trustworthy relationships. Some businesses try to hide their cancel subscription button by complicating the process, requiring a phone call, or retaining some/all of the customer data. This may keep the customer on board a bit longer, but in the long run, this strategy is catastrophic. Customers share their horror stories with their friends and family and share them on social media, which drastically impacts the company’s reputation. 

The most successful subscription-based companies, like Netflix, are giving more and more freedom to their customers to cancel anytime. They have completely eliminated the annual subscription as they are too binding. Additionally, they automatically cancel subscriptions if the account has not that has been used in 12 months or more. Some companies are also offering a “Pause” button that allows customers to take a break from their subscriptions while retaining all of their data. 

Keep your pricing reasonable

Overall, users believe that digital delivery should cost less and that they should be spending less overall compared to print. However, you have to factor in the instant convenience and searchability of the content, especially for specific kinds of information. Pack as much value into your content compared to the price as possible. Most subscription-based businesses offer some kind of “freemium” to allow their customers to understand the value of their products/services before committing to pay. Offering such “freemium” increase the value of your products/services in the eyes of your customers. 
Subscription-based models are becoming the way for many businesses to grow in this digital-forward economy. Businesses should note that they need to focus on meeting customer demands, needs, and expectations in such uncertain and unpredictable times. As experts in the programmatic advertising market, Publir offers a one-of-a-kind unified platform specifically built to maximize earnings for digital content creators. We provide complete solutions for Ad Optimization, Subscriptions, Crowdfunding, QuickShop, and AdBlock Recovery.

The post Tips for Building a Premium Tier Content Subscription first appeared on Publir.

The Implication of Subscription-Based Content for Brands

Companies can find ways to widen their top-of-funnel content in order to attract even more readers to subscribe to their content. For a successful subscription-based business, brands need to widen the top of their funnel by making mass offerings a part of their businesses. To meet their consumers’ need for new content, businesses have to collaborate with external partners. Similarly, they can use cognitive technology, including artificial intelligence, to predict consumer preferences and behavior and offer them a unique experience.

Despite the initial high investment, subscription-based models are more valuable for customers than single-pay models. Subscription-based models also offer the possibility of expanding the range of services offered and increasing the fee as customers have to pay more for premium content. This means greater profitability. Disney Plus operates on this model.

The Implication of Subscription-Based Content for Customers

As discussed earlier, subscription-based models give more control to the customer by personalizing content creation. Such personalization has distanced viewers from traditional media like television, radio, and print by reducing their attractiveness and influence. To keep up with the change, many traditional media platforms have adopted the subscription model to retain and engage their audience. They are offering 24-hour content, premium content, and even previews.

The subscription-based model leads to the emergence of social tribes, i.e., paying a subscription fee makes consumers belong to an elite social tribe in which sharing and consuming similar content becomes a way of fostering and consolidating existing social relationships.

Transformation of Content

Besides affecting users and businesses, subscription-based models are transforming the kind of content produced, which is increasingly catered to meet the audience’s needs. With regards to this, local nuances to global content is what makes the business different from others. While the content should have a global approach, it must be tailored by keeping the local audiences in mind. Modern content has to focus more on contemporary problems, dilemmas, and political issues, as it has to remain in touch with the social moment. As such, a lot of content these days focuses on diversity, sustainability, and equality which are the major challenges of the current era. However, brands are constantly under pressure to create content. Often, they adopt a volume strategy in which they offer a wide range of content, but all are similar to each other. As such, the level of originality differentiation is low, but the supply is high. 

The Future of Subscription-Based Content

Subscription-based business models have been successful in adapting to the needs of their customers. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, 60% of younger generation consumers already use paid subscriptions for their entertainment and information. In a few years, this will be a reality across all age groups.

The pandemic has particularly accelerated subscription-based businesses that have experienced a digital boom. Overall, the subscription-based economy has grown by 400% in the last decade. As the competition in the space intensifies, players are looking for new ways to innovate, improve their offerings and meet the customer’s needs. They are trying to surprise their customers frequently with new offers, launching new content, and constant renewal of offers. Most customers have subscribed to more than one platform, which means differentiation has become increasingly difficult, and offering just exclusive and diverse content is not enough. 

It must be noted that subscription-based platforms are not just competing amongst themselves; they are also competing with users themselves, who have created democratic platforms like Patreon to democratize the subscription model. As such, differentiation has become a challenge in the face of rising subscription-based content. Platforms like Netflix have become victims of their own success. Continuing to grow has become difficult. They are now controlling shared accounts and family plans, just like Spotify. Even the most successful subscription models have to continuously innovate, expand and evolve to meet their customer’s needs and satisfy them across all touch points.

The above discussion suggests that subscription-based models will continue to grow in an era of increasing personalization. The key to a successful subscription model is continuous innovation and evolution based on customers’ needs and expectations.

The post Why Are Content Subscriptions Most Important Today? first appeared on Publir.

1. Create a Buyer’s Persona 

A buyer’s persona refers to a semi-fictional representation of the target audience of your brand. Buyer personas have been used by brands for decades to market their products and services effectively. Some brands develop a range of buyer personas to capture the different ranges of audiences they are targeting. A buyer’s persona may include – name, demographic details, behavioral traits, personal interests, buying habits, pain points, professional goals, etc. Buyer personas facilitate a better understanding of your audience’s behaviors and interests. This allows you to create content especially tailored for them. 

2. Map Out the Buyer’s Journey

Besides buyer personas, another thing that you should develop early in your content strategy is the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey refers to the steps your customers take, from identifying a problem to making a purchase decision to address that problem. It should be noted that buyers have different goals at each stage of their journey, which is they should be addressed with different kinds of content at each stage to keep them engaged. For instance, if a prospective customer is just identifying the problem, they should not be hit with your sales pitch video. Similarly, if the customer is about to make a purchase decision should not be hit with an article about the issue in the industry. Mapping out the buyer’s journey ensures that your customer gets the right kind of content at the right time that addresses their concerns. 

3. Choose the Right Formats for Your Audience 

As discussed above, content can be created in a variety of formats. Everything from audiobooks to webpages is considered content. As such, picking the right format for your content pieces is crucial. Think about the end goal of your content pieces and the format should align with that goal to maximize its impact. 

4. Optimize Your Content for SEO

To improve its searchability, optimize your content for search engine optimization (SEO). This can mean incorporating relevant keywords, formatting your content into bullets and numbered lists to improve its readability, and adding meta text and alt descriptions for images. 

5. Delegate Content Creation 

Content creation is not an easy job, and it gets more difficult if you have to produce a lot of content. If you do not have enough in-house writers, consider delegating some work to ghostwriters. There are many advantages of delegating content, such as better quality, fewer grammatical errors, reduced timelines, and more creative pieces. 

6. Promote Your Content

Content creation is not enough. You have to promote it to ensure people see it. Spread your content across different platforms to get as many readers/viewers as possible. Some ways to distribute your content include newsletters, paid social media posts, email blasts, and website pop-ups. 

7. Make Use of Tools

Use various strategic tools to get an edge over your competition. Many SEO tools can help you improve your rankings and make improvements in your content. Other tools like Canva and Vidyard help you create videos and images. Various reporting tools measure how your content is performing across different platforms.

8. Identify KPIs to Make Improvements

Reporting tools can help you understand the performance of your content and make changes to your content to improve traffic. For instance, you should have a measurable goal for each content piece in terms of the number of views, or clicks, to analyze results over time. This will allow you to re-evaluate your strategy and make adjustments if you are not hitting your goals. 

9. Create an Editorial Calendar

Sometimes, it might be hard to manage the process of content creation with so much going on (from creating a buyer’s persona to marketing). As such, it is crucial to have a content calendar to know what content to create and when it needs to go out, and what needs to be published. 

10. Improve your Headlines

Headlines are the first thing your audience will read. If your headline doesn’t work, then the content may be a wasted opportunity. Create eye-catching headlines that invite readers’ curiosity. 

11. Make Your Content Interactive

The highest-performing content is interactive content. Audiences like to engage in the content they receive. It doesn’t have to be complicated (quizzes, polls, infographics, etc., are great examples of easy interactive ideas). 

The key to successful content creation is a well-balanced content strategy. The above-discussed content creation will help you get started with the content creation and marketing process.

The post Content Creation Tips to Grow Your Audience first appeared on Publir.