10 Tips for More Compelling Content

How to get results from your website, newsletter, or social media content

  1. Be specific, not vague.
    Not: “Hunger is a problem in our community.”
    But: “Two-hundred and fifty children in Bedford will go to bed hungry tonight.”
  2. Email Subject Lines
    Which are you most likely to open?
    Subject: July newsletter
    or
    Subject: 10 ways to save money on car repairs
  3. Don’t forget the call to action:
    • Subscribe…
    • Share this…
    • Register for…
    • Download this…
    • Don’t miss the…
  4. Make it personal.
    Write as though you were talking to an individual reader, not to “an audience.”
  5. What’s in it for me?
    Whether you want customers, volunteers, donors or students…tell them how they will benefit.
  6. Make me care.
    Write content that elicits emotion.
  7. It’s about me, not you.
    Provide content that will help people solve their problems.
  8. “Show,” don’t “tell.”
    Tell stories about how lives have been changed, not about an issue.
  9. Speak my language.
    Identify who you are trying to reach and use language they understand.
  10. 10. Don’t just inform me…
    Entertain me, inspire me, make me trust you, make me want to know more.