How to Quickly Write Effective, Attention-Getting Content in Six Easy Steps

In today’s fast-paced and, let’s face it, noisy digital landscape, compelling attention-getting content is crucial for business owners looking to expand their reach and influence. 

But why is compelling, attention-getting content so important?

Consumers have become adept at tuning out marketing in a world saturated with digital noise. They start actively noticing and seeking content when they have a specific need or problem. I’m sure you’ve experienced this yourself. This is where the power of compelling content comes into play.

Even the best advertising will not change a consumer’s state of need. ~ James’ism

What makes it compelling?

Compelling content resonates with your customer avatar and aligns with their buyer’s journey. 

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Compelling content is outside-in content.

It cuts through the digital clutter by resonating with your target audience’s specific pain points, questions, and aspirations. When your content speaks directly to their needs, it separates from the background because it’s a valuable resource that captures attention and builds trust. Compelling content supports the buyer’s journey.

For business owners using content marketing, this means crafting content that helps your audience solve problems or achieve goals while genuinely showcasing your expertise. 

“Awesome! But this seems like it’s a lot of work. I don’t have the time for this. How can I produce compelling content quickly?”

I understand. Content creation requires time and effort, but its benefits to your business are well worth it. Businesses that prioritize content marketing see six times higher conversion rates than those that don’t. According to a study by HubSpot, companies that blog receive 97% more links to their websites, significantly boosting their search engine visibility and authority and, ultimately, traffic.

While it may seem daunting, there are strategies you can implement to streamline your content creation process without sacrificing quality. By focusing on a few key steps, you can efficiently produce compelling content that captures attention and resonates with your audience.

If you recognize the long-term value of content marketing, especially when it comes to blog content, the investment of time and resources makes sense. Why? The content you create, particularly blog posts, is evergreen and will attract prospects for years to come. Unlike paid advertising, which stops working when you stop paying, or organic social media, which has limited reach and interrupts viewers, blog content is searched for by prospects. It continues to work for you 24/7, long after it’s published.

For instance, at Inn8ly, most of our SEO traffic and leads come from posts published months ago. This “compounding” effect means that as you consistently create valuable content, your overall traffic and lead generation potential grows exponentially over time. It’s like planting seeds that grow into a flourishing garden, continuously bearing fruit.

Moreover, evergreen content can be repurposed and updated, extending its lifespan and value. A single well-researched blog post can be transformed into multiple pieces of content across various platforms, maximizing the return on your initial investment.

This post will cover six easy steps for writing effective, attention-getting content quickly. These steps will help you create valuable resources that resonate with your customer avatar, support their journey, and showcase your expertise. When you’ve finished, you will have the tools to quickly create content marketing that will drive long-term results for your business.

For more insights on the significance of content marketing, check out our post on Why Your Business Can’t Afford to Ignore Content Marketing. 

Now, let’s explore six simple steps that will help you create high-quality, engaging content that truly connects with your audience and breaks through the noise!

1. Define Your Objective

Before you start writing, clearly identify your content’s purpose. What are you trying to do, and where does it fit in the marketing funnel?

Your Objectives

Content that’s designed to attract high-quality customers who are ready to buy.

• Increase brand awareness?
• Generate leads?
• Boost sales of a specific product or service?
• Establish thought leadership in your industry?

Your Prospect’s Objectives

Where does the content you are creating fit in the marketing funnel?

• Top of funnel—they are just getting started
• Mid funnel—they are considering their options
• Lower funnel—they are prospecting for a solution

Balancing your objectives and your prospect’s objectives is crucial for compelling content. It needs to work for the reader, and it needs to work for the business. Both are important. 

You may have heard of search intent. You can use search intent as a proxy for each stage in the marketing funnel.

Understanding Search Intent

Search intent is the reason behind a user’s online search. 

Search intent typically falls into four categories:

1. Informational: Users seeking knowledge or answers
2. Navigational: Users looking for a specific website or page
3. Commercial: Users researching products or services before making a purchase
4. Transactional: Users ready to make a purchase or take action

Understanding search intent helps align your content with your audience’s needs at different stages of the buyer’s journey:

• Top of Funnel Awareness Stage: Create informational content that addresses pain points or questions.
• Mid Funnel Consideration Stage: Develop commercial content that compares solutions or provides in-depth information.
• Lower Funnel Decision Stage: Craft transactional content to encourage action or facilitate purchases.

Matching your content’s objective to the appropriate search intent ensures that you’re supporting the buyer’s journey. This alignment improves your content’s relevance and engagement, which builds trust. As a bonus, it increases the chances your content will rank on search engine results pages.

For example, if your objective is to generate leads, you might focus on creating informational content that addresses common problems in your industry. 

A comparison post can also be used to attract customers earlier in their journey. This article on the Easy Digital Downloads site is a good example: WooCommerce vs. Easy Digital Downloads: Which Is Best?

A review post can be effective for lower-funnel prospects.

By understanding search intent, your content will attract potential customers in each stage of their journey, establishing your expertise and building trust. 

Your objective is to meet your customers where they are in their journey and guide them towards your solution.

A well-defined objective will guide your content creation and ensure it aligns with your digital marketing strategy.

2. Know Your Audience

“Marketing has always been about the same thing—who your customers are and where they are.”

~ Ryan Holiday 

Understanding your target audience is crucial for creating content that engages and converts. As a successful business owner, your audience likely consists of two or three subsegments. Consider:

• Their pain points and challenges
• Their goals and aspirations
• The language and tone that resonates with them
• The platforms they frequent

Use tools like Google Analytics and social media insights to gather data on your audience’s preferences and behaviors.

Interview your customers and use the insights to create avatars and journey maps for each subsegment. Understanding your audience is key to providing valuable content.

Use UTM codes to measure the performance of your content. 

By paying attention to what’s working and connecting with your existing customers, you will quickly understand who you are talking to. 

“Compelling content resonates with your customer avatar and aligns with their journey.” ~ James’ism

3. Choose a Compelling Topic

Select a topic that not only provides value to your audience but also aligns with your business objective.

Some effective approaches include:

• Addressing common industry challenges
• Sharing insider tips or strategies
• Analyzing current trends or news
• Providing case studies or success stories
• Product reviews and comparison posts

Use keyword research tools to identify high-potential topics your audience is actively searching for online. Look for long-tail keywords with some volume and low competition. Keywords Everywhere is a good tool for keyword research. Selecting compelling topics invites your audience into the conversation.

“Old-school marketing is based on persuasion; new marketing is based on invitation.” ~ Chris Guillebeau 

For more ideas on creating engaging topics, refer to our guide on How to Create Effective Website Content That Engages Your Readers (10 Tips).

4. Create an Outline

A well-structured outline serves as a roadmap for your content, helping you maintain focus and coherence. Include:

• An attention-grabbing headline
• An introduction that intrigues the reader and communicates the benefits of reading on
• Main points or subheadings
• Supporting details or examples
• A strong conclusion with a call-to-action (CTA)

This structure ensures your content flows logically and keeps readers engaged from start to finish. 

“Tell a story. Make it true. Make it compelling. And make it relevant.” ~ Rand Fishkin

5. Write Fast, Edit Ruthlessly

With your outline in place, focus on getting your thoughts down quickly without worrying about perfection. This approach, often called “free writing,” helps maintain momentum and creativity. 

Once you have a draft:

• Take a short break to gain a fresh perspective
• Edit without mercy—review and refine your content, focusing on clarity and conciseness
• Take another break
• Read the content out loud or, even better, have ChatGPT read it to you—ensure what you’re writing makes sense and sounds like your brand
• Edit some more
• Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors

Consider using tools like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor to streamline the editing process. When crafting your headlines and subheads, consider the insights from our post on Better Marketing Headlines: Why Benefits Perform.

6. Optimize for SEO and Readability

You should understand and keep SEO in mind, but it’s a long and expensive road. With that said, to maximize your content’s potential, optimize it for human readers first and then consider search engines.

• Include relevant keywords naturally throughout the text
• Use descriptive meta titles and descriptions
• Break up text with subheadings, bullet points, and short paragraphs
• Incorporate relevant images, infographics, or videos
• Add internal and external links to authoritative sources

This is a huge topic in its own right. For more depth on SEO and content marketing, consider our post, How to Write Blog Content That Ranks.

Mastering the Art of Writing Effective, Attention-Getting Content

Writing compelling content doesn’t have to be a time-consuming ordeal. 

By following these six easy steps, you can efficiently produce high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and drives meaningful results for your business:

1. Define Your Objective: Clearly identify what you want to achieve with your content and align it with both your business goals and your audience’s needs.
2. Know Your Audience: Understand who your audience is, what they care about, and how they engage with content to ensure your message resonates.
3. Choose a Compelling Topic: Use keyword research to find high-potential subjects that address your audience’s pain points or interests.
4. Create an Outline: Structure your content with a clear headline, introduction, main points, and a solid conclusion to keep your writing focused and engaging.
5. Write Fast, Edit Ruthlessly: Get your ideas down quickly, then refine your content by focusing on clarity, conciseness, and voice.
6. Optimize for SEO and Readability: Ensure your content is accessible to both readers and search engines by incorporating relevant keywords, formatting for readability, and including internal and external links.

Content marketing takes time, the key to success is consistency, and the reward is a continuous flow of interested prospects.

As you refine your content creation process, you’ll find that creating attention-getting, effective content becomes second nature. And the best part? This content will work for you long after it’s published, continuously attracting and engaging prospects, building trust, and ultimately driving growth for your business.

So, follow these steps and start crafting content that cuts through the noise and captures your audience’s attention. Content that brings value to your customers will stand out and bring value to your business.

Author: James Hipkin

Since 2010, James Hipkin has built his clients’ businesses with digital marketing. Today, James is passionate about websites and helping the rest of us understand online marketing. His customers value his jargon-free, common-sense approach. “James explains the ins and outs of digital marketing in ways that make sense.”

Use this link to book a meeting time with James.