Creating Engaging Content A Guide for Student Influencers

Content is king, and the ability to create engaging content is one of the most vital skills for modern creative writers. This is especially true for influencers who consider students their primary audience. Because students nowadays mostly appreciate colourful, easy-to-read articles on actual topics, saturated by images and infographics. 

Fortunately, everyone can learn to write fun and engaging content, regardless of what it might be: custom essays for IT specialties, blog posts, or short articles. We have prepared a few essential tips and hacks that will definitely boost your writing skills and bring your content to the next level. 

Always Start with Research, Find Something Interesting For Your Audience

The final goal of content marketing is to draw in your target audience by addressing their concerns and answering their queries. Even though most content marketing methods start by discussing problems that their target audience has, when writers are stuck for ideas, they tend to wander far from the main subject that people find intriguing. 

Consequently, the information loses effectiveness as its audience stops finding it relevant and interacting. After a while, most content writers get bored with the subject and start covering related but distinct themes to fulfil their creative needs. 

This is a common mistake for many inexperienced writers. Just remember the golden rule: if you don’t find the subject you are writing about engaging, it doesn’t matter, while your core audience thinks the opposite. Maintain focus and use your content to address frequently asked topics instead. 

The best solution can be actually talking to your target demographic and listening to their complaints and concerns. When you speak to an audience one-on-one, you can usually glean more information about their struggles by asking them clarifying questions. If you cannot contact some students over the phone or personally, send an email survey to your contact list inquiring about their problems.    

Be Original 

Creating original material is challenging today. It is highly probable that another individual is addressing a comparable topic, capturing a similar image, or conducting the same study. But don’t worry, that’s OK and totally normal! The objective is to create unique information. Given the competition, marketers find it most challenging to create content that people want to read.

Do you know how to overcome this? Think outside the box. Writing a blog post revisiting an old subject is fine. However, you shouldn’t copy other people’s work. Put your twist on the topic and speak your mind. Put your unique spin on your writing so that it stands out. Make sure that everything you create reflects your personality. Your efforts in this area will form a dedicated fan base: while this does need more work, it will make writing engaging content much more accessible. 

Creating Engaging Content A Guide for Student Influencers

Write A Compelling Headline 

Your content’s headline is the most important line in the whole article! It can be challenging to make your headline compelling, transparent, and engaging at the same time. Such success can require a colossal amount of practice. If you are struggling with creating a compelling title, consider exploring titles on professional and popular blogs. All you need is to catch the voice, and it will become much more manageable to produce new titles in the future. 

Don’t Just Repeat “Best Practice” Advice, Offer Original Solutions and Hacks

Giving “best practice” advice is another common error many writers make when writing content. The problem is that you’re not alone in offering the same best practice recommendations; your audience has probably tried everything on your list and is still not seeing any improvement.

For instance, sending out tailored guest post pitches is generally considered a great link-building technique. However, engagement rates are usually relatively low when that suggestion is followed. So, it’s probably not the best suggestion for getting backlinks, even though it’s a frequently regarded “best practice” technique.

As you design your material, tackle the issues with conventional wisdom first and then provide more effective answers using personal experience, case studies, and statistics. The substance of the advice (not the formatting, language, or polish) genuinely defines high-quality material. You will quickly become recognised as an authority in your field if your recommendations reliably address the audience’s issues better than your competitors’ content. 

Choose Your Timing Wisely 

Several studies have demonstrated that people’s behaviours vary throughout the day. Posting an article about the best foods and drinks to help you sleep or ideas for last-minute costumes for your child’s school World Book Day event is more likely to resonate with your audience of young mothers than providing them with advice on where to get affordable car insurance first thing in the morning. Yes, we are saying that proper timing of publication may increase the quality of your content, you got it right. 

Select Fitting Format 

This advice is connected to the last one, but it comes down to the format you use to present your material. You shouldn’t try to feed your audience a seven-minute-long read on how to be more organised amid morning rush hour, trying to get the kids to school while navigating traffic and avoiding their boss’s yelling at them for being late three days in a row. A long read requires a lot of effort from your audience.

According to numerous surveys, people have very little time for anything other than caffeine-containing drinks first thing in the morning. This is especially important for news articles but also applies to content promoting businesses, services, or goods. Choose the proper time for your content, and only that can make your article more engaging! 

Use Conversational Tone and, Of Course, Tons of Visuals! 

No one likes reading or listening to material that sounds like a textbook, so make sure to use a conversational tone. People will stop engaging with your material if they have trouble comprehending it. Academic tone can work when you are writing a research paper (and you can even purchase research paper if you are struggling with those), but for engaging articles, you need a more friendly conversational style. 

Visual aids such as infographics, graphs, and charts are very useful because they can transmit a great deal of information with little effort. Never underestimate the importance of visuals; images are incredible decorations for every article. 

Using conversational language also facilitates developing a stronger rapport with your intended audience. Your ability to turn viewers into buyers is directly proportional to how quickly they trust you. 

Always Repeat the Tricks That Worked in the Past 

Lastly, if you identify a particular style of content or topic your audience enjoys, focus on producing material comparable to that style. Many people who create content experiment with different approaches until they find one that works. If you want to know what your target audience loves, look no further than your best-performing content. Just make more of it, but in the same format and with the same subject.

Repeatedly publishing the same content is also possible. Even if some of your audience reads your material the first time you publish it, there’s a big possibility they forgot about it. Reposting it is a terrific way to reach them again and get the same great results. Remember to refresh your top-performing content as it loses traction.

Always Publish Only Accurate Information 

It would be best to exercise caution while disclosing personal information. These days, just about anyone can upload anything to the Internet. You must ensure that the websites you choose for sourcing are accurate and high-quality.

Even if you find a seems-credible reference, you can only verify its accuracy if it appears on a random blog with a citation. That’s why it’s crucial to get your facts from reputable sources. Verify the source’s credibility and if it is up to date.

Research or statistics gathered a decade ago might not apply now. Others will be more receptive to your content if it contains factual and current information. Another piece of advice: don’t throw out any of your old stuff. 

You can update it with current information and include a disclaimer saying it has been “refreshed” even if you published it in 2012. It’s almost always a winning tactic! This demonstrates to all visitors that the website values publishing factual content, attracting more readers. If you genuinely wish to impress your audience, you might produce your study after conducting your research. 

The Bottom Line 

Producing high-quality and engaging content is hard. If you want to become a famous student influencer, you will undoubtedly need to face severe competition and stand out from the crowd. One way to stand out is by writing top-notch and exciting articles; some tips from our article can help you achieve it. Nevertheless, in order to truly succeed, one will need excellent general writing skills, cast experience in creative writing, and a bit of talent. It is a long road, but it is never too late to make the first step.

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About the Author: Jonathan Bird

Jon built Delivered Social to be a ‘true’ marketing agency for businesses that think they can’t afford one. A dedicated marketer, international speaker and proven business owner, Jon’s a fountain of knowledge – after he’s had a cup of coffee that is. When not working you'll often find him walking Dembe, his French Bulldog.

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