How to write sticky content (even if you’re not Lady Gaga)

by Amaya Marichal

Same old story. You’re writing a review for the company’s Newsletter or an article for a popular magazine. Maybe it’s just an email or a simple post for Tumblr. But there it is: The Almighty Message. You look at your text and you can’t help but wonder if it’s alluring enough to get everybody’s attention. And trust me, you WANT everybody’s attention.

It’s been 6 years since the first time I wrote a post for my blog and I still can’t define with precision what readers want. There are, of course, some general guidelines to follow but you must take into consideration that intuition is a very important matter in this process.

Creating killer content is something beautiful and inspiring, isn’t it? Well, let me warn you: it may become your worst nightmare if you are totally clueless.

But don’t worry. We know sometimes it’s difficult to produce attractive messages and that’s the reason why we’ve got some useful tips. What follows is a list of things you should be doing to get the most out of your text and to seduce your readers ASAP:

• Catchy headlines. This is the most important advice of all. Headlines, more than anything else, will catch the eye of your readers (and potential customers). Make them curious! They won’t read the text if the headline doesn’t grab their attention. You can start reading the headlines of popular articles to get an idea. Once you understand  why magnetic headlines pull readers in, you’ll want to have them every time. Don’t be afraid to be a little bold and crazy when it comes to headlines. This is the perfect occasion to be flashy!
• Flawless text. Oh, the eternal problem of a text full of errors. Please, have a little respect for your readers and get used to consulting a dictionary or thesaurus. Believe it or not, once you train yourself to detect errors, you can’t NOT detect them. Remember that mispelling is just as repulsive as bad breath, and you don’t want that.
• Decorate your work of art. As much as possible, include a relevant photo or graphic. I know you think your text is so perfect that it doesn’t need anything else. Just remember that a picture is worth a thousand words.
• Read, read, read! Yes, you’ve got it right. I did say “read”. If you want to become a good writer, you can start by reading good stuff. The more you read, the better equipped you’ll be. That should give you lots of ideas for hot topics and catchy phrases for your readers.
• How-to articles. Sometimes you must be useful to your readers by teaching them something new or showing them resources they can use to accomplish a task. If there’s some kind of knowledge or guide in your text, it’s almost sure that your readers will bookmark it and share it with their friends.  So, be helpful and your content will be viral.
• My top 10. People love lists about anything. And the great thing about lists is that they are very easy to read (and to write). Your readers can easily catch your main points without having to spend much time reading the whole text. So, take advantage of bullets  to have a better structure, summarize your content and share your top 10 points.

Finally, please note that it’s not what you write but how you write it what makes your content charming. How to write sticky content (even if you’re not Lady Gaga)