These days the competition in every aspect of life has got a furious form and the business is no exception. Deeper relationships with clients are now more important than ever. Big names like Apple, Xbox, Starbucks, and Calvin Klein are some shining examples of the result of better relationships with their clients which in turn drives greater loyalty for the brand.
The same is the case for bloggers who are looking for high-devotion readers. A deeper understanding of their situations and practicing to be a solution for them is the key. Whether you are marketing/affiliate marketing for a business, sharing some tips, giving away free tutorials; but if you are not connecting it personally with your readers, you are greatly missing an important thing required to yield desired results.
Making the readers feel cozy with the content, and turning your blog into a nice and welcoming place for a great get-together, the following unrecognized but effective tips will work wonders.
Part 1: General Tips
1.1. Be conversational:
Just consider, will anyone like to gossip with a large enterprise/firm? Would anyone like to develop bonds with the mechanized systems/robots? Absolutely No!
Sounding like a human, start the conversations in a way considering you are typing a message to an online friend. Such kind of content will engage the audience better. While discussing a topic feel the problems being faced generally in the sphere and try to be a solution.
Everyday words and exclamation, in place of formal sentences with esoteric words, make the text more engaging and sounds friendly. Short sentences (unconventionally) starting with AND BUT BECAUSE, and addressing the audience in first-person, drives more engagements.
1.2. Similes, Metaphors, and abstract ideas:
Everyone loves a good analogy and most people fall for metaphors much easily. Analogies and metaphors have the power to simplify complex issues by the ability to connect an unknown thing to the known. Using metaphorical imagery makes the readers see, hear, feel, what the topic is being discussed. More specific and sensory your imagery is, better is the experience and impact of your writing.
1.3. Be interested in readers’ demands:
Care about the readers and look to them for inspiration. Treating them as your best-friends, respect, and help them in what they desire. Asking questions within the blogs, comments and at other media platforms, not only drives better engagement and traffic at the blog, but also gets you with great ideas to work on and an opportunity to help your clients for deeper relations.
1.4. Instill emotions in your writings:
Apart from only teaching something, the inspirational tone must also be there to let the people drive motivation from your blog. Changing their belief or inspiring to take some action is the skill that needs to be inculcated. Empathizing with readers in the content and concluding with a motivational and meaningful sentence, not only absorbs them with your writings but the impetus to do something make them your loyal fans.
1.5. Be frank about past mistakes and vulnerability:
Only giving tips and smart advice will cast your image as a snooty disciplined professor giving life lessons, exemplifying his achievements. If talked about your past mistakes, weakness, leisure activities, hobbies and some problems arisen because of them will give an amiable perspective about a ‘human’ friend.
Everyone commits a mistake and to eliminate those chances, people look forward to the blog. If your own mistakes are explained and the ways are suggested to overcome them, the practice will yield greater engagement.
Be careful with this point as over-familiarity can be uncanny, but be naturally ‘you’.
Part 2: Psychological Tips
2.1 Consistency in approach:
Familiarity and internal consistencies not only create a brand-recall easily but also keeps customers happy in terms of experience. A change subconsciously stops one and urges to assess the situation which hampers the seamless flow. Color, themes, branding style, and other important elements must be identical throughout. Frequent changes confuse the visitors so a consistent aesthetic approach must be there.
2.2 Customized Experience:
Everyone likes to be treated in a special way, and making the readers feel important for the blog is a great way to develop deeper relations at the personal level. 70% of the brand perception is determined by its interaction with peoples, and the blog is your representative for the patrons.
Addressing a person in blog posts, or saying something to him in his/her native language or the dialect with slang terms familiar to them, offering special discounts/privileges to loyal fans, connecting personally on social media, providing a hand-written note at special occasions will be highly appreciated and the loyalty will be at greater levels.
2.3 Create curiosity with incomplete stories:
Humans are inherently inquisitive and love to find out the complete story. Once nudged with something incomplete, they can’t settle until they know the ending. This congenital characteristic of curiosity (known as the curiosity gap in psychological terms) can easily be leveraged to pique the interest. Create suspense for the storyline, tease them and witness the success of its ending!
2.4 De-cluttering the blogs:
‘Paradox of choices’ states that providing more and more choices to the clients only confuse them and hamper the decision of making a final purchase. Many big businesses try to provide a few choices at once, only related to the stuff which the client is looking for. Avalanche of different products from all categories will make them go away. Same is with blogs. Limiting the number of options and the related other blog posts will develop a curiosity to check a few of them and explore the blog completely. A sophisticated blog with several social media buttons and a large number of different blog titles and with GIFs will definitely kill the interest. Keep it simple and user-friendly.
2.5 Social Proofs:
Before making a new decision on one hand people like to assure the credibility while on the other hand have been found to follow the herd and imitate what others do or are doing. People generally assume that one involved in an activity has superior knowledge of the field and if is doing then it is better for them as well.
Try to get endorsement for your blog with some influencers and established persons and blogs. Provide the clients with testimonials & information about what others are saying for your blog and use this golden rule of social proof to expand the customer base. Using logos of big firms seeking your services and testimonials inspires trust and motivates others to take action!
Winding up:
Whatever be the strategy, content quality is always paramount to drive traffic. Building deeper relationships also has its own impact on the success of any business entity. Instead of lain THANK YOU in the comment, try to interact more. Ask questions, tell them more apart from the blog, suggest something different, and ask for suggestions and improvement scope. These little changes in the attitude are sure to get awe-inspiring results.
