How To Create Content That Converts

As a business owner, you know that you should be continually posting exciting content on social media, but how do you actually go about creating content that attracts and converts? How can you get out of the cycle of spending time each day trying to decide what to post on your page?

When I work with clients, we plan and structure content using something I’ve created called the Post-Like-A-Pro Framework. This allows us to make sure that your content will resonate with the correct audience, give you fresh ideas, and save you time and money, and ultimately leads to sales.

There are 3 steps to Post-Like-A-Pro; the first is to understand who it is you are posting for.

STEP 1
This involves splitting your audience into different avatars and defining who they are.

Instead of creating content that will appeal to everybody, it’s essential to understand that each avatar has a different mindset, is at a different place in the buying cycle and needs different information to be able to move onto the next stage. Your posts should therefore reflect the different stages of the buying cycle.

Let’s pretend you’re a personal fitness instructor; here are the different types of avatars you need to consider:

1) Problem Unaware – those who don't yet realise they have a problem that needs you to solve it for them. This content would reinforce why that problem is a problem! For example, maybe people don’t realise that the extra weight they’ve turned a blind eye to could actually have a more damaging impact on their lives than they realised. Articles, news reports and personal stories work well to drive this point home and make those who problem unaware, become, well aware! The aim is to seed that this problem is a problem!

2) Problem Aware - at this stage, your content needs to dig more deeply into the ‘problem.’ This is where content that uses urgency will be useful. For example, you could talk about how significantly more difficult it is to reverse the long-term effects of bad health after the age of 40 (if that were true!)  So you’re getting people into the mindset that they need to find a solution...and fast!

3) Solution Unaware - those in the problem-aware state may not realise you have the solution - for this subset your content needs to position your solution (personal fitness training) as a viable way to help their weight loss. Content that gives the reader other options (such as diets, hypnotherapy, surgery - albeit a bit extreme!) gives a balanced view of the solution you offer.

4) Solution Aware – they are aware that they have a problem, they know that you offer a solution to this, and will either decide to buy into it or they might be sceptical. What are the objections they might have at this stage? Do they think they can’t do it? Use case studies of others in similar situations (‘before and after’ works great for this), testimonials or other social proof. Do they think it’s too expensive? Compare the cost of your solution to other options. Not enough time? Give them a quick win (e.g. exercises they can do whilst sat at a desk). Don’t be afraid to address all the objections head-on!

The different types of posts you use will be attracting different people and avatars. The key thing is to remember every time you post, is to keep it mixed up with the different types of content so that every day you are talking to one subset of your audience.

Make sure you are really helping them to get something out of that post whether it's education, information or entertainment. This will help them to get to the next stage and make that all-important decision that they want to work with you!

Once you know who you're creating content for, how do you go about scheduling this so that you're not having to spend time every single day trying to decide what to post?

Learning to master scheduling in advance will allow you to save time, money and head-space to allow you to focus on what you do best.

STEP 2
The next step is to create a content calendar. This can be a simple spreadsheet, with a different tab for every month, and then a space for every day within that. Add all your important dates, promotions, events you’re attending etc. Also, I find it really useful to mark the main national days - everything from Mother’s Day, to Children’s Mental Health Week, to National Pet Day. If you think you can relate some content to the event, mark it in your calendar.

Choose a different topic for each month. For example (for the personal trainer), January could be kicking habits, February could be healthy eating, March could be stress. So you choose a theme that relates to your audience but also needs to be a precursor to what you offer. If you’re stuck for ideas, think about the main questions you get asked, or the areas of speciality you have within your niche. You can, of course, also duplicate topics throughout the year if it makes sense to do so for your audience.

STEP 3
Once you’ve chosen a topic that you are confident you can create content around, you now need to map out your weeks. My advice is to have a different ‘theme’ for each day. For example – Mondays might be testimonials, Tuesday an inspirational post, Wednesday FAQ to help them dispel any myths or concerns, Thursday behind the scenes and Friday a Facebook Live. Having this structure also makes it a lot easier coming up with the content you need to reach your different avatars.

Consider what types of posts you will use now each day. Look at varying the formats within these posts. Use ideas such as screenshots, photos, shared content, links to your blogs, quotes, polls, videos, long and short copy. The key is to keep it varied - different types of content will appeal to different people. Not everyone will watch your videos, and likewise, others won’t read long posts. A good mixture keeps it varied and interesting.

Use your spreadsheet to fill in the gaps for each day - you want to know what the topic is, the theme and type of post. E.g. Monday = video testimonial which talks about habit-breaking. Tuesday = create a quote post in Canva such as “you don’t break a bad habit, you replace it with a good one.” Wednesday = dispel the myth about how long it takes to form a new habit using an article or your own post.

See how it works? You’re not constantly having to come up with salesy, promo-heavy content. Instead, give your audience content that will inspire and educate; designing your content this way helps to make a connection, encourage engagement, and establish your authority.

Not only that, if you take a couple of hours each month to schedule your posts in advance, you will save so much time and headspace throughout the rest of the month.

Unless you’re using multiple platforms (which I don’t advise), scheduling can be easily done within Facebook itself (up to 6 months ahead!) - when creating your page post (in the ‘publishing tools’ tab), you simply choose to ‘schedule’ rather than ‘publish now.’ Facebook also has a great platform called Creator Studio, which also allows you to cross-post and schedule your Instagram posts too!

Once you have invested time to follow these 3 steps, you can then concentrate your time and energy on getting engagement for those posts and growing your business. Good luck!