The Power of a Content Series
Episode #5 of the course How to rapidly grow your email list by Jessica Festa
Get excited, because today’s strategy is POWERFUL. While the passive strategies we’ve learned are helpful, let’s take it up a notch by enticing readers with a Content Series.
What’s a Content Series?
A Content Series is three to five pieces of content that teach one long strategy. In order to fully understand the concept being taught, the reader will need to read the entire series.
Let’s say you’re a social media expert wanting to create a series on using Pinterest to increase blog traffic. Your posts might be:
• How to Primp Your Pinterest Profile (to Encourage Clicks)
• 6 Mistakes You’re Making on Pinterest (and How to Fix Them)
• 10 Influencers Share How They Use Pinterest to Drive Blog Traffic
Notice how the third part is a collaborative post where you quote other influencers? Once the post publishes, ask these influencers to share it on their channels for additional traffic (and potential subscribers). Here’s an example.
Create Your Content Upgrade
To further increase engagement—and encourage readers to subscribe—create a Content Upgrade to go along with the series. For the above example, you could create a Pinterest Profile Makeover Checklist.
The checklist should be promoted not just once, but throughout the series.
Your Pinterest Pin
Speaking of Pinterest, make sure you also have a gorgeous vertical graphic at the top (800 x 1200) that features an enticing image relevant to the post topic.
Along with including the post title in the pin design, add text at the bottom that says something like, “Free checklist inside!” You can get creative in a graphic design tool like Canva and add an arrow pointing from the text to a checklist icon.
By adding this graphic to your posts, you make it easy for your readers to share the post on Pinterest. Additionally, when new people see the graphic, they’ll be enticed not only by the juicy title but also the awesome freebie inside. The graphic at the top of this post gives a great example.
Getting Return Visitors
Once you have your Content Series ready to publish, create a schedule and note it at the top of each. For example, something like, “Every Monday for the next three weeks, I’ll be sharing information on gaining massive blog traffic through Pinterest.”
Underneath that, offer a bullet list of the post titles. As a new one publishes, link it in the list to make it easy for people to click through the series.
Additionally, link to your email opt-in form while telling people to subscribe to be notified when the next post in the Content Series publishes.
A Handy Tool
As I mentioned yesterday, it’s possible to create multiple popups, with each being shown to a particular website visitor based on what they were reading. Remember this for your Content Series too.
Personally, I use ConvertPlug. With this tool (and others like it), you can create a variety of popups. So, you can create an inline opt-in form that automatically shows within your Content Series posts, as well as an opt-in form that shows at the end of the post.
So if you promoted the Pinterest checklist within the post they were reading, set ConvertPlug to show visitors reading this Content Series an upgraded offer, like a Pinterest email course. It gives you another opportunity to turn a reader into a subscriber—and to further help them.
Your Turn
Consider a strategy you could teach to your audience. Then, draft out a three-part Content Series through which to teach it—loaded with opportunities for them to opt in to your list, of course.
Recommended book
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
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