Content writing can feel like a bit of a minefield. 

It can seem meaningless - “How is my post with the most engagement one about what biscuits I have with my tea?”

It can seem slimy - “If I have to tell my audience to like, follow, comment and follow the link to buy one more time, I’m going to scream!”

It can seem frustrating - “They just don’t seem to want what I do… arghhh!”

I’m well aware of this as a business marketing copywriter and content writing mentor. But there is a way to simplify the whole thing and make it feel better. 

Let me introduce you to The Empowerment Principle. It’s a triad of beliefs I came up with that can be empathetically encouraged through your content to turn your audience from passive to active.

Let’s go through them one by one. 

Belief in themselves

Your audience needs to believe in themselves to become paying clients. Otherwise, they’ll stay passively viewing and maybe engaging with your content while never taking any meaningful action. 

When we ask people to get help with us, we’re asking them to change. Even if it’s a super small change. We’re sharing a new way to do things. So if your audience members don’t believe they have the capacity to achieve the goal you help people with, they’re not going to bother changing. 

They may worry about a lack of skills and experience. They may worry about a lack of time and finances. They may worry about something deeper or more specific to your niche. Either way, they need to believe they can change and successfully bring out the goal they are yearning for. 

A piece of content exploring a testimonial from a client your audience can relate to will help them to believe they are capable of the same change and success. (Get a template for a testimonial social media post in The Content Oracle.)

Belief in you

You aren’t the default for enacting change when your audience is in the headspace that they are capable of change. They could go on their journey alone. They could turn to a competitor. They could try out an alternative. 

They need to believe that you are the guiding light that they need to achieve what they want. You’re a pair of safe hands. You’re a reliable expert. You understand them enough to take them from where they are now to where they want to go. 

Think about what your ideal client will be looking for in their go-to expert for the area you help with. What personality type are they drawn to and work well with? How do they want to feel? What would prove your value in their mind - qualifications, experience, social proof etc?

Sharing your personal experiences can work really well. It humanises you which deepens your emotional connection with your audience members. It validates you as an expert because you have lived experience that makes you relatable and better able to empathise with your ideal client.

By being open, honest and vulnerable yourself, you give your audience members permission to be open, honest and vulnerable too. They need to feel comfortable with that to reach out for help in the first place. (Again I have a template for a personal story social media post over in The Content Oracle.)

Belief in your offer

So they want to work with you but how? They need the right framework that you’ll guide them through to say yes to working with you. Depending on your ideal client, the right framework will be at a price they can afford while reflecting the value of the product, a time commitment they can manage while clocking up enough hours to see a real change, and at a knowledge level that challenges them without completely going over their head. 

These three elements do impact each other. For example, a more affordable offer will require more of a time commitment from your ideal client because you’re not doing it all for them. If your ideal client has advanced knowledge in your area of expertise, your offer will be higher priced because you are sharing more advanced knowledge. 

However your offer falls within these three areas, you need to properly explain it for your audience to understand and opt in to it. My sales post structure helps you to do this logically and empathetically. Who would’ve guessed it, that structure is available in The Content Oracle. 

While some marketers believe in agitating the audience to get them to act, I believe in empowering your audience. It feels better for everyone. Don’t you want to interact with and work with people who are excited by what you do instead of scared of what will happen if they don’t do it?

The empowerment principle informs everything I do in The Content Oracle, my monthly membership which is constantly updated with grab & go content marketing structures, frameworks and resources. This ranges from social media structures to email frameworks to blog templates to strategy resources including a resource on the empowerment principle. Check it out if you’d like to write compelling content quicker.

How are you going to empower your audience to take action?