If you’ve got a blog for your brand, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about how you can get more traffic on it. But the goal of your blog isn’t just to drive traffic and get people to read your content. Ultimately, you want to use it to turn visitors into email subscribers—people you can pitch products, courses, and workshops to. What’s the best way to convince your blog visitors that you deserve a spot in their inbox? By using content upgrades.
Keep reading below to find out what content upgrades are and the 6 reasons why you need them on your blog.
Want to grow your email list exponentially faster? Create content upgrades that convert well.
Download our free list of 27 content upgrade ideas for your blog.
What are content upgrades?
A content upgrade is a lead magnet that’s been created for a specific blog post. It’s typically designed to help visitors take the “next step” in implementing the information you provide in your post. Because content upgrades are specific to particular posts, different posts will contain different content upgrades.
For example, on my blog post about how to write a services page that converts, I offer a full services page copy template and full example.
But on my post about how to write an effective call to action, I offer a cheat sheet on the 8 best places to insert a call to action on your blog or website.
You can compare content upgrades to the general lead magnets or opt-in incentives you use globally on your blog or website. An example of a general lead magnet is an ebook you feature in the sidebar, footer, and popups on most pages.
Why do you need content upgrades if you’ve already got a global lead magnet on your website or blog? We’ve got 6 reasons:
1. They’re specific
The major advantage of content upgrades is that they provide additional value on the exact topic your blog visitors are already reading about. Let’s take a look at an example to see why this is important:
Let’s imagine that you’re a social media manager. You offer a printable, full-year content calendar as a general lead magnet on your website and blog. Now let’s say that you’ve got a popular blog post on 10 killer strategies for boosting your engagement rate on Instagram. You may be hoping that the people who visit your blog to read this Instagram post will sign up to receive your content calendar.
What actually happens? Some people who land on your Instagram post probably will sign up to get your content calendar. But there’s a reason why you may not get as many subscribers as you had expected: your content calendar may not seem highly relevant to people who want to know how to boost their engagement rate on Instagram.
How do you get people who are interested in Instagram engagement to sign up for your email list in exchange for a lead magnet? You offer them a resource that’s specific to Instagram engagement. In other words, you offer them a content upgrade. In this case, your content upgrade could be a cheat sheet on how to implement the strategies you describe in your Instagram engagement blog post.
2. They convert better
Content upgrades don’t just offer more specific value to your blog visitors. They also convert better. Because content upgrades are highly relevant to the content your visitors are already reading, they’ll be more likely to sign up to receive them. That’s why average conversion rates for content upgrades tend to be higher than those for general lead magnets. In fact, digital marketer and blogger Brian Dean experienced a 785% increase in email opt-ins when he first started using content upgrades.
3. They offer more value
Because content upgrades are specific to the topic of a blog post, your blog will contain a range of content upgrades your visitors can sign up for. As a result, your visitors don’t have to settle for getting a free resource on just one topic. They can tap into a collection of resources that target different problems or goals they have.
Here are examples of just some of the content upgrades I offer on the Inpression Editing blog:
- A list of 63 email subject line templates
- A checklist of the copy to include on the 3 most important pages of your website
- Resource list of 11 blog automation tools to reduce your workload
In addition, because content upgrades are designed to help visitors implement the information you provide in a blog post, they provide more value by being more actionable than a general lead magnet.
4. They allow you to stand out and position yourself as an expert
It’s becoming more common for online businesses and bloggers to use content upgrades on their blogs. However, lots of people still aren’t using them. This means that you can make your brand stand out by putting in the time to create them and add them to your blog.
It’ll take some work up front, but if you’ve got tons of valuable content that targets your audience’s key concerns and is available for free, you won’t remain a secret for long. Your blog will get more attention, your audience will learn about your expertise, and you’ll become a go-to resource in your niche.
5. They help you identify what your audience wants
Content upgrades don’t just allow you to provide value to your audience. They also help you learn about the type of value your audience wants the most. By comparing the conversion rates of different content upgrades, you can identify the topics your audience is most interested in and the type of resources they like the most.
On the Inpression Editing blog, for example, I’ve found that templates have particularly high conversion rates. Check out my 72 blog post title templates, landing page copy template, and welcome email series copy template for examples.
Now that you know more about what your audience wants, you can create content, products, and services that are more aligned with their needs.
6. They boost sales
If you know more about your audience and create products or services that align with their needs, you’ll make more sales. However, this isn’t the only way content upgrades help you boost your revenue and profits.
When visitors sign up for content upgrades, you can get your email marketing program to tag them based on the topic of the upgrade they signed up for (e.g., Instagram tips vs. Facebook tips). This allows you to pitch your products or services to a more targeted audience. For example, if you offer a paid workshop on Instagram marketing and sell digital guides on Facebook Ads, you can send an email campaign about the Instagram workshop to your Instagram subscribers and a campaign about the Facebook Ads guides to your Facebook subscribers.
When you segment your subscribers and focusing on pitching only the products or services that are most relevant to them, you’ll be able to optimize your sales.
Start adding content upgrades to your blog today
You may be tempted to use only general lead magnets on your blog because they take less time to create and implement. But the truth is that if you pass on incorporating content upgrades into your content marketing strategy, you’ll be missing out on lots of subscribers, and your email list will continue to grow at a snail’s pace.
Fire up that email list today by creating content upgrades that help you convert more visitors into subscribers, promote your brand, and make more sales.
Want to grow your email list exponentially faster? Create content upgrades that convert well.
Download our free list of 27 content upgrade ideas for your blog.
