12 How to Create Engaging Content that Resonates With Your Audience
Navigating the digital landscape can be daunting, but with the right strategies, creating content that resonates with an audience becomes an art form. This article delves into expert insights, offering actionable tips on storytelling, problem-solving, and forging genuine connections. Discover how to captivate and engage, transforming passive readers into active community members.
- Craft Relatable Stories with Visual Elements
- Write for One Specific Reader
- Pair Insight with a Shareable Hook
- Feature Real People Facing Genuine Problems
- Conduct Original Research on Your Audience
- Solve Problems with Compelling Data
- Use Language That Resonates
- Foster Connections Through Interactive Content
- Role-Play Your Target Persona
- Address High-Intent Queries with Value
- Share Personal Journey to Build Trust
- Start with Empathy for Your Audience
Craft Relatable Stories with Visual Elements
Understanding the needs and interests of your target audience is key to creating content that truly resonates. One effective strategy is to focus on storytelling, weaving relatable narratives that reflect real-life scenarios with which your audience can identify. For instance, when I was tasked with boosting engagement for a client's lifestyle blog, I chose to share personal stories of everyday people instead of generic advice articles. These stories detailed struggles and successes in balancing work, health, and personal growth, themes that mirrored the lives of the blog's audience.
Another crucial element is the use of captivating visuals and interactive elements. For example, when the blog posts included high-quality images, infographics, or short videos, they not only made the content more appealing but also increased the time visitors spent on the page. This multimodal approach helped in establishing a deeper connection with the audience, as they could see and interact with the content in various forms. Remember, the goal is to craft content that not only draws your audience in but also keeps them engaged and returning for more.
Write for One Specific Reader
If your content isn't resonating, it's probably trying to speak to too many people at once.
My top tip for creating engaging content is to stop writing for a market and start writing for a specific reader. Not a segment. Not a persona. A single person. Someone with real goals, questions, and pain points.
Before I write anything, I define exactly who the piece is for and what I want them to walk away with. That clarity sharpens the tone, pacing, and structure of the content. I'm not guessing what "a target audience" wants--I'm answering the next question someone just like them would ask.
For example, while building out the Valentine's Day campaign for a wine subscription brand, we didn't just write a generic "Gifts for Her" page. We wrote as if we were speaking directly to a guy who didn't know what to buy his partner. The language became more relatable. The value propositions became more focused. Engagement improved because the content felt personal.
When you know who you're writing for, your content naturally becomes more relevant--and relevance is what drives results.
Pair Insight with a Shareable Hook
Our top tip for creating engaging content is to pair genuine insight with a creative hook that's built for sharing. You can write the most insightful article in the world, but if it doesn't cut through the noise, it won't reach the people who need to see it.
A great example is when we wrote a serious, expert-led piece on celebrity endorsement in advertising, a topic we've encountered across multiple campaigns. To help it gain traction, we created a tongue-in-cheek video edit titled "Darth Vader: Corporate Lapdog," which stitched together years of Vader's advertising appearances. It was equal parts pop culture, surprise, and humor, and people couldn't resist sharing it.
The video acted as a gateway, drawing people in with something unexpected, then leading them to the deeper, more strategic piece of content. That combination massively improved the reach of the article, brought in backlinks, and introduced new audiences to our brand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJxhDCTEvVY
Feature Real People Facing Genuine Problems
People crave authentic stories from real humans facing genuine problems. My content strategist friend recently ran a virtual panel featuring four actual software developers sharing their messy, imperfect journeys rather than polished success stories.
He structured the discussion to follow their emotional arcs: initial excitement, unexpected roadblocks, moments of doubt, and creative breakthroughs. The audience response was electric—comments flooded in with personal connections: "That's exactly what happened to me last month!"
While my focus is event production, I've learned from Jason that authentic character development creates immediate recognition that purely technical content never achieves. Human brains naturally process information as narratives—problems, tension, resolution. Try finding customers willing to share vulnerabilities alongside victories for your next content piece.
Conduct Original Research on Your Audience
Start with your audience. Often, original pieces of primary research where you ask about the status, experience, and opinions of your audience perform best in engaging that same audience.
Working at a technology provider selling into the manufacturing industry, we conducted an annual survey of 350 decision-makers in our target audience. We asked them how much of the type of technology we sold they had already adopted. How far down that transformation were they, and did they feel ahead or behind their peers? We asked if they were achieving the results they expected or needed, whether they felt or could evidence improvements, and in what ways.
The results were always interesting (often provocative). Typically, they exposed the real challenges our target audience was facing. They revealed how the audience was committed to a better future but feared they were lagging behind their peers. Our audiences were both comforted that they were not alone (or left out) and convinced they were on the right path and that we had the insights and experience to help them.
As a bonus, throw in some questions about the vendors they know about or would consider in the category, and you have a 'free' annual brand awareness study thrown in!
Solve Problems with Compelling Data
Engaging content begins with understanding your audience. Speak directly to their needs. Every word should serve a purpose—no fluff, no filler. Readers want solutions, not empty statements. If content doesn't answer a question or solve a problem, it won't hold attention.
A strong hook is crucial. The first sentence should demand attention. Instead of saying, "Good PR helps businesses grow," say, "Bad press destroys trust and kills sales." This compels readers to engage. Curiosity drives clicks, and clicks drive conversions.
Storytelling makes the content relatable. When writing about crisis management, I shared the story of a startup that ignored a viral complaint and watched its sales plummet. The piece wasn't a list of best practices—it was a cautionary tale. Readers connected with it because they saw how it applied to them.
Data builds trust. Opinions are easy to ignore, but hard facts leave an impact. When discussing media coverage, I cited research showing that consumers trust earned media over paid ads. Numbers reinforce credibility and make content persuasive.
Engagement isn't luck—it's strategy. Write for the reader, not yourself. Test different angles. Track performance. Adjust. The best content doesn't tell people what they already know—it gives them something they can use.
Use Language That Resonates
Speak their language, not yours. That's my #1 tip. To create content that resonates, you need to live inside your audience's head--understand their fears, desires, and the words they use to describe them. For example, while working with a mental wellness brand, we ditched clinical language like "stress reduction techniques" and instead wrote about "how to stop spiraling at 2 AM." That one headline alone drove a 30% CTR from email and doubled our average time on page. When people feel seen, they stay.
Foster Connections Through Interactive Content
A common misconception about creating content is that it's all about following a formula. While this can be part of the process, the ultimate key to creating engaging content is fostering genuine connections. Don't just talk to your audience; engage with them.
So how do you do this? One key strategy is to ask your viewers open-ended questions. This can create comments (engagement) and encourage people to not just view your content but respond to it. Additionally, you can create polls and quizzes to survey your audience on what type of content they enjoy from you. This process informs you about your audience while also giving your audience something enjoyable and easy to interact with. Another important tactic is to run contests and giveaways to encourage participation. This gives your current audience incentive to share your content, tag their friends, or leave comments, which gives your content an overall higher level of engagement—essential for success.
I employed the use of the giveaway method when promoting my small business. I created a giveaway where the winner from a raffle would receive free products, and in order to be entered in the raffle, people had to 1) follow the account and 2) tag a friend. These were both simple steps, but by the end of the giveaway, the number of followers I had increased by 30%, and overall engagement was through the roof. It was incredibly effective and helped me to reach a larger audience than before.
Role-Play Your Target Persona
Here's what changed everything for me: I stopped writing "for" my audience and started writing "as" them.
Before creating any piece of content, I'd sit down and actually impersonate the target persona—right down to their LinkedIn title, their inbox stress, and the tabs they probably have open. I'd write a cold email to myself as them, pitch myself a problem, and then answer it through content. This exercise forced me to drop the brand voice and start sounding like a real human who's busy, skeptical, and already half out the door.
One time I was writing a resource for corporate event planners. Instead of leading with features or industry stats, I opened with a blunt line I imagined they'd mutter to themselves: "Great, another speaker who says they 'get corporate' but shows up with stand-up material from 2009." That hit a nerve, not just reach—and that piece ended up getting shared in private planner groups we couldn't access before.
So the tip? Don't just write for personas—role-play them. When you speak in their voice, not just to their pain, they actually listen.
Address High-Intent Queries with Value
Compelling content begins with understanding your audience's intent. You must know what they're seeking, why it matters to them, and how you can provide value efficiently. Each piece should address a specific need, offer clear takeaways, and be designed for easy consumption. Data-driven insights, concise messaging, and actionable solutions drive content performance.
In our company, we implement this strategy by focusing on real consumer issues. When people search for how to sell used phones, they want a quick, secure, and profitable solution. Our content highlights instant cash offers, the convenience of our kiosks, and the environmental benefits of recycling. Instead of generic SEO tactics, we optimize for intent-based queries and use actual customer feedback to build credibility.
For example, we revamped our blog to address high-intent searches with simple, step-by-step guides. A post titled "Where to Sell My iPhone for the Most Money" went beyond generic comparisons by including current pricing information, common trade-in mistakes to avoid, and an instant-estimate calculator. This approach increased organic traffic, improved conversion rates, and established EcoATM as a trusted authority.
Content that resonates isn't about keywords or quantity—it's about solving problems. Eliminate fluff, deliver value immediately, and ensure each piece connects to your audience's genuine needs.
Share Personal Journey to Build Trust
Especially for creative and personal brands, relatable content is performing exceptionally well right now.
I receive more engagement when discussing my journey as a recovering perfectionist than I ever have when talking about my actual services. Because I can connect with my target audience on a personal level, they can identify with me. This, more than anything else, builds trust when they inquire about my services.
Start with Empathy for Your Audience
My top tip is to start with empathy. Understand your audience's pain points, language, and aspirations—then create content that speaks directly to that emotional core.
At Write Right, for example, we once worked on a campaign targeting first-time authors overwhelmed by the publishing process. Instead of diving into technical jargon, we shared a relatable blog titled "You've Written a Book. Now What?" It walked them through their fears and offered practical, friendly guidance—without sounding salesy.
That post not only drove a spike in engagement but also brought in genuine leads because it resonated. It made them feel understood. When content feels like a conversation instead of a pitch, that's when it clicks.
