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A content upgrade refers to content that is offered as bonus to the readers in exchange for

their email address. It is information that elaborates or complements the content readers are

interested towards. They are designed to appeal to the person who has visited your website to

read a specific blog or content. The main goal of content upgrade is to make the content

appealing and useful such that the reader simply must have your email to get this content. For

example- Say, that if a person is a dietician and writes a blog using their knowledge to attract

and help people towards living a healthy and nutritious life. Then as a content upgrade, that

person can offer their readers a list of “Easily Available Foods That Would Suffice Their Daily

Nutrition Requirements”.

This would be a perfect content upgrade because not many readers would be completely aware

about the nutrition content of their diet. So, as a dietician, they provide an easy solution.

Content upgrade is required for digital marketing services as it helps to increase your email list

at an exponential rate. According to research, several people like Brian Dean of Backlinko,

Bryan Harris of Videofruit.com, James Scherrer from Wishpond.com and Mariah Coz from

femtrepreneur have seen a staggering increase in their email list due to content upgrades. This

rate of conversion from readers to paid subscribers is high, as the content upgrade provides a

solution for the problem the reader visited the article/blog in the first place.

Some of the best ideas for content upgrade are as follows:-

Free Trial of Your Product

If you want to attract people towards your brand or the service that you offer, it can be done so

by providing free trial samples to the people who seem to be interested in your product or

service. According to a survey done in Totango in 2016, it has been seen that 20% of the free

trial users upgrade to paid plans. Although the rate of conversion from free trial users to paid

users depends highly on how the free trial is structured. There are 2 approaches to it;

● Opt –In- In this case the users sign up for free, for a certain period of time say a month

or so, with no prior commitments to the product or service as well as no payments

details are asked for signing up. At the end of the trial period the user is asked to pay for

the continuation of further usage of the platform.

● Opt- Out-In this case the users are asked for their credit card details before they sign up

for the free trial period for a month or so( they may also do so by agreeing to sign a

PayPal agreement). At the end of the trial period there are two types of opt-out trails.

Either the user is charged a nominal fee for using the platforms for a month or users are

charged absolutely nothing until the trial period expires.

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It has been seen that in case of Opt- In the minimum conversion rate has been 15% to 20%.

Whereas for the Opt- Out in case of free trial until expiration the conversion has seen to be

significantly higher since the users are charged automatically once the trial period expires. In

case of paying a nominal fee for usage of the platform for a month the conversion rate is high

along the risk as there are frequent requests for refunds and chargebacks.

Assignments or Worksheet

This content is very useful to attract readers who are in school, college or aiming to crack

certain competitive exams. As we know the youth makes up the majority of the Indian

population and it is very vital that it is well educated as it helps in the development of them as

individuals. Moreover, in recent times of lockdown , online learning has become the new way

of education, hence a content or blog which provides online assignments and worksheets

would help to attract a lot of the youth. So in case the writer or blogger is a teacher or

possesses a skill that enables other people to learn from them and use it for their benefit,

providing assignments and worksheets can help to increase the conversion rate from readers to

paid subscribers.

For Example if you are a person who teaches Mathematics and wants to attract students. Then

it can be done by first providing free PDFs of formulas for each chapter and along with some

important derivations for the better understanding for the students. This way students can be

attracted towards your content. Further, questions ranging from beginners level to tough level

can be provided to the students for exchange of their email addresses or one can also provide

an online free live class on the chapter that the reader finds difficulty in.

Once the interest of the user is secured, they can be asked for a paid subscription for the

content provided for them in order to continue the services provided by the blogger.

Free Courses

Along with online Assignments and worksheets, providing online courses for the people is also a

good way for content upgrade. Since, it does not only attract the youth but also helps those

people who do not have the facilities of school and colleges or due to financial crisis had to

drop out or for those people who need to or want to learn skills . Content such as how to cook

at home or how to make homemade artifacts can also attract people who want to start their

own business. The recent situation with the corona virus was an example of the need for such

content, as many people looked for a side source of income and also many people stayed at

home and learned new skills in their free time.

Hence, providing free courses can attract people from all age groups. First we may start by

providing basic free online courses for people in exchange for their email address followed by

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intermediary and high level courses for paid subscription for the service. For example if my blog

is regarding “Best Ways To Stay Productive During Lockdown”, then I shall consider providing

some content regarding “ How To Use Microsoft Office” since it is a skill which many people

require irrespective of whether they are in school, college or working.

Cheat Sheets

In today's busy generation, cheat sheets can be used as content upgrades. Cheat sheets are

content to remove all sorts of fluff from the main post and get straight to the information that

the readers require. They make life simpler and faster as it saves the user from going through

the entire article to get the relevant data. It can be used to attract people who are always

travelling or people who have a busy schedule and want short and crisp articles to get an idea

of what the article is about. For example MikeMonday offers cheat sheets for people who want

to finish their music track more efficiently.

Scripts or Templates

It provides content regarding what the reader may say or what a reader should write for a

specific task while accomplishing a specific task or duty. A template is required when the reader

needs to create some document for clients, vendors, etc. Once the user downloads the

template, they can fill in the blanks as per their requirements. It is very important to provide

variation in your transcripts as it enables to attract all types of readers. For example- If a person

is providing scripts related to sending outreach mails, they should also conduct sales calls or

soliciting donations for zero profit.

Info graphics

Infographics is a collection of imagery, chart and minimal text that gives an easy to understand

overview of a certain topic. Several businesses have been relying on Info graphics for years,

since our brain grasps visual content faster than verbal or written content. It has been seen that

viewers around the world have 10% more time looking at visual content than reading long

paragraphs after paragraphs. It may be a step by step process on how to create a blog or how

to start a YouTube channel or simply the history of television of the origin of music. Even the

illustrated manual that comes along with your phone or television is infographic. People are

often attracted towards info graphics since they are easy to understand, they are shareable,

and they are great for SEO work. Also, they help build to increase brand awareness.

There are several types of infographics that can be used in the content marketing strategy which

is inclusive of statistical data, timelines, flowcharts, etc. It mainly depends on the nature of the

content and what does the writer wish to achieve with it. Hence, infographics can be used as

content upgrades.

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Full Guide

It can be used to attract people by providing detailed information regarding a particular topic such

as “How to Become an Influencer”. These are more sophisticated posts which gives the reader a

thorough knowledge regarding the topic they want to know. Also it is important to provide

versatility in the content.

Challenge

A challenge can be sort of a mini project for the reader to do. It can be a reminder or an ongoing

task for them to invest time. It can help to stay productive and can also prevent people from

drifting into loneliness or depression. As it was seen, during the lockdown that a lot of people

invested their time doing a lot of social media challenges or creating a hashtag to share their

progress on twitter. In a way it gave a lot of people recognition and helped a lot of people to

showcase their talents.

Exclusive Interviews

Interviewing someone who is an expert in a certain topic or skill that the readers are interested

in would help to increase the content upgrade. The topic discussed in the interview should be

related to the blog’s previous post or should relate to the main essence of the blog. This would

help a lot of people broaden their mind or to understand a topic better. Providing a recording of

the interview would be better and be helpful towards attracting more people.

Case Study and Reports

Writing about other people’s success stories and their struggles in life can be really helpful

towards attracting people towards your article. As it helps to motivate people and encourage

them towards working hard and achieving their goals in life. Sharing personal success stories

would also help as the readers would be able to relate to the writer. Also, if you are expert in a

subject or know other people who are expert in a subject then writing reports regarding that

topic or collaborating with others to write a report regarding a particular topic could attract

people towards the blog. The report could talk about the latest fashion trends or the top

musicians in the country or the condition of the economy.

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