7 Expert Bloggers And Their Actionable Content Upgrade Strategy

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Syed Naimath 8 years ago

Content upgrades, you’ve caught up with this trend – haven’t you?

I’m hoping everyone that read that is nodding a resounding “yes” right now. Otherwise you’re missing out. Big time.

They’re the next feature box. Plain and simple.

If you really want to grow your email list, content upgrades something you should never skip out on.

They’re seriously that big of a deal.

In light of how effective content upgrades are, we thought it appropriate to explore a variety of bloggers that are now killing it at list-building by using content upgrades. Here are 7 such bloggers.

  1. Bryan Harris – VideoFruit

videofruit content upgrade strategy

If you’re at all savvy with the internet marketers of today, you probably know Bryan Harris.

A while back, he’d finished wrapping up his debut course launch, which netted him over $200,000 according to his reports.

In the post above, he detailed the entire process. Start to finish.

Now Bryan, being the expert list-builder that he is, was bound to see this as an opportunity to use content upgrades, to grow his list. So Bryan offered  his “entire Pre-Launch sequence plus several key strategies I used in my launch” as a downloadable.

As you’d expect, Bryan’s audience – which are mostly coming to him to learn marketing – are highly interested in bringing in that amount of revenue and how Bryan managed to do it. 

He managed to tap into the interests of his audience, and help them out even further with his content upgrade.

So when he’s offering them the copy that turned into $200k of revenue, how could they say no? You can read Byan’s post here

  1. Michael Hyatt 

michael hyatt content upgrade strategy

Michael Hyatt is a renowned thought leader. His insights into publishing, productivity and business management are things that people not only marvel at – but also pay a great deal for.

So it comes as no surprise that he’s utilizing the content upgrade strategy too.

In the post, he’s compiled a list of literary agents willing to represent Christian authors. Initially, the post contained the list of literary agents, and everyone that read the post could get what they wanted out of it. And it generated him a great deal of traffic.

So much traffic, that it became his 3rd most popular post, ever.

Michael didn’t stop there. Using his business mind, Michael turned his list into an e-book, and removed the list from the body of the post.

His is a great example of utilizing pre-established flow of traffic for the purpose of list-building . You can read his post here.

  1. Adam Connell – Blogging Wizard

adam connell content upgrade strategyAdam Connell lives up to his title. He’s a Blogging Wizard.

If there’s anything new in the blogosphere in regards to content, traffic or lead generation – he’s on it. He’s got it locked down, and he’ll quickly provide content demonstrating to his audience how to use it beneficially.

So of course he’d produce such a solid example of a content upgrade, as in the post above.

He demonstrates multiple tactics one can use to get more traffic. As an upgrade, he’s compiled a checklist for people to use to ensure they use all the tactics from the post.

It’s effective because it not only forces people to read the post, but also reminds them to use what they’ve learned. The tactics are great on their own, but the checklist introduces a way to systematically and reliably begin to implement them.

You can read his Adam’s post here.

  1. Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income

patt flynn content upgrade strategy

Pat Flynn is a genius when it comes to having passive income rolling in.

He shares the latest, up-and-coming tactics that’ll help you effectively earn a passive income through your blog. So it was natural for him to quickly jump on content upgrades and explain how to do just that.

In true content upgrade style, he built a beautiful bonus for his audiencean infographic that demonstrates 21 other things you can do for your audience.

Why’s it relevant?

Content upgrades are all about providing more value to the reader.

You can read Patt’s post here.

  1. Neil Patel

neil patel content upgrade strategy

If you’re reading this, you mostly know who he is already.

With KISSmetrics, Crazy Egg and a bunch of other services he’s built or helped build – he truly is one of the kings of online marketing. When selling his services, he says he sells revenue, not traffic increase.

He’s that good.

So in his post, he demonstrates 13 in-depth ways to improve your content marketing efforts, from myriad perspectives. This post alone is very well rated, having a lot of value to offer.

But of course, since we’re talking content upgrades – Neil does much more.

He provides a worksheet for his readers to find out how they can implement some of these marketing hacks. That gives his readers the push they need to take action and implement his advice.

You can read Neil’s post here.

  1. Gael Breton – Authority Hacker

gael breton content upgrade strategy

Gael Breton is one of the faces behind Authority Hacker.

They teach readers how to make a long-lasting impact when with their web presence. Featured in their content are a variety of different marketing and conversion tips –  including many about content upgrades.

In the post above, Gael explains content upgrades in detail. What they are, how you can create them, and all the technical know-how of using them. Plus it’s got a bunch of great-looking graphics.

Gael just piles on the value to his readers – he provides 3 bonus tips in his content upgrade for those looking to maximise the conversion rates of their content upgrades.

Anyone that wants to use content upgrades is looking to get the most out of them, so this is especially valuable.

You can read Gael’s post here.

  1. Brian Dean – Backlinko

backlinko content upgrade strategy

Brian Dean is a well-established SEO guru, with a mind made for marketing.

As you’d expect, an astute mind like his knows what’s going on in the world of conversions. In his post, he’s provided a good example of a high-value content upgrade. 

First he outlines 16 very effective and valuable copywriting tips. No gimmicks. No tricks. Just worthwhile tips you can implement right away.

Then Brian gives his audience access to a free PDF checklist that shows them how to execute all 16 of the techniques, and 2 bonus strategies.

This content upgrade literally upgrades the content – there’s more to learn if you get the bonus.

You can read Brian’s post here.  

Conclusion

These 7 bloggers are applying their content upgrade strategy superlatively. If you’re looking for inspiration on executing your own, they’re wholly worth following.

Even otherwise, these bloggers are killing it at the blogging game in general. There’s plenty to be learned from each of them.

You can apply your content upgrade strategy too. Here’s a quick guide –

1) Get a promo box plugin, for example, our Plugmatter Promo Box Plugin.

2) Set it up.

3) Review your post. Is it a list? Is it a long how-to? Is it an analysis post? Or anything else?

4) Think of how best you can provide value to your readers depending on Step 3, and make a content upgrade out of it.

For example, a list post could provide extra points as a bonus. A how-to post could offer its pdf version. An analysis post could give readers an infographic.

5) Place your content upgrade in an eye-catching, relevant part of your post.

Content upgrades work so well because it’s a win-win for both you and your readers. You provide value to them by helping them out, they provide value to you by subscribing.

The examples above show how to carry out an effective a content upgrade strategy.

It’s time you took advantage of it too.

If you liked this article, please do share it. What’s your take on content upgrades? How has your experience been? Does this inspire you to include more of them in your posts? Let us know below! 


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