10 Steps to Creating Captivating Content for Growing Your Author Platform

Why Consistent, Captivating Content is Crucial for Growing Your Author Platform

As a Christian author, building a loyal audience through engaging content is essential for expanding your reach, growing your influence, and driving book sales. However, success with content marketing isn’t as easily measured or linear as product sales. It requires patience, consistency, and firm commitment to your unique voice and brand identity.

Someone who sees your content for the first time may not instantly connect or trust you. But through a steady stream of value-adding posts, you gradually build credibility, resonance, and an engaged following over time. This is why a consistent content strategy, being seen constantly, and remaining true to your core identity and messaging is so vital.

What Makes a Great Post?

Creating captivating content that drives engagement requires intentionality with every element:

• Compelling Headlines/Hooks: Craft click-worthy titles that pique curiosity while aligning with the actual post content.
• Strategic Hashtags & Mentions: Use relevant hashtags to increase discoverability and strategically mention/tag others to tap into their audiences.  
• Engaging Visuals: Social media is inherently visual, and posts with images/videos get far more engagement than text-only posts. Enhance your content’s appeal by incorporating a mix of photos, graphics, and video clips. You can use user-friendly tools like Canva, Adobe Spark, Snapseed, and more to create and edit visuals easily.
• Clear Call-to-Action: Don’t just inform – inspire your audience to take the next desired step, whether subscribing, downloading a freebie, buying your book, sharing the post, etc.

Follow these tips to craft gospel-centered content that resonates:

1. Start with Prayer:

Before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), invite the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts and words. Ask God to use your content to minister to readers and point them toward the love and redemption found in Christ.

2. Know Your Audience

Understanding your target readers is crucial for creating content that speaks to their needs, interests, and spiritual journey. Are you writing for new believers, women, men, parents, singles? Tailor your voice, topics, and biblical insights accordingly.

If you need guidance on knowing your audience, click here.

3. Share Personal Stories  

People connect with authenticity. Don’t be afraid to weave real-life experiences and hard-won spiritual lessons into your content. Your vulnerability allows readers to relate and can open hearts to the gospel message.

4. Offer Practical Application

While solid biblical teaching is essential, also provide practical tips and actionable steps for living out faith principles. Help readers apply spiritual truths to their daily lives, relationships, work, and decision-making.

5. Use Engaging Storytelling

Humans are wired for story. Capture your readers’ imagination by using anecdotes, examples, and narrative writing to illustrate your points in a memorable, impactful way.

6. Optimize for Search/Sharing

In the digital world, intentional use of keywords, compelling titles and descriptions, and optimizing content for search engines and social sharing can significantly expand your platform’s reach.

To maximize results, publish a strategic mix that aims to:

• • Instruct: Provide educational content that teaches skills, shares expertise, explains topics, offers new perspectives. 

Examples: Book writing tips, Bible study methods, marriage advice.

• • Engage: Capture attention through humor, pop culture relevance, interactive stories, quizzes, etc.

Examples: Relatable memes, fictional vignettes, personality quizzes.

• • Uplift: Share motivational/transformational messages that inspire spiritual growth and hearts closer to Christ.  

Examples: Devotionals, overcome testimonies, purpose-driven reflections.

• • Promote: Announce new releases, share endorsements, run giveaways, offer purchase incentives.

• • Foster Community: Ask questions, share personal glimpses, and invite comments/dialogue to connect.

7. Stay Consistent

Commit to a realistic, sustainable blogging or content creation schedule. Consistently showing up with fresh, quality content builds trust and keeps readers engaged with your ministry over time.

8. Repurpose and Repackage

Extend the life of your most popular content by repackaging it in different formats like videos, podcasts, email series, or even books. Look for creative ways to reuse and recycle your best material.

9. Invite Interaction

Don’t just broadcast – facilitate community dialogue by asking thought-provoking questions and encouraging comments and discussion around your content. Engage with your audience.

10. Point to Christ

As Christian authors, our ultimate aim is to draw people’s attention away from ourselves and toward the Savior. With every piece of content, highlight the truth, hope, and freedom found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Publishing Platforms to Consider:

Facebook: Largest social platform, great for written & visual content, paid ads, groups
Instagram: Highly visual, awesome for photos/graphics, videos, stories, reels
Pinterest: Visually-driven search engine, pinnable images/videos do well YouTube: Video sharing platform, leverage through interviews, teachings, book trailers
Twitter: Microblogging allows sharing bite-sized content, thoughts, links Blogs: Your owned platform to share longform content Podcasts: Recorded audio shows on specific topics

Email Lists: Send exclusive content directly to subscriber inboxes

Where you focus your content efforts depends on your goals and where your target audience is most active. Start with 1-2 priority platforms before expanding.

Creating captivating, gospel-centered content requires an unwavering commitment to your message, your audience, and your calling. It takes diligence, creativity, and reliance on the Holy Spirit. But by faithfully proclaiming God’s truth in fresh, engaging ways across the digital landscape, you can effectively grow your platform, expand your influence, and, most importantly, reach more souls for Christ.

Let me know if you found this post on content marketing for Christian authors helpful! Leave a comment with any other questions. I’m here to support you in boldly sharing your voice and God’s message with the world.