Sparrow Posts - Structure and Components
An article to be consumed on mobile devices might seem like a single, indivisible unit of communications. In reality, however, it’s made up of a number of components, and it’s important to understand the article structure so that you can create powerful pieces of communication that convey a congruent message. In this article, you’ll learn about the components that make up a mobile article and what their purpose is in communicating with the your readers.
This article is part of the Author Training Series for Sparrow - Sparrow is the communication channel that employees love reading. Find out more information at: www.sparrowapp.io.
Sparrow Article Structure
- The Post Image
- The Title
- The Body
- The Call to Action
Each of these individual parts of an article have a specific role to play in communicating with the reader, but it all starts with the first two; the article’s image and its title.
Article Image
The article’s image is the first thing that most readers see. Its job is to grab the reader’s attention and make the reader begin to feel a certain way about the content. Ideally, we’d like them to FEEL like opening it.
Article Title
The article title or subject must communicate the BIG idea of the content and help the reader understand what he or she can expect the article to be about.
In Sparrow, the article title will either be overlaid on the image, or will appear below it. Either way, its purpose is the same.
Combined, the image and article title have the job of compelling the reader to open the article. This is known as “Selling the Open” and creating content with images and titles that successfully make the sale is one of your goals as a content author.
Article Body
If your image and title have done their job, the reader has opened your article and will see the content of the article body. This is where you deliver your message, and the reader must be able to easily understand what you’re trying to say and what, if anything, you expect him or her to do.
Call to Action
The Call to Action is part of the body of the article, and is usually placed near the end of the content. This is true for both text-based and video posts.
Despite its rather dramatic name, the call to action is simply where you tell the reader what you expect him or her to do next. This could be as simple as asking for a “Like” or other content response, or it could be instructions on an external action you want the reader to take.
The call to action is important because most readers, by nature, will do nothing after reading your article. Remember that one of your primary goals is to get your readers engaged. Your call to action encourages that engagement.
What’s Next?
Now that you understand the components that make up an article, our next post will teach you how to manipulate the Sparrow article structure to create content that effectively communicate with your readers.
This article is part of the Author Training Series for Sparrow - Sparrow is the communication channel that employees love reading. Find out more information at: www.sparrowapp.io.