The Hero-With-Setting-With-Problem Content Marketing Model

This week, our Say It For You blog is focused on different content marketing approaches, or “models”. In our last post we discussed the “I-Did-It” model, in which past failures are recounted as a jumping-off point for advice to readers on avoiding problems and overcoming obstacles. Today’s post presents a different content marketing approach….

 The default template for novels, Michael La Ronn explains, is very simple: – hero with setting with problem. Bestsellers “hook readers and never let go,” he explains, using the three parts of that template:

• Hero – Readers must relate to the protagonist as a fellow human being and care about what happens to him or her.
• Setting – In instructional nonfiction, La Ronn says, setting the scene ensures readers know why the information matters.

• Problem – As a science fiction and fantasy author, La Ronn loves to tell stories about characters whose odds are stacked against them.

Each of the elements in the “hero, setting, problem” template is directly applicable to content marketing, we realize at Say It For You.  

Hero:
As Corey Wainwright of hubspot.com explains, “When your audience is reminded there are real life humans behind the scenes,” he says, “it becomes easier for them to trust your product or service.”  Two specific tactics he suggests are infusing a sense of humor into the content, and publishing photos of your team “being themselves”. Readers may be connecting with your content digitally, but it’s up to you to foster the human connection. 

Setting:

In content writing, the opening lines need to establish that readers have come to the right place to find the information they were seeking. Those opening lines establish the general “setting” for the specific focus of that day’s post. Establishing the setting includes clarifying the “slant” of the post – will readers find “how to” information? A list of sources for products? Some cautions and “don’ts? General definitions and categories?

Problem:
Friend and sales training expert Tim Roberts encourages finding before solving. While a salesperson needs to develop good problem-solving skills, finding a problem that the customer hasn’t considered is what makes a salesperson truly valuable, he teaches. What if, rather than simply answering online searchers’ queries, your content were to raise important questions? When content marketing really works, readers feel part of the process of solving, not only “asking”.

The hero-with-setting-with-problem model can be a very good fit for content marketing.