Focusing on the Reader of the Story

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“Here’s how to introduce yourself to a reporter so that you will be a source for a news story on the subject,” consultant Janet Falk writes. The five W’s, she advises (who, what, when, where, why) should serve as the framework for your pitch.

In blog marketing, the “Who”, of course, denotes narrowing down your audience in order to “target” the content to those you most hope will be reading your post. “Be as specific as possible,” Falk cautions.

The “what?” has two components: What idea or concept will you present? Then, what will they do next with that idea? Think of readers’ situation before they learned this information; compared to after they hear about it, Falk writes.

Translated into content marketing, the “what” relates to the “where”. In the Call to Action, what alternatives are you offering for next steps? There should be more than one: those ready to buy should be enabled to do that right away (link or phone number). Those who need more information before making a decision should be able to message you. For those not quite ready for any of those steps, provide a link to a video or white paper. Navigation to that “where” needs to be very easy.

The “Why” is the most important question of all, Falk explains. “How will your idea help someone save time, save money or make more money?”

When it comes to blog marketing, there’s a lot of talk about “traffic”. Yes, blogging is part of business owners’ and professional practitioners’ “pull marketing” strategy, designed to attract readers’ eyeballs. In practice, however, fewer might actually prove better, I explain to Say It For You clients. The real goal is attracting readers of “the right kind“, customers who have a need for and who will appreciate the services, products, and expertise being showcased in your content.

 

In the scenario Janet Falk describes, you are introducing oneself to a reporter as a source for a news story, In content marketing, the “reporter” is the search engine algorithm, which serves as a “gateway” for you to tell your story to the target reader. “Social media algorithms can be a powerful ally in growing one’s online audience. Think of them as virtual matchmakers designed to match users with content that suits their interests,” sproutsocial,com explains.

Whether you’re introducing yourself to a reporter or to an algorithm, define your five W’s, always focusing on the ultimate reader of the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Don’t Lead Readers Into Content Word Traps

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My favorite article in the monthly Mensa Bulletin always seem to come from Richard Lederer, who excels in making witty observations about the use of language. In his latest “April Foolishness”, Lederer demonstrates how easy it is to unintentionally mislead readers….

  • “Pronounce out loud the words formed by each of these titles: B-O-A-S-T, C-O-A-S-T, R-O-A-S-T. Now, what do we put in a toaster?” (See how easy it is to answer TOAST? You don’t put toast into a toaster; you put in bread and it comes out toast!)
  • “How many times can you subtract 5 from 25?” (Only once. After that, the number is 20.)
  • What was the highest mountain on earth before Mount Everest was discovered? (Before it was discovered, it was there!)

Did you get all three answers right??

Mythbusting

Mythbusting is used in many fields to counteract what researchers suspect is counterproductive thinking, and I’m a firm believer in using debunking in content marketing. In the normal course of doing business, misunderstandings about your product or surface might surface in the form of customer questions and comments.  (It’s even worse when those myths and misunderstandings don’t surface, but still have the power to interrupt the selling process!)

The technique of mythbuting is not without risk, because customers and prospects don’t like to be proven wrong or feel stupid.  The trick is to engage interest, but not in “Gotcha!” fashion. In other words, business owners and professional practitioners can use blog, newsletter, and landing page content to showcase their own expertise without “showing up” their readers’ lack of it.

Engaging, but honest headlines

Don’t mislead readers by using sensational headlines, fastercapital.com cautions, because readers will be turned off if they feel they’ve been tricked into clicking on your content. It’s OK to use attention-grabbing words that evoke curiosity and emotion, but be specific about what readers can expect to learn or gain, Prova Biswas writes in Quora.

Unclear words and phrases

“On the surface, language traps refer to words or phrases whose meaning isn’t clear to readers and, worse, can potentially mislead them into thinking you mean something you don’t, hureywrite.com explains.

Mis/disinformation

“Knowing how to shield your company from mis/disinformation can be challenging. Your audience may lack the ability to critically evaluate media content, and this can negatively impact your brand,” Clara Doyle admits in publicrelay.com. “If you are not prepared to manage fake news, your audience may be likely to believe stories containing misleading information.” Since, at Say It For You, our writing team often functions as “communications director” for clients who hire us to bring their message to online readers, we know the important for mounting a strong defensive “play” in the form of blog content.

Content marketing is actually the perfect vehicle for defusing false news, correcting misunderstandings, and protecting readers from word traps.

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Connecting With Buyers A’ La Ford

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“Ford Motor Co. set out to put the world on wheels with the Model T.  Here’s how the company attempted to brand itself through advertising and how it pitched its product to early everyday drivers including women,” USA Network writes in the special section of the March 10 issue of my newspaper.

As I analyzed the Model T ad reproduced  in my Indianapolis Star (an ad created fully one hundred years ago!) I noticed a number of smart marketing principles at work, guidelines we content marketers can put to use today…

Market with the end in mind

“To the woman at the wheel of a Ford car, every road seems straight and smooth; hills melt away and rough places are easy.”  The goal of content marketing should be to leave readers absolutely knowing why they need to care, not about your product or service, but about the way they are going to feel after using it! 

Your Unique Selling Proposition

“Don’t tell them what you do.  Tell them what you do for them,” Certified Business Coach Andrew Valley advised in a guest post years ago in this Say It For You blog. “You must tell the listener how your product or service can benefit that person, and how you can do it better or differently than others who do what you do.”

 

Understand buyers’ concerns

“When a woman hesitates to manage a heavy car, when she needs an extra one for personal of family use, or when her means forbid the drain of high upkeep cost…” In content marketing, making claims such as “least expensive, or “most affordable” are totally ineffective compared to communicating that you understand and are ready to address buyers’ deepest concerns.

In his business skills and development book The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, Carmine Gallo reminds marketers to focus on results. “Remember, your widget doesn’t inspire,” he reminds us. Ford marketers obviously knew how to address potential buyers’ deepest concerns. – “She should have the easily handled, easily parked, reliable service of a Ford,”

Aim to inspire

While a company’s website, brochure and blog typically explain what products and services are offered, who the “players” are and in what geographical area they operate, the better content pieces give at least a taste of the corporate culture and some of the owners’ core beliefs.

As the author of the piece on the Model-T observes, “This ad uses the automobile as a symbol of freedom”.

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A Taste of Wine and Content Cues

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This week’s Say It For You blog posts are inspired by items in issues of Wine Spectator which I think offer clues to the most attention-grabbing and impactful ways of marketing a product or service through content……(Today’s quotes come from the March 2024 issue of the magazine).

Using unlikely comparisons
Looking for an acoustic guitar, Bruce Sanderson writes, “It occurred to me that tone woods are to an acoustic guitar what grape varieties are to wine.”

Turns of phrase catch readers by the curiosity,” I realized years ago. Putting ingredients together that don’t seem to match is not only an excellent tool for creating engaging marketing content, but also a good teaching tool. Going from what is familiar to readers to the unfamiliar area of your own expertise, allows your potential customers to feel smart as well as understood.

Introducing “insider” terminology
If you’re a wine lover, you’ll want to check the UGA on the label, pinpointing the region in Italy from which the grapes originated..The designation is brand-new, with 2024 vintage wines the first to be allowed to display the “credential”,  Alison Napjus explains…

In marketing content, once you’ve established common ground, reinforcing to readers that they’ve come to the right place, it’s important to add lesser-known bits of information on your subject, which might take the form of arming readers with new terminology, serving several purposes:

  • positioning the business owner or professional practitioner as an expert in the field
  • adding value to the “visit” for the reader
  • increasing readers’ sense of being part of an “in-the-know” grouphttps://www.sayitforyou.net/using-tidbits-of-information-in-blogs/allow-me-to-introduce-new-terminology

Using the power of story
“When I was embarking on my first trip to Europe as a young trumpeter, the great saxophone player Ben Webster pulled me aside and gave me some of the best advice a 19-year old who had never traveled outside of the country could ever receive: “Wherever you go, eat the food the real people eat.”

In creating content for business, I recommend including anecdotes about customers, employees, or friends who accomplished things against all odds. That shifts the focus to the people side of things, I explain to clients, highlighting the relationship-basedaspects of your practice, plant, or shop.

Educating prospects and customers
“In 2019 the Guigals opened their wine museum in Ampuis, which introduces visitors to the history of vineyards and winemaking in the Rhone dating back to Roman Times.”

Content writers need to include information that can continue to have relevance even months and years later, material that is evergreen and which adds to readers’ knowledge of the subject.,

While becoming a wine connoisseur may be furthest from your mind, these “sips” from Wine Spectator can offer valuable insights for creators of marketing content.

 

 

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Content That Connects Theme to Character

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“It might seem like nonfiction writers get off easy when it comes to developing characters; we don’t have to create them from whole cloth…the people we’re writing about already exist,”  everand.com remarks..True, but when it comes to creating content for online marketing, what I’ve found is that, while the “characters” certainly exist, readers too often have never been properly introduced to them!

In one of the very earliest books I read on content creation, Creating Buzz With Blogs, Ted Demopoulos posited that content creates buzz when people feel as if they know you, because “people like to do business with people they know”.  In other words, content needs to provide valuable information to readers, but that content needs to introduce the people who are providing the products and services being marketed.

Scott Greggory of Forbes calls it “highlighting your humanity to help your brand stand out”. “If your company sells a certain brand of tires, cell phones, or frozen pizza, you are literally no different from every other establishment that sells the same item,” Greggory says. What differentiates your company and builds loyalty is only a more human experience.

Writer’s Digest  contributor Sharon Short uses the Wizard of Oz  as an example:

What’s the story really about? Finding value and joy in home and family.  But that’s hardly memorable enough to entice a book purchase, Stone admits.  It’s the characters – Dorothy herself, Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Wicked Witch of West,  Aunt Em, who connect with and impact readers.

 There are many aspects to be considered in creating online marketing content, including offering how-to tips, emphasizing unique aspects of the product or service being offered, opinion pieces on industry issues, and offering “startling statistics” to emphasize the scope of the problem you’re offering to help solve.

At Say It For You, we know that, when searchers find your post or article, they already have an interest in (and probably some core knowledge about) your subject. To move them to the next step, you need to “prove your case”, demonstrating that you know a lot about the problem you’re proposing to solve, and that you and your staff have the experience, training, and degrees needed to solve that problem. You might even “get into the weeds” by offering specific recommendations.

But, as an integral part of “brand positioning”, highlight the “characters” in the story, we remind business owners and professional practitioners, those people who have been — and who will be — delivering on that brand. In marketing content, it’s vital to connect theme to character.

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