Don’t Just Blog There – Engage!

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Kudos for the most-watched Netflix series used to be based on how many households had watched a particular movie or show, Mental Floss magazine explains. But watched is a loose term. Anyone who who clicked “play” on a title would be counted, even if they made it only 10 seconds into the material, the authors explain.

When Netflix’s switched its popularity model (where only subscribers who’d watched a show for at least two minutes (and only then within the first 28 days of the show’s release) were counted, there were dramatic shifts in the popularity rankings, Mental Floss authors explain…

When it comes to blog marketing, getting found is most certainly a primary goal, but even after searchers have “found” your blog site and clicked “play”, the job of engaging those readers has just begun.

Steve Mehler of Techsling names things blog readers “really want from you”, including:

  • timely topics
  • a simple read
  • information
  • problem solutions
  • entertainment
  • visuals
  • emotional connections

“The definition of engagement has changed slightly over the years.” Jim Henshaw of Raventools explains. While early measurements focused on Bounce Rate and Pages per Session, that’s not enough (users may keep clicking on different links because they can’t find the content that interests them!) Truly engaged readers continue reading through to the bottom of the article.

Online publishers have spent the last few years trying to attract as many visitors to their website and apps as possible, but were later forced to rethink their online strategy and to put greater focus on maximizing loyalty and engagement, Jorrith Schaap observed in Crowdynews. Enhancing audience engagement is important, Schaap explains, because engaged users:

  • are more likely to trust the publisher’s brand
  • return more often to the website
  • visit more pages during a session
  • are more inclined to sign up a newsletter or RSS blog feed
  • are more likely to become customers and clientsAbove all, do not annoy your readers, Nick Stamoutis of BrickMarketing warns, with:
  • Slow loading
  • Cluttered design
  • Confusing navigation systemSo, don’t just blog there – engage!
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Blogs are Flip-Flop Interviews

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In the book Stop Hiring Losers, Minesh and Baxi devote an entire chapter to a list of interview questions employers should pose to job candidates. “Why are you leaving your current job?”, for example, is designed to identify past problems a candidate might carry over into a new job. On the positive side, that question can reveal the fact that the candidate sees the new position as an important forward career step.

When you think about it, blog posts are interviews, too. But, in the case of blogs, things are “flip-flopped”, because it’s the blog reader (the “candidate”) interviewing the business, rather than the other way around. At Say It For You, we teach content writers that searchers have some sort of need and are recruiting help!  Just as in a face-to-face interviews, those searchers read what you put out there in your blog posts and evaluate that content in light of their own needs.  Their scanning your blog is the equivalent of them interviewing your business to see if you’re a good fit for them.

Many of the questions Minesh and Baxi recommend that employers pose to job candidates are those blog readers are mentally posing to you when they are reading your content:

  • Why should we employ you rather than one of the other candidates?

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is a succinct, memorable message that identifies the unique benefits that are derived from using your product or service as opposed to a competitor’s. Your blog offers you the chance to constantly refine and improve your USP.

  • What would your co-workers say about you?

Testimonials and client anecdotes in your blog are ways of answering this question.

  • What contributed to the best working conditions you ever experienced?

Your blog posts should include stories about how you successful solved clients problems in the past, expressing the satisfaction you gained from helping customers overcome obstacles. Offer advice about how users can gain the greatest benefits from your product or service.

  • What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your career?

I teach freelance blog writers to include stories of their clients’ past mistakes and failures. Such stories have a humanizing effect, engaging readers and creating feelings of empathy and admiration for the business owners or professional practitioners who overcame not only adversity, but the effects of their own mistakes!

  • What are you most proud of on your resume?

Although at Say It For You, I remind owners and practitioners that blogging is not boasting, it’s good to offer “credentializing proof”, alluding in blog posts to your years of experience, weaving into the text mention of your degrees, quoting articles you’ve written – and even citing awards you’ve won. In addition, people tend to be comfortable associating with professionals and business owners who give back to their community.

When you think about it, blogs are nothing more than flip-flop interviews!

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In Blogging, Keep Functional Alternatives in Mind

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They aren’t really the same as your product or service, but it’s important to analyze how your product or service compares to them, Jeanette McMcMurtry reminds entrepreneurs in Marketing for Dummies, referring to functional alternatives.

What are functional alternatives?
Let’s face it – there are products and services out there that aren’t exactly like the stuff you sell or the services you perform, but which lead to the same, or at least some of the same, outcomes for clients and customers.

Examples:

  • For a health coach focusing on weight loss, functional alternatives potential clients might choose include diet meal delivery, dietary supplements, cosmetic “fat freezing” procedures, and personal trainers.
  • For an orthopedic surgery practice, functional alternatives for potential clients include nonsurgical kinetics, psychological pain management clinics, and cryoanalgesia (using cold to block pain).
  • For a fitness studio, functional alternatives include home exercise equipment sellers, yoga or pilates studios, and online fitness course providers.
  • If you own a hotel, AirBnb and dimilar businesses are functional alternatives.

You need to decide how you compete with functional alternatives to your business or practice, McMurtry explains, then build action items into your marketing plan.

In blog marketing, as we know at Say It For You, content creation must be built around a thorough understanding of your target market. What are their goals? What choices do those prospects have in achieving those goals? In what way are your products/services substantially different?

Years ago, I met Jeff Bowe, owner of a private equity group called Actum. I remember him saying “When you walk into a room, everyone should know you for one thing, and that one thing needs to be very, very clear – to you and to your target audience.” In blog writing, it is crucial for business owners and professional practitioners to differentiate themselves from their functional alternatives.

Do you…do things faster? Operate at a lower cost? Make fewer errors? Offer greater comfort or less pain for the customer? Provide a more engaging experience?

In blogging, keep functional alternatives in mind!

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Blog to Their Whys

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In order to retain good employees, Minesh and Kim Baxi explain in the book Stop Hiring Losers, practice using motivators. By clarifying both the “why” of your own interactions as a business owner, you can work to understand the individual “whys” of others, leading to positive results for all.

The authors define 6 defining attitudes or world views:

1. LEARNING-motivated employees can be given the opportunity for advanced training, along with the opportunity to train new employees.

2. MONEY-motivated employees can be rewarded based on performance outcomes with gift certificates or trips.

3. BEAUTY/HARMONEY-motivated employees can be given the opportunity to decorate for corporate events or redesign workspaces.

4. ALTRUISM-motivated employees can be given the opportunity to represent your company in community and fundraising events.

5. POWER-motivated employees can be given titles and the opportunity to attend leadership seminars.

6. PRINCIPLE-motivated employees can be given the opportunity to represent the company as spokesperson for a social cause.

There is a strong parallel between success in motivating employees and success in blog marketing, we’ve learned at Say It For You. The secret is knowing your particular audience and thinking about how they (not the average person, but specifically “they*) would probably react or feel about your approach to the subject at hand.

For example, while you may point out that your product or service can do something your competitors can’t, that particular “advantage” may or may not be what your audience is likely to value. For example, even if your target audience falls in the money-motivated category, are you the least expensive (that might appeal to a cost-conscious group) or the most expensive (your audience might prize luxury and exclusivity)?

When building a plan to connect with an audience, Francesca Pinder of Brussels event planning firm Spacehuntr cautions, consider not only age, gender, and nationality, but where your target readers “hang out”, what they read and watch, and what they’re saying on social media.. Interviews, focus groups, and a lot of very alert listening can help you understand what causes they support.

In creating blog content, speak to your target audience’s whys!

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It’s OK to Post a Blog With a Chip in It

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“This book is as messy as life,” writes Matt Haig in the intro to The Comfort Book . The book has short chapters and longer ones. It has lists and quotes and case studies and even an occasional recipe. It has moments of inspiration taken from movies, quantum physics, and ancient religions, Haig says. You can start at the beginning and end at the end, or the reverse, he says, or you can just dip into it.

Reminds me of my own Say it For You blog, where my “reading around”, taking ideas from magazines and movies, joke books and cookbooks, articles about pop culture and philosophy, has inspired close to two thousand different posts. Keeping up with a blog over the long haul is messy, I agree.

Without a doubt, conveying business owners’ passion for what they know how to do and for what they sell is the big challenge for any freelance blog writer.  Success in blog marketing depends on sustaining the discipline of content creation over long periods of time, keeping the spark of passion going all the while.

One of Matt Haig’s many deceptively simple, yet very deep, statements is that it’s OK to serve coffee in a chipped cup. It’s OK to be broken, is the concept, to wear the scars of experience.

I think this statement is a good one for blog content writers to keep in mind when creating content introducing business owners or professional practitioners to readers. Why? Writing about past failures is more than OK – it’s important. True stories about mistakes and struggles are actually very humanizing, adding to the trust readers place in the people behind the business, the entrepreneurs and practitioners who overcame the effects of their own errors.

Ironically, I’m the one who spends a lot of verbiage on the importance of avoiding grammar and spelling errors in blog writing, to the point of being labeled a “grammar Nazi” and similar epithets. I don’t want blog errors to call attention away from the impression we’re trying to make.

Matt Haig’s remark about the chipped coffee cup, though, reminds me of something Susan Gunelius wrote in Blogging All-in-One for Dummies: “A blog is for seeming “real and human in the consumer’s eye, rather than as an untouchable entity.”

Looked at that way, I guess it’s OK to post a blog with a chip in it!

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