Avoiding the Uncommon is a Common Marketing Mistake

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To be considered for representation by an agency, aspiring speakers have to explain who they are, what they want to speak about, and why they’re qualified to do so, James Marshall Reilly explains in the book One Great Speech . While speaking agents don’t want to listen to your whole life story, Reilly notes, they are looking for something that separates you from the pack. Therefore, he advises, when looking for your magic bullet, consider pieces of information that you aren’t sharing with the agency and should be. Prior to becoming a biologist, were you a touring musician? An Eagle Scout? It’s not that you’re going to lecture about these topics, Reilly says.  It’s just that they help define you in a unique way plus make you relatable.

“Relatable” is the key word here.  As content marketers, we are interpreters, translating clients’ corporate message into human, people-to-people terms. People tend to buy when they see themselves in the picture and when they can relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message. That’s the reason I prefer using first and second person pronouns in blog posts and articles (over third person “reporting”). Marketing content that comes across as intimate, unique, even quirky, makes readers feel they’re connecting with real people. When content is filled with the company’s special brand of energy and passion, it is most likely to engage.

“Getting down and human” is so important, it becomes a good idea for a business or practice owner to actually reveal  past mistakes and struggles. Such revelations are very humanizing adding to the trust readers place in the people behind the business.  Why? What tends to happen is that stories of failure create feelings of empathy and admiration for the entrepreneurs or professional practitioners who overcame the effects of their own errors.

Like powerful speaker resumes, the key to powerful marketing content is to present experiences as accomplishments, revealing your personality, not only what jobs you’ve held. Assuming it’s not overdone, you’ll be rewarded for having a unique and authentic voice, particularly if personal stories are used as a means to an end – with the “end” being solving readers’ problems and filling their needs.

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Curiosity May Kill the Cat, But It’s Great for Content Marketing

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Blogs can be a valuable tool for business growth, Teri Ambrose observes in score.org. “By writing blog posts on topics that are relevant to their industry, businesses can show that they are knowledgeable and invested in the discussion”. But showing how knowledgeable the business owner or practitioner publishing the blog is  – that’s hardly enough. It’s the audience’s curiosity gap that creates a marketing win.

According to the academic George Lowenstein, humans become curious when there is a gap in their knowledge, stimulating them to “fix” this state by acquiring the missing knowledge. One way content marketers can captivate reader interest, therefore, is by including intriguing, little-known facts within their articles and posts.

“The curiosity gap captivates readers by emphasizing the gap between known and withheld information.” Copyhackers.com explains, which can be done by:

  • introducing something new that our existing knowledge can’t explain
  • starting a story, pausing at a climactic moment, and delaying the conclusion of it
  • withholding key information for a manageable period of time
  • introducing an idea, action or concept… and connecting it with an unexpected outcome or subject

    Unlike those who seek to use information tidbits as “clickbait”, at Say It For You we recommend using them as a “bonus”. Sure, visitors arrive at your post seeking information on specific topics.  But, once your opening lines have reassured those visitors that they’ve come to the right place, it’s a great idea to use some unlikely connections, even unrelated but fascinating tidbits of information to give readers a sense of being ahead of the crowd. They now have some unusual piece of “inside information” or amusing tidbit to jog their memory, expand their knowledge, and share with friends.Curiosity may kill the cat, but it’s great for content marketing!

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