“Did-You-Know?” Content Marketing

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This week, my Say It For You blog posts were inspired by the 2024 Farmer’s Almanac…

“Growing up a city girl, I thought many people were farmers because they were incapable of doing any other work. Then I moved to the country and made a bumbling discovery: To be a successful farmer, you need to have the smarts – and not just in one area.” A good farmer, the author belatedly realized, is a jack-of-all-trades – a) ace problem-solver b) soil scientist  c) marketer  d) mechanic, someone who knows how to fix a range of low-tech to extremely high-tech equipment such as drones and water sensor devices.

One of the most important “powers” of content marketing, we’ve found at Say It For You, is the ability to turn a false perceptions – of an individual, of a business, or even of an entire industry – on its head. Not only can the myth-busting power of blog content correct misinformation reflected in customer questions and comments highlight a business’ strengths, myth-debunking makes for engaging -reading!
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In just the way the information in Farmers’ Almanac about farmers using high-tech drones, did-you-know content “teasers” can spark interest when used in blog post titles. Little known details can be used to describe a unique business policy, to clarify the way in which a product works, or explain why one of the services provided by that business particularly effective in solving a problem.

“Harvesting” tidbits of information will always prove useful to content writers. While “tidbit” posts are just one of the dozens of different “genres” we can use to lend variety to out posts, unusual tidbits of information put writer and reader on the same side of the presentation, with both experiencing wonder about the unusual “byte” being shared.

Online visitors searching for a product or a service, I explain to business owners, typically have no idea what it takes to do what you do and how much effort you put into acquiring the expertise you’re going to use to their benefit. Did-you-know content has the power to close that gap, showing the level of preparation and effort on the part of both owner and employees which will be devoted to delivering the expert advice, service, and products they can expect.

As the Farmer’s Almanac shows, “did-you-know?” content marketing is a great way to “plant” trust in prospects!

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Blogging the Buck by the Horns

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This week’s Say It For You two blog posts are inspired by the 2023 Almanac for Farmers & City Folk…..

From the fascinating article “Shed Meds”, I learned that “sheds”, or deer antlers, are used for making not only buttons, lamps, knife handles, and dog chews, but are in world-wide demand for use in medical research. Of course, at Say It For You, I’ve long touted the advantages of using trivia in blogging for business. Trivia can help spark curiosity and interest in readers, at the same time helping business owners and professionals explain what they do and how they believe it should best be done.

I’m going to suggest ways in which different types of businesses or practices might use the trivia I found in this article, at the same time reminding readers that in blog posts, trivia are just jumping-off points for the main message…

  • Every spring mail deer, as well as elk, moose, and caribous, grow themselves a new set of antlers
    This fact might be used in a blog by a company selling fire extinguishers, water filters, or dried herbs, each of which should be replaced at least once a year.

  • Chinese medicine has used antlers for thousands of years to support bone health.
    This tidbit could inspire a blog for an orthopedic medical practice – or a vitamin supplement manufacturer.

  • Deer use their antlers to compete with each other for mates and territory.
    This information could be used in a martial arts studio’s blog.

  • Antlers fill an ecological role, because once they are shed, they become an important source of calcium and other minerals to a variety of small animals such as squirrels, mice, and porcupines.
    Any business might use this tidbit in their blog to demonstrate ways in which they are environmentally aware.

  • Rustic antler buttons are often used to adorn crunchy, hand-knitted sweaters and coats..
    Fashion boutiques and craft shops might feature this fact in their blog.

Use trivia to blog your buck by the horns!

 

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In Blogging for Business, Answer the Question: “Compared to What?”

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Always “reading around” for background materials for this Say It For You blog, I learned two different startling statistics about the travel industry. First, at a recent networking meeting, I heard from presenter Gloria Thomas of Eight Streams Wealth that travel represents $9.25 trillion worth of business here in the U.S. Then from reading Tourism Review News, I learned that tourism has generated 20% of total world employment since 2013. Conclusion: Travel is a big, big deal.

Same message, just in different words? Yes and no.

Both presentations offered attention-commanding statistics. From Tourism Review, I learned that, in a single year, there are 1.4 billion international arrivals registered across the globe and that fully 20% of the jobs generated worldwide between 2025-2019 were in travel and tourism.

What lent Gloria Thomas’ presentation extra “oomph”, in my opinion, was the “compared to what?” element. That $9.25 trillion in U.S. travel business? Our oil & gas industry generates $330 billion. Our auto industry? $500 billion. Hollywood? A “mere” $300 billion.

It’s been a long-held belief of mine: nothing speaks quite as loud as numbers, which is why, in teaching how to create content for blog posts, I stress the power of using statistics. Real numbers dispel false impressions people have about an industry and can be used to demonstrate the extent of a problem before you set about showing how you help solve that problem. From a customer acquisition standpoint, statistics relate to the theory of social proof – humans are more willing to do something other people are already doing.

The thing about numbers, though, is they’re tricky. Statistics are a valuable form of information, to be sure, and, as my friend Gloria proved, answering the “compared to what?” question invests those statistics with more power. But in blog marketing, I’ve come to realize, there’s even more needed. For every statistic about the company or about one of its products or services, even with the addition of comparisons, the content writers needs to address every reader’s unspoken question – So, is that good for me (compared to what I am doing or using now)?

Bottom line: The raw ingredients of blogging for business need to be “converted” into relational, emotional terms that compel reaction – and action. In describing your products, your services, your business credo, don’t forget to answer the question: Compared to what??

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Unleash the Combined Power of Statistics and Stories in Your Blog

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“Every 55 seconds someone in the US develops the disease,” Jason Abady, community engagement manager for the Central Ohio Alzheimer’s Association, let our audience know. In fact, I thought later, Abady had used this one simple but startling statistic to engage his audience.

Abady’s presentation confirmed a long-held belief of mine: nothing speaks quite as loud as numbers. In teaching business owners and professional practitioners how to create content for blog posts, I stress the power of using statistics in blogs.

  • Statistics can serve as myth-busters, dispelling false impressions people may have regarding your industry.
  • Statistics grab visitors’ attention.
  • Statistics can be used demonstrate the extent of a problem (just as Jason Abady did in his talk), opening the door for your to show how you help solve that very type of problem.

Statistics relate to the theory of social proof, meaning that, as humans, we are more willing to do something if we see other people doing it. (That, I suspect, is what is in play with the Alzheimer’s Walk, which brings numbers of people together in an activity, rather than merely soliciting individual donations.)

There’s another side to this story, based on my own experience at Say It For You, training blog content writers and working with business owners and professional practitioners: Statistics alone, although powerful, are not enough to create positive results in a marketing blog. True, what blogging does best is “deliver” to blog sites customers who are already interested in the product or service provided by that practice, business, or organization. The blog content assures readers they are not alone in their need for solutions to their medical, financial, or personal challenges.

As John Pullinger observes in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, “Statistics provides a special kind of understanding that enables well-informed decisions. As citizens and consumers we are faced with an array of choices. Statistics can help us to choose well.” However, as blog marketers, it’s important for us to remember that the first choice that people make when presented with a statistic, is whether to take action at all.

Numbers give us quantifiable information, but when it comes to communicating how things can actually impact readers’ real lives, some form of humanizing or grounding the data is often effective, Barnard Marr explains in Forbes.

One way to boost the power of a statistic is to turn it into a story. The story then becomes a call to action for readers. In fact, one big, big part of providing business blogging assistance is helping business owners formulate stories. Online visitors to your blog want to feel you understand them and their needs, and the story enhances the potential value (to them) of your product or service. In his presentation, Jason Abady did exactly that, sharing the story of his own grandfather as an Alzheimer’s patient.

Unleash the combined power of startling statistics and inspiring stories in your blog!

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Blogging Who You Are

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Ahead of the launch of its inaugural flight from Indianapolis to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, Spirit Airlines announced two new year-round flights coming to market this November.  Since Spirit is new to our airport, John Kirby, vice president of network planning, delivered some introductory remarks at the press conference:“We are a leisure airline, so we look for opportunities to enhance our leisure position in the marketplace.”

In training Say It For You business blog content writers, I can use this one sentence to talk about niches. A niche is all about serving a particular group of clients with a particular need, applying a solution to that need.  After all, that’s what we do as blog content writers – serve niche markets.  As writers, we define a narrow target audience made up of people who are already looking for products, information, and services relating to a particular need they have.  For our part, rather than presenting ourselves (or the clients who’ve hired us to write for them), as knowing a little about a lot of things, we demonstrate that the owners are uniquely informed – and passionate – about just one or two.

“When approaching a new market niche, it’s imperative to speak their language.  In other words, you should understand that market’s ‘hot buttons’ and be prepared to communicate with the target group as an understanding member – not an outsider,” advises Kim T. Gordon, writing in Entrepreneur Magazine. That advice is particularly applicable to business blogging, and that principle is part of the “Power of One” concept on which Say It For You was founded. “The more focused a blog is, the more successful it will be in converting prospects to clients and customers.

Spirit’s “We are a leisure airline” is a great example of “blogging who you are.” It relates to what I call the “training benefit” of blogging.  When you create and maintain a blog, you’re verbalizing the positive aspects of your business in a way people can understand.  You’re putting your accomplishments down in words. You’re reviewing the benefits of your products and services, keeping those fresh in your mind.  You reveal some of the early struggles that helped you forge your business beliefs.  In other words, the very act of blogging provides constant training on how to talk effective about your own business or practice.

 

 

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