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Content to Win Search, Not the Lottery

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“There’s no shaking it. Your chances of winning the lottery are extremely slim.” The Associated Press patiently explained after the Mega Millions jackpot had climbed to more than a billion dollars, the largest in U.S. lottery history.” (Since the article was published, someone in Florida did, in fact, win the jackpot.)

There’s a long list of rare events that are more likely than winning the lottery, the AP author explains, including the 1 in 15,000 odds of being struck by lightning once in your lifetime . In fact, it’s about four times as likely that you die in a car accident on the way to buy your lottery ticket than you are to win the lottery! (Depressing facts to all of us ever-hopeful lottery ticket buyers, to be sure.) Still, the article itself holds a valuable content writing lesson, which is that one very important function served by a blog is putting things into perspective.

When you think about it, the typical website explains what products and services the company offers, who the “players” are, and in what geographical area they operate. The better websites give at least a taste of the corporate culture and some of the owners’ core beliefs.  It’s left to the continuously renewed business blog writing, though, to “flesh out” the intangibles, those things that make a company stand out from its peers. In other words, it’s the function of the blog content to give readers a deeper perspective with which to process the information offered.. For every fact about the company or about one of its products or services, a blog post addresses unspoken questions such as “So, is that different?”, “So, is that good for me?” The facts need to be translated into relational, emotional terms that compel reaction – and action.

Blogging helps you build authority in your industry, WP Beginner explains. “It is harder to prove your expertise and authority on a subject if all you have is a five-page website selling your products/services. Adding a blog allows you to regularly publish content on topics related to your industry. This helps you establish authority and win users’ trust.

As content writers, we understand that online readers have access to more technically detailed sources than our blog posts.  Our job, though, is to help those readers (and that includes B&B prospects of our marketing blogs) make sense out of the ocean of available information.

In blogging for business, we’re trying to “win search” and win hearts, not overcome enormous odds and win the lottery. But to truly overcome the still substantial odds against getting noticed, content writers must focus on putting avalanches of information into focused perspective.

 

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M’splaining Yourself in Your Content

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“We might even be the smartest people in the room,” writes Matthew Grob of Mensa, “but does that always mean we should always be compelled to demonstrate that?” Mensans probably do more m’splaining (boasting of their brain power) than most, Grob admits, but “we might not always be correct, factually or politically.” Given the options in any conversational situation, he advises his fellow Mensans: “select the one that avoids m’splaining.”

One concern many new clients of Say It For You express to me is that they don’t want to come across as boastful in their blog content. At the same time, they know they need to convey the reasons prospects ought to choose them over their competition. Let the facts do the boasting, is my advice. The whole secret of content marketing is that, rather than running traditional ads for your brand of hats, or vitamins, or travel, you provide lots of information on the history of hats, on why vitamins are good for you, and about exciting places to go on safari.  Consumers interested in your subject, but who never even knew your name, will come to see you as an information resource.

When you think about it, blog posts are like “flip-flopped” job interviews, in which the blog reader “candidate” is interviewing the provider. 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.  Subtle “m’splaining” is needed to demonstrate ways in which the provider stands out from the competition.

But, “boasting” isn’t going to do the trick, and language such as “innovative solutions”, “great customer service”, “world-class”, or “game-changing”, as David Meerman Scott points out, can be perceived as exaggeration. Instead, conveying the special “flavor” and personality of your brand and your people is precisely what blogging for business needs to contribute to your overall marketing strategy.

With the right kind of “boasting”, business owners and practitioners can project the kind of confidence that inspires trust and, ultimately, drives sales.

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5 Tips for Fledgling Entrepreneurs and Content Writers of Every Ilk

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Fascinated by the “Online Impact” section of Start Your Own Business Magazine, I found five recommendations that are perfect for blog content writers:

1. “People respond to a business with a human side, so don’t be afraid to express your own flair.”
One interesting perspective on the work we do as professional bloggers is that we translate clients’ corporate messages into human, people-to-people terms.  People tend to buy when they see themselves in the picture and relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message.

2. “Be conversational. Forget formalities.”
At Say It For You, I often explain to clients and to newbie blog writers that that blogs, unlike brochures, client newsletters, online magazines, and websites, are short and concise, less crafted and more casual and conversational than other marketing pieces.  It’s perfectly all right to take a thoughtful, serious approach to your topic.  Just write as if you were having an actual conversation, writes Paul Gillin, author of Secrets of Social Media Marketing.

3. “Do not take credit for content that does not belong to you.”
The most common way we cite our sources (whether it be an article or a website) within our blogs is by paraphrasing and hyperlinking back to the page where the information originated (precisely what I’ve already done several times in this very blog post). Vervante lists three instances where attributing content to a source is needed: a) You’re actually quoting someone else. b) You’re using statistics you did not collate yourself. c) You’re using ideas that aren’t your own.

4. “Storytelling is your secret weapon.”
Blog posts will be at their most effective when presenting stories, where the stories themselves become calls to action for readers. You can use stories to explain what you do and whom you’ve been able to help. Blog marketing through stories not only helps online visitors feel only understood by you, but lets them feel they understand where you’re coming from as well.

5. “If your text sounds strange or stilted because there are two many key words, visitors will be turned off.”
“Two of the most widespread mistakes made by bloggers are failing to integrate new keywords into their posts and not getting rid of keywords that are no longer valuable,” Catherine Smith of PhD Centre explains. Searchers use words and phrases to hook up with you, but keyword-overstuffed blog posts are uncomfortable to read and can make your content look like spam to readers.

 

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If You Can’t Write Content, Review??

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With tongue in cheek and as a retort to some negative criticism, 19th century American poet James Russell Lowell remarked, “He who would write and can’t write, can surely review.” Yes, we’re all sensitive when it comes to our outputs and ideas, blogger J.D. Zankic admits, advising readers not to impose their own disciplinary views on others and instead try to learn from seeing a concept “analyzed through another’s lens”…,

“There are ways to go about repurposing other people’s content so that you are not just copying them but adding to the conversation,” the Amp Agency says. “Always quote your sources and give a link to the original publisher of the content you’re referencing,” Thryv.com adds.

“You’re allowed to copy work to criticize, comment, or parody,” the Content Marketing Institute teaches. A good question to ask yourself, though, is whether your use of the content might in any way subtract from the value that would otherwise go to the content creator. In fact, many content writers will appreciate the additional exposure.

Recalling George Bernard Shaw’s saying (“Those who can, do’ those who can’t teach”), if you can’t write, is reviewing others’ writing your fallback position? Not at all. I like the view expressed by Ethics Sage: “Teachers teach because they want to make a difference in the lives of their students.”

One function of any marketing blog is to provide valuable information to consumers, information that could, in fact, make a difference in their lives. At the same time, in providing content writing assistance to our Say It For You business owner and professional practitioner clients, we try to steer readers away from the kind of order-now-or-lose-it sales tactics we see on late night TV or coupon web sites.

But, far from “imposing our own disciplinary views on others,” at Say It For You we advise taking the high road in marketing strategy. Rather than calling attention to what the competition is doing “wrong”, we tell clients, the blog content should demonstrate what they value and the way they have chosen to deliver that value to customers.

As content marketers, we quote, not because we can’t (write), but because we can!

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Blog to Bring it Home

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One in five media journalists lives in New York, Los Angeles, or Washington D.C., the New York Times reports. “This is a huge loss for regional journalism as local stories—what’s happening in our own communities, towns, and regions, is arguably the most important for our everyday lives,” Alison Hill mourns in Writer’s Digest. 

“One of the most common – and most effective – ways to get consistent hits on your blog is to tie your content to current events,” Ray Access suggests. “If you’re writing about food poisoning, for example, tie that in with the latest headlines about cruise line food poisoning outbreak,” The practical suggestion Ray Access offers to content writers is to get in the habit of scanning headlines of a daily news website, using “newsworthy keywords to get a search engine’s attention”..

When it comes to engaging readers’ attention, at Say It for You, we take the Ray Access general concept a step further, recommending tying blog content, wherever possible to local events and issues.

(Communication policy scholar Christopher Ali explains that “localism” (can be spatial, based on geographic location, or based on shared interests. While many of these Say It for You blog posts have been focused on the importance of understanding your “community” in the sense of your target audience – wherever they may be located – today I want to focus on the home town meaning of “local”.)

Getting personal is a huge element in the success of content marketing. A huge part of engaging readers is reflecting and even directly alluding to current happenings and concerns in the local community. What’s more, people tend to be comfortable associating with professionals and business owners who give back to the local community and who are actively participating in home town events.

The more focused a blog is on connecting with a narrowly defined target audience, the more successful it will be in converting prospects to clients and customers. “Leverage your community, Susan Solovic of Constant Contact advises. Blog marketing, we teach newbie content creators, is really nothing more than “meeting” strangers and helping to turn those strangers into friends.  Blogging really is all about community!

Blog to bring it “home”!

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