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Blog Writing Begins with Answering the Question

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In order to grab and keep readers’ attention, writers must answer the questions every reader asks as a story begins – questions that need to be answered if the reader is to relax and enjoy the ride,” the authors of The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings explain. After all, if readers don’t care what happens next, they won’t read on.”

The “big idea” of any story is the “hook” that sells that story to agents and editor, (and, in the case of blog content writing, to online searchers), has to be compelling enough to get your story off to a great start. “The most important thing your opening needs to do is this: Keep the reader reading,” author Paula Munier teaches. “In truth,” she admits, “it doesn’t matter how good your opening scene is if the idea on which your story is based is flawed, either in storytelling terms or marketing terms.”

Making messages deliver impact is, of course, “our thing” as business blog content writers. As both Munier’s book and one by Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick, teach, we  can’t succeed if our messages don’t break through the clutter to get people’s attention. Opening your blog post with a startling statistic can be one way to grab visitors’ attention, I often point out to content writers for Say It For You clients.

Just as consumers would not be searching for the right auto shop/ jewelry store/ plumber/ healthcare provider, etc. unless they already felt the need for that service or product type, searchers who land on your blog are already interested in and have a need for what you offer. Now, as Paula Munier cautions, the essential questions on searchers’ minds need to be answered as they decide whether to read on or click away.

Blogs, as I so often stress to business blog writers, are not advertisements or sales pieces (even if increasing sales is the ultimate goal of the business owner).  Whatever “selling” goes on in effective blogs is indirect and comes out of business owners sharing their passion, special expertise and insights in their field.  When blog posts “work”, readers are moved to think, “I want to do business with him!” or “She’s the kind of person I’ve been looking for!”

Before that ultimate “Ah, yes!” effect can take place, readers newly arrived after clicking on a blog title link need reassurance that the title and the actual blog post content are congruent. In other words, readers have arrived at the right place for finding the answers they were seeking.

In a very real way, blog writing begins – and ends – with answering that very question.

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Blog Content Writing is Choice Architecture

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Choice architecture is not just about how websites are designed or how policies are implemented, Eric J. Johnson explains in the book The Elements of Choice. We are all designers every day he says, posing choices to our friends, colleagues, and families.
You think you’re choosing dinner from a restaurant menu, a fund for your retirement plan, or a movie to see with your spouse, but the decisions made by the restaurant, by your employer, or by your spouse about how to pose those choices to you influence what you end up choosing.

The author relates a fascinating experiment conducted by a professor named Irwin Levin of the University of Iowa. Two groups of undergrads were asked to rate samples of raw ground beef. One group was shown packages labeled 25% fat”, while the second group was shown packages labeled “75% lean”, with the second group reporting a more positive perception of the meat. Carrying the experiment even further, Levin and his team actually cooked the meet in front of the individuals involved in the study. Half the “customers” were told the beef was 75% lean; the others were told their hamburgers were 25% fat. Those to whom the percentage of fat was told reported that their hamburgers were greasier and of lower quality!

When we create blog content, we realize at Say It For You, what we’re doing involves choice architecture. Without exception, of course, we’re striving to present the most honest and fair information about the products and services our clients have to offer their reader prospects. But in order to offer the most amount of value to prospects and customers, while at the same time creating a “honeypot”, marketing firm ON24 cautions, content writers must first understand what customers want, involving the sales team in the process. In other words, successful marketing involves planning “architecture”.

“Writing is very much about the order of ideas presented and the emphasis given to them,” Brandon Royal explains in The Little Red Writing Book. There are different “floor plans” for pieces of writing, including a chronological structure, where you discuss the earliest events first, then move forward in time, and an evaluative structure, in which you discuss the pros and cons of a concept. Different blog posts might use different “floor plans.” But no matter which approach, readers will expect to see the things most important to them, their needs, given the greatest emphasis.

Blogging is actually an ideal architectural tool, because different blog posts can emphasize different aspects of the overall message. In fact, in offering corporate blogging training, one rule of thumb I often emphasize at Say It For You is using each blog post to focus readers’ attention on just one idea, one aspect of the message.

Blog content writing can be choice architecture at its finest!

 

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Why Blind Dates With Blogs are a Bad Idea

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Have you gone on a blind date with a book? Lauren Carlton of the American Library Association asks. “The set-up for the display is simple”, Carlton says. “Just wrap books in paper to hide their covers — hence the ‘blind date’ — and decorate the wrapping with enticing facts, hints about the plotline, or our favorite, the books’ first lines”.

To get patrons to want to pick up these blind dates, Carlton advises librarians and book store owners, you need books with attention-grabbing first lines.

  • “Don’t look for dignity in public bathrooms” (Big Machine by Victor LaValle)
  • “It was the day Grandmother exploded” (The Crow Road by Iain Banks)
  • “All stories are love stories” (Eureka Street by Robert McLiam Wilson)

Between Shakespeare’s Juliet asking “What’s in a name?” and father-of-advertising David Ogilby’s emphasis on headlines, there’s simply no contest when it comes to blogging for business – titles matter. Just as those first lines enticed readers to buy “blind date” books without seeing the covers or reading the blurb, blog titles set the tone and arouse curiosity in online searchers.

There are a number of different approaches in choosing a title for a blog post:

  • titles with an agenda (making clear the writer’s point of view)
  • emotional “grabber titles”
  • how-to titles
  • “truth about” titles

Blog post titles have two seemingly contradicting jobs to do – arousing readers’ curiosity while still assuring them they’ve come to the right place, I’ve often explained to blog content writers at Say It For You. Unlike the case with the blind date book promotion, where bookstore customers and library patrons are looking for “a good read”, online searchers are looking for specific answers to questions and specific solutions to problems they have. Searchers who’ve found your blog site won’t linger longer than a couple of seconds if what they see doesn’t reassure them they’ve come to the right place for the information they need.

In a blind-date-with-a-book promotion, the book jackets are covered with plain brown wrapping, so that appearances play no part in readers’ choice of their next read. In contrast, images and photos need to be part of any business’ blog marketing, because, as digital marketing maven Jeff Bullas points out, articles with images get 94% more total views. In fact, at Say It For You, we try to use images the same way, selecting one for each post that gives readers an idea of what to expect in the post.

If you’ve recently gotten out of a long relationship or have lost confidence in yourself, a blind date can really encourage you to get back into the dating arena. Blind dates with books are a fun promotion libraries and bookstores use to attract customers. In general, though, one is forced to conclude, blind dates with blogs tend to be a bad idea.

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Blog Marketing to Increase Choice Confidence

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“Choice confidence is an important driver of buying behavior,” Associate Professor of Marketing Demetra Andrews writes in the Indianapolis Business Journal. Together with colleagues, Andrews examined the influence different forms and quantities of information on consumers’ willingness to buy, naming certain types that tend to be most effective in building buyer confidence:

  1. Information that is diagnostic makes it easier for prospects to distinguish the differences among available options.
  2. Increasing the number of “cues” (individual pieces of information) increases customers’ perception of their own knowledge.
  3. Information presented in verbal format (vs. numbers) is most effective in building purchase intentions.
  4. Product ratings increase choice confidence.
  5. Testimonials from “influencers”, including consumers who provide insights into their own experience with the product or service encourage confidence.

Each of these valuable insights can be translated into blog content creation:

Diagnostic information
In order to facilitate informed decisions by readers, data needs to be presented and “analyzed” and broken down in terms of results. Remember, searchers are asking themselves “What’s in it for me?” Along with features, effective blog posts describe benefits.

Increasing the number of “cues”
Chunking refers to the strategy of breaking down information into bite-sized pieces so the brain can more easily digest new information. Blog posts are ideal for serving up “bites” of information, creating impact over weeks and months.

Ratings and comparisons
One core function of blogs for business is explaining yourself, your business philosophy, your products, and your processes.  An effective blog clarifies what sales trainers like to call your “unique value proposition” in terms readers can understand.

Testimonials
Customer success stories and client testimonials boost your credibility with new prospects, helping them decide to do business with you. But, as webcopyplus.com explains, website testimonials “also foster commitment from those providing the testimonials.”

“By tailoring information form, format, quantity and source, businesses can help customers make better, more confident choices that will meet their needs,” Andrews concludes. By tailoring the presentation of information as presented in blog posts, content writers can enhance blog readers’ confidence and encourage them to become customers.

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High vs. Low Level Blog Marketing

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“The problem with the hard and soft sell definitions is that they are subjective,” Gemma Wright comments in ProCopyTips. “Hard sell can also be viewed as aggressive and could potentially turn off prospective customers, whereas soft sell can be thought of as ineffective as it’s considered too gentle and doesn’t necessarily convert into sales.” “The trick, Wright concludes, “is finding that elusive middle ground that works for your business.”

When it comes to dog obedience training, as Sit Means Sit explains, “high vs. low level training is kind of like a steak. A ‘medium’ steak is over cooked if you prefer rare, and under cooked if you prefer well done”. And when it comes to dog obedience training, Sit Means Sit goes on to say, “one trainer will feel the level needs to be higher or lower, which might vastly disagree with what another trainer thinks”.

That dilemma constitutes a large part of what blog posts are for, we realize at Say It For You. In any field of business and in every profession, there will be different opinions about the most effective way to approach problem solution. Because it may not be feasible to explore all possible solutions on the welcome page of a website, blog posts are ideal for delving further into the many aspects of a topic.

Most people will not react overly positively to a blog that is just sales spin,” cautions Problogger.net. “While blogs can be used as a tool for selling they are at their best when they are relational, conversational and offer their readers something useful that will enhance their lives.”) The good news for business owners and practitioners who use blogs as a marketing tool, is that blog posts are an ideal vehicle for demonstrating support and concern while being persuasive in a low-key manner.

So what are some different ways to “cook a blog steak”?

  • building good will
  • staying in touch with existing customers and clients
  • defining terminology
  • offering how-to hints
  • announcing changes in products and services
  • controlling damage when it comes to negative PR or complaints
  • recruiting employees
  • ”humanizing” the owners and employees by presenting them as real, likeable peopleAt Say It For You, we teach that blog posts are, like advertorials, a “softly softly” form of advertising, in which you use a news or human-interest story to sell a product or service. The story ties together the answers to readers’ questions, and the solution you’re proposing.

You might say that well-written blogs combine the best of both high and low level marketing!

 

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