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Can the IKEA Principle Work in Blog Marketing?

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“One of the most popular business cases I’ve ever written about,” says Youngme Moon, author of Different – Escaping the Competitive Herd, is IKEA North America. One of the most popular consumer brands in the world, IKEA, Moon explains, has built its reputation around a set of negatives, service elements it has deliberately chosen to withhold from its customers. Rather than trying to offer more features and benefits than its competitors, IKEA offers what Moon calls “a reverse brand”, with:

  •  minimal variety (the furniture comes in only four basic styles)
  • very little shopping assistance
  • no delivery
  • no assembly
  • no promise of durability

Moon’s theses is that a reverse-positioned firm refuses to get on the augmentation treadmill, constantly trying to offer more than other companies, when customers don’t necessarily care about all those bells and whistles. A reverse brand offers something less, but focuses on those things their target buyers care most about.

At Say It For You, we know that the blog for any business or professional practice needs to be targeted towards the specific type of customers they want and towards those most likely to want to do business with them. Everything about the blog should be tailor-made for that customer – the words you use, how technical you get, how sophisticated your approach, the title of each blog entry – all of it.

In any field, there will always be controversy – about best business practices, about the best approach to providing professional services, about acceptable levels of risk, even about business-related ethical choices. Rather than ignoring the controversy, bloggers need to comment on the different views and “weigh in” with their own.

Helping online readers know the difference between you and your competitors is certainly a core function of blog content writing. Exactly what factors distinguish your products and services from everyone else’s? But, even more important, what features and benefits have you chosen to de-emphasize or eliminate entirely and why?

For example, at Say It For You, we pointedly do not offer Search Engine Optimization analyses, instead taking guidance from our clients’ webmasters or SEO consultants. We do not offer video services opting to focus on the “word-smithing” piece of the content marketing challenge.

The Harvard Business Review has this to say about Youngme’s book: “it will inspire you to rethink your business strategy, to stop conforming and start deviating.” Could the IKEA strategy work for your blog marketing?

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Tidbits, Not Tag Lines, Work Best in Blog Marketing

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In content writing, word tidbits and tag lines are both designed to help readers remember something– a concept, a company, a product, a service. Just the other day, when I came across examples of both, I realized just how important the difference is between a tagline and a word tidbit when it comes to blogging for business…..

“We wanna see-‘ya in a Kia” – is a tag line. It’s catchy, it’s memorable – it’s advertising. Thing is, that tagline tells me nothing about the car, about the company, about any one dealership or salesperson, nothing about the experience I would have if I chose to purchase and drive a Kia.

Contrast that with a word tidbit I caught last week in a local news bulletin about the fact that Edwards Drive-In restaurant is closing after more than sixty years in business, but that their food truck business will be continuing. “We’re selling the store, not the soul”. So much more than a tag line, this word tidbit captures the sense of “we” (the owners of the store) and how much the owners care about continuing their decades-long relationship with customers.

Fully fourteen years ago, with Say It For You in its n infancy, I’d mentioned a word tidbit found in Daniel Gardners’ book The Science of Fear. “We report the rare routinely, and the routine rarely,” he said. That powerful combination of everyday words unified concepts I already knew, but which I hadn’t synthesized into any true understanding about the media.

Just about a year later, I blogged about another “grabber” tidbit from a review of Maxine’s Chicken & Waffles restaurant: “And, wow, those wings…the breading was crispy and well-seasoned without overpowering the tender meat.” (Here’s the tidbit: “Maxine’s wings are nothing like the fast-food varieties that are more batter than bird”.

That word tidbit made me think about business blogging: Searchers arrive at your blog seeking information about what you do, what you sell, and what you know. The “batter” might be the way the blog site is laid out, the pictures and illustrations, and even cleverness in the writing. But, when it comes right down to it, the “meat” is the well-researched information, and the links you provide readers to sources they might not have thought to research themselves.

What a blog should aim to do is capture concepts relating to your business, putting words together is a new way, sharing an “aha!” experience with your readers that helps them know the subject better, but also helps them get to know you a little better.

Taglines may help them remember it, but word tidbits force them to think about it!

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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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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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Blogging to Get Remembered

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Brag Better: Master the Art of Fearless Self-Promotion
“You can always get attention by being the loudest in the room,” admits Meredith Fineman in her book Brag Better, but being loud while lacking strategy will do more harm than good. There are ways to get remembered, Fineman teaches, by describing your personal brand in ways that earn respect and recognition. True showmanship, she says, means showcasing what you’ve done in a way that feels fun and true to you.

Better bragging better begins with making a list of facts about yourself and your successes, Fineman teaches. Learn to be loud, proud, and strategic by:

  • Using super power words
  • Avoiding invisibility
  • Avoiding verbal qualifiers
  • Considering your audience

Brant Pindivic, author of the book The 3-Minute Rule, speaks about ways to consider your audience: “To succeed, you must be able to capture and hold your audience’s attention with only the quality and flow of your information,” The audience must be able to:

  1. conceptualize your idea
  2. contextualize it (understand how it will benefit them)
  3. actualize it (engage with interest)

One tip that Pinvidic offers to sales people is particularly worth noting by blog content writers: “It’s not just who you pitch to, it’s who they have to pitch to, that matters.” How will readers rationalize their decision to buy when speaking to others?

Better bragging is about shining a light on the work you’ve done, having confidence in yourself and your voice, and speaking up, Fineman stresses. At Say It For You, there are three models of business blog posts that we’ve found are particularly helpful in getting readers to remember the content and its provider:

1. Helpful how-to hints
Find complementary businesses or practices, asking those business owners or practitioners for tips they can offer for you to pass along to your readers. The best tips and hints, I added, are related to some a topic currently trending in the news and practical.

2. Personal stories
Research done by questioning Stanford University graduates showed that shows that graduates were more likely to remember commencement speakers who told stories. In one experiment, students were asked to give one-minute speeches that contained three statistics and one story. Only 5 percent of the listeners remembered a single statistic, while 63 percent remembered the stories.

3. Fascinating tidbits of information
When business owners or practitioners present little-known facts about their own business or profession, those tend to be remembered. If you notice a “factoid” circulating about your industry, a common misunderstanding by the public about the way things really work in your field, a little-known tidbit can reveal the truth behind the myth.

Learn to do better bragging in your blog!

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