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Is Three Perfection in Content Marketing?

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Aristotle taught it. Hemingway used it. Matthew McConaughey still does.  In “The Oldest Rule of Compelling Writing”, Linda Caroll is referring to “Omni trium perfectum”, meaning Three is Perfection.  With the human brain a pattern-seeking machine, the smallest number it identifies is three, Caroll explains.  As an example, in McConaughey’s Oscar acceptance speech, he said that, in life, we all need three things: someone to look up to, something to look forward to, and something to chase.

 

The laminated student guide “Writing Tips & Tricks” by quickstudy.com advises: “Ask yourself what you want the reader to know about your topic….Think of three details or three examples for each idea.”  Quick Study is referring to student essays, typically much longer, much more formal, and more detailed than blog posts. In fact, their sample outline format contains three main ideas, each with three details and examples.

In content writing for business, by contrast, I recommend a razor-sharp focus on just one story, one idea, one aspect of a business, a practice, or an organization.  Other aspects can be addressed in later posts. Focused on one thing, I tell business owners and practitioners, your post will have much greater impact, since people are bombarded with many messages each day. Respecting readers’ time produces better results for your business.

That doesn’t mean blog content writing shouldn’t make use of the “the three-legged stool” idea, with three examples or details supporting the main idea of each post, and using the three elements of:

  • Visual (images and charts)
  • Word content
  • Delivery (expression of the opinion clarifying the difference between the business owner and his/her competitor )

Three may be perfection, but all three of those must support one main concept in each content piece.

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In Content Marketing, Are Listicles Part of the Problem or a Solution?

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What reunites you with your car keys, slashes your dessert budget, transports you to Margaritaville, and douses the flames shooting out of your head, all while making you nicer? Well, as Amy Maclin asserts in Oprah Daily, it’s mediation.

As a content marketing trainer at Say It For You, I couldn’t help both admiring  – and critiquing –  “9 Surprising Benefits of Mediation”. Turning your frown upside down? Providing TLC for your IBS? Soothing Your Achy-Breaky Back? All titles to induce a smile. Good, cleverly written explanations, too.

(“Reunites you with your car keys” alludes to the fact that meditation improves cognition, according to a study of older adults; “Transporting you to Margaritaville “refers to the fact that mediation turns on the body’s parasympathetic nervous system – the flip side of fight or flight.)

“There are good reasons listicles remain one of the most popular forms of content today,” Hubspot points out. They’re readable, and, precisely because they’re bite-sized, they’re sharable. What’s more, nobullmarketing says, list posts are shared more often than posts in other formats. Still, given the quality of some list posts, there’s a chance they might be considered lightweight, the authors caution.

Travel writer Eric Reed does consider listicles lightweight. “If there is one thing we can certainly agree on above all else” he says, ” it is that listicles constitute the lowest form of journalism.” When you write a listicle, he points out, you’re not providing a transition from one thought to the next. Difficult subjects need a unified narrative, and listicles lack the background readers need before they can really get into your story.

At Say It For You, where we create content based on a combination of independent research and interviews with our business and practice owner clients, their staff members, and their customers, we view content marketing as SME-DEV (Subject Matter Expert Development). While listicles certainly have a place in our content marketing “toolbox”, we prefer to utilize the “Power of One”, focusing each blog post on one new idea, or calling for a single action.

Focused on one thing, a post has greater impact, since people are bombarded with so many different messages each day. Ms. Maclin, what I’d love to read is one long, detailed article, focused on the research concerning the many cognitive health benefits of meditation.  The title might even be “Meditation Can Reunite You With Your Car Keys”.

 

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Unravel Acronyms, Accelerate Engagement

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Some letter combinations are such a familiar part of everyday life that they almost fade into the background. Every day we see markings on food packaging, clothes, water bottles, electronics and elevators, Sarah Anne Lloyd writes in Interesting Facts. Examples include:

UL – The Underwriters Laboratories Company conducts product safety testing on electric plugs, heaters, and smoke alarms.

FCC – Mobile phones, earbuds, and televisions stations are checked by the Federal Communications Commission to make sure devices don’t overexpose users to electromagnetic radiation.

YKK – The Yoshisa Kogyo Kabushikikaisha manufacturing company delivers high-quality zippers, and has become a go-to in the garment industry.

SKU – Stock keeping units are used to keep track of products for sale online, helping sellers be precise about exact color, size, and model of goods.

Many times, authors introduce new acronyms when they develop a novel technique and want to give it a catchy name, believing that this increases the chances of accepting and remembering the technique, Dr. Shweta Murudkar of the Enago Academy.explains. However, one must use abbreviations with caution, Murudkar warns, because overuse may in turn reduce readability, especially for a non-technical or non-specialist reader.

In content marketing, as I explained last month in this Say It For You blog, once you’ve established common ground, reinforcing to readers that they’ve come to the right place, it’s important to add lesser-known bits of information on your subject, which might take the form of arming readers with terminology and acronyms common in your field.  That not only adds value to the “visit”, but increases readers’ sense of being “in the know”.

I remember, more than ten years ago, Vogue Magazine publishing a glossary of terms, teaching prospects to feel like “fashion mavens” who understood the meaning of “boxy” and “dirndl”. Every trade and every profession has its own technical terms and acronyms that are used for the sake of convenience.  Now we content writers can help readers feel part of our client’s “inner circle”, all through unraveling those acronyms and sharing those industry-specific “secret words”.

 

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More Content Sips and Tips

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This week’s Say It For You blog posts are inspired by items in issues of Wine Spectator which I think offer clues to the most attention-grabbing and impactful ways of marketing a product or service through content……(Today’s quotes come from the Jan.-Feb. 2024 issue of the magazine).

Offering everyday advice
“Everyday Moments” recommends “smart buys” for weeknight dinners, movies at home, Sunday brunches, “and all the daily occasions in between”.
There’s a reason “how-to” and “advice column” content works – readers have a sense of immediate benefit. Create content readers can put to use right now, using statistics to document both the problem and the proposed solution.

Using a celebrity connection
Celebrity chefs Jose Andres, Eric Ripert, and Emeril Lagasse are shown taking part in the Chefs’ Challenge, an annual pairing showdown covered by a Wine Spectator editor.

“Tweak” material so that the content is tied to the doings of popular figures that audiences love to hear about.

Putting questions in readers’ mouths and minds
“Why do red wines give some people headaches?” Mitch Frank answers his own question by citing a University of California study showing that the polyphenols in red wine may keep some people from quickly metabolizing alcohol.

In content marketing, you’re often providing answers to questions that your potential customer might ask. The specific genius lies in forcing readers to recognize their own uncertainties and need for answers.

Keeping readers up to date on industry news
In “Duckhorn to buy Sonoma-Cutree for $400 Million”, Daniel Marsteller keeps Wine Spectator readers in the know about an important corporate takeover.

Showing that you are keeping abreast of the latest thinking and developments in your field is the key to earning “expert power”, showing readers that you are in a good position to spot both threats and opportunities.

Offering Opinion Pieces
In “the Necessary Luxury”, senior editor Mitch Frank shares his perceptions of the relationship between value and luxury. Good wine, he points out, helps us thrive, enhancing the meal on our plate, easing the shyness of guests, and sparking the sharing of stories and ideas.

We must be influencers, I advise clients and content writers alike. Whether it’s business-to-business or business to consumer writing, the content itself needs to use opinion to clarify what differentiates that business, that professional practice, or that organization from its peers.

No, becoming a wine connoisseur may not be the future you have in mind, but these “sips” from Wine Spectator can offer valuable insights for creators of marketing content.

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Things-You-Never-Knew Content Marketing

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“Time to take a look at how amazing (and a bit freaky!) we all are,” says Patricia S. Daniels of National Geographic. And we want to do this why? To: 1. discover healthy living 2. improve function 3. explore the latest discoveries. The special issue offers no fewer than 100 things you never knew”, in the form of “tidbits” of information about the human body..

Things-you-never-knew tidbits are super-valuable when it comes to content marketing. For one thing, tidbits showcase the knowledge and expertise of the business owners or practitioner, while at the same time softening the effect of any strong opinions expressed in the article or blog.

In content writing, word tidbits and tag lines are both designed to help readers remember something– a concept, a company, a product, a service. But, while a tag line may be catchy, even memorable – it’s pure advertising, revealing little to nothing about product or service, the company or the experience in store for the buyer. The right word tidbit in contrast, can capture the sense of the owners and how much those owners care about continuing their decades-long relationship with customers.

The “things-you-never-knew” concept is successful because it relates to the fact that web visitors tend to be curious creatures, particularly when it comes to testing their own knowledge and learning more about themselves. In fact, “self-tests” tend to engage readers and help them relate in a more personal way to the information presented in a blog or other marketing content On the other hand, online searchers are looking for more than just information; they need perspective. Yes, the National Geographic issue is designed to help readers become aware of these fascinating details of bodily function, ls, they need help discovering what to do about those details in order to achieve a more healthy lifestyle.

Business blog posts, for example, much like those individual things-you-never-knew pieces in National Geographic, should be designed to spark reader curiosity, playing on our natural desire to self-test, then offer technical information “in chewable tablet form”.

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