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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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Listen to Stand Out and Be Heard

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In recent Say It For You posts, I had been discussing the importance of understanding your target audience, by being alert to their preferences and opinions as expressed on social media. I invited friend and networking colleague Joe Rutenberg, owner of CCC Solutions, to comment on “listening” to connect with a target audience….

Buyers are flooded with inbound messaging so how can you stand out and be heard? Listen to the right sources to get started. Writing content and delivering it consistently is hard. How can you deliver effective content regularly? Answer 2 questions:

  • What excites your audience?
  • What do you want them to do once they are excited?

You want to move your audience using content delivered at key stages of their decision process to achieve your goal.

The Right Goals

Do you want to: Close a sale; Entice a prospect; or Inform a customer about product benefits. Where in your Sales Funnel is each prospect? Content is based on your audience and where in the sales funnel they are. Regardless of audience type, resonating content, delivered consistently, is the goal.

Prospects and Clients

Prospects and clients have overlapping and different attributes and needs.

  • Prospects need to trust you and believe you reduce their risk.
  • Clients need to see recurring value and best pricing.

Effective content focuses on what your audience believes is important.

Resonating Content is Important

When you listen, others listen, and you build trust. When your content shows empathy and speaks to poignant topics, it becomes “sticky.” Content that “sticks” is about your audience, not you. Being “sticky” makes you top of mind and the “Go To” person in your technical area. Sticky content is remarkable because it is specific to an industry, function, market, product, or geography and is what your audience cares about.

Listen to Hear Topical Content

Listen to the marketplace to find content. In addition to AI sources, sources include:

  • Your clients – Ask clients 4-5 questions about their business, industry, and why they chose you. It is a great way to touch base.
  • Client and prospect websites – What are they talking about?
  • Industry and trade association newsletters and websites.
  • Community and Civic groups – When your audience is geographic.
  • Social media channels – Choose channels based on what you sell (B2B or B2C).

Listen to the common questions and concerns and build your “Topic Library.”

Consistent Delivery to Multiple Audiences

How can you deliver consistent content to different audiences all at once? The solutions are the right content writer and the right CRM. Depending on company size, you may have:

  • In house or outsourced content writing. Both work as it is all about talent.
  • No CRM or an enterprise CRM. A CRM is a must for marketing and sales.

A talented writer and robust CRM are a winning combination.

How to Stand Out

Use your CRM to reach your audience before they make decisions. Review your sales cycle and trigger content driven outreach prior to milestones in your sales cycle. Use content that is relevant at each stage of your sales funnel. Make your content “Sticky” and you will be remarkable!

 

Want To Stand Out In Every Crowd?

Visit www.cccsolutions.com and Close More Sales 

Explore CCC’s Marketing And Sales Strategies

 

 

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Putting the Personal Before the Factual

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Rules are important in English grammar, especially when using multiple adjectives to describe a single noun, Bennett Kleinman reminds us on wordsmarts.com.  All ten distinct adjective types aren’t required in a sentence, Kleinman reassures us, but, used in the wrong order, adjectives make for very awkward sentences. While most of us pick this up based on common speech patterns, Kleinman reminds us of the correct order, with personal opinion being first, followed by factual descriptions (size, quality, shape, age, color, origin, material, type, and purpose). 

The way Chris Tor explains the “rule” is that “the closer you get to the noun being modified, the more inherent to the nature of the noun the adjective is”. “You can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife, but if you mess with that word order you’ll sound like a maniac,”  @MattAndersonNYT cautions in a tweet. 

Is the same rule applicable to content marketing? You bet. How can you create ads that draw your intended consumers towards commitment? Using emotional appeal advertising is the ticket,‌ Nitzan Solomon reminds us in a wisestamp.com post. When ads evoke emotion, he explains, they are more likely to:

  • be remembered
  • influence opinion
  • drive action
  • build loyalty

Your smart phone may feature a high-resolution display, lightning-fast processor, and long battery life, but don’t start with that.  Instead, begin by describing the phone as being “the perfect companion for capturing and sharing all of life’s moments”. Solomon suggests.

One interesting perspective on the work we do as content marketing professionals is that we are interpreters, translating clients’ corporate message into human, people-to-people terms.  That’s the reason I prefer first and second person writing in business blog posts over third person “reporting”. I think people tend to buy when they see themselves in the picture and when can they relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message.

At Say It For You, we’ve learned, corporate and professional practitioner content is part promo, part advertising, part bulletin, part tutorial, and part mission statement, but the bottom line is that it includes both the personal and the factual – in just that order of importance!

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The Content Marketing Challenge is Always the Same

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00:00:08 seconds is all you’ve got, Paul Hellman points out in his book You’ve Got 8 Seconds: Communication Secrets for a Distracted World, referring to the precipitous drop in the average attention span,
The challenge, Hellman acknowledges, is always the same:
  • Getting heard
  • Getting remembered
  • Getting results
.For sellers and speakers, Hellman recommends three main messaging strategies:
  1. Focus – design a strong message
  2. Variety – make routine information come alive
  3. Presence: convey confidence and command attention
Whether you have an exciting new product to pitch, an inspired speech to give, or an important email to send, Hellman advises, start with your conclusion, tell how you got there, then repeat the conclusion.
In a sense, focus is the point in content writing, particularly in blog posts. At Say It For You, we firmly believe in the Power of One, which means one message per post, with a razor-sharp focus on just one story, one idea, one aspect of your business, geared towards one narrowly defined target audience. For readers who might want more in-depth information, provide a link to another source or landing page (or simply tell readers to watch for further information in your next post.
Still, as Marcia Hoeck of copyblogger.com emphasizes, “no matter how brilliant your ideas are, you can’t offer them to your prospect unless you’ve made her look in your direction first.” As content writers, our “bait” consists of article titles. These may or may not consist of “keyword phrases” designed to win search, but may be curiosity-stimulating “starters”, such as the ones I took from a news magazine:
                      Finding…  Could…Things just… The impossible…The hidden…Who is…
One very practical and specific piece of advice in Hellman’s book is this: Avoid lists longer than three items.  Being partial to bullet points myself (they help keep both readers and writers “on track”), I recalled that according to the Reuters Handbook of Journalism, the recommended maximum number of bullet points is five.
In content marketing, our ultimate challenge truly does remain the same – getting readers to take a desired next step. 
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In Sales, Words Matter!

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Words can have a negative or positive impact on your sales efforts. Guest author Gary Kurtis shares some examples….

The interrogation with the overhead light:

Sales people are rightfully taught to ask questions to uncover problems. Often this comes across to the customer as an interrogation. Before asking the questions, be sure you have created a comfort level with your customer, and then have the questions be “conversational”. The best questions are thought-provoking, meant to elicit a reply such as “What a great question! No one’s ever asked me that before!” With questions posed in this manner, prospects will be more likely to tell you about their problems.

The 50/50 dilemma:

How many times during the sales cycle do we ask a question or make a statement and not get the answer we are looking for? For example, we say “I am calling to follow up on our proposal”, only to be told “Well, nothing has changed”. (Why ask a question if there is at least a 50% chance you will not get your desired answer?)

Dealing with the competition:

Here are two scenarios we all want to avoid. a)You had a great call leading to an anticipated sale, but the customer goes with your competition. You never had the chance to address your advantages – because you didn’t ask if they were looking at other options!  b) Following another great call, you remember to ask the prospect if they are planning to look at the competition. They reply, “What a great idea! We hadn’t thought about doing that, but it now makes perfect sense.”  Neither scenario is good for you. Rather than suggesting there is competition, once the customer expresses a desire for your solution, simply ask them what next steps they plan to take to have your solution fully approved. (If they do plan on looking at the competition, that will be revealed in their answer.)

Getting the customer to state what they dislike about their current vendor:

Sales people are often taught to ask this question to determine how they can become a better source compared to the current vendor. The problem is most (particularly if they don’t know you), prospects will not automatically open up. In fact, they may become defensive, since it was their decision to select that vendor. Take the high road. Ask your customer what they like about their current vendor. Then ask them what they would improve or add. This technique essentially gives you permission to ask what they don’t like, doing it in a positive way.

Requesting a meeting:

Sales people are given numerous scripts to request a meeting. These are performed by cold calling, phone, email, letters etc. The basic request is to make it about you and your company and having an opportunity to introduce yourself to eventually “earn” your business. In this era of information overload and “pushy” sales people you become part of the noise. A better approach is to identify your differentiation from others, learn what’s most important to your targeted customer and request to have a conversation to share how you helped other similar customers to see if there is a fit.

In sales, the words you use and your choice of questions to ask – matter – a lot!

 

Today’s guest post was contributed by Gary Kurtis, Principal of Sales Tips101. For more information, call (301) 775-1318 or visit https://salestips101.com.

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