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Did-You-Know Content Teasers

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Tidbits of information can turn into content marketing treasure, we’ve learned over the years at Say It For You. Did-you-know content “teasers” not only spark interest when used in blog post titles, but can be used to describe your way of doing business, clarify the way one of your products works, or explain why one of the services you provide is particularly effective in solving a problem. A recent edition of the Farmer’s Almanac Gardener’s Guide proves my point…

  • Heirloom varieties of kidney, navy, and pinto beans, once considered a subsistence food (what you ate when the cupboards were bare) are now considered “gourmet”. Do not add nitrogen to the soil, because legumes “fix” nitrogen from the air around their roots.

Business owners and professionals stay abreast of trends in their fields by subscribing to trade journals and consumer magazines, scouring websites and newspapers, and by talking to colleagues and customers about the “latest and greatest”. Content readers, on the other hand, largely expect their service and product providers to have done all that work for them, keeping them up-to-date on trends and putting the information into perspective.

  • White asparagus is simply green asparagus that has been grown in the dark (sometimes under black plastic), because plants turn green only when their chlorophyll is exposed to sunlight.

(There are actually three different varieties of asparagus – green, white, and purple, each with a unique flavor.) Offering little known facts and explanations related to your own topic can engage readers’ interest, enticing blog visitors to keep coming back.

  • “Stand-ins” include Mexican mint marigold (stand-in for tarragon), lovage stand-in for celery), Vietnamese coriander (stand-in for cilantro) and salad burnet (substitute for cucumber).

Offering helpful hints is a way of engaging visitors through your blog articles. Find complementary businesses or practices, I advise content writers, 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, especially one affecting your industry.

 

  • Hummingbirds need an enormous amount of food relative to their size, so it may not be so much a matter of variety of plants but the quantity that attracts them.

In content marketing, quantity counts. It is difficult to get “traction” with an inconsistent or slow content publication schedule,; the “frequency illusion” refers to the fact that the more times time readers are exposed to your message, the more of a presence you will have in their minds.

  • All plants have specific needs pertaining to the amount of sun and water, type of soil, and growing space. Poor placement causes problems.

Find the right niche for your blog. When you demonstrate your own passion for a topic, readers will be more invested in what you have to say, Semrush.com advises new blog content creators.

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Blog Topics Have Ninety-Nine Lives

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“How often do we celebrate the life of a cat?” asks Kostya Kennedy in the special LIFE issue of Cats – Companions in Life. Drawn by the pictures of adorable kittens to purchase the magazine, I found quite a number of valuable blog content writing pointers. The entire issue, with all the articles focused on cats, is proof of the fact that the same general topic can be approached in a myriad of ways. In fact, in order to add variety to a blog, I teach content writers to experiment with different formats, presenting the same business or practice from different vantage points, purposely tailoring the content to different segments of the customer base. We need to remember that, even within smaller segments of a target market, individual readers’ need for information, products or services was born in a slightly different space and has traveled a different path.
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The History of the House Cat
Once upon a time, we learn, the ancestor of today’s domestic feline was a wild creature prowling the deserts of the ancient Middle East. As hunter-gatherers turned into farmers, the found cats useful in getting rid of mice. The calmness of cats made them good house pets. In a blog, introducing the readers to the history of the brand, using stories about founders, current employees and alumni to “humanize” the content. Sharing history makes the focus less on what the company does and more about what it is. What’s more, sharing memories of the “good old times” that weren’t really so good in terms of efficiency and convenience, you have the ability to share with blog readers a sense of look-how-far-we’ve-come togetherness.

Secrets of Cat Behavior
What is a cat trying to say when it purrs? Why do cats like catnip? The blog content should share with readers the owners’ unique point of view within their own profession or industry and within the community. Myth-debunks are a great use of blogs, I’ve found, because many of the misunderstandings about a product or service present themselves in the natural order of business, in the form of questions and comments from readers and customers. The very word “secrets” is a draw in a blog post title, and shining the light of day on that misinformation shines light on your own expertise.

Shelter-Cat Success Stories
LIFE highlights stories of seven cats who, despite illness and injury, somehow beat the odds. Thanks to a network of compassionate humans… In your blog, customer success stories and client testimonials boost your credibility with new prospects, helping them decide to do business with you. Perhaps even more important, website testimonials foster commitment from those providing the testimonials and sharing success stories around using your products and services.

Just as the LIFE issue on cats takes a single topic, dealing with it many different ways, in blog content writing, today’s post can slant in one direction; tomorrow’s can take the same theme and highlight different aspect, perhaps appealing to different segments of the business’ (or the practice’s) audience. Blog topics can have, not just nine lives, but as many as ninety-nine!

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Tidbits Add Interest and Strengthen Your Slant

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In this week’s Say It For You blog, I am focusing on fascinating knowledge tidbits from The Book of Bizarre Truths.  Including  interesting snippets of knowledge in blog content not only serves as an attention getter,  but can actually strengthen your “slant” on the topic your want to discuss with your readers.

In fact, I have a strong opinion about “slant”. When blogging for business reveals your unique philosophy, your “way of being” within your field, potential customers and clients feel they know who you are, not merely what you do, and they are far more likely to want to be associated with you. For that very reason, one important facet of my job as a professional ghost blogger is to “interview” business owner and professional practitioner clients, eliciting each one’s very individualized thoughts. But even if the format of a blog post isn’t interview-style question-answer, when we tell the story of a business or a practice to consumers, we “frame” that story a certain way.

That’s a good thing, because when online readers find a blog, one question they need answered is “Who lives here?” Providing information about products and services may be the popular way to write corporate blog posts, but in terms of achieving Influencer status – it takes opinion, we’ve learned at Say It For You. Darren Rowse of problogger.com agrees: “There are many factors that set great bloggers apart from the rest, but one that I’ve seen continually cropping up over the last few years is that they often have and are not afraid to express strong opinions,”

One big advantage of including information tidbits is that they “soften” the effect of the strong opinions business owner or practitioner might express in the blog, while at the same time helping to explain the reasoning behind the “slant”. For example, this tidbit about Henry J. Heinz could be perfect for several kinds of blogs: As Heinz was riding an elevated train in New York back in 1896, he noticed an advertisement for a shoe store offering 21 different styles of shoes. Captivated by that ad quantifying the product offering, Heinz decided on the now-famous “57 varieties” motto.  Any type of business  might  to refer to Heinz 57 in order to tout its own wide variety of products or services.  On the opposite side, a specialty boutique, a private school, or a country club might use this tidbit in a blog, suggesting the contrasting exclusivity of its offerings and its clientele.

Incorporating tidbits in content marketing can add interest while strengthening your slant!

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Using the Bizarre to make Things Plain

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Did you know? The first step on the moon by astronaut Neil Armstrong was with his left foot, The Book of Bizarre Truths reveals.
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In corporate blogging training sessions, I often recommend including interesting tidbits of information on topics related to your business (or, if you’re a freelance blog content writer, tidbits related to the client’s business). The tidbit not only serves as an attention grabber, but can be used to explain the way a product or service works. The left-foot item, for example, might be used in a podiatrist’s blog.  Psychology Today reports that, while the majority of professional soccer players are right-footed, those able to play equally well with both feet earned a substantial salary premium. Speaking of salary, the word comes from the word salt, which ancient Roman soldiers received as part of their pay. Career coaches might use that detail in their blog posts (in fact, the Zip recruiter blog does just that).

Celery was once considered a trendy, high-fashion food, served in its own vase and placed in the center of the table, Bizarre Truths tells us, and EatingWell.com tells readers how to make a “centerpiece you can eat”. Restaurants might use that tidbit in their blog, as might cooking schools. The OpenTable restaurant delivery company helps readers “elevate the ambiance” in setting the dining table. Dieticians can use the tidbit to emphasize the antioxidants and fiber contained in celery, and the fact that celery contains apigenin, which is an anti-inflammatory.

The shoe has been a symbol of fertility, Bizarre Truths tells readers and, in some Eskimo cultures, women wore shoes around their necks in the hope of getting pregnant. This tidbit might be featured not only in a shoe company blog, but even on the website of a fertility clinic! “Fingernails grow faster on your dominant hand” is a natural for a manicure salon blog, but could easily be adapted for a preschool discussing the importance of hand dominance in developing fine motor skills in children.

Bamboo is the world’s tallest grass, growing as much as 34 inches in a day. Not only might this tidbit prove useful in a blog promoting a lawncare service, it might be used by a company installing flooring or one promoting the advantages of bamboo hand towels or offering tips for cooking with bamboo shoots.

In blogging for business, you can often use bizarre tidbits to capture interest and make things plain!

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In Blogging, Use Numbered Lists; Don’t Forget the Subscript

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A subscript is a character that is set slightly below the normal line of type, respectively. It is usually smaller than the rest of the text. The National Geographic’ magazine issue “100 Places That will Change Your Life” is a great example of the way content writers can use subscripts in the titles of blog posts..

Under the name of each place the National Geographic authors recommend you visit, they’ve described a specific experience you can enjoy:

  • In Qutu, China, you can learn Shaolin kug fu, the martial art developed by monks in the 15th century.
  • In Oaxaca, Mexico, you can learn to prepare tamales using chocolate, grasshoppers, and corn fungus.
  • In Jamaica, make sure to meet the Maroons, descendants of enslaved Africans who fought for freedom from the British.
  • At Ellis Island, you can discover parts of your own family history.
  • In Vietnam, you can wander the spice forests.
  • In Bali, Indonesia, look for stunning penjor, bamboo poles adorned with frit, flowers, ad coconut leaves that display Hindu offerings during the festival of Galungan.

The way this wonderful magazine issue is set out serves as a reminder of several blog writing tactics we emphasize at Say it For You:

  1. Present information in numbered lists – Lists spatially organize information, helping create an easy reading experience, working well for scanning and skimming online searchers.
  2. Use “huh-oh” titles – “Huh?s” arouse curiosity; the “ohs” make clear what the article is about and use the keyword phrases.
  3. Offer specific advice and tips, thereby demonstrating that we understand our target readers’ needs.
  4. Include startling statistics – “Only an estimated one in 1,000 to 10,000 survives to adulthood” (describing why readers might be interested in rescuing sea turtles in Costa Rica). Opening your post with a startling statistic can be a way to grab visitors’ attention. If there’s some false impression people seem to have relating to your industry, or to a product or service you provide, statistics can serve as myth-busters.

In blogging, use numbered lists, and don’t forget the subscripts!

 

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