What a Smart Blog!

I keep reminding content writers that blogs are not ads, not even advertorials. Still, a lot of smart marketing goes into ads, and some of that same smart thinking can be used in writing content for business blogs.

You’d expect stuff associated with Harvard to be on the smart side, and sure enough, I found one full page ad in the Harvard Business Review for Smart Ass™ ceiling fans. The tag line read “Now the world’s quietest and most energy-efficient ceiling fan is also the smartest.”

So far, the copy is still squarely in the advertisement arena, you’d have to admit. Why? It’s all about the product and the company with no mention of the customer’s needs, hardly a model I’d recommend for any company’s, or any practice’s, blog.

What made this particular ad memorable, though, were the three “Forgets”.

1. “Forget the switch.”
   The fan knows when you enter or leave a room, and turns itself on or off accordingly.
2. “Forget the pull chain.”
   The fan monitors the room’s temperature and humidity and adjusts the speed accordingly.
3. “Forget the discomfort.”
   The fan learns your comfort preferences and tailors the speed adjustments to your needs.

Not only must the content you include in your business blog (or, in the case of Say It For You clients, the content created by your freelance blog writer) offer valuable and up-to-date information, you must make clear to readers that the information has been assembled here specifically for them. It must be clear you understand those online searchers’ concerns and needs, and that you and your staff have the experience, the information, the products, and the services to solve their problems, even the ones they’ve forgotten they have!

What inconveniences and discomforts can you help your prospective clients and customers forget?