Guest blog post: The Buyer’s Guide to Choosing a Differentiator

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Today’s blog post was contributed by networking colleague Karen Sullivan, founder of Sullivan Solutions, which helps entrepreneurial companies augment their in-house marketing. Many of the insights offered here are useful for blog content writers…

In a world of so many choices, shopping can be harrowing. Whether you are shopping for the perfect pair of athletic shoes or for the best professional service provider for your growing business, you have so many options.

The shopping experience as education

Shopping is essentially education. Of course, in the case of an afternoon at the mall or a late-night binge on Amazon, it can also be largely entertaining. It’s exhilarating to find something that we didn’t know we needed. Maybe we buy it on impulse or make a mental note to consider it in the future.

In the case of buying professional services for your business, it’s often hard to understand the differences between providers. You don’t shop for bookkeepers or web developers very often, so you may feel you need to educate yourself by interviewing several. You might be frustrated because you get a different sales pitch every time. It’s never an apples-to-apples comparison.


The buyer has the biggest role in identifying a differentiator

In the age of the internet, there’s no reason not to do your homework before you start your shopping. You’ll find a wealth of good information with a simple and thoughtful Google search. Don’t be afraid to ask even casual business colleagues for some guidance or referrals. There’s no need to start from scratch.

1. Do start with a budget.
Don’t worry, your budget can be a broad range. However, you’ll waste everyone’s time, especially your own, if you start shopping features without some budgetary guidelines.

2. Identify your 3-7 key deal breakers.
These are only the absolute must haves. Keep them simple because these are the first things you will use to qualify or disqualify candidates. Don’t forget some deal-breakers may be soft-skills like “prefers to communicate by phone rather than email”.

3. Your short list probably should be more alike than not
When you finally invite sales pitches, your candidates should look pretty similar. They should certainly all be capable of meeting your deal-breakers. If they are vastly different in features or benefits, you may not have done enough homework.

4. Transparency is two-sided, too.
Don’t come to the table with the intention of getting free consultation buried in the pitch. That may be a pleasant bonus. However, healthy relationships are built on mutual respect. Be honest and open with your expectations and your budget. At the same time, you have every right to expect the same honesty in the pitch.

5. Ask for clarification.
Proposals shouldn’t surprise you. If you receive competing proposals that look significantly different in terms of deliverables and costs, consider whether you’ve been misunderstood or simply over-sold. Regardless, if you don’t ask for clarification, you may miss your best choice and your best, unsolicited learning opportunity.

Karen Sullivan may be contacted at Karen@sullivansolutions.com

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Valuable Blog Marketing Lesson in a Solo Cup

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target market
You know those red plastic SOLO drinking cups? Maybe you’re heard that the lines wrapped around the outside are actually measuring guides, observes Todd Hunt in his latest Hunt’s Headlines email. The line closest to the bottom measures 1 ounce of liquor, the next one 5 ounces of wine, with the line close to the top measuring 12 ounces of beer. Forget that, says parent company Dart Container Corporation, stating in no uncertain terms that the lines are designed for function only and are not measurements.

“Advertising can….introduce emotions, images, and symbols that stimulate desire, and it can show how a product or brand compares favorably to competitors,” lumenlearning.com explains.
“Reminder advertising reminds people about the need for a product or service, or the features and benefits it will provide when purchased.”

According to the Cleveland State University Writing Center, “Critical readers seek knowledge; they do not “rewrite” a work to suit their own personalities”. But are blog readers “critical” in that sense? Not likely. Sure, as blogginexplorer.com stresses, “Simply put, your blog’s target audience is the group of readers who your blog can help the most.” And, when you target that very specific audience, you have a better idea about what they need and want.

Still, content writers need to be aware that readers bring their own biases to the page. Without even realizing it, blog visitors are going to be thinking about how they might use those lines on the red plastic cup to measure beer or wine (whether that was our intention or not!). And, we’ve come to realize at Say It For You, that’s OK. Blog posts are not meant to be ads, instead functioning like “advertorials”.

When you first begin blogging, Qeryz.com admits, “there is only ‘the middle’, entailing what you do, what you offer, and what problems you solve”. Surrounding this “middle” is your potential audience and what they care about. Identifying your audience is a process that never stops, cautions Queryz founder Sean Si.

As a blog marketer, salesbacker.com suggests, you have different ways to differentiate your product from competitors, including:

  • by size
  • by origin
  • by branding or decoration
  • by packaging
  • by adding a feature or ingredient
  • by offering a bonus

One way to engage blog readers is to share the history of your company. (The Solo Cup company, was founded in Chicago during the Great Depression, and is now 84 years old!) “How-we-did-it” stories make for very effective blog content for both business owners and professional practitioners, I’ve learned.

The lesson in the solo cup? To the blog writer, the product or service might represent one thing; to individual readers, it might represent another! It’s all good….

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Increasing Blog Effectiveness Through Content “Vocals”

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“Vocals aren’t the actual words you use, but what you do with your voice to clothe words with meaning,” the authors of Close the Deal explain. Vocals include:

  • tone
  • pitch
  • emphasis
  • accent
  • inflection
  • pronunciation
  • volume
  • rate
  • tempo

The important lesson here: Vocals give you a tool to increase buyers’ comfort with you.

Of course, in video clips included in blog content, all these vocal elements would come into play. But can all these valuable tips about increasing buyers’ comfort come into play in non-vocal blog content writing? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

Language has the power to establish personal connections. “Tone in writing refers to the writer’s attitude toward the reader and the subject of the message. The overall tone of a written message affects the reader just as one’s tone of voice affects the listener in everyday exchanges,” the OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab explains.

As a blog content writing trainer, I found three of the tips from Close the Deal are especially apropos to our work:

Vary your vocals.
You’ll bore buyers if you drone on, and get caught using a “singsong” delivery, the authors caution. Liven your speech patterns with variety, they advise.
As a businessperson or practitioner, I teach, you have many different kinds of stories to tell through your blog, including the benefits of your products and services, the history of your business and your own journey, successful case studies, and your perspective on trends in your industry.

Show friendliness through a relaxed tone.
Speaking louder than your buyers can make you come across as pushy and overbearing.
“The business writer should strive for an overall tone that is confident, courteous, and sincere,” OWL advises, “and should be written at an appropriate level of difficulty”.

Temper your accent.
Water down your regional accent in settings where the majority of people don’t share it. Reflect the buyer’s tempo, tone, and volume.
Having a focused topic in a blog post is important, but focusing on a specific audience is equally as important. Before writing, research your target audience. “Once you have your data you can start to put together personas and plan your online marketing activities around them,” Sleeping Giant Media teaches.

Just as vocals do, the language you use in your blog content has the power to increase buyers’ comfort with you.

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In Holding Blog Readers’ Attention, Contrast is Critical

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contrast in blogs
Contrast is critical to holding an audience’s attention, Nancy Duarte advises professional speakers in her book Resonate. To demonstrate that point, Duarte points to California Institute of Technology physics professor Richard Feynman. In teaching, Duarte explains, Feynman moves back and forth between fact (mathematics) and context (history).

In blog content writing, with the goal being engaging online visitors’ interest, we can learn from Professor Feyman’s ability to create contrast between analytical content and emotional content.

Analytical content can include:

  • diagrams
  • case studies
  • facts
  • supporting documentation
  • statistics

Emotional content can include:

  • biographical stories
  • shocking or scary statements
  • evocative images
  • humor
  • surprises
  • props and dramatizations

Another way speakers can create contrast, Duarte notes, is varying the delivery method between traditional and less traditional methods. Speakers might vary among:

  • speaking from behind a podium to free ranging among the audience
  • alternating between a business tone and humor and enthusiasm
  • minimizing disruptions and planning disruptions
  • using a one-way delivery of information with discussions

I agree. One thing I’ve learned over the years of Say It For You blog content writing is that most business owners and even most professional practitioners have more than one target audience for their products and services. Different blog posts, therefore, might slant in different directions in terms of style and tone. Analytical content can be interspersed with emotional content; a “one-way” instructional tone can be interspersed with biographical stores, humor and “surprises”. In fact, in business blog posts, I teach, it’s a good idea to toggle back and forth among varieties over time, keeping repeat visitors engaged (and content writers from getting bored!).

One blog styling “menu” suggested by socialmediaexaminer.com includes:

  • reviews
  • lists of resources
  • interviews
  • stats
  • personal stories
  • tutorials

It’s true – in holding blog visitors’ attention over time, contrast is critical.

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Verbifying For Blog Marketing

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‘It’s an interesting question and there are opposing sides in the business world about whether ‘verbifying’ a brand or product is a good thing or not,” observes Mike Hovan of Fast Company. Lawyers hate it (verbifying might risk the legal power of a trademark); marketers believe it represents the ultimate compliment, showing a personal connection between consumer and brand. Whatever your take, verbifying is certainly being done. “We ballpark, we partner, we eyeball, fast track leverage, and we green-light,” Hovan points out. Even outside of business, we water the flower bed and box up clothes.
Verbifying nouns is hardly new news, the author of one of my favorite blogs, grammarly.com   explains.
In fact, the practice dates back as far as 1871!  Common examples (yes, each of these was born as a noun!) include:
  • dress
  • fool
  • host
  • drink
  • mail
  • sleep
  • style
No one knows why some nouns mutate into verbs while others do not, says Helen Sword in Opinionator. “We horse around, outfox our enemies, parrot a phrase, and mouse over a hyperlink. However, we do not penguin or giraffe,” she adds.
As a blog content writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about ways to use words. My conclusion is that verbification can serve a positive role – more verbs make for more dynamic blog content.  Why?
  1. Verbs connote activity and excitement more than nouns.
  2. If a verbified noun catches on, readers will repeat it to others.
  3. Blog writing is best when informal and conversational, and verbifying helps accomplish a humorous, light tone.
Especially when it comes to boosting smaller companies. I believe verbification of the business brand can be an actual goal of the marketing strategy
Try this blog writing verbification challenge: Find a noun that applies to your product or service, one you can turn into a verb.  Then, introduce it in a blog post and then repeat frequently in posts, tweets, and promotions.  Stir and serve….
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