Blog to Give Them a Taste

/0 Comments/in , , /by


“New Garfield Park business Skosh seeks both coffee fans and home décor shoppers,” the IBJ reported last week, looking for customers “who appreciate a pour-over coffee while in the mood to buy a couch, lamp, or piece of art”.

Appealing to one or more of a prospect’s five senses is a great way to increase sales, Tru Vue marketing analyst Audel Ortega believes.

  • Sight – a well-structured layout of a store will guide customers, and showcase the most creative aspects of the merchandise.
  • Hearing – music should fit the brand identity.
  • Taste – offer finger food and drinks during events and sales.
  • Smell – candles, flowers, and fragrance oils can enhance the visitor experience.
  • Touch – It’s very important for buyers to feel the texture of a product.

The Skosh store gets all that and then some. “Skosh encourages you to embrace the art of slowing down, presenting an authentic blend of craft beverages and lifestyle furnishings for a unique experience.”

Product demos are a great way to give prospects a taste of what your product or service can do for them by showing them how it works and what benefits they can expect, Anibal Mijangos writes in LinkedIn. Similarly, we teach at Say It For You, think about how online visitors are going to experience your blog posts, and how your content can offer a “taste” of the benefits they stand to enjoy when using your products and/or services.

Just as visitors to a coffee shop need an “experience” – crackle, aroma,and  color, (and as visitors to a furniture store experience plushness, dimension, design, and color), online visitors to your blog need to get a sense of what they are likely to experience as a customer of yours. Word tidbits, unique points of view, special how-to tips, links to unusual resources, humorous touches, and particularly success stories –combine to make a blog post visit an “experience” for readers..

Coffee and lamps? For Skosh, that works. Can a similar tactic work for your blog marketing? In his book, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vaynerchuk points out that content writing doesn’t always need to be about your brand, but can explore other topics, making unlikely, but interesting and memorable connections.

To give a blog that needed extra boost, for example, the content can reflect topics trending on social media, using marketing touches, or “jabs” to establish connection between entrepreneur and reader, giving them a taste of the relationship to come.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Proving Your Concept – to Blog Readers or Banks

/0 Comments/in , , /by

 

At a recent Westfield Chamber of Commerce meeting, I heard Spencer Russell of the American Bank of Freedom talk about his work with applicants for SBA loans. All too often, Russell lamented, individuals asking the bank for Small Business Administration-backed loans fail to qualify for help simply because they fail to prove their concept and communicate their “Why”.  Since “proof of concept” is precisely what we help our Say It For You clients achieve through content marketing, it seems natural to review the salient points of Russell’s presentation….

 

 

“Many buyers of a business applying for SBA financing simply don’t know how to tell their story, addressing things bankers need to know,” Spencer Russell laments. Too often, he points out, a handsomely bound, pages-long printed submission leaves bankers wondering why the most key questions have gone unanswered:

  1. Exactly why is your new franchise or business formation going to work?
  2. What in your past work history demonstrates experience relatable to – and transferable to – this new industry or enterprise?
  3. Just why might you be a good risk for the lender?
  4. What training have you had or plan to have by way of preparing yourself to handle this new venture?
  5. Are your projections based on historicals?

As content writers, we are telling the story of a business or a practice to consumers, framing that story in a way that addresses precisely those things online readers need to know.

In order to “prove the case”, a business owner can use:

  • factual proof – statistics about the problem this product or service helps solve
  • reverse proof – comparing one’s product or service with others on the market
  • credentializing proof – years of experience, honors or awards, degrees earned
  • evidential proof – clinical trial or field test results, testimonials from users

Just as it’s important for loan applicants to prove their concept and explain their “why?” to the bank, business and practice owners can use content marketing to prove to online searchers that they’ve come to the right place to find the precisely the products and services they need.

*For more information about American Bank of Freedom and SBA loans, contact srussell@myamericanbank.com or call 636 384 0182.

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Clear Explanations Beat Vague Cultural Allusions

/0 Comments/in , , , /by


“Even if you’re not a man of words, you probably agree that plumbing slogans can make a huge difference in advertising your business and attracting customers,” Or Rozenberg writes in Workiz.com. Among the examples Rozenberg offers are “Let us do your dirty work”, “Don’t let your money go down the drain”, and “Got a leak? We’ll take a peek!”. Good plumbing slogans, he says, are memorable, with the “kind of rhythm that gets stuck in your head”.

So far, so great, I thought – good content marketing advice. I appreciated “making the flow go” and caught the reference to “all systems go” in “all cisterns go.” But, when I got to “Because a good flush beats a full house”, I got lost. (Call me old fashioned, but the only card games I know are euchre and gin rummy, and I just didn’t understand the play on words.)

Interesting – almost seven years ago, in this Say It For You blog, I cautioned: “Know your reader when using allusions in business blogs.” It’s not that allusions themselves aren’t useful. In fact, they can:

  • get readers thinking about your subject in a new way
  • get a point across without going into a lengthy explanation
  • cement a bond between writer and readers based on shared experiences and
    knowledge

However, if a reader doesn’t know the underlying story, literary tale, or other reference point (just as I don’t know poker), the result is frustration, not illumination. It’s as if the writer expects the reader to possess certain knowledge and grasp its importance and – well some just don’t. I get it – you want to liven up your blog content. But be reasonably certain that the reference is obvious and that your target readers are likely to be familiar with the concept you’re trying to convey (among other things, we as content writers need to gauge our readers’ level of education).

Whether or not you’re in the plumbing business, be careful when using allusions. After all, the last thing you want is for your online visitors’ interest and trust in you “go down the drain”!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Content Writing With a Twist is Tricky Business

/0 Comments/in /by


“Twists fail a lot because they are delicate things,” Jeff Somers opines in Writer’s Digest. You have to give your reader enough information to make the twist feel like something they somehow missed, he tells novelists.

Blogs are a great way to share new information with people in an easily digestible format. You can use blogs to teach new information in several ways, including guest posts by experts, listicles, and feature stories or interviews of people who have learned something new, Kesah Po writes in Quora. At Say It For You, we particularly appreciated Po’s suggestion that content writers feature stories of people who have learned something new.

Every book can benefit from adding a plot twist or two, to add tension, intrigue, and keep readers talking, N.J. Simmonds says in Jericho Writers. Plot twists seem to come out of nowhere, SImmonds adds, changing the direction of the story, after the author has “misled readers on purpose”.

But, just as Jeff Somers cautions novelists, in blog marketing, twists can also be tricky business. Not only does effective business blogging need to be centered around a limited number of keyword phrases and key themes, the core message needs to fulfill the implied promise given the searcher who has arrived at the site based on a need for specific information on a given topic.

That is not to say that, through blog posts, marketers can’t introduce readers to a solution they hadn’t known was an option for them. (Some of the most successful businesses represent new twists on old ideas and products.) However, since successful blogging begins with a clear understanding of your niche and target audience and adding value for them within their general range of needs and expectations, providing “twists” in the form of information they may have somehow missed, can be tricky. What’s more, what with internet marketing an ever-evolving field, content writers need to stay updated on the latest technologies and changes in search engine algorithms.

Deciding how and when to reveal information to readers is part of the challenge novelists face, Jeff Somers explains. As blog content writers, we share the challenge of delivering information to online searchers, doing that with a “twist”!

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Putting Questions in Readers’ Mouths and Minds

/0 Comments/in , /by

 

The tactic of using questions in titles is one I’ve often suggested to blog content writers, because often we can help searchers formulate their own questions by presenting one in the blog itself. It’s best to focus on the expansive and productive type of question, such as “What’s possible?” “What are my choices?” “What’s useful here?”

The Pole Position article “5 Questions Every Nascar Fan has Asked at Least Once” comes at the matter of readers’ questions from an entirely different direction, actually listing – and then providing answers to – “five questions we know everyone’s asked before – out loud, into a search engine or both”:

  1. How do NASCAR drivers go to the bathroom during a race? (Answer: They hold it or – they just let go.)
  2. Is there a reason why NASCAR races run counterclockwise? (the driver’s seat is on the left side; patterned after horse racing, which is counterclockwise.)
  3. What state has the most NASCAR fans? (North Carolina)
  4. Do NASCAR vehicles have air conditioning? (No, that would add weight.)
  5. What do drivers eat before a race? (Oatmeal, grilled chicken, and avocado toast.are some faves.)

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. But, before you can successfully convert blog readers into customers, Neil Patel explains, you have to know what they’re worried about.

Are there five questions that your prospects and clients tend to ask the most? Remember, just as consumers would not be searching for the right auto shop/ jewelry store/ plumber/ healthcare provider, etc. unless they already felt the need for that service or product type, searchers who land on your blog are already interested in and have a need for what you offer.

By answering questions, providers make prospects feel understood, D. Forbes Ley taught salespeople in training years ago. Even if those searchers haven’t specifically formulated their questions, as content writers, we can do that for them by presenting the answers to frequently asked questions.

It’s not so much a matter of “putting” questions in readers’ mouths and minds, as acknowledging the questions already there and providing answers that can be key to closing the sale.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail