Not That “We”, This “We” in Blogging for Business

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

 

In using the pronoun “we” in blog posts, I asserted in a recent newsletter, we keep the blog conversational rather than academic-sounding or overly sales-ey. That isn’t pompous, I wrote – “it just works”. My point was that in conversing with readers through blog content writing, using “we” calls attention to the real people behind the company or practice brand.

One thing for sure is that not everyone agrees. “Cut the word ‘we’ wherever you possibly can,” Joanna Wiebe advises in copyhackers.com, That should apply even to “About Us” page, she says. Why? Your visitors don’t want to hear about you. They want to hear about themselves – about their problems, their needs, their futures.

In a survey by Corporate Visions, more than 47% of respondents said they use we-phrasing deliberately to position themselves as trusted partners. On the other hand, the survey revealed, the audience felt much more strongly that they must take action when you-phrasing was done rather than we-phrasing. Meanwhile, a set of experiments by the Journal of Consumer Research examined messages from banks and a health insurer, concluding that the pronoun “we” doesn’t work if it’s inconsistent with the actual relationship. In other words, if customers don’t expect a congenial relationship with a particular type of company, “we” arouses suspicion. True, existing customers responded favorably to the “we” verbiage.

All this research made we realize that I had been thinking of one type of “we”, while these other articles were referencing another. I like to use the word “we” to refer to the people owning the company or professional practice. The real people behind the “we” pronoun are taking ownership of their opinions and of the particular ways in which they choose to serve their customers. I was not recommending the use of the “we” to mean we-the-owners-and-you-the-customers, in a very fakey and patronizing “Let’s-try-on-these-shoes-shall-we?” way. The “we” to which I was referring describes the business owners/practitioners as the writers of the blog, with the readers remaining the “you”.

Business owners and professionals are the “we” with the ideas, knowledge and experience to share. The online visitors are the “you” receiving the good advice and the answers to their questions.

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Should Blog Titles Tell All?

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Besides being an absolutely fascinating read, Popular Science Magazine‘s special collector’s edition “Journey to the Future” offers a course in creating interesting titles (a topic of extreme interest, as you may imagine, to any blog content writer).

Of course, when it comes to blogs, the very first piece of information readers are going to receive is the title of the post. We want the searcher to click on the link, and of course we want search engines to offer our content as a match for readers seeking information and guidance on our topic. More than that, though, a blog post title in itself constitutes a set of implied promises to visitors. In essence, you’re saying, “If you click here, you’ll be led to a post that in fact discussing the topic mentioned in the title.

Here are some very straightforward titles from Popular Science Magazine:

  • Quantum Computing: the Future of AI
  • Will Robots Help or Harm? That’s Up to Humans
  • The Future of Transplants
  • Boosting Memory

    In blogs, as we teach at Say It For You, even the tone of the title constitutes a promise of sorts, telling the searcher whether the content is going to be humorous, satirical, controversial, cautionary, or simply informative. Then, for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes, the title needs to contain keyword phrases, which each of these titles does. At the same time, an important purpose of marketing blogs is inducing searchers to read the post, and for that, the title must arouse curiosity and interest.

Curiosity-piquing titles in this Popular Science issue include:

  • Get Ready to Sniff Disease
  • Engineered for Ethics
  • Running on Reckless
  • Eyes on the Earth
  • Re-defining Meat
  • Always on Duty

(Fascinating, curious titles, but you don’t really know what sort of content to expect in the article to come.)

One compromise is what I call the “Huh?-Oh!” two-part title, in which the first part is an attention-getter, with more of an explanation in the second part.

Examples of two-part titles from Popular Science:

  • All Together Now – Human Societies are the Technologies of the Future and Cooperation is the Fuel
  • The Extra-Dimensional Artist – When Visual Art and Augmented reality Merge

One popular misconception I run into as a business blogging trainer is that blog titles need to be what I would call “cutesy”, meaning they must have an enticing “ring” to them that arouses attention. My opinion – Cutesy belongs in baby clothes. Yes, blog post titles need to capture attention, but when readers click on a link, they need to find material that is congruent with what the title promised would be there.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

In Blog Marketing, Controversy Can Start – or End – Conversation

/0 Comments/in , /by

 

Ban the word “must” in your pitch to an editor, Estelle Erasmus advises writers in Writers Digest. “We must do more for starving children” is not likely to get you an op-ed, because no reasonable person would argue the point. Editors are looking for something that can be legitimately part of a debate, she explains, so as to start a conversation.

When it comes to blogging for business, common intuition is that more controversy generates more buzz, Zoey Chen and Jonah Berger find. Yet, while controversy does increase interest initially, it also generates discomfort.

Research demonstrates that people care deeply about three Bs: behavior, belonging, and beliefs. If you create division around any of these things, people will seek to either confirm or disprove what you’re saying, which creates buzz. On the other hand, what you don’t want to create is backlash against you and your product or service.

Still, as Fractl writes, “Creating a piece of content that incites an emotional reaction or discusses a polarizing topic can bring valuable attention back to your brand.” To avoid backlash, she advises: a) Don’t choose a side or have an agenda in presenting the issue. b) Look at the lighter side of the story.

A controversy “do” includes offering a unique perspective, looking at a situation in a way that many people might not have considered, theEword.com points out. Also important is creating timely content, showing that your business is up on current affairs. Be balanced and a fair moderator, adds blogherald.com.

At Say It For You, I’ve always emphasized to content writers that blogs must have a strong, “opinionated” voice. Posts must go far beyond Wikipedia-page-information-dispensing and offer the business owner’s (or the professional’s, or the organization executive’s) unique perspective on issues related to the search topic.

Controversy can start – or end – conversation, to be sure. But, given that there is always going to be controversy, blog content writers need to use it as a tool for thought leadership.

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog Using Presentational Coloration

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

In How Magicians Think, author Joshua Jay explains that, when he borrows a coin from you and makes it disappear, the words he uses during the disappearance “can radically change the experience in your mind”. .Jay might say, for example, “Watch as your coin fades away slowly, dissolving into the air.” Alternately, he might say “And just like that…pow! The coin is gone.” In fact, Jay adds, neuroscientists have shown that most of our experiences are shaped as much by an impression rather than by the event itself.

In blog marketing, we realize at Say It For You, an online searcher’s impressions will have a large role in shaping the outcome of the visit. Since we, as ghostwriters, have been hired by clients to tell their story online to their target audiences, we need to do intensive research, taking guidance from the client’s experience and expertise The goal – conveying the relationship between the visitor and the business owner and their shared experience. But no matter who is responsible for creating the blog content, remember this: Readers who visit your blog are judging their experience in learning about the business owner or practitioner behind the blog.

As part of offering business blogging assistance, I’m always talking to business owners about their customer service.  The challenge is – every business says it offers superior customer service! (Has any of us ever read an ad or a blog that does not tout its superior customer service? But the words you use in saying it are part of the presentational coloration that can make the difference in demonstrating that your customer service exceeds the norm.

Actual color is very important in presentation, as the Zoho blog brings out, because colors affect us at a subconscious level, and “can make the difference between someone liking an idea or rejecting it.” Interestingly, the advice Zoho gives about choosing only one primary color for each slide is in keeping with my own blog content writing advice about the Power of One.

Precisely because an online searcher’s impressions will have a large role in shaping the outcome of the visit, it’s important to blog using presentational coloration.

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog Writing Begins with Answering the Question

/0 Comments/in , , , /by


In order to grab and keep readers’ attention, writers must answer the questions every reader asks as a story begins – questions that need to be answered if the reader is to relax and enjoy the ride,” the authors of The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings explain. After all, if readers don’t care what happens next, they won’t read on.”

The “big idea” of any story is the “hook” that sells that story to agents and editor, (and, in the case of blog content writing, to online searchers), has to be compelling enough to get your story off to a great start. “The most important thing your opening needs to do is this: Keep the reader reading,” author Paula Munier teaches. “In truth,” she admits, “it doesn’t matter how good your opening scene is if the idea on which your story is based is flawed, either in storytelling terms or marketing terms.”

Making messages deliver impact is, of course, “our thing” as business blog content writers. As both Munier’s book and one by Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick, teach, we  can’t succeed if our messages don’t break through the clutter to get people’s attention. Opening your blog post with a startling statistic can be one way to grab visitors’ attention, I often point out to content writers for Say It For You clients.

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. Now, as Paula Munier cautions, the essential questions on searchers’ minds need to be answered as they decide whether to read on or click away.

Blogs, as I so often stress to business blog writers, are not advertisements or sales pieces (even if increasing sales is the ultimate goal of the business owner).  Whatever “selling” goes on in effective blogs is indirect and comes out of business owners sharing their passion, special expertise and insights in their field.  When blog posts “work”, readers are moved to think, “I want to do business with him!” or “She’s the kind of person I’ve been looking for!”

Before that ultimate “Ah, yes!” effect can take place, readers newly arrived after clicking on a blog title link need reassurance that the title and the actual blog post content are congruent. In other words, readers have arrived at the right place for finding the answers they were seeking.

In a very real way, blog writing begins – and ends – with answering that very question.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail