Blog Titles: Five Times The Benefit

/0 Comments/in /by

Five times as many people read headlines as read the body copy, "Father of Advertising" David Ogilby taught.  Blogger and book reviewer Brad Shaw tests headlines against three Ogilby to-do’s:

  • The headline promises the reader a benefit
  • The headline contains news
  • The headline is conversational

Business bloggers can take all three of these tips from the Master to heart.  In fact, headlines may prove even more important for blogs than for ads.  Blog headlines help capture the interest not only of online searchers, but of internet "web crawlers" as well (a compelling reason to make blog headlines key-word rich).

Here are some ways I can think of for using the three Ogilby to-do’s in blog post titles:

PROMISE A BENEFIT 

a) More and better – more miles per gallon, better health, more glamour, more time saved, more comfort, more money.
b) Less of something undesirable – less pain, less cost, less waste, less hassle.   

NEWS  
                                                                                                                                   
a) News of a new product, an improvement on an existing one, a new way to use the product, a new strategy.
b) Recognition of your company in a trade journal or newspaper, an award or honor, a new customer testimonial.


CONVERSATIONAL

a) Asking a question:  "Do you…?"   "Have you ever……?"  "Where can you……?"  "Why would you……?"
b) Reassurances:  "It’s OK to……"  "Everyone likes……….."

In talking about advertising great David Ogilby in one of my earlier Say It For You blog posts, I mentioned his five-point acid tests for ads.  When it comes to blogging for business, headline acid test #4 is the one I think is paramount:  Does it fit the strategy to perfection?

While of course headlines have to make searchers want to learn more of what you have to say, we business bloggers must remember: a blog is only one tactic in an overall marketing strategy, and everything about each blog post, including the headline, needs to be consistent with the "voice" you want your company to project.

Composed with that broader context in mind, that times-five effect of blog headlines will bring benefits not only to the readers, but to the business’ bottom line!

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

125 Ways You Can’t Tell The Difference In Cars (But You Can Tell in Blogs)

/0 Comments/in /by

Taped to the reception counter at the Tom O’Brien Chrysler dealer’s showroom was a poster that immediately caught my eye: "125 Ways You Can’t Tell the Difference", the headline read, referring to pre-owned autos versus new vehicles. Having just this month blogged about the power of using numbers in blog post titles to engage readers’ interest, I thought this poster at the dealership a perfect example of the concept I’d tried to convey in my blog post. It was the number 125 on that poster that I found so arresting – could there really be that many ways?

Speaking of numbers, there are a number of ways that car poster can serve as 
a good tutorial for business blogging:       

Titles count (play on the word "count" intended)

A blog post title what draws an online searcher to progress to the content of the blog, because the title hopefully broadcasts two signals to the searcher:
 

  1. They’ve come to the right spot to get the information/products/services they need
  2. This blog post is going to be interesting reading.

The title counts with Google and friends from a Search Engine Optimization standpoint as well. In fact, that’s why it’s so important that you use the key search terms and phrases in the title of each blog post.

Focus counts.

Did I read through all of the 125 ways listed on that poster?  Of course not.  The title had already focused my mind on the concept of pre-owned cars. The very fact I was able to discern an actual list on the poster was enough for me.  Later, I thought, I might actually skim through the items, but the truth is, that poster had me at "hello".

Putting on my professional ghost blogger hat, I imagined how things might be if we were talking about a blog post, rather than a poster.  To engage online readers once they’d found the blog, I wouldn’t go for the big numbers except in the title.  Instead, I’d:
 

  • Focus on just a few of the pre-owned cars from the dealer’s inventory, complete with photos (or even a video).
  • Focus on just a couple of reasons you’d never know the difference between pre-owned and new without a Car-Fax report.
  • Throw in some valuable hints on savvy car buying, showing readers how much the Tom O’Brien folks know and care about cars. 

Much more important, the blog post would need to convey how much the Tom O’Brien folks care about their customers’ safety and comfort!

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Make A Treasure Map For Business Blog Readers

/0 Comments/in /by

FutureNow‘s Brendan Regan has something to say about online persuasion that business owners need to hear, at least if they want their business blogs to work. The way Regan puts it, we need to learn "how to optimize a marketing outreach from the driving point to the landing page, and on through to conversion." 

I think a good metaphor for the points Regan makes is giving your blog readers a treasure map. Readers find their way to your blog, remember, because the products and services they need or the kind of information they’re seeking matches up with what you have, what you do, and what you know.

Some of this "treasure map" thing is getting the mechanics right, meaning everything from initially selecting the right key words and phrases, setting up the widgets using the blog platform and website software, choosing the right url addresses and tags, having a clear navigation path from the blog to the website landing pages and shopping cart, all of that. (That’s the part in which I, as a blog content provider and teacher am not directly involved, but my work becomes much more effective if a Say It For You business owner client has hired experts to get the setup right from the get-go.) Regan’s real clear about readers losing patience if the process isn’t smooth, showing how glitches call the security and credibility of the site into question in searchers’ minds. "The hardcore interruption in the purchase flow is very risky," he points out.

As a ghost blogger, however, I’m far from off the hook when it comes to responsibility for making the treasure map for online readers effective. If the blogger doesn’t tend to certain crucial mapping details, the results can be disappointing for all concerned.  As Regan puts it, a persuasive scenario can break down, and customers’ money will be left on the table.

Three practical tips he offers have to do with the primary call to action of your blog:

  • Make sure it’s "above the fold" (so readers don’t need to scroll down to see it on the page)
  • Make it’s in high contrast (either because it’s a link they click on or through the graphics)
  • Clearly label the call to action (no question about what the reader is to do and what readers can expect to find or accomplish)

According to Pew Internet Research Project, more than 40 million people use the Internet each day, with close to half of them performing a search of some kind. Your business, your products, your knowhow, and the services you offer might be exactly the treasure they’re seeking – but they have to find you first! 
 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Coloring Contests For Business Blog Readers?

/0 Comments/in /by

A favorite lunch spot for me is the Illinois Street Food Emporium in Indianapolis. Well, the other day, besides a very tasty salad and soup lunch, I got something extra in the form of ideas about ways to use blogs to drive business.

Here’s how it happened: Waiting for my number to be called, I noticed something.  Fastened low on the wall near the door of the restaurant was a metal thing-a-ma-gig with coloring sheet handouts for kids to color.  That day’s handout had an outlined picture of a snowman talking with some penguins.  There was space on the paper to fill in the child artist’s name, age, and phone number, and a pocket in which to deposit the finished work.

My first thought was how simple, yet ingenious a tactic those coloring sheets were – keep the kids occupied while Mom or Dad finish up a conversation. (As a professional ghost blogger, I’m always alert for ways business bloggers can engage readers.) Then I realized there was even more to it than that – some kid was going to win the contest and get his picture posted up there and want to keep coming back to the restaurant, perhaps bringing Auntie or Grandma to see the beautiful job he’d done on the penguins! (One benefit of engaging blog post readers is they want to come back to your site, or bring your site to them in the form of an RSS.)

There was one thing missing about those coloring sheets, I realized. As so often happens, even the best of business ideas falls short in some detail when it comes to execution.  I saw snowmen and penguins, but nowhere on those coloring pages did I see the name, address, or phone number, or email of Illinois Street Food Emporium!  Coloring’s a great way to keep the kids happy while they’re in the restaurant (maybe they come back to show off their winning entry or claim their prize). But at least a third of the page was white space that might have been used for advertising.  Uh-oh – a business blog page with no Calls to Action! 

FutureNow‘s  Brendan Regan teaches business owners to "optimize a marketing outreach from the driving point to the landing page and on through to conversion." In other words, for any business blog to enjoy bottom-line success, there needs to be a smooth process, a navigation path,  that begins when a customer first becomes conscious of your existence to when you’re closing a deal.  The CTA’s, or Calls To Action on your blog page, even sometimes in the text of the blog post itself – need to be there and be square!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Don’t Succumb To Blogger’s Block

/0 Comments/in /by

Many start out blogging for business, but the fact is, far fewer are keeping up with their blog – alas, they’ve succumbed to "blogger’s block".  Even with the best of intentions, many business owners find themselves unable to keep up with regular blogging while also keeping up with the many demands of their own business.

Let’s face it: even for the most skillful of writers, blogging for business takes work, a lot of it.  Tip Talks president Bob Chenoweth lists mistakes that can wreck business communications, including:
 

  • Not knowing your audience
  • Not charting your course
  • Not using creativity
  • Not using design elements

It’s obvious avoiding these mistakes takes time, and time is at a premium with business owners.

In Business Blogging – Barrel Through Writer’s Block, Tinu AbayomiPaul, has some helpful suggestions that bear revisiting when writer’s block sets in:

  1. Talk about what you’ve already talked about (give it a new spin).
  2. Talk about what someone else is talking about (read other bloggers, magazine articles, etc., give that person credit and then add your own spin). In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m doing some of those things in this very blog post, bringing in ideas from other writers and adding my own spin.
  3. Have yourself a good rant. (AbayomiPaul warns against getting unfocused or unprofessional in tone.)
  4. Feature someone, something, or somewhere in a blog post.

One of the blogs I follow is Web Ink Now, by David Meerman Scott. His latest ebook talks about introducing conflict in writing. The object is to avoid what he calls "classic propaganda-driven marketing cr-p", that tells readers "Here’s our product. It’s great.  Here are customers who say it is great.  Now buy some of our product." Make blog posts thought-provoking, is the idea.

So there you have it:  a bunch of good remedies for blogger’s block.  Still blocked, you say?  I believe I hear my a professional ghost blogger entrance line….

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail