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Ad Mining for Blog Content Writers

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Advertising concept with smartphone

 

Blogs are not ads, to be sure, and yet blog content writers can learn a lot from browsing the advertisements, I’m convinced. To test that theory, I decided to browse a collection of 50 different print ads published in the November 2016 issue of TheHomeMag, a free home improvement magazine.

Hitting precisely the right “advertorial” note is one of the big challenges in corporate blog writing, I knew. In fact, one point I’ve consistently stressed in these Say It For You blog content writing “tutorials” is how important it is to provide valuable information to readers, while avoiding any hint of “hard sell”.

Quite a number of the HomeMag print ads, I found, stressed price and cost savings:

  • “We’ll beat any quote by 10% to 60%!”
  • “Remodel your kitchen at an affordable price!
  • “Save big on kitchen countertops & cabinets.”

A second category of ad focuses customers’ attention on “the hurt”, meaning the risks they’re facing and the problems they have.

  • “Protect your chimney from winter.”
  • “Cabinets looking outdated?”
  • “Common countertop problems resolved.”
  • “Never paint again!”
  • “Ugly tub? Reglaze it.”
  • “Inefficient windows can be scary!”
  • “Foundation or moisture problems?”

In blog content writing, once readers are hooked by your understanding of their “hurt”, you can offer the “rescue”, the solutions your expertise and experience can bring to the table.  (I take a moderate view, preferring content that emphasizes the solutions to the problems, rather than taking a “fear-mongering” approach.)

The HomeMag ads that I liked best got readers to visualize themselves using and enjoying the product or service.

  • “Experience the beauty of outdoor lighting.”
  • “Access everything you need, every time you need it.
  • “Turn your backyard dream into a reality!”
  • “Host Thanksgiving in your new kitchen.”
  • “Refinish your existing tub & tile in time for holiday guests.”

    When you’re composing business blog content, I tell writers, imagine readers asking themselves – “How will I use the product (or service)?” “How will it work?” “How will I feel?”

Blogs are not ads, to be sure, and yet blog content writers can learn a lot from browsing the advertisements.

 

 

 

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Think Differently About Your Blog

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Powerful Writing Skills

 

“Organize and present your ideas with a targeted reader in mind,” advises Richard Anderson in Powerful Writing Skills. “Don’t be satisfied with putting down data and results or observations and opinions.  Find a way to make this information meaningful to your reader.”

That doesn’t mean you should talk down to your readers, Anderson cautions. Think of your readers as being just as intelligent and sincere about their jobs as you are about yours. (Even if they aren’t, he points out with tongue in cheek, they’ll appreciate you assuming they are.) Respecting readers helps them see you as intelligent and well-informed, so try to imagine, Anderson adds:

  • what they might ask you
  • what they might object to
  • what they might already know
  • what they might find interesting

In blogging for business, of course, there’s a fifth thing to try to imagine: what you want the reader to DO as a result of reading your post. Each business blog post should impart one new idea or call for a single action. Focused on one thing, your post has greater impact, since people are bombarded with many messages each day. Respecting readers’ time produces better results for your business.

Not only must you as a writer think differently about your reader, you must think differently about your subject, Richard Anderson stresses. Imagine you’re writing a memo or a letter. Studies show that readers respond positively to memos and letters that contain a sense of the writer’s enthusiasm, Anderson points out. That doesn’t mean announcing your excitement, he adds – let the subject speak for itself.

When you blog, you verbalize the positive aspects of your business, reviewing the benefits of your products and services, constantly providing yourself with training about how to talk effectively about your business. In communicating the information to others, you can end up thinking differently about yourself!

 

 

 

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Bring Just Enough, Not Too Much, to the Beginning of Your Blog Post

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Female speaker at the board. Business conference
“Occasionally, speakers try to bring too much to their opening paragraph.  They essentially give away the punchline of their talk, writes Chris Anderson, head of TED Talks. Instead of giving it all away up front, he advises, imagine what kind of language will seduce the audience into wanting to come along for the ride.

  • Ineffective opening:  “Today I’m going to explain to you that the key to success as an entrepreneur is determination.”
  • Effective opening: “Over the next few minutes I plan to reveal what I believe is the key to success as an entrepreneur, and anyone here can cultivate it.  You’ll find clues in the story I’m about to tell.”

As a blogging trainer, I use the analogy of the “downbeat”, the opening bars of  music, which set the mood for the concerto to come.  The equivalent in blog writing is the opening sentence of each blog post.

From a “scientific” standpoint, of course, you want to use keyword phrases in the title and first sentences of each blog post to help search engines match your content with the search terms online readers used.  But SEO aside, the press release aspect of writing for business dictates that the first ten words of any post be effective in engaging interest. 

So how can blog writing for business make the most effective use of Anderson’s advice about not bringing too much to the opening paragraph?  The Happy Freelancer says opening sentences can:

  • Raise questions in readers’ minds
  • Illustrate a provocative scene
  • Connect with readers

I would add a fourth item to the list: Startle readers.

Bring just enough, not too much, to the beginning of your blog posts!

 

 

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Your Blog Isn’t a Container or Bin

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Child holding father's hand, closeup shot on grey background

“A talk isn’t a container or a bin that you put content in, it’s a process, a trajectory,” says Chris Anderson, head of TED Talks. “The goal is to take the listener from where he is to someplace new. That means trying to make the sequence so stepwise that no one gets lost along the way.”

A blog isn’t a container or bin that you put content in, either, and, particularly in the case of business blogging, the goal definitely is to take readers from where they are to someplace new.

“It’s especially important,” Anderson reminds speakers, “to do a jargon check.  Any technical terms or acronyms that may be unfamiliar to your listeners should be eliminated or explained.” But what he is NOT advocating,” he hastens to say, “is that everything be explained on a level appropriate for sixth-graders.” At TED, he reminds readers, they use the guideline based on Einstein’s dictum: “Make everything as simple as it can be, but no simpler.”

When it comes to blogging, there are tests you can put your blog through to see how you’re doing in terms of readability – are you reaching the right people and doing it by using words and sentences to which they can relate?  Well, a readability index calculator can give you the answer. Both Lexile and Flesch-Kincaid measure how easy your text is to read, based on what grade in school a person would need to have reached to be able to understand your content. (The reason Anderson specifically mentions sixth-graders is that a score of 6 would be considered optimal in journalism.)

What, exactly, do readability index calculators measure to take your readability “temperature”?  Essentially, two things:

  • The average number of syllables per word
  • The average number of words per sentence.

On the other hand, you don’t want to insult your audience’s attention, Anderson cautions speakers. “Indeed, the best explainers say just enough to let people feel like they’re coming up with the idea themselves.”  To create excitement in your audience, he says, start by making the talk relevant to them. After all, it’s not a given that anyone in the audience actually cares that much about your topic.”

In a sense, with blog readers, it IS a given that the audience cares about the topic. Online searchers arrive at your blog precisely because they have a need for the very kinds of information, products, and services you provide!  Now that they’ve arrived, though, it’s up to you to take those readers to “someplace new” in their knowledge and thinking!

 

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Establishing Order on the Planet of Your Blog

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icy snowflake“Establish order on the planet of your blog by using proven structures for your blog posts,” advises Tracy Gold of the Content Marketing Institute. Gold suggests a few possible blog post frameworks:

  • Q and A
  • Case study
  • Comparison/metaphor
  • Yes/No debate

Q and A
I tell new Indianapolis blog content writers that, in creating content for SEO marketing blogs, we need to keep in mind that people are online searching for answers to questions they have and for solutions for dilemmas they’re facing. But even if those searchers haven’t specifically formulated their question, I suggest we do that for them by presenting a question in the blog post itself and then answering it.

Case study
Back in Journalism 101 class, we were taught to “put a face on the issue” by beginning the article with a human example. Stories of all kinds, including case studies and customer testimonials help personalize your blog post.

Comparison/metaphor
Of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0000 snowflakes that have fallen on earth, no two are identical. Snowflakes form around particles of dust and sea salt, but the conditions of temperature and moisture are different each time. The “nucleus” around which business blog posts are formed is their topic, but there is endless variety in how that topic is presented. Metaphors “wake up” blog content by making unusual comparisons.

Yes/No debate
Helping readers sort truth from myth is one important use for business blogs.  In the natural order of business, many of misunderstandings about a product or service present themselves, and shining the light of day on misinformation shines light on your own expertise in your field. Even when there is no final answer, blog content writers can summarize the different schools of thought and recap the research that is being done in the field. That in itself can go a long way towards making your blog a “go-to” place for readers seeking information relating to your industry or profession.

Establish order on the planet of your blog!

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