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Is Content Marketing For Performance or Brand?

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“Over the past 20 years, performance marketing has become the dominant approach , referring to paying third party channels to generate sales, leads, and click through direct mail, search engines, and social media sites,” a recent Harvard Business Review article states.. But, the authors question, “Is performance marketing crowding out brand-building activities aimed at enhancing customer awareness of, attitudes towards, and affinity for their companies’ brands?” In fact, the authors relate, at the Cannes Lions Int’l Festival of Creativity, th authors relate, the issue most voted for as important to discuss was managing the tension between brand and performance marketing.

As content marketers at Say It For You, we work with business owners to arrive at the right tone and the right emphasis for the blogs we ghostwrite. In a very real sense, the very process of deciding what to include in a post is one of self-discovery, with the creation of content being part of the process of inventing and reinventing the business brand.

The performance marketing piece of the puzzle, meanwhile, involves the use of keyword phrases. SEO is the practice of optimizing content to clearly define what your webpage is and what information it is providing, explains Elena Terenteva in the SEMrush blog. Some areas that need to be optimized, Terenteva explains, include page titles, meta descriptions, anchor text, and internal links. But should blogs be built around these performance marketing tools? .Using keywords in a natural way in y our post is good for SEO, web influencer Neil Patel says, “but don’t overdo it”. “The days when a few SEO tricks were enough to get your website to rank well in Google are long gone.  Nowadays, quality content is king,” says Seattle freelance writer Carol Tice.

At Say It For You, we’ve found, our business owner or professional practitioner clients are interested in is spreading the word about what they know, what they know how to do, and what they sell. In that sense, the content writing effort is meant to “perform”. But, in content writing training sessions, I’m continuing to emphasize the verbal, not the viral. That means we’re writing marketing blogs not to attract the attention of gazillions of readers, but to attract prospects of the right kind. Blog posts are essentially about reaffirming the company’s or the practice’s brand.

On the other hand, customers don’t want to feel like they are being told a “brand story”; they want to tell themselves the story,” Tips & Traps for Marketing Your Business authors Cooper and Gruntzner advise. The goal in blogging for business is creating loyal customers who have an emotional engagement with your brand.

Is content marketing performance or brand? It’s both.

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To Plot or Not to Plot in Creating Blog Content

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one sentence speech in blogs

 

“I rarely start writing without knowing what I’m going to (try to) write,” confides Simon Van Booey in Writer’s Digest. “I know the story when the pen hits the page, but how to write, the tone, approach, pace – that’s what the deskwork is about.”

Advice to students offered in the Research & Education Association’s QuickAccess laminated writing guide is perfect for content writers of all types: Before you begin writing an essay or writing a research paper, draft a working thesis statement.” That thesis statement should contain the subject of the essay and your opinion on that subject, REA explains.

With the general purpose of any content marketing piece being to promote a product, service, or cause, content writers never “start writing without knowing what they’re going to try to write”. The “thesis” of any individual blog post takes the form of a one-sentence declaration of a fact or opinion that the content writer will set about fleshing out, illustrating or “proving”. And, while business blogs ought to be far more conversational in style than college essays, “plotting” the posts forces writers to focus, which translates into increased impact for the finished piece.

Thankfully, the “thesis” itself can become part of the post. At Say It For You, I’m fond of saying to blog content writers that their task is to keep the reader engaged with valuable, personal, and relevant information, beginning with the “downbeat”, which is what I call the first sentence of each post. The thesis, itself, though can appear anywhere in the blog post, reinforcing the main idea of the message.

“Plotting” an editorial calendar for a marketing blog makes a lot of sense, since, as marketing strategist Alex Honeysett says, “The introduction of social media has forced us to say things too quickly and efficiently…but some topics and musings need more than a few sentences to be fully explored.” On a blog, Honeysett explains, “you’ll have more room to expand on those thoughts.”

From a general content writing standpoint, while we never start writing “without knowing what we’re going to try to write”, since the basic “plotline” has been provided by our client, our task becomes exploring different “templates” to use in presenting the information in ways that will resonate with readers.

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Using Phraseology to Pique Interest

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Some of our most popular phrases have a long history, Medievalists.net points out. Since, at Say It For You, we find “tidbits” of information very useful in generating ideas for business content marketing, here are a few of our favorites from their list of ten::

The apple of one’s eye:
The pupil of the eye was thought to be an apple-shaped solid. Since the delicate pupil of the eye is essential for vision, it needs to be cherished and protected.

In creating content that connects with your audience, consider not only age, gender, and nationality, but what your target readers are reading and watching – what do they feel “protective” about?

Baker’s dozen
In the middle ages, since bakers had a reputation for selling underweight loaves, legislation was put in place to prevent cheating. To make sure that they did not sell underweight bread, bakers started to give an extra piece of bread away with every loaf, and a thirteenth loaf with every dozen.

I remind content writers that blogging about unusual ways your products or services have been applied in different situations is good way to capture interest in posts. Tel them about the benefits you offer, sure, but what are some of the extra, unexpected benefits to your customers and clients?

Playing devil’s advocate
An official used to be appointed by the Roman Catholic church to argue against the proposed canonization of a saint by bringing up all unfavorable information, so false rumors could be dispelled.

While you want to shine light on your special expertise and on your particular slant on the work you do, it’s important to address any misperceptions or real issues that have arisen in the company’s past, and how those have now been set to right. .

By hook or by crook
There was a medieval law about collecting firewood. Peasants were allowed to take oly what they could cut by using their reaper’s bill-hooks or shepherd’s crooks.

One thing I suggest stressing in blog posts is best business practices.  Once you’ve been “found”, the goal changes to helping the online readers get comfortable with the way you do business – not by “hook or crook”, but maintaining high standards of quality and honesty..

In content marketing, it’s always a good idea to use phraseology from the past to pique interest right now!

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Painting a Blog Post in Two Lines

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One way to bring a character to life in your story is to paint that character “in two lines”, Writer’s Digest Editor-in-Chief Jessica Strawser suggests to authors of stories and novels. You can reveal a character as seen through another character’s eyes or through dialogue, and even through “voices” or thoughts going through a character’s mind, Strawser adds.

What we’ve found at Say It For You is that a big, big part of providing content marketing is helping business owners formulate and then tell their “stories”. Certainly, online visitors to a company’s or a practice’s blog want to feel that the owners or practitioners understand them. But those prospects want to understand who those service and product providers are as well, and it is through character-revealing stories that an emotional connection can form between provider and the buyer.

While blog marketing can be designed to “win search”, once the searchers have arrived, what needs winning is their hearts, and that is precisely what content writers can achieve best through “painting” the character of the business or practice, showing why the owners are passionate about delivering your service or products to customers and clients.

As seen through another character’s eyes…
The history of the company and the values important to its leaders are story elements that create ties with blog readers. The best content writing client testimonial I ever received reads as follows: “Say It For You helped me, a numbers guy, put into words what I knew in my heart but couldn’t verbalize…”

As seen through dialogue…
We all love to eavesdrop just a little and any good narrative should contain some dialogue, including character-revealing quotes from the business owners. Anecdotes and customer testimonials help readers sense “character” through dialogue.

As seen through thoughts going through a character’s mind…
At Say It For You, we recognize what I’ve dubbed the “training benefit” of blog content creating. In the process of verbalizing positive aspects of a business or practice in a way that people can understand, leaders are constantly providing themselves with training about how to tell their business story!

Blog content writing is a way of “painting” the character of a business and its owners.

 

 

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Using Log Lines to Create Blog Content

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For those who are new to the craft of screenwriting, the log line is a 25-word brief description of what the movie is about, Peter Fox explains in the Writer magazine. No matter what film you’re reading about, Fox adds, in the log line you’ll find at least one of the five pillars of cinematic conflict:

  1. Problem of conscience.
  2. It’s not fair.
  3. Facing the mountain.
  4. Stand and deliver.
  5. Life or death.

Classic films might have characters that endure all five of these conflicts, the author explains. However, it’s important, before film writers begin to create a movie, for them to identify the core of the character’s struggle and then build the content around that core or “pillar”.

How can this log line wisdom translate into blog marketing?

Problem of conscience – In blogging on behalf of a charity, it’s important to demonstrate that donated funds are handled responsibly and used to forward the stated goals of the organization. But, even in content marketing of products and services, as study.com explains, it’s important to assert your personal authority and to appear as an expert in the subject you’re writing about.

It’s not fair – Identify what problems your readers are experiencing and create content that aims to solve that one single social or business “unfairness” or problem. If you cannot provide a solution, in your blog, recommend articles, eBooks, tools, apps, or services that might help, Fabrizio Van Marciano of magnet4blogging.net suggests.

Facing the mountain – For the same reason most college-bound students are tasked with writing an “overcoming challenges” essay, recounting a time when they faced a challenge, setback or failure. Using blog content to recounting obstacles a business owner or professional practitioner overcame can help prospects embrace and engage with the content.

Stand and deliver – In the movie of that title, the phrase “stand and deliver” expresses the concept of maintaining one’s position and acting independently.

Life or death – While credible blogs hardly tout the purchase of any product or service as a life-or-death decision, content writers can offer reader “decision aids”, helping searchers understand the possible consequences of delay in implementing the recommended commitment or involvement.

At Say It For You, we firmly believe in the Power of One, with a single message directed to a single audience segment. Just as in movie-making, In blogging for business, it’s a good idea to start with the log line.

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