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Blogging the Way things Used to Be

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Whether or not you’re into home remodeling and décor, the new “Reveal” magazine by two of my own favorite reality show personalities, Drew and Jonathan Scott, is a great source of ideas for blog content writers. Last week in this Say It For You blog, I noted that the brothers had offered no fewer than five full articles about, of all things, tile, each one informative and imaginative.

Even the advertisements are uniquely creative in  “Reveal”, I discovered to my delight. A painting of a 19th century woodsman sitting in his shop with his dog’s face turned towards him takes up the bulk of the page, with an art-museum-style plaque that reads “Things dogs used to smell- their owners”. At the bottom of the page is a second plaque reading “Things dogs smell now: chicken”, positioned over a box of Cesar dog food.

“When it comes to business, trends come and go. This is particularly prevalent when it comes to marketing strategies,” Metova posits, noting that as technology becomes increasingly available to the general public, people are more receptive to marketing tactics when the material is formatted directly for them.

One really important point Metova stresses is that today, product comparison is an outdated and unnecessary marketing strategy. With trust in U.S. companies in general having dropped to 50% this year, now is not a great time for brands to be making lofty claims or taking potshots at competitors. Instead, Metova says, now is the time to be building trust and relationships.

This takes me back to the “Reveal” magazine ad for dog food. While making comparisons with competitors’ products and services may be passé, comparisons of “now” with “then” always hit the spot. Sharing memories of the “good old times” that weren’t really so good in terms of efficiency and convenience, you have the ability to share with blog readers a sense of look-how-far-we’ve-come togetherness.

The Business Dictionary definition of the term “product innovation” is “the development and market introduction of a good or service that is:

  • new
  • redesigned
  • substantially improved

What that means is that if you have taken something already there and made it better, that “innovation” is the most powerful thing you have to share in your blog marketing. After all, Drew and Jonathan Scott didn’t “invent” tile, and the Cesar company didn’t invent dog food. It’s probably true, we tell Say It For You clients wondering how they can come up with new ways to present their products and services through content marketing, that you can’t claim to have “invented” those products or services “from scratch”!

On the other hand, history-of-our-company background stories have a humanizing effect, engaging readers and creating feelings of empathy and admiration for the business owners or professional practitioners who overcame adversity. Most important, tracing the “then” calls attention to the modern solutions that grew out of those past attempts and failures.

Blogging “the way things used to be” is a great way to help prospects and clients savor the way things are!

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For Humor and Allusions in Blogs, Make Sure Readers Don’t “Huh?”

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“Know your audience. Not everyone will think every joke is funny,” advises Michael Strecker in the book Young Comic’s Guide to Telling Jokes. Strecker’s advice applies to blog content writing, as we’ve learned through experience at Say it For You.

One reason certain jokes fall flat with certain audiences, I’m convinced, is not that those jokes are offensive or unfunny. It’s that many jokes are based on a cultural allusion that is simply not familiar to that audience.

A cultural allusion is an indirect reference to a person, place, or idea that is not directly described. Here are a few of Strecker’s jokes that will be funny to you only if you happen to recognize the allusion to history, literature, mathematics, geology, or the Bible…….

  • What was the sea creatures’ strike called? Octopi Wall Street.
    (The allusion is to the protest movement against economic inequality that started in New York City and which was named Occupy Wall Street.)
  • Who invented the ball point pen? The Incas.
    (The allusion is to the ancient Incan empire in the country of Peru.)
  • Why was the precious metal so silly? It was fool’s gold.
    (The allusion is to the metal pyrite, which has no value, but which resembles gold in its appearance. Many treasure-seekers foolishly mistook pyrite for gold.)
  • How did the dentist pay for his vision exam? An eye for a tooth.
    (The allusion is to a passage from the Bible about punishing a man who injures another – “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…)
  • What do you do at a math party? East pi and square dance.
    (The allusion is to pi, which is the ration of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, approximately 3.14.)
  • What do you call a street where Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, and James Patterson live? Writer’s Block.
    (The allusion is to three famous writers and to a psychological “block” in which a person represses painful thoughts of memories.)

In blog marketing, we might choose to use an allusion to get a point across without going into a lengthy explanation. Or, we might want to get readers thinking about our subject in a new way. We might even use allusions to cement a bond between our client and the blog readers, showing the business owner or practitioner has experienced some of the same problems and obstacles as their customers now face.

There’s only one problem – an allusion does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it’s referring – readers have to recognize the allusion. As content writers, we need to gauge our readers’ areas of interest and even their level of education. If they simply don’t know the underlying story, literary tale or other reference point, we could be leaving them scratching their heads, and asking “Huh?”

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5 Ways to Talk About Tile

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TV reality show personalities Drew and Jonathan Scott have long been favorites of mine, so I was delighted to find their new lifestyle magazine, “Reveal” at a neighborhood newsstand.

At Say It For You, our content writers are always seeking to vary the ways we present information on a single topic in many different ways. Not only are we on the lookout for different “templates” in terms of platform graphics, but different formats for presenting information about any business or professional practice.

Well, I found, the Property Brothers have that technique down pat. In this single magazine issue, there are five different articles, all relating to just one aspect of home decor – tile!

1. the Tile Files
To help readers “know their options”, Drew and Jonathan present an overview of seven different tile types, including ceramic, porcelain, terra-cotta, class, cement, Natural stone, and peel-and-stick, listing the pros and cons of each.

The point of using lists of options, I explain to blog content writers, is to provide valuable information, to readers, suggesting different ways in which the business owner’s products – or the practitioner’s services – might be of particular use to them, perhaps in a way they hadn’t considered.

2. the Shape of Things
Here Drew and Jonathan delve into their subject in greater detail, first listing the different shapes in which tiles or sold. This “listicle” doubles as an advice column, since certain shapes, the brothers explain, work best for certain applications. “Mermaid” or scallop-shaped tiles, we learn, are sold interlocked for easier installation on kitchen backsplashes or behind bathroom vanities. “Square Zelligs” are glazed, often non-uniformly shaped, ceramic tiles best used for countertops and shower walls “for people who like a little character and don’t mind a snag here or there.”

Offering advice that’s out of the ordinary is actually great advice for business blog content writers. Drew and Jonathan are offering advice readers can use right now. More important, the authors are explaining the reasons behind each piece of advice.

3. the Trends
In this article, the Property Brothers collate advice from four different prominent designers. Barbie Palomina, for example likes using tiles on ceilings as well as on walls and floors. Gabrielle Aker likes mixing three complementary colors of tile to create a sunrise effect.
Kathryn Berschback installs tiles with prints and patterns in a butler’s pantry, while Zzoe Gowan “mixes and matches: patterned and solid tiles.

Since we are hired by clients to tell their story online to their target audiences, we need to do intensive research, as well as taking guidance from the client’s experience and expertise. Interviewing experts allows us dig deeper into the topic, offering added value to readers by bringing in expert insights.

4. All About Grout
This piece falls into the “how-to” category, with practical tips and cautionary advice for DIY readers. “While figuring out the right mix of cement, water, and sand may seem like more of a practical decision than a pretty one,” the authors caution readers that the grout they select is going to be permanently visible between the tiles. That means that both the color of the grout and the amount of spacing between tiles will have a big impact on the finished appearance.

As effective blog content writers, we can demonstrate to our readers how to dodge dangers and avoid costly and embarrassing mistakes. The Property Brothers’ articles are the kind home remodelers might cut out and keep. In the same vein, effective blog content should offer cut-out-and-keep, useful and actionable advice.

5. Install Intel
Before you invest in tile, the Property Brothers advise, find an installer with credibility. The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) certifies installers and keeps them up to date on the most current standards and practices around the installation of tile.

The success of your blog marketing efforts, we explain to Say It For You clients, will be very closely aligned with your positioning yourself as a go-to source of trustworthy information. Using factual proof involves offering statistics about the problem your product or service helps solve; credentializing proof cites your years of experience, and degrees earned.

At Say It For You, our content writers are on the lookout for different formats for presenting information about any business or professional practice. Those five different Reveal Magazine articles, all about tile, yet all different, serve as a great example of imaginative ways to deliver information to blog content audiences.

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Analogies Help Information Resonate With Readers

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Matching our writing to our intended audience is part of the challenge we business blog content writers face. After all, we’re not in this to entertain ourselves – we’re out to retain the clients and customers we serve and bring in new ones, so we try to use words and sentences to which our target readers can relate.

There are four ways to make information resonate with an audience, advises climate scientist Lissa Ocko (who often addresses non-scientists on scientific topics):

  1. strip down to the essentials
  2. craft a story
  3. provide context
  4. use analogies

Using an analogy to link an unfamiliar concept to something that is familiar can help the reader better comprehend what you’re trying to say. It’s also a catchy and clever way to help get a point across, MasterClass.com points out.

At Say It For You, our content writers often use analogies as teaching tools in business blog posts:

Analogy: Parhelions and blogs posts
A parhelion is an atmospheric optical illusion consisting of “halos” of light around the sun. Just as parhelions showcase, rather than obliterate the sun, blogging allows content writers to approach the same topic in different ways to appeal to different audiences, still highlighting the central message.

Analogy: Suitcases and blog posts
Packing light has always been one of the better tips for savvy travelers. Pack your blog post with just enough materials to show searchers they’re on track to find the services or information they need.

Analogy: Cows being milked at night and blog posts
Cows were often milked in their barns at night, making that task one of the last ones on a farmer’s list. The expression “Till the cows come home” could be used in a message about a provider’s prompt service.

In blogging for business, using an analogy to link an unfamiliar concept to something familiar can help the reader better comprehend what you’re trying to say.

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In Blogging – the Devil is in the Details

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“Whether you’re measuring engagement in terms of blog comments, social media interaction, or a combination of metrics,” James Parson opines in contentpowered.com, “ there’s one universal constant. You want more engagement.”

Engagement facts, Parson thinks, are some of the most interesting, because analytics reveal that details as seemingly insignificant as the placement of a punctuation mark can make a big difference.

“Devilish details” include these:

  • Including a hyphen or a colon in the middle of a blog post title can increase search engine click-through by as much as 9%. (Notice what I did in the title of this post?)
  • 54% of blog posts that rank well include an image or video.
  • Best time of week to bring a blog post “live”? Tuesdays and Wednesdays (What day is it today, again?). What time? 9:30-10AM Eastern.
  • “Listicles” beginning with an odd number outperform lists beginning with an even number by 20% (Who knew?)
  • Blog headlines with only 8 words do better than those with a different word count. (Words in my title – count them!).

Entertaining and, to an extent, enlightening info, to be sure. Can’t help thinking about what Neil Patel had to say about “over-optimizing” a website or blog, which is “Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.”

Main thing is, as we teach at Say It For You, content is meant to be written for people. Sure, you want good ranking so more people see your blog link, but first and foremost, you’re writing blog content to solve problems and appeal to customers, clients, and prospects. So, yes to the listicles, the short headlines, and the images, and certainly yes to providing “snippets” to give web searchers snippets a preview of your content.

With those “devilish” details in mind, still it pays to never lose sight of the essence of content marketing: creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content.

 

 

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