Killer-Stat Blogging for Business

Say It For You is “going grizzly” this week, using the March 2013 issue of Backpacker magazine (no, I’m not a backpacker, but as part of the “reading around” I prescribe for all Indianapolis blog content writers, I “mine” different types of publications).

“Know Your Bears” compares and contrasts four ursine types: the black bear, the grirzzly, the polar bear, and the pizzly. Along with a one-paragraph physical description of each, readers are given information that includes height and weight, diet, and habitat.

The strength of this particular Backpacker offering, I found, lies in its organization. Seeing those four columns, each topped by an image of one of the bear types, helped me process the information easily.

In SEO marketing blogs we can use the same tactic to engage readers. In fact, one blog content “re-purposing” technique is to call attention in a business blog post to “old” information that we haven’t highlighted for awhile, but presenting it in a new light or in a new format.

Taking our example from the “Know Your Bears” piece, we can present material we’ve discussed before, but organize it differently, from both a concept point of view and in the visual presentation. Some formats to try might be:

• Question /answer
   
• Alphabetized lists and glossaries
   
• Surveys
   
• Tie-ins with current news items

The really powerful punch Backpacker adds to the height-and-weight and physical stats of each bear type is a “Killer Stat”.

• The average black bear encounter is about 21 times less likely to result in injury than one with a grizzly.
   
• Over the last 15 years, 50% of fatal grizzly attacks in North America have ended with the bear feeding on the victim.
   
• In Alaska and Canada combined, polar bears killed eight people in all of the 20th century.

Sometimes, after months and years of composing content, we business blog writers can feel we’ve told readers everything we know a long time ago. But by adding a few new items, re-organizing some old ones, and using some startling “killer statistics”, we can keep our blogs fresh and new!