Engagement Marketing – A Perfect Format
Posted by Scott BannonIf you’re struggling with writing articles or getting your article marketing to show returns this will be highly beneficial for you.
I don’t normally post here, I’m more of the “operations” guy behind the scenes with Content Caboodle; but I spend a lot of time reading almost all of the articles that get published on this site (I’m an information junkie) and something I saw this week literally triggered a lightbulb moment for me, you know, when the lightbulb flashes over your head like in cartoons…and I decided immediately that I wanted to share this with the contributing writers here as a way to make what you’re doing better and easier for you.
Article marketing is a tricky craft. The system is simple, write articles and then publish them everywhere you can to get the maximum exposure for your resource box call-to-action link(s).
Being such a simple system, it leads to a lot of people trying it, typically with very mixed results because they haven’t studied the mechanics behind the craft of writing an article that will entice a reader to take action.
I call it a craft because that’s exactly what it is. It isn’t hard to do or learn, but it’s a vital ingredient if you want to have real success with your articles.
It’s easy to write a couple hundred words on any topic, but if you haven’t crafted those words properly to engage and entice your readers than your message isn’t going to be memorable and those words aren’t going to be working for you or your business at all. They may be informative, but informative alone doesn’t translate into memorable or action from readers.
So, how do you take your words and craft them into something more memorable or that will entice action from your readers?
There are a lot of ways to do it, but one I saw this week when my monthly National Geographic arrived was very impressive and can serve as a great starting point for writers looking to improve their article marketing craft.
Right on page #2 of this latest issue of National Geographic (August 2010), opposite the Index page, is what on first glance appears to be a single-page feature on Cuban Iguanas. A well targeted story for Nat-Geo readers, right?
I didn’t want to step on any toes nor break any laws by scanning the actual page, so here’s a design representation of the layout of the single-page piece:
Layout Design
Now, let me break it down for you:
Single-Page Title: “Wildlife As Canon Sees It” (Canon runs similar engaging ads in every issue of Nat-Geo and has older ones online for viewing at http://www.canon.com/environment/report/wildlife.html if you want to see actual examples of what I’m describing)
Purple Block: a single paragraph of encyclopedia-style description of the Cuban Iguana, giving the necessary specifics on the species and letting readers know what the piece is about
Orange Block: a large, stunning picture of a Cuban Iguana
Two Blue Blocks: a couple paragraphs of conversational-style text covering the traits and life of Cuban Iguanas, followed by a short paragraph on how Canon “sees” the importance of making the world a better place, partly by raising awareness of endangered species (with the implication being it’s easier to raise awareness when you can put a face on the problem, even an Iguana’s face). And concluding with a URL to http://www.canon.com/environment
Red Block: The Canon logo
Okay, now this is a print media piece, so there are a few differences from online content that I’ll go over, but for the most part what Canon has done is create a great article that highlights their product line while engaging the reader on a level and topic that’s important to them.
The “tricky” part, or what I call the “craft” in this is that Canon doesn’t ever mention their products. The word camera never appears in the piece at all.
Instead, what they did is create a piece of informative and entertaining content that highlights what their products do in a way that will connect with the target readers of the magazine the content appears in.
To translate that into a process that could be used online for article writers/marketers, you would first zero in on your target reader by using a title and keywords that will grab their attention.
Next, create a piece of content that doesn’t openly sell anything, but rather highlights the features or benefits of what you want to promote while informing and/or entertaining readers.
Finally, provide a call-to-action link in your resource box that doesn’t say “now I’m going to sell you something”, but rather says “go deeper into this topic here”. If you look at the link Canon uses in their piece, it isn’t “Canon.com/ORDER_HERE” but instead it is “Canon.com/environment” because even the link can make a connection to the target reader of Nat-Geo by including the keyword environment in it.
This is a perfectly formatted piece of “engagement marketing”. I like that term better than article marketing, or information marketing or entertainment marketing, because it can be any or all of those things.
This type of content creation works and can be applied to anything, product or service doesn’t matter, whatever you want to promote there’s a way to do it with engagement marketing and article writing.
For instance, if I wanted to promote a software program that lets users create musical beats, I wouldn’t talk about the software at all, I would write a piece about the fun of creating music and probably include a video (with audio) of someone young sitting at the computer and creating their own beats in just a few seconds (to highlight the ‘ease of use’ of the software as well as the musical capabilities) and hopefully looking very happy with their sounds playing back to them.
Since my real focus of the content is on how easy it is to have fun creating your own beats, my call-to-action would be to a special page on my site which was also intended to highlight that “it’s easy” to make music and have fun with my software, maybe including more videos or even user uploaded clips.
The point is, with engagement marketing you don’t have to “sell” the product or service at all. In fact, you want to avoid anything that could be perceived as selling.
Just highlight a feature or benefit your product/service provides, in a way that connects with your target reader on their own level. This builds interest after you’ve grabbed their attention, and once their interest tips over into desire through engagement they will take action to purchase (provided your site has a clear navigation system).
Give it a shot, try writing some engagement based content, include media if appropriate, and see how it works out for you. If you follow the examples above closely (but make them fit what you’re promoting) I bet you’ll be surprised with the results.
