A content marketing formula

So you want to dive into this mysterious ‘content marketing’ thing.

Maybe you’ve heard me talk about how good it is: how fun it is to write, how fun to read, how ethical, how useful, how good for building relationships, and … you know, a multi-billion dollar industry right now.

You probably know, maybe even smartly deduced, that content marketing involves the creation of … uh, content. Something that people like to read / see / hear / consume in some other way, that somehow drives their message.

But how does it work?

How do you write an article that is not an ad, that somehow leads people to buy your things?

It is quite easy to get started. Even if you hate writing, you can put a camera or microphone to your face and just get going.

However, will it work?

Or will people ignore you?

Maybe he even gets offended at you?

Or listen to what you have to say … but then you don’t do anything else?

Content marketing is like another aspect of your business:

Get it wrong and it will be a huge waste of time, money and energy at best.

And there are two ways to mess it up:

The content part …

AND …

… well, the other part.

Fortunately, I have a formula that will help you. I was originally going to call this THE content marketing formula, but … uh. There is more than one way to hook a cat.

Step 1) Bait the hook

When I started with content marketing, writing articles and all that, I wrote about whatever came to mind.

It was mostly informative – it clearly raised misconceptions about hypnosis, what it is (and isn’t), and what it can (and can’t) do.

That kept me busy for a long, long time.

However, some problems:

For one thing, my writing was pretty embarrassing back then. I guess that’s not a problem – if you do everything else right, you can probably write really weird and still get it right.

I solved that with practice.

The second problem: people weren’t reading my articles. Traffic was practically nil.

Third, the few who did read did not act on it. They just moved on to the following to get your attention.

It was frustrating spending so much time on so little response. Good thing I didn’t trust my content marketing to pay the bills, otherwise I would have been freaking out.

It didn’t work because direct information is not content. Not really, which is why people don’t read textbooks for fun.

People may be curious about what you offer …

But if you really want to get their attention, start with their pain.

Your offer must solve some problem in his life. That problem doesn’t have to be dramatic – if you sell, I don’t know, fancy dishes, the problem may not be impressing your friends as much as they’d like over dinner parties.

(If this weren’t a real concern, no one would buy anything but the cheapest dishes …)

People cannot ignore their own pain. Speak it up in advance and they will pay attention to you, especially if you blurt out that you have a solution.

Step 2) Paint the image

Now they are thinking about their problem.

Time to tell a story, preferably a personal one.

Why?

Because stories are the ultimate content.

They are informative, entertaining, and persuasive.

They are identifiable: When you talk about having the problem, your audience will know that you have their struggles.

And they are addictive. Why else do people spend billions listening to stories through books, movies, games …

I doubt there is a successful motivational speaker, coach, or leader who doesn’t tell stories often.

But what is a story really?

All the stories, from the simplest anecdote to The Lord of the Rings, present an emotional transformation. If none of the characters change how they feel, it doesn’t feel like a story. It seems more like a list of facts.

Your stories also present transformation:

Someone (ideally you) struggled with the same problem as your audience.

You tried what you offer.

Then your life changed for the better.

It’s hardly Shakespeare, but it still works. You hear this formula dozens of times a week, but you don’t notice it until you stop and pay attention.

Here’s where it gets good:

When I started to introduce emotional transformations in my articles, things changed. People would come up to me to tell me how much they liked my articles.

Traffic to my articles increased … and stayed there.

Even better, I started making sales.

If your content feels flat and uninspiring like mine used to, it’s probably missing this spark.

Step 3) Immerse yourself in logic

There is a discussion that comes and goes. Many people believe that they (and others) make decisions based on logic and reason.

Others argue, saying that people make decisions based on emotion and instinct.

They are more accurate, but it is not the whole picture. Sure, we use emotions to guide our quick decisions … and even big ones. But when we can, we use logic to verify them.

For example, you may decide that a house ‘feels good’ … but before you buy it, you execute it based on your requirements. Do you have enough bedrooms or too many termites, that sort of thing? If it fails, no matter how ‘good’ it feels, reject it. Logic overrides emotion.

As with your marketing. You don’t just want your emotions on board, you also want logic to support your choice.

People hate dry and boring facts … but you have enough emotional drive from the first two steps to get away with it. If your audience has read this far, they are likely to keep reading. So this is your chance to add a little crunch to your content.

Step 4) Make the call

By now, you’ve done nothing but entertain them. If they stopped reading, they would still get a lot from your content.

And that’s okay – those who are still reading can share your content, activate your other content, and, yes, maybe even make a purchase.

So this is your chance to order it.

Remind them of what they will get from using your solution.

Tell them what the next step is, like “call me at this number” or “follow this link.”

Then make it easy for them to do exactly that.