When you are crafting a blog try to remember at all times who it is you are engaging with. You are communicating not broadcasting.
First, know your audience. What makes them tick? There are generally 4 main personality types in any reader.
D: DOMINANCE—This style is both bold and sceptical. They typically dive into challenges produced by their environment and place a high priority on “winning.” They tend to be more receptive to logic, data and analysis than they are to somebody else’s “gut-level feel” or intuition. They pursue challenges in a dynamic, assertive and self-assured manner. They can also become easily irritated with opposing points of view which elicits a response that can be categorised as indifference, intolerance or hostility.
i: INFLUENCE—This style is both bold and accepting. They are “people-oriented” and are motivated by their connections with others. They tend to welcome others in a warm and inviting manner that encourages collaboration and generates excitement. They pursue environmental challenges in an outgoing, enthusiastic and optimistic manner. They are also prone to “keep people happy” and as a result may be reluctant to provide others with constructive feedback or pay adequate attention to follow-through or attention to detail.
S: STEADINESS—This style is both cautious and accepting. They are highly motivated to help others and maintain the stability of their environment. They excel at cooperation and are routinely described as “calm” or “patient.” They respond to the challenges of their environment in a thoughtful and comparatively methodical manner routinely providing others with empathy and support. They have a tendency to struggle with change that disrupts their routine and can be shocked, stunned or temporarily dazed by its emergence.
C: CONSCIENTIOUSNESS—This style is both cautious and sceptical. They can best be described as “detail-oriented” and have a strong preference for an environment defined by its stability. They enjoy opportunities to demonstrate their expertise and share the quality of their work. They are driven by logic and objective analysis. As such, they will typically respond to disruptions in their routine by openly questioning the feasibility and viability of the proposed path forward. They have a tendency to “overanalyze” but when they reach a level of comfort, they can serve as a calming source of objective support.
A commercial blog needs to walk a fine balance between conversational and professional tones. Too conversational and you will lose that authority that comes with being super professional and the detail-orientated reader will exit the page. Too professional (technical) and many readers will have exited the page before you can effectively set out your stall and make your case. They will just lose the will to live.
In every blog piece, you try to establish authority in a given subject. Authority generally comes with facts and figures, technical information and specifications. Relatability and engagement come from establishing rapport and resonance. So, if you have the resources available to you, why not use 2 writers?
1. The first writer is a conversationalist style of writer (who may be a salesperson type) that will write the opening attention-grabbing headline and the opening paragraph which is effectively a conversational summary of what it is that you are trying to communicate in the main blog piece. Keep it light as this opening paragraph will appeal to the D-types and the i-types of the above personality types. Not long after the opening paragraph, you will generally lose these two personality types as readers and that’s ok, they will have learned all that they are interested in learning. If you have resonated with them they will take some sort of positive action with you. Mission accomplished.
2. The second writer is a technical solutions-based writer (who may be an engineer type). A person who deals in the meat of your service offering, a person who understands the finest details. This persons writing will appeal to the S-type and the C-type personalities of the readers. These personalities will generally stay until the end of the blog piece as long as you are communicating to them a solution to their particular pain point. If successful here they too will take some sort of positive action with you. Again, mission accomplished.
The language in a commercial blog needs to be authoritative and factual in the main. However, people prefer to buy from people not from faceless entities so it’s important to establish a human rapport. Try giving some real-world examples that they can relate to such as “John/Mary in entity A had a certain issue, we had the solution and now John/Mary in entity A has an improved day-to-day experience thanks to our solution.” Tell a story in the opening paragraph and populate it with people and relatable topics. Provide the technical solution to a particular pain point in the main part of the blog piece, not the opener and make it relatable.
Do not forget to have some strong CTA’s (Calls To Action) throughout the page. CLICK HERE / GET IN TOUCH / LIVE CHAT etc. Locate them after the opening paragraph and at the end of the blog piece.
To summate: A winning story has a hero, a villain, a saviour and finally, redemption. At the end of your story (blog piece), the hero (your client) has eliminated the villain (the business pain point) thanks to the timely arrival of their savour (you) and now lives happily ever after (redemption).
Good luck and happy writing! Get in touch with me if you have anything that you want to ask or bounce off me. Email me here.
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