Have you ever read a one-page fiction story in a women’s magazine? It’s a short-short-story form that has its own cadence and style. In some writing circles, the genre is called Sudden Fiction. Basically, in an amazing 1,000 words or less, the authors give you the story line, make you care about the characters, and leave you with a satisfying ending.
It’s a good model for blog writing, but has lessons for blog marketing as well. For more marketing insights on memorable writing, check out the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. The brothers have just released their newest book Switch, but it’s as good a time as any to go back and review their first foray into the business bestseller list.
Made to Stick explores how to make stories, facts, and ideas memorable or “Sticky” as we like to say in the marketing world. Coming out of the education field, they discuss the art of compelling story-telling, and how stories, rather than facts and figures, win the day in the recall game.
In advertising, we measure effectiveness by recall. In marketing, we measure brand loyalty by its magnetism – ability to draw consumers back to the product service time and time again. My more memorable definition of marketing is posted on The Marketing Plaza blog. In it, I introduce the three A’s of marketing, which all also apply to blogging — motivating Audience, Action or Attention. Your blog post should have at least one of the A’s as a key goal.
When creating, writing, or marketing your blog, check your story-telling quotient and it’s Affiliation with one of the three A’s.
• Does your blog name make your story obvious? Does it draw in an obvious audience, i.e. dog owners with allergic dogs?
• Does your blog post tell a story, or just detail facts, figures and opinions? Does it keep your attention, or inspire you to come back for more?
• Does your marketing of your blog tell a story? For instance, does your Twitter post have a tease about your blog, or is it just a reiteration of a fact, figure or opinion? Does it inspire action in terms of a click through?
We are not all born storytellers. Neither are we all born bloggers, or marketing mavens. But ,it doesn’t take much to read a story of sudden fiction, or to listen to Made to Stick while walking the dog. Here’s my blog marketing insight for this week: Do both. You’ll be a better blogger, marketing person, and storyteller if you do. And that’s a skill that’s never goes out of style.
Love the analogy and correlation to Sudden Fiction. Reminds me how important the “surprise” element is to trigger both the initial read and the hope-for memory.
Good post!
I agree that it’s important to create a story in your blog. Adding a theatrical element entices people to read and makes it easier for them to remember. Because blogs tend to be such as short form of writing, it’s important to note the importance of a catchy title that draws readers in. The posts my readers tend to remember the most are those with witty titles and a message explained through humor or storytelling.