Predictive Analytics Blog » Content Creation

Confused People Don’t Act

Curtis Seare — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:06:17 +0000

Let’s illustrate further the principles discussed in yesterday’s post. Sometimes it’s best to learn by example, so I’ve embedded two ads below. Take a look.

Although both of these commercials can be considered entertaining, one of them was effective and the other a failure. It’s easy to see why when you consider which one of them makes it easier for the viewer to incorporate the message into their lives.

In the first ad the viewer hears the name ‘Outpost.com’, and then see a pack of wolves attack a high school band. What is the viewer supposed to do with that? Apparently they weren’t sure, because Outpost.com is no longer in business.

The second ad gives the viewer a natural scenario (making a sandwich with peanut butter, and wanting milk with it) and then ends with the interrogative: got milk? Well, if the viewer doesn’t have milk, he or she needs to go get some. Easy and simple. And incidentally, the ‘Got Milk’ advertising campaign was one of the most successful in history.

Build Content That Helps People Act

Curtis Seare — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:08:06 +0000

We market to people because we hope that our messages will spur them to take action. Can your audience easily see how your message fits into their lives? If not, there’s a good chance they won’t take any action on it.

In Malcolm Gladwells’ book, The Tipping Point(affiliate link), he cites an interesting case study. An experiment took place at Yale University trying to convince students to get a tetanus shot; two different packets of information were prepared with information about the benefits of getting the shot. One was purely informational, and one was aimed at instilling fear in the students by describing potential consequences if they didn’t get the shot. After the students were split up and each group was allowed to read one of the packets, they took a survey which would indicate which group was more motivated to get the shot. Predictably, it was the ones that received the packet aimed at instilling fear.

Only a very small percentage of students, however, went to get the shot. And totally unexpectedly, there was no difference in between the two different groups. The fact that one of the packets instilled fear, and that the students who read it seemed more motivated to get the shot, made no difference in their actual behavior.

The experiment was done again, and this time there was a small change made – in the packet was included a map of the university campus with the health center giving the shots circled, and a list of the times the center was open. This one small change resulted in a 28% increase in students getting tetanus shots.

Why did the percentage raise so dramatically? Because the map made the message fit into the students lives. It took the information from an abstraction to something practical and actionable. And that made all the difference.

Help your audience see how to apply your message. If they can picture themselves taking action, there are higher chances that they actually will.

Stop Wasting My Time

Curtis Seare — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:38:58 +0000

The average person reads between 200-250 words per minute. If you’re trying to do marketing with any kind of written message, you need to be aware of this.

How much time do people have to give you? How long is your message in relation to that time? If it’s too long, work it down and use clearer, more precise language. Forget the fluff, and get to the point.

(If you’re average, this post took you about 20 seconds to read. Reasonable?)

Share Your Expertise in Google Knol

Curtis Seare — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:23:48 +0000

For those who haven’t yet heard, Google has come out with a great new outlet for content called Google Knol. The flexibility of Google Knol is impressive – along with your text you can throw in graphics, videos, tables, spreadsheets, slideshow presentations, links, calendars, maps, web photo albums, and more. With all these options, you have the flexibility to present your message in the way you think conveys the material the best. You can also easily track the knolls you create with Google Analytics to see how they perform.

As marketers we are all content creators, and Google Knol is a great new outlet with some nice features. And if the content you create is good enough, there’s a good chance of it showing up high in the search engines. You can even create multiple Knols and categorize them together.

Head over to Google Knol and try it out. Here is a link that will get you started, or this one will get you going on the advanced features. Taking the opportunity to add valuable content now could pay off big down the road.