INVISIBLE MARKETING: Disappear & Create Content That Your Readers Will Never Forget

 

The most effective marketing technique to this day is still 'Content Marketing'. Which is why so many people go a little crazy when trying to get their posts and articles listed high in search engine results.
Now, i’m not saying advertising is dead or all marketing should be content marketing, or any other crazy declaration that people desperate for good headlines or lots of visitors make.
What I am saying is: Think about all the television commercials you can remember. Chances are they were entertaining or informative, or relevant to you in some other way.
Ok, now think of your favorite website. It’s not one that has a bunch of dry catalog descriptions reformatted as blog posts is it?.. It's the one that makes you laugh, think and is always in the back of your mind.
Whether it's an ad, an eBook, an infographic or a blog post, you like and remember it because it’s content is made for YOU, even if it contains marketing material.

What Is Invisible Marketing?

I was reading a blog post at Slideshare the other day, and a quote from one of the slides thrust me into about half a day of introspection..

We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.

The original slide is called 'Creativity, Technology, And The Future Of Storytelling', and was created by Michael Brenner; author and CEO of Marketing Insider Group.

What had me pondering for hours was - are there really any truer words in today’s marketing world? Personally, I don't think there are. But, you've heard this before, I'm sure.
From the first moment I heard it, I was honestly pissed because I’ve always believed in that exact way of thinking, but have never thought to articulate it so well in one sentence.

Learning To Disappear

If you can keep the above tips in mind when you're creating content, it's hard to go wrong once you fully understand the concept. But it does beg the question - how do you know what content to create?

For more in-depth information covering the creation of content, please refer to an earlier article of ours here: https://www.vastonlinetraffic.com/2019/05/how-to-create-content-that-improves.html.

A lot of this information may seem obvious to those of us who create content for a living, but this is still new to a lot of the world.

My secret weapon has always been to research the 'problem' or 'pain' that potential customers may be experiencing. For example; if you can find the intersection between the pain your customers have and the relief your product provides, the path from where they are to where you want them to be is clear, and often the same.

Better yet, before you promote a product, service, or even a company – knowing what your customers desires and pains are, as well as how much they will pay for fulfillment or relief, sets you up to be successful from the beginning.

Since a lot of my work is based around SEO, I always perform my keyword research first. The SEO niche can be challenging and very competitive, but at the same time, there are many online resources to help with your SEO progress, and it's fairly easy and cost-effective to use or build resources that mine this data. Often it’s as simple as going to the discussions area of Google search, and typing in the word "help" and a relevant keyword.

For example; if I was thinking about writing a cookbook, and wanted to find a popular but untapped niche, I might type in "help cooking" or "help recipes". Then I would explore the forums and/or discussion threads of the relevant sites.

You could repeat this process with Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and Twitter search etc. too.

You can also create surveys of your target audience, using Google search, or refer to data from surveys already conducted by organizations like Pew Research Center, or you can survey your own audience using tools like Survey Monkey.

Once you begin to deliver these necessary insights into the thoughts of your customers, and continue to improve your product or service, it is then all about building a road between what you sell and what your customer cares about.

• Solve a small related problem, and get them on your mailing list.
• Write a guest blog with how-to steps.
• Create a video solving an annoying issue.
• Create a community around an existing movement to right a wrong.
• Give the community that already exists a place to meet offline.

To truly disappear, you need to get out of the mode of discussing what you do, who you are, and what you're thinking, and get into the vein of revealing how you can help others, what you can share with them, and why you want to give something to them.

It doesn't mean don't mention or sell your product/service, it just means, don't feel or appear desperate to sell.

To your success,

Jonny Tyson