Consumers have developed extremely sophisticated filters. As a marketer, you’re fighting that filter every day.

What if you could take the filter out of play altogether? You can. Here’s how:

Shifting to Earned Attention

The problem with most marketing and promotional efforts is that they demand attention from people who are very stingy about giving it. With social media tools, we have an opportunity to take the filter out of play altogether by playing a different attention-getting game: we can earn attention rather than demand it.

You have a chance to earn attention from the right people—those with whom we most want to connect because they’re our most desirable audience. A shift from demanding attention toward earning attention seems subtle but it changes everything because you start operating differently.

We all pay attention to the things we find valuable, so as marketers we have to figure out how to provide something of value to the people we’re trying to reach. Once we do, we have their attention, and once we have their attention, we’ve gained that very thing we were so hungry for all along.

Five Ways to Earn Attention With Valuable Content

You can apply a simple concept that grounds you to create content that people will value. It’s the Old McDonald method of creating content:

E – Entertain
I – Inspire
E – Educate
I – Inform
O – Outrage

#1: Entertain

We’ve all received our fair share of funny videos. People send these to us because they found them funny and thought we would too. The Double Rainbow guy or Antoine Dodson of “Bed Intruder” fame wouldn’t be known if it weren’t for entertaining video. Entertainment is already something people are inclined to give their attention to, so why wouldn’t you seek to use that when it’s appropriate?

Content that’s genuinely funny, playful or dramatic earns attention for its entertainment value. There’s no reason why your content can’t entertain. Don’t force it if it’s not natural, but don’t hide it either. Perhaps you’re not terribly entertaining, but someone else in your organization is. What would it take to get her or him involved in creating content with you?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

#2: Inspire

An emotional connection makes people love everything from Oprah to Hallmark commercials. A few years ago, Kleenex launched a great campaign called “Let It Out,” which immediately earned attention for its emotional connection with people. Social media inherently inserts a more human element into business if done well, so seeking to make an emotional connection using your content is a way to deepen that human connection.

When starting to think along these lines, consider capturing great testimonials from customers, sharing touching stories from employees, a heart-to-heart message from your CEO or featuring a cause that your organization supports. Your customers know people work for your company. Sometimes you just have to remind them.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRZri7jrX6g

#3: Educate

Another value that earns attention is education. Social Media Examiner has great instructional content that you find valuable. That’s why this is probably not your first time here and why you’re going to be back again. Here are some categories for you to consider as you create good educational content:

• What to do
• What not to do
• When to do something
• When not to do something
• How to do something
• Why to do something
• Why not to do something

#4: Inform

Passing along information to people can also be highly valuable. When you share news, stats or even humorous updates on your Twitter account, you’re simply informing the people who see it. The difference between this category of sharing versus the educate category is that the focus isn’t on the “what to” or “how to” types of information, it’s focused on the “what is,” “who is” and “how is” of information.

#5: Outrage

Controversy is not always a bad thing. In fact, controversy can often earn attention for an issue that would otherwise go unknown. When considering controversy from a content development standpoint, you need to choose your battles wisely, but the idea here is that if you’re really focused on earning attention from the right people, there are some controversial issues that may endear you further to that group.

For instance, I have a friend who is a Microsoft product guy through and through. You might imagine what his feelings are for Apple products despite all the positive perception Apple has today. My friend isn’t interested in appealing to the Apple crowd on his blog, so he says things about Apple products that would make an Apple lover’s blood boil. He doesn’t care, though. His readers are like him and his views endear him further to the people he’s really interested in talking to anyway. He may be going against the tide of mainstream perception but he’s right in stride with the people he’s trying to reach.

Putting It Together

The EIEIO method of creating content should serve you well as you think about creating your own content. If all of your content can be placed in at least one of the five categories, you’re on the right track. If your content can land in multiple categories, even better! Remember that content for social media is not just text. It’s audio, video, images and text. Mix up your content delivery but always keep it focused on earning attention from the people you want to reach.

What are some of the difficulties you’ve had creating content? Do you find it’s a lack of ideas, time, permission or ability? How are you succeeding with your own content efforts? Share your comments in the box below.

Jay shares an innovative way to beat your competition using special social channels and critical tips on how to improve your social media marketing.

Be sure to check below for the other takeaways.

In this video you’ll also learn:

• Why you should listen first to monitor what’s happening then go out and make friends
• How the 3 “E”s help improve your social participation
• Why the first Golden Rule is there are no rules
• How his podcast only has 30 direct competitors (compared to his blog with millions)
• How to get experts on podcasts using Technorati and WeFollow
• Where social media is going

Jay’s busy with his Internet Marketing Club which is free to join. Be sure to check out Jay’s website Ten Golden Rules and the Ten Golden Rules Internet Marketing podcast.

Want to find out more about video?  Read these Social Media Examiner articles with tips on video marketing and YouTube marketing secrets.

What do you think?  Do you like Jay’s ideas?  Please comment below…

But what makes one blog successful and another mediocre? The majority of “so-so” blogs lack one or more of four important elements…  In this article I will introduce the CODA system and how it can driven traffic and engagement with your readers.

Some bloggers may be writing well, posting relevant and valuable content on a regular basis, but they aren’t encouraging reader interaction. Or they might have built a blog whose purpose isn’t evident.

Some blogs are difficult to navigate, making it nearly impossible for readers to find important information. Some look good, but they don’t have frequent or relevant posts.

And, most important to the first-time visitor, many blogs lack critical design elements. They offer no way for busy readers to quickly size them up and decide whether the blog is worth reading.

This is where the CODA system comes in, to serve as a guide for bloggers to monitor four elements of their blog and keep it on track as a marketing tool that serves their business. CODA focuses on Content, Outreach, Design and Action.

C Is for Content

The first essential component to a successful blog is content. It is often said that “content is king” because it is the critical element that will make or break your blog.

Always write with your readers in mind. If your posts are not interesting to the people you’re writing for, then they’re not going to come back. They’re not going to subscribe. And they’re not going to buy your products or services. Your content is where you have the opportunity to really penetrate your niche market and dominate, to become the de facto authority.

When developing content, keep in mind the three E’s of content: Educate, Entertain and Engage. The two primary reasons people use the web are to find solutions to their problems and to be entertained (as seen in the phenomenal growth of online video).

The first E is Educate.  A great example of educational blogging is Dr. Eben Davis’ Back and Wrist Pain Blog. Dr. Davis uses his blog to teach prospective and current patients about how the body works, why they might need help, or how he can solve their problem.  Nearly every post is educational and recently he told me that about 50% of his new patients come as a result of reading his blog and that they are getting better results because they are better educated.

Educate your readers so they know how you can solve their problems.

The second E is Entertain.  Video inherently is more entertaining than text (unless you’re really good at writing humor, which is tricky). Use video to tell a story or to better express your personality.  Check out Gary Vaynerchuk and his WineLibrary.tv blog. He posts videos five days a week and because he has a huge personality and is incredibly passionate about his subject, he rarely fails to entertain—as well as educate and engage—his audience, which is evidenced by dozens of comments on every post.

Video is inherently entertaining and quickly engages the viewer.

The third E is Engage. How do you get people to actually connect with you and participate in the conversation?  One way to do that is to use polls. Some of the free polling sites are vizu.com and polldaddy.com.  Create a one-question poll to encourage people to take the step and interact by answering your question.

Even simpler is asking for comments.  I often hear the complaint, “Nobody ever comments on my blog.”  My response is, “Do you ask for comments?  Do you tell readers how to comment?”  People need to be told what to do.  You might need to say at the end of your blog post, “Please let me know what you think about this.  Click on the comment link below.”

Keep in mind that when somebody actually interacts with something—they click a link, they post a comment, they take a poll—they stop being a passive reader. Now they’re actively engaged with you, and that can help bring them one step closer to becoming a client or a customer.

Ask for engagement. A poll gives your readers the opportunity to tell you what they think.

Finally, with all your content, keep it conversational and thoughtful, and be authentic and personal.

I covered content in more detail in previous articles—7 Tips to Create Better Blog Posts and 13 Ideas to Inspire Your Blog Content. Now back to the next step in the CODA system.

O Is for Outreach

Part of being a successful blogger means you should leave your own blog and participate on others in the blogosphere. It means reading and commenting on other blogs related to your industry or audience, reaching out to other bloggers, and becoming more visible. This is how you get known; this is how you build relationships that can turn into joint venture projects and guest interview spots, and attract more traffic and prospects back to your site.

I covered Outreach in more detail in the article The Secret to Growing Your Blog Following.

Outreach is also about participating on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace, among others, if that’s where your target audience hangs out.  Set up your profile. Make sure your avatar is consistent throughout so no matter where people find you, they recognize you.  Most important, make sure your blog content is syndicated via the RSS feed so your connections on social networking sites see your deeper content and can follow you back to your home base—your blog.

D Is for Design

Strong blog design involves a number of layout and usability factors. Design issues can greatly affect how readers experience your blog.

• Is it easy to use and understand?
• Does it build trust with readers?
• Is it easy to navigate?
• Does it look good?

The aesthetic elements also help people feel confident about working with you.  They may like your content, but does it look professional? Does it represent you well?  Do you make it easy for readers to hire or buy something from you?

One of the things to keep in mind when you’re designing your blog is it must be well-branded and it should be memorable. Make sure when people land on your site, it doesn’t look like every other blog.  Just about every blogging platform has templates.  If you use a standard template, that’s OK, but take a few minutes and customize the look and feel by using your brand colors and logo, at minimum.

Adding a custom-designed banner on your blog will help set it apart as well. Make sure to include the name of your blog and a tagline.  Remember that every day someone new lands on your blog.  When they land on your blog, are they going to know what it’s about?  Are they going to know if it’s what they’re looking for?  Make sure you have a tagline that tells people what the blog is about—what they can expect to learn about your subject.

For more details and a video demo, please see my article on 7 Essential Design Elements for Great Business Blogs.

A Is for Action

Finally, ‘A’ is shorthand for call to action. That is, are you encouraging people to act? How do you get your readers to become customers, to click on links, and to sign up for classes, reports, and other offers?

Effective business blogging is results-oriented, which means persuading people to interact with you in some way. Calls to action are crucial. Depending on the goals of your blog and/or specific post, you may include calls to action for:

• Posting comments
• Asking for a retweet
• Directing to download a freebie
• Downloading a white paper
• Taking a survey
• Registering for a program
• Checking out your new product or service

Being clear on the next step you want your readers to take will help them know what to do and help you get the results you want from your blogging efforts. You can see clear examples of calls to action on Rich Brooks’ flyte blog.

Tell your readers what you want them to do.

Putting it all Together for a Balanced Blog

If you’re going to invest time on your blog, you want that time to pay off. You want results.

Keep in mind that no matter which of the four elements (Content, Outreach, Design and Action) you like to focus on, a successful business blog—one that gets results for your business—requires all four to be addressed. A balanced blog that is built and maintained on the CODA system will contribute to getting more visitors, and more customers, for your business.

What would you add? Have you tried any of these techniques with success? What do you consider the most important element for a successful blog? Share your opinion in the comments box below!