An Information-First Marketing Asset Anybody Can Create
If you’ve read any of my past articles, you know I am a big fan of information-first marketing, which is a strategy to educate your idea prospect and elevate your marketing message above your competition.
In the past year alone, these three articles convey the unique power of information-first marketing and why you should be leveraging it in your business:
Information-First Advertising and Marketing
An Advertorial Example of Kennedy’s Market, Message Media
The Difference Between Direct Response vs. Agency-Styled Marketing
Today I want to share a recent example I saw of a specific strategy that can be easily duplicated for your marketing efforts. This smart idea is so simple, you can literally have a great new marketing asset within the next hour with just a little bit of effort.
In the October 2017 issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine there is an informative article titled, “10 Things Every Cigar Smoker Should Know.” (click to enlarge)
This article is a tweak to the classic “frequently asked questions” many marketers use and in my opinion a very effective one for three specific reasons.
1 – The first takeaway is that this a great title/headline that instantly attracts and creates curiosity and can be easily replicated for your business depending on what you do.
For example:
- 10 Things Every Person Selling Their Home Should Know
- 7 Things Every Parent of a Teen Driver Should Know
- 5 Things Every 50-Year Old Man Should Know
- Etc.
The number of things is not important and will be based on the content you create. The big idea is identifying a specific target individual and writing helpful and informative content to that person. When you craft compelling and helpful content for a very specific target reader, you increase your odds of connecting with that person in unique and profound ways.
2 – The second takeaway is the specific content in the article, a.k.a. “the things.”
The Cigar Aficionado article does a great job of highlighting unique things any cigar smoker would find interesting and helpful.
Your job is to do the same thing for your product, service or business with the goal of helping the targeted reader choose you!
What unique things can you highlight for the specific target person you are trying to attract?
If you have any insider tips, statistics or ideas, include those. I wrote about how Claude Hopkins turned ordinary Schlitz beer advertising into something memorable in this article.
3 – Finally, the last thing I want to point out is the format of the asset.
Obviously in this case, it’s an article in a magazine and while you may want to create a similar format, I can easily see this asset being used for:
- A downloadable tip sheet
- A short book
- A whitepaper
- Part of a sales letter
- A web landing page
Of course, as a High Impact Marketing student, you will have an offer or some “next step” for the reader to take.
To recap, here’s how you can use this simple, “X Things Every “INSERT YOUR TARGET INDIVIDUAL HERE” Should Know” information-first marketing asset in your business:
1 – Identify a specific “target individual” you want to attract and get the attention of for your product or service.
2 – Craft “X number” of useful tips, ideas, insider facts, statistics, etc. that your target individual will find interesting and helpful.
3 – Design a great-looking asset that can be leveraged in many ways in your marketing and advertising.
Information-First Marketing Asset CONTEST TIME!
For many my readers, this asset is a must-have in their marketing and advertising arsenal and congratulations to Doug Herbert of the Herbert Construction Company for being the first to send in a report he uses that he tweaked based on this article. Doug won a 20-minute consultation with me and I am looking forward to hearing what he is doing.
Is the participation limited to the US only?
Joyce – no, it is open to any business owner around the world. Thanks.
Not sure if this counts – but I created a booklet as an insert for a swag bag at a marketing conference (thanks also to CopyDoodles for placing an ad in the booklet) I’m happy to share the pdf if possible.