Jon Youshaei, Global Product Marketing Manager, Instagram, who was a speaker at the Nedbank IMC 2021 Conference held on 29 July, said many great products, content and articles go unnoticed because they are not packaged properly. Even if you have a quality product, end result or content, you have to know how to grab someone’s attention. He discussed three tips on how to do this.
Youshaei chose Buzzfeed as an example. They have a wall full of Post-It notes, and on these notes are not article ideas, but article headlines. If something doesn’t have a great headline then they are not going to devote as many resources to developing that article or newsletter. They start with the headline first, and then the content, whereas most marketers do the opposite. How do you come up with those headlines on a reliable and consistent basis and get people to pay attention to whatever is on the other side of that headline or subject line?
Tip 1: use the shorthand E-A-T
E = The end result that your customer wants.
A = Address any objections the customer may have.
T = The time period they will get it in.
E.g. if you want to write an article about getting people to speak French:
E = I want to speak French.
A = I can’t afford a teacher.
T = In one month.
So good headlines for this might be:
– How To Learn French In One Month Without A Tutor [E + T + A].
– 10 Ways To Learn French For Free [E + A].
– No Tutor? No Problem. Here’s How To Learn French In One Month [A + E + T].
Tip 2: operate at the intersection of culture and industry
Most people talk about their industry and not about culture. E.g. LegalEagle took his legal expertise and began commenting on pop culture through the lens of the law, reviewing the TV series Suits and more. Once he did this, his views hit the million plus mark. Use Google Trends to see what is trending in culture.
Even better than this is to predict culture. Clips from Late Night TV Talk Show hosts get many views and shares. The calendars for these talk shows are up online in advance, so you will know which celebrities will be interviewed and you will know who is going to be in the news or trending.
Tip 3: Focus on the apple, not the orchard
Stories speak louder than statistics. Big data and statistics have their place – we need metrics to make our decisions – but when you focus on what is going to hook people, it has to start with a story. If you were asked to sell an apple orchard, would you first focus on facts like the orchard’s 57 acres of trees and 7.1pH measurement of soil, or would you just make the customer taste one apple and then talk numbers? Starting with the apple is key because you engage emotion and imagination as opposed to statistics, which engage logic and reason. Research shows that decision-making processes start with emotion and imagination.
As an example, Youshaei saw an opportunity to write an article on Uber drivers using their cars as mobile marketing platforms to sell products that you would find in vending machines and a range of other things. He focused on one driver who sold his own jewellery from inside his car to clients who used his service. The headline of the article is: The Uberpreneur: How an Uber Driver Makes $252,000 A Year. This article had over 1.5 million views. Youshaei believes that number was reached because it focused on the apple – the human element and emotion – instead of an article filled with statistics on how many Uber drivers use their cars as marketing platforms.
Audience Q&A with Youshaei:
How often should content be posted?
It depends on the platform, but quantity leads to quality. So if you are posting once a month, that is not enough for you to understand what your audience wants. Start off by posting more regularly on more forgivable formats like an Instagram Stories, where the post will be gone in 24 hours. You can use this for asking your audience what they want to see more of in video format. You can also use Instagram’s poll feature to ask questions about what content your audience would like to see more of.
What is the ideal length of a video?
Check in your analytics for how long people are staying to watch your videos. If they are not staying until the end, shorten your video until that the audience retention is high. There is research on how roughly 18 minutes is a good time to engage people’s attention. Also consider the format: if you are looking for presentations and long-form videos, then YouTube is going to be more of an ideal format as its a more ‘sit down and lean back’ experience, whereas Instagram is suited for more ‘lean in and snackable’ content. 18 minutes is a good guideline to look at, but analysing your metrics and what your audience wants is going to be the gold standard for deciding on length.
NEDBANK IMC
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