Maria's Christmas Countdown 2013 | Days Till Christmas | Sleeps Until Xmas

Plugin supplied by Your Christmas Countdown

5 tips for being sexy with your content marketing

Hi guys! Hope, you are all enjoying this lovely Wednesday and counting days to Christmas. :) I, on the other hand, am a little bit upset as my Glasgow days are almost over and my luggage is half packed. 

As for my blog - I am not saying 'Good-bye' to you anywhere soon, so here is my latest post. Let me share some sexy tips with you. Enjoy! :-)

Looking back on how TV, commercials and 'not-so-innovative' marketers work, one can always find that sex (sexy images, naked body parts, 'intriguing' noise and so on) always works as a fast and easy way to sell stuff to people, be it chocolate dessert, luxury car or the newest fragrance. 'Sex appeal' or the prosaic 'sex sells' rule has been long ago incorporated into the advertising/PR/marketing world agenda (which was 'scientifically' proven by Gallup and Robinson btw). 

And I am not here to judge what is and is not wrong with it. Let me just say that today's blog post was inspired by the growing popularity of 'Masters of Sex' and the iconic status of 'Sex and the City', people's interest to 'Secret Diaries of a Call Girl' and the idea that all commercially successful perfumes are 'Guilty' 'Pleasure' 'Seduction' 'Fallen Angel' and so on.

I guess there are so many decent ways to include 'sexy' principle into your strategy, be it in the field of marketing, content creation, or sales, that more attention should be paid.

One way to go, (which we have already discussed) is to feature half-naked people in your ads. The question is to what extent such idea is cheap and tacky.

Here is my rather tasteful solution of integrating the well known rules of seduction into the everyday content marketing strategy - 5 tips on how not to cross the line between sexy and vulgar.

1.  Every glamour magazine would advise women to be mysterious, because secret equals intrigue. With content marketing there is a similar trick. If you want to ‘write sexy’ something should be always left unsaid. To clarify, I do not suggest you write incomplete articles or do not answer questions in a proper manner; instead, your content has to be so engaging that the audience would strive coming back for more.

2. Pay attention to words and styles. Catchy headlines work better and so do witty articles. Always reflect on the people you are targeting: professional jargon might be appropriate for some industry-specific journals and websites, but general audience would prefer clear explanations. Would you say nerds are sexy? Who knows. In the meantime, don’t leave your audience feeling ‘What?! I did not get a word of this’. Do not confuse and provide great examples to illustrate your points.

3. Confidence is sexy. Confident people always have charm which makes them even more attractive. Make your content emphasise your expertise and leadership in the particular field. Moreover, let you style of writing be confident as well. No one will follow ideas like ‘our products seem to be better’; ‘you will probably enjoy our services’ and so on. Nevertheless, be careful with the thin line between the confidence and arrogance. If you claim you are the best - prove it (better have others prove this for you).

4. Flirt. Yes, just like in a real life, in producing and managing content, there often is a place for flirting. Of course, I believe flirt is art and talent, but some tips are pretty general so anyone can use them. Thus, engagement is one thing - replying to comments, Liking, re-tweeting and re-posting are all examples of modern digital life coquetry. You should make your customers, readers and potential buyers feel they all have their tiny place in your company's heart. The only exception to the rule in the context of flirting is customer service - if you provide this on your Facebook page - that is definitely not a place to ‘play hard to get’ despite how sexy you may think it is. Another way of flirting would be through the actual content. Talk through your content.  What this means is that engagement always increases when some real-experiences, case studies and illustrations are involved. When you write for your audience from their standpoint and in their words, real magic happens - readership starts ‘Liking’ you.

5. I thought of having tip No.5 here at first, but then decided to make it sexier by leaving some space for ‘fantasies’...I mean comments and questions. :) But than my colleague came up with this brilliant rule, which basically sums up everything written above - Think Pirelli calendar rather than Hooters bar...