The demand for SEO is at the center of most business content creation today. However, when you search Google on topics such as “Trends,'' you get a tsunami of options. Writers do this to obtain data points in an attempt to get their story a higher placement, or as the name states: search engine optimization. But have you ever noticed how dull and boring many stories have become? Sadly, they’re not stories at all—they’re just data points. So, how do you turn a dull list of SEO phrases into a fascinating story with enough drama to keep the reader engaged?
Here’s how two storytellers tackle this every day.
The assignment was to write an SEO-driven article on Apps and Online Tools for Fashion Design, aimed at high school students. The client, a leading name in education and training, supplied a list of subhead topics in the brief that had us yawning. Lines like:
What is Digital Fashion Design?
Benefits of Digital Fashion Design
How do Fashion Designers Use Apps in Their Work?
Suffice it to say, the challenge was ‘how do we give this some sex appeal?’ We needed a story.
Here’s our Lead:
“Set during the 1970’s punk rock movement, the movie Cruella is not only Disney’s live-action prequel to 101 Dalmatians, but a tour de force of fashion moments. The movie takes viewers on a visual journey as Cruella transforms from a young burgeoning fashion designer and petty thief to a revenge-seeking frontwoman, backed by a band of talented thieves and fashion-forward miscreants. From the frocks she designs throughout the movie to the characters’ wardrobes, this movie undoubtedly inspired many to seek a career in fashion.”
Now we could have done the obvious; start with stats about the size of the industry, the global market for fashion, and the evolution of the design industry from pencil and paper to digital. But how does it engage when the target audience is college aspirants?
We delivered a compelling story because we believe that good writing serves the brand best and engages their target audience. By elevating the SEO requirements with punchy headlines and copy that served up search terms, we were able to accommodate both SEO and storytelling.
The Scourge of the Algorithms
As one thought leader put it, “Many SEO gurus will tell you to write for the bots and disregard the readers.” Actually, Google has moved beyond the days of keyword stuffing and other black-hat practices. But effective content creation—the kind that delivers on ROI—is still a balancing act between SEO and storytelling. Remember, when humanity is missing from blogs and other digital content, all that remains is dry information that can be found replicated throughout the web.
An interesting sidebar is the ongoing battle between Elon Musk and Twitter. The question that will be battled in court is this: how many so-called registered Twitter users are there, and how many are just bots? It’s a fair question.
Striking the Right Balance
A client in the medical tech field recruited us to write blogs and case studies on their success designing digital patient engagement platforms for healthcare systems. COVID-19 amped up the necessity for this, but engaging the audience required drawing a vivid mental picture of what life looks like for hospitals. We turned to a friend who serves as a senior-level urgent care nurse, and she provided a compelling story for our piece:
“A Personal View of Staff Shortages in Healthcare and Nurse Burnout.”
“The story of one nurse is the story of many. We’ll call her Susan. She’s an ICU nurse in a prominent metropolitan hospital. When asked about measures being taken to remedy staffing shortages and patient safety, her response says it all: ‘“It’s like tossing a band-aid at a hemorrhage—treating the symptom is not treating the disease.”
The article assignment came with SEO imperatives, which we met. But we also gave the reader a compelling reason to consume the content with storytelling and stats that underlined the crisis.
92% of ICU nurses noted that the pandemic caused an acute shortage in the profession.
The nation will need 1.2 million additional nurses by 2023.
One healthcare system reported an increase of $44M in operating costs.
At least 115,000 nurses have died from COVID-19.
So, story and stats can not only live in harmony, but serve as a dynamic mix of real-life events supported by dramatic metrics.
Addressing Fraught Topics by Creating a Persona
We have a large packaging design firm as a client. The founder, Tom Newmaster, has become a friend over our 5-year relationship. We started with a series on the role of packaging in the emerging cannabis industry (child safety, the impact of regulations, the war on vaping). We wrote about connected packaging (AR, QR codes, and the like), and took up the topic that’s sucking up all the oxygen. Sustainability.
Meet Mr. Reality Check
As the packaging industry turned its attention to single-use plastics and sustainability issues, we knew that his voice would be a valuable part of the conversation. Because he’s a snarky type of guy who relishes in disproving conspiracy theories and ironies, we also knew that we could have a little fun. So, to give the stories some balance, we positioned him as “Mr. Reality Check.” The character adds balance to articles that focus on trends, and helps position our client as an SME and advocate for his industry. Here’s an example.
The Reality
In 2022, we wrote a story entitled, “The United Nations Declares War on Single-Use Plastics.” It was a detailed status update on the various treaties that have been written to address plastic’s impact on the environment. Most of the research we found gave the downside on plastics. But with more digging, we were able to uncover the real story on environmental treaties, thus giving voice to Mr. Reality Check. Here’s how we served it up:
During the pandemic, the world created about 8 million tons of plastic waste, and most of it is now in the ocean. As a researcher described the problem while visiting a beach on one of the Canary Islands, ‘“I walked up to the edge of the ocean where the waves were breaking on land, and then I looked down and every wave was full of plastic that I hadn’t seen, like confetti. The ocean is literally spitting this material back at us.’”
The reality of microplastics is one of the reasons the United Nations (UN) has announced a new treaty, currently in discussions. With support from The Ellen Macarthur Foundation, the proposed treaty seeks to achieve their three founding principles:
Eliminate all problematic and unnecessary plastic items we do not need.
Innovate to ensure that the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
Circulate all plastic items we use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment.
Here’s the thing; the resolution is simply an agreement to start discussions that will convene at the end of 2022.
Mr. Reality Check
Treaties are a fuzzy area. Brands, activists, and governments agree that single-use plastics are the worst culprits. But before defining the best way forward, let’s take a quick reality check on treaties.
The Council on Foreigh Relations noted in a recent piece that the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 was the first “legally binding” binding treaty. It required countries to lower emissions by an average of 5% below 1990 levels. Plus, a system was put in place to monitor countries’ compliance. But the treaty did not include major polluting nations India or China. The US. signed on to the resolution but later withdrew.
Similar story with The Paris Agreement. It required all countries to make emission-reduction pledges. In short, countries pledged to meet goals that prevented the global average from rising 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. The agreement also aimed to reach net zero emissions by the second half of the century.
Every 5 years, countries are supposed to assess their progress. But each sets its own targets, and there are no mechanisms to ensure they meet them. As most know, the U.S. pulled out of the Paris Agreement under the last administration and is in the process of resuming membership. Whether the government ratified the treaty is yet to be determined.
Mr. Reality Check Provides Balance
Our piece went on to share how big brands like McDonald’s, IKEA, and Unilever are addressing the problem through innovations in recycling, refillable, and reusable product packaging options. By creating the Mr. Reality Check persona, we’ve been able to give Tom a brand identity. He is regularly published in leading business publications, invited to speak at conferences like PackEXPO, and is a featured guest on industry podcasts.
How Long do People Stay on Your Content?
So, how do we measure the impact of storytelling and personas versus straight SEO content? If we’re talking about website content, here’s what we know. People visit your site to get an impression of your company and its products/services. Research tells us that the average visit is less than a minute. This can vary by page, but most visitors are scanning, not reading, your web pages.
Blogs Do Better
There’s a common misperception that blog content should be no more than 500 words. But times have changed according to one source. Between 2018 and 2022, blog reader appetites went from around 800 words to more than 1500. In fact, HubSpot research shows that today, “long form content is king.”
Adding to the challenge is the fact that 40% of all web traffic is driven by bots, confirmed Heather Meyer, a Cloudflare representative. Your content has really three hurdles to cross—writing for actual people, engaging their interest, and writing for SEO.
3 Tips on Building a Fanbase with Your Content
Create a lead that tells a story. It should hit on a pain point readers are familiar with. Be creative. We pull from movie scenes, real life moments, lessons learned. Great storytelling captures your audience at the start and underscores your thesis at the end.
Keyword density is no longer a ranking factor. If you shove too many keywords into a paragraph, your content will look like spam to the algorithms. Readers respond to stories and are quick to pick up on overuse of keywords.
The “S’ in SEO does not have to mean your content has no soul. Your message can reach people on a human level and still be optimized for search.
So the winner is storytelling. Without it, you’re just talking to bots.
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