Content Marketing at Its Finest: Pronouns!

I + YOU  --When it comes to content marketing, there's a fine line between good writing and great writing. The difference is in the 1% nuances...

If I could put my finger on one element of great content marketing and blog writing, it would be in the simple use of 'I' and 'you' pronouns. This is the mark of a good conversation and you can do the same thing with your writing style to create conversational marketing in your blog posts.

Here's an email review of one of our client's blogs that I wrote that explains what I mean:

"A quick review of your last 5 posts shows marked improvement in the use of "I" sentences. These are very engaging sentences. When you bring yourself into the post, it makes the experience of reading more alive and personal. Do more of this whenever you can.

"What's needed next is more use of "you" in sentences. How can you bring the reader into the post? One way is to imagine what the reader might be thinking and state that. For example:

• You may wonder what this has to do with xxx...
  

"How else? Here are some more examples:

• I don't know about you, but whenever I read about xxx, I react with yyy...
• You've probably run across this situation in your own workplace...
• What's your opinion about this? Feel free to disagree with me...

"Then of course, you should frequently ask readers to comment and share their ideas, questions, experiences."

Take your last five blog posts and count up the number of "I's" and "you's". Then make an effort to include more I's and you's next time you post. See if the tone of your writing becomes more conversational and engaging for readers.