The First C of Indoctrination is “Control the narrative around your product or service.”

This refers to how your product or service is positioned in the larger landscape of the Internet.

Remember that New Yorker cartoon by P. Steiner? It shows a dog sitting at the computer and the caption reads “On the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog.”

Because anyone can put up a website and say whatever they want, you must create marketing content that’s authentic, benefit rich and authoritative.

Here are 4 ways to control the narrative so you can stand out amid the countless, barking “Internet dogs,” or Netdogs, and indoctrinate new prospects into your world.

1. Use benefit-rich keywords throughout your website. When people search, they don’t often look beyond the first 5 or 6 website listings. If you’re not there, they’re not noticing you. Keywords help your ranking so new ideal customers can find you.
2. Write benefit-rich meta tags, meta descriptions and Google rich snippets. This will help your website ranking but also give you an edge over blank snippets (the bit of text that shows up under the website name in a google search). Get the click with enticing copy.
3. Write benefit-rich product and service descriptions. Leave factory specs and big, fancy words to the Netdogs. Instead, describe how what you have to offer solves the user’s problems. If they’re not getting the skinny from you, then the howls of the misinformed masses will confuse and distract them. And a confused, distracted mind does not buy.
4. Use your blog as a platform. There are a lot of Netdog blogs out there. These are sites run by folks who aren’t selling anything, who want a public forum to spout any and all uninformed opinion. As an authentic business owner you need counteract this nonsense with informative, benefit-rich content that builds your authority and makes people trust you.

The takeaway? By using the keywords your prospects are using, you build authority and answer your reader’s question (What’s in this for me?) simultaneously.

Incorporate these tidbits into your Artful Marketing and leave the Netdogs in the dust.

 

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