Content marketing is all about grabbing the audience with compelling, well-packaged content, and then drawing people in to learn more. The problem is that we’re all competing with lots of other sources for that precious slice of the reader’s attention span. How do you stand out from the crowd? One industry has been dealing with these problems for decades: consumer magazine publishers. The people who produce Redbook, Cosmo, Woman’s Day, People and other newsstand staples are experts at enticing people in supermarket checkout lines to buy copies and become subscribers. The tricks they use to grab and keep attention are every bit as relevant online as they are in print – even for B2B companies. Paul Gillin dissects a copy of Redbook magazine and reveals the subtle techniques publishers use to turn passers-by into buyers.

1. 7 Online Publishing
Tricks You Can Learn
From Redbook
Paul Gillin
@pgillin
paul@gillin.com

2. @pgillin

3. The Magnificent Seven
1. It’s All About You
2. Baser Instincts
3. Who Do You Want to Be?
4. Points of Entry
5. Elements of Surprise
6. How Can I Help?
7. Tell Stories
@pgillin

4. 1. IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU
@pgillin

5. Who’s Your Reader?
We don’t mean demographics. We mean:
 Motivations
 Fears
 Passions
 Goals
 Self-Image
 Needs
You can’t communicate
 Desires effectively with an audience
you don’t know. Visualize
your reader.
@pgillin

6. @pgillin

7. 2. BASER INSTINCTS
@pgillin

8. Stuff You’ve
Gotta Know
The overriding
message is that if
you don’t read this
magazine, you’ll be
unhappy, ugly and
lousy in bed.
@pgillin

9. Fear is Powerful Motivator
@pgillin

10. So is Acceptance
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11. 3. WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE?
@pgillin

12. Beautiful People
The images in
Redbook
illustrate the
people their
readers want
to be, not who
they are.
@pgillin

13. Always Feeling Good
Redbook’s iconic people are
happy even when they’re in pain
@pgillin

14. Except
When You
Don’t Want
Good
Feelings
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15. 4. MANY POINTS OF ENTRY
@pgillin

16. @pgillin

17. Visual Points
of Entry
Even mundane stock
photos can be used to
grab the browser’s
attention. Keep them
relevant, though.
@pgillin

18. Textual Points
of Entry
When you don’t have
images to work with,
text can be used to
add visual variety and
catch the eye.
With at least eight
different fonts and
sizes on this page, the
risk is looking
chaotic, but the style
fits with Redbook’s
energetic design
@pgillin

19. 5. ELEMENT OF SURPRISE
@pgillin

20. @pgillin

21. Big images are attention-
grabbers. Zoom in!
@pgillin

22. About half of Redbook’s content is advisory. The magazine is
constantly asking its readers…
6. HOW CAN I HELP?
@pgillin

23. Points of entry
@pgillin

24. Asked and
Answered
Q&A interviews are
one of the most
effective ways to
organize and
compartmentalize
information.
@pgillin

25. List Mania
As formulaic as “top 10” lists
and self-tests have become,
they work.
@pgillin

26. 7. TELL STORIES
@pgillin

27. Who’s the
“our” and
“we” in this
article?
Doesn’t
matter. First-
person
accounts
speak in
human terms.
@pgillin

28. Use First Person
@pgillin

29. Thank you!
Paul Gillin Site: gillin.com
508-656-0734 Blog: paulgillin.com
paul@gillin.com Twitter: pgillin