This chapter covers
- Blog posts where the product is embedded into a genuinely intriguing and educational article
- Their purpose and audience
- How various authors approached this type of post
- Key elements of successful “Non-markety Product Perspectives” posts
- Dos and don’ts for your own “Non-Markety Product Perspectives” post
The pattern’s name, “Non-markety Product Perspectives,” is itself a marketing trick to deceive you into thinking this pattern is not about marketing. It actually is about marketing, at least in a way. The “non-markety” part is there to distract you from the “product” keyword, which is a clear indicator that somebody is ultimately trying to sell something.
Fortunately, this kind of marketing works by educating readers about fascinating technical tidbits, groundbreaking designs, and other impressive achievements that just so happen to be available in the product that’s casually mentioned a few dozen times in the post. The selling part tends to be noninvasive, sometimes even borderline subliminal. In the best of the bunch, no purchase is necessary for readers to walk away with useful learnings—but now they’re so intrigued that they want to try the product anyway. That’s what makes this pattern so valuable for companies and readers alike.