Hi Reader,
Much of the writing I come across online is thinly veiled commercial pablum designed solely to pitch something, get clicks, increase followers, or accomplish some other obvious goal that has nothing to do with the reader's enjoyment of the piece.
In my view, this kind of content fails the only test that online writing should be subject to.
And that test can be summed up in a single question: If you stripped out what this piece was designed to accomplish, what it's "for", would the audience still want to read it?
In other words, does the content stand on its own two feet even if you disregard the goals of the person or company that commissioned the work?
How content marketing is supposed to work
Content marketing has two key foundations: "content" and "marketing." (Real deep, I know.)
The "marketing" bit is pretty self-explanatory. The piece has got to do its part to sell the product or service it was commissioned to sell.
What's often forgotten though, is the "how." How is this article, or story, or post going to sell a product or service? That's where the "content" part comes in.
The content has to be good enough to be interesting, or enlightening, or funny all on its own.
So, even if you ignore the product or service you're selling, your work should still be worth reading. Even if your reader has absolutely no interest in the product being sold, they should still be glad they read the piece because it's inherently valuable to them.
Whether it makes your audience think and reflect, laugh, reconsider their opinion, learn, discover, or find new motivation, good content marketing brings value to your audience regardless of whether a sale is made or advanced.
Is the content's draw obvious?
In asking questions about the inherent value of a piece of content, it helps to ask some other, closely related, questions as well.
What is it that makes this content attractive to an audience? Is it insightful? Interesting? Valuable? Illuminating? Pithy? Educational? Inspiring?
Does it put a new spin on an old subject? Is that new spin actually useful or entertaining in some way, or is it just a new coat of paint for the sake of seeing something new?
The value of good content is usually immediately apparent to anyone looking at the piece. Maybe it's informationally dense and intuitive, making it a great summary for people seeking to learn about the subject.
Maybe it brings an entirely new perspective to an old issue that makes the audience think about it in a new way.
Whatever the angle of the piece is, its approach should jump out at you as valuable from the get-go.
Is it easy to read?
Part of what makes a good piece of content so attractive - and what makes it draw people in - is that it's just a pleasure to read. That is, aside from the value of the information contained within, the content is arranged in such a way that people enjoy taking it in. It's easy to consume. It's simple to scan. The info is easily accessible and can be read - and re-read - by almost anyone on almost any device.
Readers of good content find that, not only is there a "point" to reading the story, but that the point is easy to find and easy to understand.
They don't have to tangle with the writer of the story. They don't have to work hard to untie confusing logical knots or decode five-dollar words they've never read before to make sense of the main thrust of the article.
Valuable and easy
So, that's about all I have for this week. For those who skipped right to the end, here's the TL;DR:
- All good content stands on its own two feet and remains valuable even if you have no interest in what it happens to be selling.
- Good content's draw - what makes it attractive - is always obvious from the get-go. It shines through the writing, from beginning to end.
- Good content is always easy to read, on top of being valuable. It's not a struggle to get through. Its insights are served up to the reader on a silver platter.
I hope that you found this at least somewhat helpful and that, much like the subject matter of the newsletter itself, the content stands on its own.
Thanks for reading,
Steve
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