Article - Content Marketing should not be about endless content

READ: 2 mins

AUTHOR: Robert Craven

If you wish to prove that your agency/business is just a run-of-the-mill and unoriginal, vanilla-flavoured company like the rest, just keep on banging out those quickly-written and to be honest, shallow blog posts.

Every so-called social media guru screams, ‘Content is King’. No! Content is not King; Engagement is King. If you put out even more mediocre, average and truly uninsightful blog posts then you will simply be adding to the mass of mediocrity that clutters our inboxes.

Do you truly believe that your audience can differentiate your unremarkable and unmemorable little blog offerings from anyone else’s?

Do your “10 Tips…”, “What we can learn…”, and “How to…” type titles really make potential clients think, “Yes, I want to buy from them!”?

I doubt it. No, you just look like a breathlessly over-enthusiastic start-up. Why would they look at your sheer predictable averageness? More relevant, who does find those titles attractive? I doubt it will be the people you are trying to attract.

You look like a me-too commodity

You look like and sound like and feel like… a commodity. You look just like the rest… trying to demonstrate expertise and wisdom… in 800 words. Is that what your potential clients really want? Is that really what they are looking for? After all, anyone can put together some half-baked angle on the world.

The reality is that there is a limit to the value you can provide in 800 words. Yes, you can generate some interest but these words will rarely give the reader what they really want (which is an answer that will help them answer their specific problem, hurt or need).

Probably, you will be just too generic and as a result your posting will be of vague interest to everyone but of great value to no-one who you really want to be engaging with.

Why would anyone buy from you if you look the same as the competition?

For the majority of bloggers, the posting sent out will be superficial and derivative. Surely, what your potential readers are looking for is something more in-depth and original, the result of your vast experience and expertise.

Make your mind up time.

So, here’s the choice…

Either, you could spend 10 hours writing 10 bland blogs.

Or, you could spend the same 10 hours writing a stunner.

If the one 10-hour piece was that good it would be found… it would get retweeted… it would give you higher-quality attention from people who would want to engage with you.

Alternatively, each of your 10 mini-pieces would, like most blogs and tweets, be like a little whisper that fleetingly appears amidst all the other noise of the internet… just more of the same.

Another way to think about it is to recall the good old bell curve. You, like the majority of your similar-looking and similar-sounding competitors, especially the start-ups, are probably in the rump of the bell curve, amongst the average middle-of-the-roaders. To the left are those that are well below average. On the right are those who are significantly above average.

The far right of the bell curve, the stars in the top 10 per cent of any industry, earn disproportionately more than the average. Also, they behave differently from the wannabes.

If you are in the regular content game then the chances are you are competing with hundreds/thousands of others doing the same. You should be creating content that the others would find difficult to create. Content that lesser human beings are incapable of producing.

I am arguing that in-depth content provides more value than superficial posting. I am arguing that it also provides a better return on your investment.

Most of the web is about giving quick solutions. The likes of Jakob Nielsen will quite rightly argue that usually you need websites that quickly answer questions: “What does it do?” and “Where can I buy one?”.

However, when writing blogs to demonstrate our expertise, we need to engage and demonstrate our expertise by being remarkable… by actually showing how sophisticated we can be… answering a problem thoroughly (like very few actually do). This will make you stand out.

Recommending in-depth content flies in the face of web usability guidelines of ‘keep it short and sweet and simple’. Elite expert sites are an exception to the rule because you do not care about the 90% of readers who will never buy. You care about the 10% that want and need and deserve more and they want to see that you know your stuff.

Stop being so run-of-the-mill, boring and predictable. Spend the time demonstrating that you do know your stuff!