What’s your favorite thing to read in your leisure time? Is it a suspenseful mystery story or thriller with endless twists and turns that never seems to end up where you’d expect?
How about something on history or philosophy or the biography of a famous or historic figure? These stories make their points slowly like pealing back layers of an opinion.
They are meant to be savored over time. They help you understand their subject by revealing things bit by bit. It’s much like meeting and getting to know someone.
Well, guess what?
While this kind of writing may be what you enjoy in your free time away from your business, it isn’t exactly a good template when creating content marketing for your customers.
Why not?
Simply put, it’s because your customer doesn’t care.
That may sound harsh, but it’s a basic reality. And it’s one you’ll have to wrap your head around if you ever hope to be a successful content creator for your brand.
You see, folks don’t come to Google or Bing to have a story slowly revealed to them over time.
They come to solve a problem, to get a question answered or meet an immediate need.
And they come to solve that problem, answer that question or meet that need as fast as possible.
And the one who helps them accomplish their goal the quickest wins in the end.
So what does all this mean for you and your content marketing?
Well, basically it means that every headline, every sentence, every word of every piece of content you create should explain your value — and why a potential customer should spend time on you.
And then, of course, you have to deliver on what you’ve promised.
As Demian Farnworth of Copyblogger explains:
That means when someone arrives on your website home page, blog, or article, they should know immediately what to expect. Everything — even your microcontent — should be simple, succinct and scannable.”
So save that enigmatic writing for the Great American Novel you’re planning to write someday.
For now, concentrate on telling visitors and customers exactly what they will get if they read your content. Your business will benefit as a result.
Secret photo via Shutterstock
Demian’s great. A friend of mine believes in showing all his cards to make visitors see how much there is to do. His premise is – visitors will feel it’s all so daunting and detailed and time consuming that they’ll decide to simply hire you instead
Great post, thanks. Manage expectations and you’ll make your content more effective.