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There is a challenge that all content marketers have to face at some point: how does one make content that is not only good but outright amazing? With so many online sources of information, content that is just good probably won’t stand out. And what good is content if the audience is not thrilled by it and driven to respond?
As you try to build a presence online, it’s essential to tell the difference between good and great content so you can focus on creating the latter and reap bigger benefits.
What Makes Great Content?
People seek content that is useful, entertaining or inspiring. Great content can do all three simultaneously, whereas good content simply informs. Great content is also shared by many, drives traffic, and converts prospects. Good content can generate responses, but the numbers will be underwhelming.
Great Content Offers New Insight
While it pays off to curate popular content to add your own perspective on it, you cannot rely entirely on that. Content that is both original and useful will, if rightly promoted, set you apart from other content providers.
If you want to find fresh angles, start by going back to how different your business is and brainstorm topics around it. Do the research the competition isn’t willing to do, find burning questions and ask customers what they want to learn about. Express opinions and make predictions. As you do all of that, you will accumulate a good stack of original topics.
Great Content Starts with Great Headlines
Content marketers will always insist on the importance of headlines, and for good reason: they really are that important. Before winning the game of content, you have to win the game of headlines. When it comes to summarizing in a single sentence why your content is worth the time of your audience, there are proven techniques you can apply:
Targeting the right keywords
Making a bold, funny or intriguing statement
Making a list of items
Using data and statistics
You have only one chance at capturing the attention of content consumers, so make the most of it with a clear, lean, and stirring headline.
Great Content Tells a Story
Ever notice how easily you can become friends with someone by sharing stories?
A story creates connection and sticks in the mind easier than raw information. On top of that, stories from past experiences make your content unique.
A story can be anything from attending a meeting you were dreading to a customer who struggled with legal issues, as long as it is relevant to the needs of your audience and your business goals. The audience will come back to satisfy the universal, insatiable need for more stories. You don’t have to tell a story in every single piece of content, but you should approach your content creation with storytelling in mind.
Great Content Evokes Emotions
Good content provides interesting information, while great content adds a layer of emotions to make it more engaging and memorable. Consuming your content becomes an emotional experience; something your audience will want more of. Some of the most effective emotions include:
Fear
Joy
Awe
Amusement
Surprise
Hope
Inspiration
Emotional connections make for stronger relationships. And the mission of content is to nurture a relationship with existing and potential clients. Incorporating these emotions into your content will definitely boost its capacity to increase response and shareability.
Great Content Exceeds Expectations
Good content directly answers a question or explains a solution to a problem and leaves it at that.
Great content surpasses good content by being extensive and exhaustive. It reports new, relevant facts and statistics, builds a strong reasoning and links to reliable sources. It also illustrates with examples to facilitate comprehension.
The point is not to make your content cluttered to look impressive but to avoid leaving an important side of the topic out of the content. People and search engines love detailed, in-depth content.
By contrast, good content can leave major points and objections unaddressed, focusing only on one or two main ideas.
A great content writer can anticipate the reactions and concerns of the audience and address them, making her content all the more persuasive and valuable. Great content covers all facets of a topic and doesn’t leave the readers shaking their heads because their arguments were not acknowledged.
Going the extra mile can make the audience go from “Hmm, interesting” to “Why didn’t I find this earlier? I’ll sign up for the newsletter for more!”.
Good content is commonplace, while great content stands out. Understanding what makes truly great content from the get-go will save you much time and effort. Instead of churning out content that seems “okay”, aim to deliver outstanding content that engages your target audience. It takes more work, but the results are worth it. In the long run, this increases your chances of becoming one of the, if not the most sought-after source of quality information within your industry.
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When it comes time to pick a content provider, a bargain isn’t always the best way to go. Content is more than filler; it’s what draws visitors to your site, but inspired content keeps them there. It keeps them coming back. Content is a relationship. It’s your brand. We get it. Furthermore, we can deliver it. Contact us today for a quote.
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