More than 48 hours of content is uploaded on Youtube every minute. That’s a lot of entertaining cat videos competing with a lot of droll marketing videos. So here’s a novel idea: Publish something worth watching–don’t publish crap.
Writing on a serious topic? That doesn’t mean it can’t have some form of entertainment value. A video that talks about retirement probably won’t aim to be funny, but retirees will be much more apt to watch it all if it’s filled with intriguing, fun facts, rather than straight forward explanations. It pays to entertain while you persuade.
An entertaining, persuasive piece of content.
Many companies see frequent content output as a way to achieve stronger brand equity, but fail to realize that it can equally lead to a loss of brand equity. It’s better to produce nothing than content that is sub-par and that turns off your customer base.
As content guru Andrew Davis said on the PJA Advertising + Marketing Unconventionals radio show: “The goal with content creation is that you’re actually building trust with the customer and you’re shortening the sales cycle. And if you’re not driving revenue with content, then it’s a waste of time.”
Content that does not build trust–that does not resonate with your desired target audience–is a wasted investment. How can you expect to build trust with your customers when you shoot a blunderbuss at the market? Content with a more narrow focus can actually drive sales more than content pieces that do not reach the correct audience.
So the next time you think about piecing together something, clarify the objectives and put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Would they want to watch that video? Would they want to see that photo? Would they read that white paper? Otherwise, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
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