Who gives a shit and what’s in it for the reader? Questions to ask before you publish your content

No beating around the bush…..let’s get straight in…

1. Who gives a shit?

Seriously. Whatever you are producing ask yourself “Who gives a crap about what I am about to publish?”. If it’s only you and your boss – stop.

[quote style=”boxed”]Get out of your little product bubble and go solve some real problems for your customer.[/quote]

2. What is someone going to learn from this piece of content?

If it adds no value to anyone then stop. Your content could be saying more about you than your brand, business or product. Go research, learn or write about something new and teach the people who buy your products something new.

[quote style=”boxed”]Traditional marketing and advertising is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content Marketing is showing the world that you are one.[/quote]

3. Is it already out there?

Do a search. Heck, do a search for the topic even before you put pen to paper. If it is already out there then ask yourself question number 2.

Is what you have to say adding more value to someone elses content? If yes, then go ahead. Go create.

If no, and what you have to say is the same then go back to the drawing board.

[quote style=”boxed”]Stop copying your competitors! They don’t know what they are doing either.[/quote]

4. How will my audience discover this piece of content?

Why the heck are you about to post that infographic to Pinterest? Do 90% of the contacts in your CRM system browse Pinterest? Is an Architect really going to search for “Devil is in the detail” to find your post about the latest changes in the building regs?

[quote]The thing to do, of course, is to find out what people know and what they don’t know, and then to write accordingly.[/quote]

5. What do I want the reader to do next?

Oh man! This one really does my nut in. I’ve read a tonne of content published by marketers in construction with no next steps. Before you publish always ask “What do you want the reader to do next?”. View a product? contact? book a CPD? request a sample?

The success of a page should be measured by one criteria: Does the visitor do what you want them to do?

 

 

2 thoughts on “Who gives a shit and what’s in it for the reader? Questions to ask before you publish your content

  1. Rachel James

    Just stumbled across this gem of a blog. Brilliant. I’m nudging our company towards creating marketing content rather than just broadcasting project starts/completions etc – and will be using this checklist to determine whether our ‘content’ is worthy of hitting ‘publish’ in the future.

    Reply
  2. Pritesh Patel Post author

    Thanks Rachel.

    Another thing to think about is if your content is actually helping them to solve any problems then it’s just useless marketing copy.

    Case studies are a prime example. Case studies are often written like this: “Look at what we just did, look at what we supplied and how much of it….aren’t we great? Did we tell you how great we are? Let us tell you one more time. We’re great”.

    This is utter rubbish! And every case study thereafter will follow the same message.

    Case studies should focus on a specific problem and how you solved it. Then write 5 versions, one for each audience (architect, designer, contractor, local authority, builder) and their own issues.

    Glad the post helped.

    Reply

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