Howdy, amigos 👋
The week before last, we talked about creating content loyalists, true fans of your content, by sharing lots of value with them.
And I summarized the pillars “value” stands on:
Expertise (yours or the subject matter experts’ you talk to)
Examples (made-up or true examples of customer success stories)
Actionable insights (including answers to “how” not just “why” or “what”)
All of these tied together with simple, conversational writing that is super easy to read and understand.
But while this is the logical bit of what makes ridiculously good content, there’s an emotional aspect to this too. And so, I bring to you a bit more refined version of what good content is:
Good content is content that leaves its consumers feeling empowered — they leave either with a roadmap of how to do something or they leave feeling enlightened cause they’ve learned something new.
The exact feeling you leave them with depends on the search intent, of course. If someone’s looking to learn how to do something, for example, you’ll want to leave with a list of action steps to take right away.
Also, important here is to make sure you don’t overload them with feelings. That kinda backfires.
Leave them with too many and too detailed action steps, for instance, and they’ll scratch their head, backpaddle, and go looking for another piece of content that’s actually helpful.
So you’ve got to be mindful of the search intent and the what-the-reader-already-knows level.
With that, let’s look at five tactics to always offer value to your audience:
1. Interview experts
If you aren’t an expert on the topic yourself, simply ask internal SMEs to share their insights. Or talk to other experts in your network and create content around their insights.
Why this tactic works: It weaves expertise (from SMEs) and examples from how others are doing things.
Who does it well: YouTube thumbnail size guide and best practices according to 3 YouTube experts (VEED)
2. Create expert roundups
Not the kind that simply lists what other experts are saying ❌
Those are probably the most boring pieces that mankind can ever read. Take a journalist approach instead.
Share context around the quotes and include more relevant tips to add your voice to the piece too.
Why this tactic works: It weaves expertise (from SMEs) in a conversational narrative.
Who does it well: Dashboard Design Ideas: 7 Design Challenges Experts Faced and Tips to Overcome Them (Databox)
3. Share lessons you’ve learned or frameworks you use
This type of content quickly positions you as an authority on your topic.
And it doesn’t even have to be elaborate workflows — simple frameworks or tactics that work for you will do.
Why this tactic works: It’s example-heavy and gives a behind-the-scenes look at things, showing the human side of your brand.
Who does it well: App mistakes: the 10 lessons we learned launching (& killing) our $200K mobile app (Hotjar)
4. Share others’ success stories
These can be your customers (great way to repurpose case study content and increase conversions) or others.
Why this tactic works: Because it brings first-hand experience to the table — experience + examples + actionable 🎯
Who does it well: From 0 to $1B - Slack's Founder Shares Their Epic Launch Strategy (First Round Review)
5. Leverage research to bring unique insights
You can either conduct industry research (I’ve got an expert to talk about it this next week) or curate prevailing research on the topic and identify trends in it.
Important note here, don’t let the research you’ve done gather dust — use it to create more content (Shopify does this well 👇)
Why this tactic works: It gives expertise the front seat and shows examples of how others in the industry are doing something.
Who does it well: 11 Data-Backed Retail Trends to Help You Succeed in 2022 and Beyond (Shopify blog post featuring insights from their Future of Retail report)
That’s all for today!
I’ll leave you with one question to ask yourself as you plan and create new content: what’s the one thing unique about the content you’re creating that will leave the reader feeling empowered?
Best,
Masooma