Content Marketing: Quality Over Quantity

May 17, 2016

One of the most important aspects of content marketing is coming up with good content. It's critical for us, as business owners, to remember that it's not about quantity, but rather, it's about quality.

When you deliver content to your customer or future customers, you want to speak their language. You want them to know you understand their pains, their concerns, what their values are, what's important to them. And the way you deliver that message is through your words.

But most people will agree - it's a lot easier to create a bunch of mediocre content than come up with a few spotless pieces. The value of quality can't be expressed enough, though. Sending quality content to your target audience means you'll have increased links to your content, which is going to improve your search rank. And people are more likely to share on various social media channels.

According to one study, 94% of people carefully consider how the information they share will be of use for other people. So if quality isn't your number one goal, it may not be enough to get most people to share. And of course you want people to share your content, so you can build a brand and get even more exposure. In fact, one piece of relevant content is enough to get people to finally sign up for your newsletter or fill out that form.

But here's the million-dollar question: Do you know what ingredients go into great content?

  1. Original content

It's no doubt that original content works best with Google and your visitors. But your ideas should also be original. That means revamping the same ideas, concepts, or posts again and again aren't going to cut it. That isn't original - that's played out. No one is going to link to it or share it.

  1. Headlines matter

According to Copyblogger, 80% of people will read your headlines?. But only 20% of people will actually read your content. So you need your headline to do two things: Inform and intrigue.

Here's an example of a good headline: 6 grammatical errors that make smart people look dumb.

No one wants to look stupid - and as a smart person yourself, didn't you find yourself wondering what those 6 errors were?

With headlines, take your time and come up with a few different ones when you can. Ask your team to vote on the one they like best or call around to a few of your customers and angle them.

  1. Ready, set, action!?

Think about the last piece of content you sent out. Did it tell people what steps to take next? The best kind of content is the kind that tells its readers how it can use the information. But tread lightly here - you don't want to degrade people by telling them what they need to do now.

As a sign of respect, allow the person to decide how to use the material. Just give them tips on how to actually apply the information.

  1. Have ready-to-go answer

When you use a search engine, what's the purpose? To get answers. The same can be said for quality content. People are reading because they want an answer that can lead them to further knowledge.

The key here is providing quick-read information so people can pick the meat out quickly.

  1. Check your facts

Picture this: You've written a blog post that hundreds of people read and shared ? only to later find out that some of the information wasn't correct. Not only will this damage your own reputation but it'll impact your company's as well. Whatever content you produce is a direct reflection of your business. Any issues with the content will change how people view your product or service.

As a safe rule of thumb, always consider who you're linking to. You want to ensure it's a trust and reliable source. If you link to quality sites, it'll reflect back on the integrity of your content as well. And speaking of linking, the purpose behind it is to provide more help. So, of course, you want that help to be accurate and relevant.

  1. Short and sweet

Is there anything better than content that's short, sweet and to the point? There's a time and a place for lengthy content - and it's not all the time. Give an even mix of quick, fact based content and lengthier content with more juices. Don't spend time staring at the word count - rather, write until it feels right.

In this Insivia insight, Andy discusses how important it is to focus on creating high quality content instead of a large volume of mediocre quality content.

Some of the advantages to a well-designed and well-executed content marketing plan include:

  1. Marketing is all about creating value, and creating material that your audience can actually use does exactly that.
  2. Original content that is well researched will help you to be perceived as a thought leader in your industry.
  3. Creating quality content that exceeds the 1000-word threshold has a positive association with SEO ranking.
  4. Content that is cited and linked in other articles or blogs is also great for SEO ranking.
  5. People share useful, interesting, provocative, or entertaining content on social media. Hastily written content has little value on these platforms.

Writing good content takes a lot of time, so it's often a place where companies cut corners. Still, many surveys given to C-level and marketing managers report that developing or improving a content marketing strategy is a major priority.

Looking for more specific or in depth information? We can help. Content marketing strategy is just one of the many business consulting services we offer.

One of the most important aspects of content marketing is coming up with good content. It's critical for us, as business owners, to remember that it's not about quantity, but rather, it's about quality.

When you deliver content to your customer or future customers, you want to speak their language. You want them to know you understand their pains, their concerns, what their values are, what's important to them. And the way you deliver that message is through your words.

But most people will agree - it's a lot easier to create a bunch of mediocre content than come up with a few spotless pieces. The value of quality can't be expressed enough, though. Sending quality content to your target audience means you'll have increased links to your content, which is going to improve your search rank. And people are more likely to share on various social media channels.

According to one study, 94% of people carefully consider how the information they share will be of use for other people. So if quality isn't your number one goal, it may not be enough to get most people to share. And of course you want people to share your content, so you can build a brand and get even more exposure. In fact, one piece of relevant content is enough to get people to finally sign up for your newsletter or fill out that form.

But here's the million-dollar question: Do you know what ingredients go into great content?

  1. Original content

It's no doubt that original content works best with Google and your visitors. But your ideas should also be original. That means revamping the same ideas, concepts, or posts again and again aren't going to cut it. That isn't original - that's played out. No one is going to link to it or share it.

  1. Headlines matter

According to Copyblogger, 80% of people will read your headlines?. But only 20% of people will actually read your content. So you need your headline to do two things: Inform and intrigue.

Here's an example of a good headline: 6 grammatical errors that make smart people look dumb.

No one wants to look stupid - and as a smart person yourself, didn't you find yourself wondering what those 6 errors were?

With headlines, take your time and come up with a few different ones when you can. Ask your team to vote on the one they like best or call around to a few of your customers and angle them.

  1. Ready, set, action!?

Think about the last piece of content you sent out. Did it tell people what steps to take next? The best kind of content is the kind that tells its readers how it can use the information. But tread lightly here - you don't want to degrade people by telling them what they need to do now.

As a sign of respect, allow the person to decide how to use the material. Just give them tips on how to actually apply the information.

  1. Have ready-to-go answer

When you use a search engine, what's the purpose? To get answers. The same can be said for quality content. People are reading because they want an answer that can lead them to further knowledge.

The key here is providing quick-read information so people can pick the meat out quickly.

  1. Check your facts

Picture this: You've written a blog post that hundreds of people read and shared ? only to later find out that some of the information wasn't correct. Not only will this damage your own reputation but it'll impact your company's as well. Whatever content you produce is a direct reflection of your business. Any issues with the content will change how people view your product or service.

As a safe rule of thumb, always consider who you're linking to. You want to ensure it's a trust and reliable source. If you link to quality sites, it'll reflect back on the integrity of your content as well. And speaking of linking, the purpose behind it is to provide more help. So, of course, you want that help to be accurate and relevant.

  1. Short and sweet

Is there anything better than content that's short, sweet and to the point? There's a time and a place for lengthy content - and it's not all the time. Give an even mix of quick, fact based content and lengthier content with more juices. Don't spend time staring at the word count - rather, write until it feels right.

In this Insivia insight, Andy discusses how important it is to focus on creating high quality content instead of a large volume of mediocre quality content.

Some of the advantages to a well-designed and well-executed content marketing plan include:

  1. Marketing is all about creating value, and creating material that your audience can actually use does exactly that.
  2. Original content that is well researched will help you to be perceived as a thought leader in your industry.
  3. Creating quality content that exceeds the 1000-word threshold has a positive association with SEO ranking.
  4. Content that is cited and linked in other articles or blogs is also great for SEO ranking.
  5. People share useful, interesting, provocative, or entertaining content on social media. Hastily written content has little value on these platforms.

Writing good content takes a lot of time, so it's often a place where companies cut corners. Still, many surveys given to C-level and marketing managers report that developing or improving a content marketing strategy is a major priority.

Looking for more specific or in depth information? We can help. Content marketing strategy is just one of the many business consulting services we offer.



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We're a SaaS Growth Agency scaling SaaS & technology companies through brand positioning, integrated marketing, web design, sales and retention.