Can Boring Content Hurt Your Marketing?

  

  Yes, customers may write you off if your content isn't offering actionable advice or solving problems. 

 

    Content, like any other medium, requires an equal exchange, usually in the form of information for time spent. Whether you're creating YouTube videos, writing blogs, or recording podcast episodes, you need to make sure the trade-off is equal. Otherwise, no one will stick around. If you're wondering how to achieve that, here's some help. 

Using Detail in Your Content

 

    Let's say you own a blog centered on dogs and their health. Each week, you write two articles detailing how to improve your furry family member's life. But lately, your traffic numbers are down, and people aren't commenting as much. 

    Instead of panicking and claiming that your blog is dying, evaluate your posts for a detailed amount. Are you describing details enough, or even too much? If you can find a nice, healthy balance, people will be more likely to stick around, as experts often only share the most important aspects, and do so in enough words to make it understandable. Also, you need to make sure you're not stuffing your content with boring fluff, which doesn't provide any benefits. For instance, if your YouTube video is fifteen minutes, see if there's anything that's not crucial to your point. Only keep what's both helpful and necessary. 

 

 

Tone and Energy of your Content

        

 

    Have you ever sat through a mind-numbing lecture on a topic you couldn't care less about? It's painful, right? Obviously, that's an energy you need to avoid.

    If you're worried about how you might sound, read, watch, or listen to your content afterward.

    While doing so, try to disconnect yourself as the creative owner. or pretend you're evaluating someone else's work. (If you're a YouTuber, close your eyes and try to picture a random person you passed on the street.)

    By doing this, you'll notice how your work comes across to other people, good or bad. You can find areas for improvement, gauge your energy level, and decide if you're offering enough, or too much, detail on your topics. It's an amazing way to improve.

    

 

Offer Your Audience Something to Take With Them

 

    Whether it's actionable advice for today, a single thought to contemplate tonight, or a strategy to implement starting tomorrow, people like to walk away with more than they started with. 

    For example, perhaps you offer a free actionable tip at the end of each podcast you record, that listeners can immediately use after the episode has finished. This benefits them right away, and many will indeed choose to do so. But you can also leave them with an idea to brew over, or suggest an alternative route they may not have considered. Whatever you choose, make sure your listeners are gaining from your content, and are improving, or learning something, each time they show up. After all, they're trading their limited time for your content. Don't waste it. 

Final Thoughts

  

    Improving your content should be a constant goal. If your content is becoming stale, switch things up, and check out what other people are doing in your field. Make sure your energy level is attractive to listeners, or that you're able to convey what you need to in a reasonable amount of time. Don't stretch things out to an unnatural level for the sake of watch/read/listen times.  Respect time. You spent time creating the content and the audience will spend time-consuming it.

    Don't waste time.