We Don’t Always Agree With Business Owners On Content (And Here’s Why)

We love when clients have content ideas for their business. We love when they get excited about writing content for their business. We even love when they have strong opinions about the content we’re writing for them because that means they are invested in their marketing.

But here’s where things get a little less loved.

When a client believes their customer has the time and desire to read in-the-weeds content every day.

Studies prove: people respond better when content is simple and clear. On social media, you’re lucky if you get twenty seconds, on an email, you’re looking at less than a minute. And even on a blog, which is made for long-form writing, the average person spends a couple of minutes at most on the page.

Readers skim. Even readers who like to read - like me - skim content online. Our brains have become hard-wired to do this. That’s why “doom scrolling” is listed on WebMD and we spend hours on social media channels when we should be doing other, more productive, tasks. We want to consume information quickly and on our time.

This is why we’ve adopted a 3-point writing strategy that we use for every client regardless of their industry and regardless if they disagree with us…

Point 1: We write for the algorithm

There’s no point in writing content online if nobody is going to read it. And algorithms will throw a lot of roadblocks in your way before your customer reads your content. When it comes to writing content for social media or Google, there are specific strategies for each channel that includes the use or non-use of hashtags, strategic keywords for SEO, and even the size and type of image used. All of these factors can affect whether someone will even see your content, let alone read it. Our first goal is to get your content in front of people by writing what will make the algorithm happy.

Point 2: We write for your client

What does your client already know about you? Depending on how long they’ve worked with you, they may know a lot. But they may also not know about all the other great things you do, whether its service in the community or the continuing education your employees complete. Your client have already heard your sales pitch, and they’ve bought in, so now what? Now, it’s time to provide ongoing information that is useful and interesting to them, so that you continue to show your value to them.

Point 3: We write for new audiences

Finally, we write for the audiences who don’t know you yet (but should). They may have some idea about your industry. They may even work with one of your competitors. But that doesn’t mean they know what makes you stand apart. They don’t know your story. New audiences who may or may not be looking to work with you should at least see your content as consistent (this is a green flag that you are a legitimate business) and at most worth the thirty seconds they can spare to read it.

We Know This Doesn’t Make Us Popular

I’m a business owner and a writer. So believe me when I say: I know this is a hard pill to swallow. You may be thinking, “Well, I don’t want those people who you are not spending time reading my content! I want people who care.” We hear you. And believe us, we want people to read what we write too! But it’s important to remember that just because people don’t spend a ton of time at once reading your content doesn’t mean they don’t care or that they aren’t gaining valuable insights from your business.

Think about how many times a person may come in contact with your brand. From consistent social media posts, to monthly email newsletters, not to mention driving people to your website to read weekly or monthly blogs - even if they are just skimming, that time adds up. After all, you never know what the final piece of content will be that pushes someone from “This is helpful,” to “I need to call this company.”

Is your content landing with your audience? If you’re not sure, schedule a free consultation with us. We’ll help you turn the next page.