Your Content Sucks

Businesses are being selfish assholes on social media. It’s all about them. Look at this new product I have, look at this event I’m hosting, look at this new place we just opened. Guess what? No one cares.

Bringing value through content seems like a foreign concept to most brands these days. Their content is more like the commercials that we skipped, (back when we watched TV) than the shows we actually watched.

And then they have the nerve to ask “why is our engagement low?”.

Low engagement is a sign that no one gives a shit. It’s a big flashing sign that says “I’m not buying this bullshit”.

Now at this point, you might be thinking that this all makes sense, that you understand exactly what I’m saying. This is what most clients tell me. And yet as soon as we begin to plan content creation we end up heading down the same road of making shitty commercials and calling it content.

You need to create content that your audience wants to hear about. You need to provide value in one of two ways, entertainment or information. Entertaining content might make you laugh, or cry, or experience any other emotion. The point is that you feel something. A great example of this was the famous dollar shave club video that went viral and got over 25 million views. This was a rare example of a piece of content that successfully acted as a commercial and entertainment. You probably laughed watching this and you might even watch it twice.

Information based content provides your audience with value in the way of teaching them something that they would like to know. A great example of this is Blue Bottle Coffee’s brew guides. These brew guides teach potential or actual customers how to make coffee like professionals so that they can enjoy Blue Bottle at home. This type of content is a win-win, customers are happy because they can make coffee that actually tastes good, and Blue Bottle is happy because they get less complaints and sell more coffee.

So listen, it’s almost 2019. It’s time for you to stop using your social media platforms like a megaphone, blasting everyone with your products, and it’s time to create content that your clients would miss if it was gone.

If you liked this post it would mean the world to me if you would give me a clap or two. Thanks for reading!