Summary: It used to be that “content was king” but today it’s “too much content, written by people who are clueless” may be more appropriate. The reality is that people just don’t have the time to read all the content you publish because it’s too long, boring, and written by someone who, more than likely, is better at writing rather than understanding human behavior.
I have stopped reading a lot of recommendations for some products because I have found that the people who are writing the reviews are not like me and often are dead wrong. For example, the content mill, Business Insider, recently published an article called “We ate everything on Taco Bell’s Dollar Cravings Menu — here’s what we thought”. The problem is that what this person liked, or didn’t like, is his own taste, not mine.
Then there are the reviews on Amazon. I used to hold these reviews in high regard, but what I have found is that there is a lot of review fraud along with a number of people who are never satisfied. The same goes for Yelp. Yesterday my wife and I went to a restaurant that some people found “unsatisfactory” via the reviews on Yelp. We found the food and service excellent and will be frequent customers. Time and time again we continue to find the reviews on Yelp unhelpful.
How did this all happen? It happened because too many people bought into the canard of content marketing when most people only want content from social sites like Facebook. The other reason is that there are too many people writing content from a writers POV, not a customers’. Finally, most content is just too damn long. CNN has learned this lesson and now includes a summary the beginning of each story. I can read the summary and if I want to know more read the entire story.
Today’s consumers are overwhelmed with content. How do you cut through the clutter?
- Make your content relevant.
- Keep it short and to the point.
- Ensure your writing aligns with the audiences POV.
Your content can be king, but you have to work at it everyday and every post. Don’t overwhelm your audience unless you really have something to say and keep it short and to the point in an information overloaded world.
