How to Make Content Stand Out
The secret ingredient to content that stands out
A client of a client complained recently that there's so much content out there, it's nearly impossible to stand out. She was at a loss for what to do. Should she make content longer? More detailed? More informative? Isn't everyone doing exactly those things too?Yeah they are - if they're smart.We're all working on the problem of how to make our content stand out, but to my relief and dismay, most people haven't found the 'magic bullet.'Inbound marketers and content marketers like myself have known for a long time that quality is key. The days of putting any old thing on your blog and getting page views are long gone. You have to make your content worth your audience's time.Not everyone is willing to make the required investment to produce top quality content all the time - even though doing so is a powerful differentiator that will get you noticed (if not immediately by your audience, at least by Google's ever-improving algorithms).Each strategist has his or her own pet theory of how to create 'remarkable' content (content that literally earns 'remarks' or shares). Joanna Wiebe, for example, heavily favors posts that are at least 2000 words long, that are funny, a bit quirky, and jam packed with nothing but the most intelligent insights. I can't fault her, though I'd say any writer worth her salt could do it in a quarter of the word count and save everyone some valuable time.Yes, I've got my own pet theory on how to create content that stands out in the sea of increasingly strong competition.You ready?Open yourself up.Literally.Open your internal folders, your proprietary stats, and your personal stories and make them into case studies and use cases and blog posts. Show people how you, and your clients (with their permissions of course) are using your product or service in the real world. Share your trials, errors, and successes (not just the successes).You know who also does this? Only the most successful content marketers on the internet - by which I mean Moz and Joanna Wiebe (that woman knows her stuff and has great hair).You know who is too afraid to do this? Your competitors. I know, because I tell them the same thing and they will. not. do. it.Why are they barring themselves from the one strategy no one else can duplicate, the one natural, authentic differentiator that would ensure their content is high quality, informative, and ORIGINAL?Because they're afraid. They feel like someone will sneak in and steal the recipe for their secret sauce, or sniff out a weakness and use it against them. Some don't want to ask their clients for permission to use their stories (hey, that's understandable, it's scary and a lot of them will say "no" because of the above reasons). But not everyone will say no. The information you've painstakingly acquired can do so much good for your target clients.Best of all, it's yours. You own it. You don't have to copy anyone else, which means if anyone wants to use your statistics and insights - they have to cite you.Yes, this requires guts and time and money. This requires your leaders to share their expertise freely, which scares the pants off of some people. But if you really want to stand out, do the thing that your competitors are afraid to do.Open up.