The G0ld Room: Why Quality Content Has These Three Attributes

Will Eric be able to guess under which of the three cups Mark has hidden the ball? More importantly for you as a content marketer, why does Mark believe the most effective content can be characterized by just three marks?

In this episode of our popular Here’s Why digital marketing video series, Mark explains his three marks of high quality content, so that you can begin to create content that reflects well on your brand and brings you customers.

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Transcript

Eric: Mark, I don’t think that anyone disputes that marketing content, whether it’s for SEO, branding, lead generation, or whatever, the content has to be really high quality to be effective.

Mark: For sure Eric, but when it comes to judging the quality of content, many of us know it when we see it. But we have a hard time quantifying what separates it from poor content.

Eric: But you think you can articulate that?

Mark: After studying many hundreds of content pieces that proved to be highly effective marketing for the brands that produced them, I believe I’ve distilled the common characteristics of such content down to just three marks or qualities. Now, all the best content I’ve researched possessed all three of these marks.

Eric: Okay then, let’s dig in. What’s the first mark of quality content?

Great Content is Useful

Mark: Mark number one is great content is useful. And by that I mean, it is useful to the user, the reader, the viewer of the content. The user gets something out of it, something he or she can take away from the content. It might just be a bit of enjoyment, or maybe makes them think about something, or perhaps it answered a question or helped them to accomplish a task.

Eric: And because it’s useful it gets attention?

Mark: Yes. And it also earns the right to market.

Eric: The right to market?

Mark: I mean, it opens the door for marketing opportunities. People are more open and receptive to those who have helped them, and that goes for brands, too. Useful, helpful content creates a positive atmosphere around your brand, making prospects more open to your marketing messages.

Eric: And in some cases, if you’re selling some kind of service or know how, useful content can establish your authority, that you know what you’re talking about and should be trusted.

Mark: Exactly. I have other thoughts about what makes content useful, but for now, I’ll just mention briefly that useful content is also credible, trustworthy, interesting, and engaging, and provides a great user experience.

Great Content Has Alignment

Now, the second market of great content is that it has alignment.

Eric: Alignment?

Mark: By that, I mean that it aligns with two things simultaneously, your company’s business goals, and the needs, hopes, and desires of your prospects. Now, it’s a two-way street. A lot of content that fails falls short because it’s out of balance. It either emphasizes the business goals too much, forgetting about the customers, or it works so hard to please prospects, or to give them what the business thinks they want, that it accomplishes no marketing purpose.

Eric: So, content that’s out of balance on the business side might be trying too hard to sell something?

Mark: Yes, right. Or it talks so much about the company or its products that it fails to connect them with the needs of the people. Now, you might have the greatest widget on earth, with five more features than any other leading widget, but if you haven’t shown me how your widget solves my problem or makes my life better, your content has failed.

Eric: How can you be out of balance on the user side of things?

Mark: I’ll use a real life example. Now, I know of marketers who get a lot of views and shares for their content, because it’s all about topics people like to see, such as self-help, life hacks, pop culture and such. Such content is very popular, but I seriously doubt it helps build a business, because it’s just nothing to do with the business.

Eric: The trick is that you’ve got to create content that is relevant to your business, yet at the same time is helpful and useful to your readers.

Mark: And that is the sweet spot indeed.

Great Content is Unique

Now, the third mark of great content is it is unique. By that, I don’t necessarily mean it is entirely original in every aspect, that everything about it has never been seen before, but rather that it brings some fresh approach or new ideas, something that isn’t the same old thing you’ve heard everywhere else in the topic.

Our friend, AJ Kohn, puts it this way, “Be memorable.” That’s the best thing your content can accomplish. It has to contain something different enough that people will remember it, and that they will remember you for having shared it.

In fact, I learned that in a post that AJ wrote in 2012 and I still remember it today. So, I’d say that post succeeds the uniqueness test.

Eric: Great. Quality content is useful, aligned and unique. Thanks, Mark. I think this video meets all three marks.

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