Why “Good” Content Isn’t Good Enough (And What to Do Instead)

As a content marketer, it’s hard to maintain the same level of enthusiasm for every piece of content you produce. But regularly churning out “average” content creates a problem.

There are plenty of “good” blogs with “good” content, but this doesn’t mean they’re successful. Today, the bar for successful content is significantly higher than it used to be.

Getting Lost in the Crowd

According to MarketingProfs, over two million articles are published every day on the internet. That’s a huge amount of content to compete with. To stand a chance of grabbing the attention of your desired audience, you need to cover topics that haven’t been already covered, come up with original research, and present a unique voice. Otherwise, you’ll get lost in a sea of similar content and look irrelevant.

The Problem With “Good” Content

The difference in outcomes between “good” content and “outstanding” content is huge. A recent study by Moz and BuzzSumo found that over 50 percent of posts had two or less Twitter shares or Facebook interactions, and over 75 percent of all published content never earns a single link or social share. In contrast, a small percentage of the content analyzed received thousands of links and shares.

In other words, most marketing content gets hardly any engagement. So if you’re not making an effort to get your content into this small percentage of top-performing content, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

Once a great piece of content receives a high number of shares, its credibility grows. This is why there’s such a huge gap between “good” and “outstanding” content. The effect of social confirmation leads others to believe it’s worth their time, and then there’s no stopping its momentum.

Yes, creating outstanding content may require more time, effort, and money, but if you want a decent return on your content marketing investment, it’s worth it. “Good” content simply isn’t good enough.

How to Create Outstanding Content

Write Better Titles

Around 80 percent of readers will read a headline, but only 20 percent will continue reading. To counter this, ensure every piece of content has a strong title. Here are a few ideas:

• Incite curiosity with an intriguing fact.
• State an unusual viewpoint.
• Clearly state the benefit of reading the article.
• Add numbers to show you’ll be concise and informative.

Use Up-To-Date Stats and Sources

Hard facts tend to resonate with readers and strengthen your credibility. When possible, use up-to-date facts and statistics, and quote your sources. Content with useful and current stats are also more shareable, as you can post individual stats to social media.

Go Deeper

Try to delve deeper into topics, answer more difficult questions, and address specific topics that your competition overlooks. Providing valuable information that your audience can’t find elsewhere will establish your authority and create more loyal followers.

Write Longer Pieces

Longer pieces add perceived value that drives engagement. They also rank better in search engine results pages. In a SerpIQ study, the average number of words for the top 10 results in Google was over 2,000.

What’s more, longer posts get more shares. BuzzSumo found that a 3,000-10,000-word post gets around 2.5 times the shares of a 500-1,000-word post. If this is beyond your scope, try to create some content that reaches 1,500 words.

Use More Visuals

Social media updates with images have been shown to have 2.3 times more engagement than those without. Try the following:

• Use a tool like Canva to create professional header imagery.
• Create short infographics to highlight key information.
• Include images throughout the text. BuzzSumo found that articles with an image once every 75-100 words get twice as many shares as articles with fewer images.

Make It More Accessible

Add personality to your content by writing in a more conversational tone, avoiding jargon, and sharing personal stories. Make it more readable by using shorter sentences and breaking up key concepts into bullet points.

Include a Call to Action

There’s no harm in including an “About Us” section at the end of a piece of content. Here, you can tell readers what to do next to find out more about your company, products, and services. You should also link to related content and tell them how to share your content.

Keep Promoting

Even the best content needs promotion to make it truly successful. To give your success rate a boost, try the following:

• Ask key influencers in your industry to take a look at your new content.
• To boost initial awareness, create a Google AdWords or Facebook Ad campaign.
• Send new content to your email list.
• Share multiple times to social media.
• Insert social media buttons like “Click to Tweet” to make sharing easy.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to content quality, settling for second best could gradually harm your brand’s reputation and hamper business growth.

Don’t settle for average; most of your competition is average. Instead of creating “good” content, strive to create outstanding content at every opportunity. The extra effort will bring you a much higher return on your content marketing investment. Do this consistently, and your competitors will find it hard to catch up.