Can Your Content Cast Spells on Your Audience?
Learning from Harry Potter’s Content Kingdom

By Megan Williams, Senior Copywriter, Rightpoint
In the 20 years since the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Potter phenomenon has grown into one of the most successful brands ever, currently estimated at $15 billion. Pottermania is real, folks, and J.K. Rowling’s savvy digital team is capitalizing on this (in the nicest possible way). We can all learn from the way Pottermore.com creates hyper-focused, relevant, and useful content based on one simple principle: it’s all for the fans.
Embrace Your Inner Nerd
The Potter team understands that to make content magic, it takes something special:
You need to geek out about the topic like the fans do.
Embracing your inner nerd means you are unashamed to talk shop about what you love. You relish going over the finer points and deconstructing every last detail. You aren’t afraid to make a bold statement in the pursuit of more knowledge and conversation.
If you can geek out with your audience about whatever it is you do (sell concrete, manage HR benefits, design rocket ships), your tribe of like-minded people will follow. The key is geeking out with your fellow nerds, which creates an inclusive feeling.
A nerd talks the talk. Never stops seeking out new ways to engage. Listens.
Sound like content strategy? Because that’s what it is.
How Pottermore Makes Magic Happen

Pottermore is described as the digital heart of the wizarding world. What it actually does is expand on the world J.K. Rowling created. It’s a fascinating mix of pure content strategy and the sci-fi and fantasy concept of worldbuilding.
Worldbuilding is an iterative process, and one that sci-fi and fantasy writers undertake to construct a consistent imaginary world. Remember all those pages about the peculiarities of Hobbits in The Fellowship of the Ring? That’s worldbuilding.
Author Patricia Wrede says, “The world in which the story takes place is the context for everything else.” In her case “everything else” means stuff like plot and characters; for the web, it means content types and topics. If you’re building a content world (or website, or blog, etc.), you need to define what it’s for and why, because that affects your choices later on too.
In Pottermore’s case, the digital team takes an already established world and gets real nerdy about the smallest details, expanding upon the source content so fans can:
- Feel included, like part of a special group of like-minded people
- Feel involved in the wizarding world, and stay up to date with new stories, info, news and features
- Participate by joining a discussion and connecting with like-minded fans
Their purpose is to keep fans engaged with the story and the world (and to buy books, naturally). To do this, they upcycle the source content by cleverly weaving excerpts from the books with character studies, controversial POVs, exposés, and favorite moment compilations to flesh out their points. These features also bubble up related content so fans can continue down their preferred path.

And the topics are good. Like any self-respecting nerd, the Potter team is not afraid to make a bold statement — I mean, defending Petunia Dursley? Controversial, yeah. But I’d click on it.
Of course, to get all the best things means signing up (for free). But the extras offered resonate with super fans — they can actually be part of the world they love.
Like getting sorted into your own Hogwarts House.
Or discovering your Patronus.
Or your wand.
I dare you to send a casual fan to the site who won’t bite. (Full disclaimer: I did. And yep, it was dang fun.)

The newest offering is a book club where super fans can discuss the books and new stories with anyone in the world. Plus, they get first access to new curated content. The club exists because fans asked for it, and the Pottermore team listened. That’s good content strategy.

All this means the digital team is geeking out right alongside the fans. They know this stuff cold. Every content decision they make maps back to the ultimate purpose of their digital world.
Most importantly, they know the audience, and what makes them happy.
Discovering What a User Wants
It never pays to be a generalist, in life or in content. When planning content to build and expand a brand, it’s best practice to focus efforts on a niche audience to have the most impact. Even with an established brand like Potter, you still need to uncover your target audience’s motivations, needs, and desires, before any real content creation can begin.
Ask yourself:
- What keeps your audience up at night?
- What questions do they want answers to?
- What issues can you help them solve?
- What hot topics do they want to debate?
Not every audience is going to be made of already eager super fans like those on Pottermore. But every audience has its niche. When you create content for your target audience, you are out looking for that community of like-minded folks. Your allies. And ultimately, your fans.
Those are the people who will stay loyal in the long-term. The ones who will buy your product, and evangelize for you. You don’t have to worry about the rest of the world consuming your content, because you’re providing value to the ones who care the most.
A lot of ink has been spilled about the idea of “delighting” your audience. That’s a pretty elusive target (though a worthy one). But it can be done. Start by getting to know the audience really, really well. Talk to them. Do research. Create a journey map. And once you know who they are and what makes them tick, you can create the content that aligns with their goals and motivations. Which should naturally map back to your content world’s purpose, too.
The fun part? You can always keep iterating and building on what makes your world special.
Your audience (and fans) will thank you.
