5 Ways to Create Better Content

November 7, 2014
By The PureB2B Team

Imagine a buffet table laden with enticing dishes. Your eyes track over the fare, trying to decide what food to choose from among the mouth-watering cuisine. Of course there’d be that one comfort food you’d pick because you’re absolutely craving it (sushi!). And there’s that one intriguing dish on the end you’ll reserve a place for on your plate out of sheer curiosity. The buffet gives you full license to flit gleefully among the other dishes, taking a bit of this and a little of that before you commit hardcore and circle back for seconds.

The new B2B buyer’s journey is not dissimilar to this taste exploration. The internet, like our proverbial buffet table safari, allows customer to always be on the look out for companies and content that catches their eye and, from the business perspective, hopefully, holds their attention. Unfortunately, the internet is vast and full of delectable content confections so much so that businesses everywhere are wondering how to stand out from the teeming throng.

Here are a few ingredients any content marketer worth their salt is going to need.

Create powerful headlines

Headlines can make or break you. Most content providers outsmart each other by coming up with interesting and fun headlines that attract clicks. We must mention a serious caveat here. Make sure your headlines reflect your content well. Don’t use click-bait headlines that promise super-human powers with one simple trick… headlines like these just make us want to keep scrolling.

Go all metaphorical on’em

Why not? Metaphors are like spices. Just the right combination can make a meal absolutely unforgetable. Metaphors make writing personal, more memorable and more persuasive. Content writers often use metaphors to describe the complex and, quite frankly, confusing products that a company has on offer. (The Cloud, anyone?)

A feast for the eyes

They say that we eat first with our eyes and it makes sense to approach content with a visual-first mindset. No one likes bland content. A huge block of text can immediately cause readers to hit the back button. Make sure to use images, but also give some thought to your layout. Do you have a good text-to-whitespace ratio? Break text up and use short, punchy sentences to keep readers hooked.

Research-driven content is killer

Cookie-cutters are good for one thing. Cookies. Cookie-cutter content is simply not going to cut it in the wilds of the internet. Make sure your thoughts and ideas come from either research or experience (or both!) and that you have a point to each and every piece of content you post. Commit to establishing authority in your particular subject area. Proudly proclaiming, “We are the experts.” Is way effective than just saying, “We know stuff and you should listen to us, because of reasons.” Present key facts that are relatable and informative, but don’t get too bogged down. Stay on-point and always keep in mind your target audience.

Present problems and offer solutions

From word one, establish a clear and present problem and then clearly define the ways in which your company can offer the best solution. Give your audience hope and provide them a way out of their various miseries.

Originally published at pureb2b.com on November 7, 2014.