Does Your Content Pass The Only Test That Matters?

Obvious value and easy accessibility are table stakes for good content

Steven Toews, JD, MBA
The Startup

--

Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash

Much of the writing I come across online is thinly veiled commercial pablum designed solely to pitch something, get clicks, increase followers, or accomplish some other obvious goal that has nothing to do with the reader’s enjoyment of the piece.

In my view, this kind of content fails the only test that online writing should be subject to.

And that test can be summed up in a single question: If you stripped out what this piece was designed to accomplish, what it’s “for”, would the audience still want to read it?

In other words, does the content stand on its own two feet even if you disregard the goals of the person or company that commissioned the work?

How content marketing is supposed to work

Content marketing has two key foundations: “content” and “marketing.” (Real deep, I know.)

The “marketing” bit is pretty self-explanatory. The piece has got to do its part to sell the product or service it was commissioned to sell.

What’s often forgotten though, is the “how.” How is this article, or story, or post going to sell a product or service…

--

--

Steven Toews, JD, MBA
The Startup

I help working professionals find fulfillment and increase income by writing online. untetheredlife.info