Thousands of content creators are slogging it out to create timely, relevant and inspiring content that is intended to make you fall in love and buy something – but how much of your time are you willing to give?
Some content stays with you, inspires you to change the way you think, act, behave and work – whilst others you spend a lustful hour with, only to dump after a naughty quick-fix.
Anyone can Google a subject and become an expert.
We all have a selection criteria when it comes to deciding who makes our read-list, but we need to be tougher if we’re ever to survive the maelstrom of content marketing hitting our web-browsers.
So how do you decide what to consume and what to trash? Here’s my selection criteria:
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Help me be better at my job.
Original content that helps to inform digital strategy, backed by reputable research and inspires a train of thought for me will always be the backbone to my digital content playbook. Sites like eConsultancy, Hubspot, SmartInsights and Altimeter – because without them, I quite literally would be making stuff up.
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Make me want to be a better person.
These are the sites that make me get that racy feeling like I’ve discovered something awesome. Maria Popolova, 99 Per Cent, My New Roots – I’m looking at you. You will always have a special place in my heart.
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Show some spunk.
One of the (many) reasons I broke up with Content Marketing Institute and took up cahoots with Hubspot is due to tone of voice. I like my content to be distinctive and slightly shocking – case in point – I still heart you Copyblogger.
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Look pretty.
Clean aesthetics makes for gripping content. Large fonts, open space, imagery that contributes to the story. Forbes, Inc., Wired – for me, great aesthetic is in letting the content breathe.
Raise the bar
WordPress users publish 347 new blog posts every minute* and 49% of marketers in Australia are set to increase their content marketing spend in 2013**. By being choosy on the digital content we consume and fostering quality content over quantity, we can raise the bar on the flood of content that’s being created every day – and purge ourselves from junk content.
*How Much Data Is Created Every Minute? Mashable.com
** Content Marketing in Australia: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends (CMI)
