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Why you shouldn’t create more content
Design Buddha
July 10, 2024
Hello!
You’re receiving the inaugural issue of Obviously Good, a new weekly newsletter by Design Buddha on building strong, profitable brands. As someone I trust, I welcome your feedback. And of course you’re free to unsubscribe below! Now on with this week’s letter.
It’s noisy out there. If attention is what we’re all trying to earn in order to grow a brand, content is the currency we often use to capture it. Or else we burn a lot of money on advertising and when we stop, we lose what little attention it get us.
Content is an asset that pays off over and over. Look at the how the words of Marcus Aurelius, written long before the printing press, still resonate today with the resurgence of stoicism which is what he’s well known for. How many of us can say that about what we write? It’s a long game.
Calling it ‘content’ reduces it to a commodity. And there’s a lot of mediocre slop online. Creating content for your social platforms to placate the voracious algorithms in the hopes that someone you want to reach notices reduces it to mere noise.
The algorithms just want to keep people on their respective platforms, swiping and swiping and swiping. Not send them to YOUR platform.
You might say, “But I just need to people to buy my products. I’m not trying to be the next Tolstoy.”
That’s an excuse and may be why people aren’t engaging with your content.
If no one is engaging with your content, ask yourself how you can make it better. It may be they’re not reading because you don’t value it either and it shows.
Treat creating ‘content’ with the same care you invest in creating your product. Pay attention to the pains and problems your customers face then address them with useful insights, stories and wisdom that leaves them better off for having seen it.
Listen to what matters to them and then meet them where they are. Make them feel seen and heard.
Don’t create more content. Think of your content as art. Something to appreciate. Something that’s valuable. That will flip the script on how you think about it. And move you from commodity to unique, desired and remembered.
A kickstart for you:
What are the top 3 pains of your ideal customers? What’s one tip you can you offer them to help right now?