A Recipe for Better Content Marketing

How strong opinions fuel high-performing content

Thanks For The Feedback + One Emerging Theme

Thanks to everyone who shared their feedback as part of the 1st annual Hello Operator reader survey. If you enjoy reading my writing, I’d really love it if you’d consider taking two minutes to tell me what else you’d like me to touch on. I read every response, and I’ve really enjoyed all of the questions, feedback, and suggestions. This stuff is gold.

I’ll be using what I learn from the survey to set my content strategy for the rest of 2024 - and to help me decide which topics work best as written pieces vs. which work better as videos.

Stay tuned for some of the findings from the data. I’m noticing some pretty interesting themes so far. One that’s already standing out: People are hungry for more ideas for “how to do marketing well.”

Let’s give the people what they want, shall we?

How to Start Creating Better Content

Here’s an underrated tip that will immediately improve the quality of your content marketing.

Don’t just talk about what you do.

Talk about what you think.

What do I mean by that? Instead of spending all your brainpower nailing down the features, benefits, and proof-points of your product and refining how to tell people how great it is, try taking a stance on the product category you reside in. I’m talking about:

• Frameworks that help people evaluate their options within your category

• Hot takes and unpopular opinions about your industry

• Earned secrets from successful customers + projects

• Letters from your CEO on “what they’re seeing”

• Themes from client feedback (good AND bad)

• "Why we built this" product insights + stories

• Summaries and takeaways from conferences

When you work full-time on building, marketing, and selling a product, you know far more than the average person about what your product does, the category that you sit in, the people that use (and love) your product, and everything else going on inside of your little corner of the business world. There’s power in that experience and in that knowledge - and in the strong opinions you pick up along the way. As Uncle Ben told Spider-Man:

“With great power, comes great responsibility.”

You have a responsibility to share this stuff - what you know and what you think.

This might seem counter-intuitive, but don't worry so much about the features, benefits, and the ROI of what you sell. Sure, that stuff matters. You gotta talk about it. And you will. Trust me.

But too many marketers out there seem to have forgotten that this is an attention game. Clarity isn’t enough. Everyday you show up to work you are either earning the right to be listened to or allowing yourself to be ignored. People are much more willing to pay attention to your pitch once you've captured their attention - and capturing attention is all about finding a unique, authentic angle. It’s about crafting a way to leave them saying, "Huh. I've never thought about it that way before."

So if you’re thinking about how to step your marketing game up, remember this: He who frames the problem best, wins.

Don’t be afraid to get creative with how you frame, talk about, and put your unique spin on your problem, product, and category. Take a position. Be brave. Give yourself permission to share the strong opinions you’ve cultivated about what you do, how you help people, and the mistakes you can help people avoid.

Don’t just tell people what you do. Tell people what you think.

It makes the job a lot more fun - and your marketing a lot more effective.