Why do we create content?

It seems like a rhetorical question, but in today’s era of click-bait and mass content creation, it’s a more meaningful question than ever.

Much of today’s content is about “more.” More general, more shareable, more clickable, more Tweetable. It aims to maximize how widely the content is spread in order to influence search rankings.

But this is short-term madness. Much of this low-quality, high-volume content is barely even readable.

If we cut through this noise and think of the reader, the reason we create content is simple. We create content to influence a reader’s perspective on a topic. Perhaps we are introducing a concept they may not have thought about. Perhaps we are challenging a bias they may hold. Perhaps we are calling for urgency in action. In each case, we are attempting to use content to influence a perspective. Over time, if we are successful, these shifts in perspective will bring the buyer closer to feeling that they should purchase our products or services.

But what if the perspective we are trying to shift is one of trust? How can we use content to help our team develop deeper and more trusting relationships with prospects and customers?

Trust is developed by showing that you know, understand, and want to help a person. Trust is built on knowing the things about that person that make them unique. Trust grows when we offer something of value without an immediate ‘ask’ in return.

For content to help our teams build trusting relationships, we need to think this way. Instead of ‘top 10’, perhaps a breakfast with 10 peers. Instead of ‘you won’t guess what happened next’, perhaps a unique data set on what did happen within a person’s specific industry. Instead of mass-delivery by social media, perhaps a thoughtful one-on-one invitation or reach-out.

To build trust, not search rankings, we need tomorrow’s content to be about “less”. Less general, less available, less relevant to the world at large.

Being LESS relevant to the world overall lets us be MORE relevant to an individual. It is through that focus that we can begin to build trust.