Content Should Answer the Question: So What?
Mike Ferguson, Fresh Ground Consulting
We are currently working on website content for two clients at Fresh Ground Consulting. Whenever I am writing content I am looking for the story behind the list of facts I must communicate. The who, what, when, where, and how are usually necessary information and easily discovered. The element that is rarely provided in the source material is why anyone should care.
I believe that one of the tests of effective content is whether or not it responds well to the question, “So what?” When I complete the first draft of anything, I ask myself, “So what?” If I haven’t answered that question on the page, it’s time to start rewriting.
One of our clients is creating something that, on the surface, would appear to be nothing new. He had asked a copywriter to create content for his website, but he wasn’t happy with the result. The writing was solid enough, but something was missing.
After meeting with the client for over an hour, I understood what it was. The content was missing him, the person behind the vision. Without him, it seemed like something we’ve all seen before. Once we began to include the personality behind the vision, there was a reason to be interested.
Although a lack of uniqueness was a symptom in this case, uniqueness alone is rarely the answer. If the answer to the question, “So what?” is, “Because it’s unique,” that is not truly compelling. It might be interesting and briefly grab my attention, but it won’t keep me engaged unless there is something behind it.
How many “great” commercials have you seen where 15 seconds after seeing the commercial you could not remember the product? You could remember the images or the story or the jokes, but you had to strain to remember the product.
I recently relearned this lesson when I started this blog. I created clever (in my own mind) titles for each entry, but after I had written blog entries for a few weeks, I looked back at the titles and realized that none of them answered the question, So what? None of my titles told the potential reader anything about the subject of the blog or what insight they might gain from reading it. So I rewrote them (see right-hand column).
A clever or unusual title might attract a few people curious to know what I could possibly be talking about, but there are more people willing to click a link when they think they might gain some useful insight.
Our other content client has many unique aspects about his business, but they are simply a list of facts, like the hours of operations, until we frame them as characters in the story of why you should care.
Despite what you might read in books that teach you how to write “words that sell,” this is not accomplished by including certain words in all the copy on your website, words designed to cause mass hypnosis among readers so they buy, buy, buy whatever you sell, sell, sell. These are useful tactics if you’re engaged in direct marketing or its online equivalents, and if there is a page on your website where you ask for the sale, it doesn’t hurt to use some words that push in that direction.
The bulk of your website, especially the pages most likely to be viewed initially by a visitor, should engage the reader in your story and make them want to be a part of that story.