You know it when you’ve read it.
It’s that blog post, article, video, or speech that changes you.
It touches you. You are so affected by its message you can’t help but share it.
We’ve all experienced content like this. But do we know how to create it? That’s the question. Because consistently creating remarkable content over time is what it’s all about.
You’re aiming to create content that makes people pay attention, think, and feel.
I believe that remarkable content takes a three-step journey.
And as content creators, if we keep this journey in mind, we can craft an experience that will have a profound effect on our readers.
1. It starts with the eyes
The content journey starts with the eyes. By this, I don’t mean it starts with your audience reading your words.
“Starting with the eyes” means starting with design.
Your reader sees the overall presentation of your information before they read a single word.
This means using colors, fonts, formatting, and visual hierarchy to entice them to begin consuming your content.
Good design makes a promise. It says “I’m on your side, and I’ve got your best interests in mind. The information here is easy to read, and it can be trusted. Proceed with confidence.”
If you get your design right, your readers will move on to the next step in the journey, and they’ll begin to read.
If you get it wrong, the journey will end right there. They’ll click away, or turn the page.
So start with the eyes.
Use high-quality design to invite your readers in, and to convince them to spend time with your pages.
2. Then it goes directly to the mind
The second step of the journey involves the content itself: the information you’re presenting.
At this point in the journey, everything you’ve learned about crafting compelling content here at Copyblogger should come into play.
Demian Farnworth’s post, A 52-Installment Content Marketing Course (Free, and Right Here), is a great place to start reviewing what you need to know. It gathers together 52 rock-solid resources on coming up with ideas, forming a content strategy, and successfully writing, promoting, and driving traffic to your content.
For best results, your content should be engaging and presented in a way that’s easy to absorb.
Spend time working on a headline that draws your reader in. Write subheads that guide them through your text like signposts. Break up your copy with bulleted lists.
Pull out important parts of your information and use block quotes to emphasize them. Incorporate images that engage the viewer and add to the meaning of your words.
Attention to both your content and the way you break it down, polish it up, and present it will help your words take a direct path to your readers’ minds.
And that’s the midway point.
Next stop? The heart.
3. Finally, it lands on the heart
The most remarkable content presents information in a way that touches emotions, too.
It incorporates stories, like On Dying, Mothers, and Fighting for Your Ideas, by Jon Morrow; Sonia Simone’s The Astronaut, the Rock Star, and Your Content Strategy; and (if I may) my very first post for Copyblogger, The Bobby McFerrin Plan for Creating a Remarkable Business.
Stories that emphasize our common human experiences and emotions are the ones we remember.
We all know what it feels like to be bullied or looked down on. We’ve all felt insecure from time to time. And we’ve all had the experience of working hard and achieving a long-term goal.
When you incorporate stories that knit together experiences we’ve all had, your content will go straight from the eyes, to the mind, to the heart. And it will stay there, and be remembered.
Content that lands on the heart is content that gets shared. It gets people talking. It’s the definition of remarkable.
Remarkable content takes your readers on a journey
Let’s review the three-step journey.
- Start with their eyes. Use everything you know about design to invite your reader to interact with your content.
- Engage their minds. Use the principles taught here on Copyblogger to keep your reader interested. Strong headlines, subheads, and solid content will hold their interest.
- Enlist their hearts. For truly remarkable content, incorporate common human experiences that will touch your reader and make them remember what they’ve read, and want to share it.
Let’s talk about your remarkable content journey. Join me on Google+ to continue the conversation.
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If you enjoyed this article …
Then consider reading this oldie (but a goodie) next: How to Write Remarkably Creative Content
Flickr Creative Commons Image via Chris Zielecki.
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