I recently revisited one of my best-performing blog posts and was reminded of a question I often get asked.
Why do you describe things in so much detail?
To be clear, this isn't a quip about my writing being boring or overly verbose. It's about a common fear content marketers seem to have, especially (but not only) in service businesses.
What if, after reading your detailed blog post, the customer knows enough to do it themself?
I have a two-part answer.
First, if they decide to go it alone, that's good news. It means your content is helpful and useful enough. In the long run, this will only work in your favor.
But in my experience, this rarely happens.
Because there's a secret: the customer doesn't hire you to do the work. They hire you to save them time and effort, prevent them from making mistakes, and enrich the work with your vast experience, bringing in best practices from past projects.
The best thing you can do to gain their trust is to be 100% transparent about your process.
Share the details.
You will get them to say, "Wow, this seems complex! I'll definitely want some help along the way from someone more experienced!"
And guess who they'll think of first? The person who educated them about the process.
***
I mentioned this is a question pertinent to service businesses, but not only.
Imagine you're a cosmetics DTC brand. If you're generous with your advice on the best routines for different skin types, a customer will trust you enough to buy your whole morning routine product line.
Imagine you're a local specialty coffee store. If you're generous with your walkthroughs on how people can best prepare their pour-over with your house blends, a customer will trust you enough to become a loyal buyer.
Imagine you're a consumer electronics retailer. If you're generous with your guides on how to get old tech back into shape, a customer will trust you enough to buy their laptop and TV without waiting for a Black Friday deal.
***
The bottom line is details breed trust. And trust sparks consistent action.
So give them all the deets and watch how they flock back to you when it matters most.
Details matter,
P.S. What brands are most generous with the useful content they provide? Share with me the first one that comes to mind!
🎙️ New Interview
I had a chat with Ramli John about my brand messaging framework. Check out the episode for some brand messaging goodness, like what role messaging plays in the grand scheme of things, whether messaging is about the content or the language, and what empathy has to do with it. All of this, plus my ”marketing powerups” for career growth.
Check out the interview →
👌 Handpicked Stories for You
How to Create or Refine a Content Marketing Strategy
If you need a short, no-nonsense guide to content marketing strategy, this is the one I'd recommend. It asks the right questions and doesn't try to over-complicate things. It focuses a bit too heavily on organic search in the measurement part, but you can easily adapt and change depending on your chosen channels.
How to Explain Your Ideas Clearly: The Zoom-In-Zoom-Out Technique
Here's a short and actionable post that will improve your writing. To focus attention, use a story. Then, zoom out and explain the bigger problem at hand. This powerful mix of specificity and broad details will make your writing compelling and memorable.
Are Your Ideas Worth Developing Further? A 6-Point System for Measuring Resonance
As we all struggle to understand if our content is hitting the mark or not, a system like this can be most helpful! Jay Acunzo shares his idea ranking scorecard – and it's all based on qualitative feedback, which I love!
How To Build an Impactful Content Dashboard With Google Looker: A Step-by-Step Guide [Free Template]
Even if you haven't used Google Looker Studio yet, this is a cool dashboard to explore. And if you already use Looker, you may find some good ideas about what to include in your own dashboards. I only wish the color scheme was different!
Everybody Wants Thought Leadership Content. But How Do You Do It, Exactly?
This post has a big task to tackle: presenting clearly what thought leadership actually is and how to establish it. It does the job marvelously with five specific types of thought leadership and one overarching theme: your opinions should be divisive enough to matter!
👀 Interesting stuff to click on
- This food map – it’s surprising to note how much of our daily diet now wasn’t available to our ancestors pre-1400s. My neck of the woods gave you cherries, you’re welcome!
- This ad of two legends – when an iconic product like Montblanc meets an iconic director like Wes Andreson, the results are nothing short of brilliant.
- Weekly cat – no such thing as an underqualified cat.
I chose these ones to get you in a weekend mood - let’s hope I succeeded!
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