Adding value

Today's activity is all about adding value. The idea is that you look over each of your content themes and ideas from the past two days’ activities and think about how you can use them in ways that add value to your audience or customers. 

 After all, there's not a lot of point in going to all the trouble of creating content that doesn't add some kind of value to the people you're trying to reach. You need to make it worth their time!

In addition, it's worth remembering that any content that you or your business creates is a reflection on you. That's as true for a 280-character Tweet or Instagram caption as it is for a 280-page book. 

Of course, “adding value” isn't only about giving things away for free. There are lots of ways to add value! Journalists and marketers are frequently taught to look out for six specific ways that any piece of content they create can be used to add value. They are as follows:

  • Participatory

    Think of content that your audience can be part of or contribute to, like surveys and quizzes, collaborations, invitations to share, competitions, crowd-sourcing, online communities, forums 

  • Entertaining

    Think of content that is funny, fascinating, emotional, clever or fun

  • Unique

    Think of content that is unusual, that approaches things from a different angle, is surprising, is something you personally created, or combines things in unexpected ways 

  • Meaningful

    Think of content that has a higher purpose, broader or longer-term impact, that matters in a bigger sense, that affects change, or that inspires new actions 

  • Helpful

    Think of useful tips, life-hacks, how-tos, instructions, clever ideas, infographics, directions and demonstrations

  • Educational

    Think of content that takes “helpful” to the next level. How can you help people learn a new skill, or absorb important information? Often this is longer-form content, found in books and e-books, courses, instructional videos, workshops, or email series (like this one)

Revisit each of your themes or content-ideas from the previous two activities to ensure they add value. (Remember, you don't only have to stick to just one of the attributes above. Your content piece can add value in more than one way. Or… you may be able to rework your idea in a few different ways, by adding a different kind of value each time). 

There’s a checklist on page 30 of Workbook 2 that you can always look back over at any time, to ensure that each piece of content you create adds value to your audience.