13 questions you need to ask before writing new content

There is an astonishing amount of new content published every single day online.  You need to bring everything you can in order to get yours to stand out when writing new content, or it will sink without trace or readers.

Content without a context is just noise. But content in context and with a purpose can be put to work to meet your goals and objectives at the same time as delighting your readers.

Before starting to write about you and your perspective, stop to consider who you are writing the content for.  Add value. Then add some more value, unless you want to see your content fail and be lost in the noise.

The more you can put yourself in your reader’s place, the more value your content will add  and the harder it will work to turn readers into customers.

Before you start writing new content, ask yourself these 13 questions. It will give you focus and clarity on what you are trying to achieve, and once you have the answers you will be ready to write with better purpose.

13 questions to ask before writing new content

1. What is the customer problem I am trying to solve or the pain point my customers have that I am trying to fix?
2. Why are customers coming to me for help?
3. Who has these problems and will buy from me?
4. Who is most likely to have this problem?
5. What causes this problem?
6. How can I fix this problem?
7. Who and where is your target customer?
8. When are they likely to read this content?
9. Why is your current customer buying right now?
10. Why are they buying it from you – what makes you stand out?
11. What are your competitors doing – and how can you do it better?
12. What do you want your reader to do next?

You’ll notice quite quickly that none of these questions are focused on you, your latest promotion, or what you are trying to sell to your reader. Instead you are looking at motivating your readers with quality content that directly appeals to what they need to fix or achieve in their language and for their business.

What’s in it for you?

Only when you have the answers to all the above questions should you look at my bonus question, which is :

13. How does this content serve my business goals?

Putting your customer first when writing new content means they will read and understand you. They will see that you speak their language, understand their problem and what you can do for them to fix it. So much more effective than writing new content that focuses on yourself. You will connect better with customers from the start, and set the pattern for a more fruitful relationship.

If you would like to understand more about how to write engaging and valuable content that speaks directly to your readers and generates new leads and sales, get in touch today to talk about how we can support you. We can either help you to understand how to write for your audience, or provide a service that writes content for you so that you can concentrate on other aspects of your business.