How to create irresistible content

It’s surprisingly simple.

Want your content to break through the noise? It needs to be engaging and shareable.

Master both and you’ll soar to the top 1% of content creators.

First, let’s define engaging. Put simply, I define it as (1) worth consuming (reading/listening/watching), and (2) worth interacting with (reacting/liking/commenting).

And shareability? It matters because you want people to spread your content and extend your reach. People will do that if it makes them look cool or smart. And if they want to be associated with your work, that’s the ultimate sign they loved it—the holy grail of reactions.

But if people aren’t consuming or interacting with your content, they’ll never share it (duh).

So you need to know what motivates people to consume, then share.

Here’s my formula for getting there: Create something insightful, relevant, and actionable.

(Credit to my CMO, Udi, for teaching me this.)

Over the next two weeks I’m going to break down each part, so you can add it to your creation process.

It’s incredibly simple. You just have to do it correctly.

This week, let’s set our focus on creating something insightful… as in, interesting and thought-provoking.

I do that by writing content that’s directly related to my audience’s challenges and interests.

Here’s how I decide if something is truly insightful (and worth including): I call it the eyebrow test.

Because if something is truly insightful, I raise my eyebrows:

See for yourself. Read this wild stat: New research shows that deals are 127% more likely to close when a webcam is used (source: Gong).

This is surprising because most people agree that selling with video is a good idea, but that increase is WAY higher than they’d assume. And that’s why it consistently causes readers to raise their eyebrows.

Viola! Insightful. ✅

If something is thought-provoking, they’ll go furrow and go down.

Example: Humans are actually terrible at multitasking because they’re not really multitasking, they’re task-switching. “You’re not paying attention to one or two things simultaneously, but switching between them very rapidly” (source: Monday.com and written by my good friend, DJ Waldow).

This is insightful because it challenges what people believe about multi-tasking.

A reframe is a beautiful way to create something insightful because it forces your reader to rethink their reality. They will naturally lean in and read more to address the curiosity you’ve sparked.

Before publishing your next piece of content, ask yourself: What insight am I providing?

Then stress test it. Did my eyebrows move?

(Hopefully your eyebrows danced a bit reading this insightful content about insightful content.)

Next we’re going to unpack relevance.

See you on Saturday. Bring your coffee and favorite cereal (I eat ‘Life’ with blueberries because I’m CLEARLY LIVING ON THE EDGE.)

-Devin

PS: Want to hear from me before Saturday? Follow me on LinkedIn.

Content on content
Every now and then I share content about content. Might be something I’m reading or something that inspired me. It just might give you a lift too.

If you want to fast-forward and hear a full explanation of my formula, listen to my interview on the Millennial Marketing podcast, hosted by Daniel Murray.