Creating Standout Content: How to Push Back on an Increasingly Junky Internet

This is bad news for us all, since, well, the internet is kinda a big deal. I went pretty deep into how inaccurate its becoming in this mammoth article on the illusion of truth. But today, I want to talk to marketers.

I might be late to the game but when Packy McCormick’s (excellent) newsletter introduced me to the term “slop posts", it resonated. Hard.

We’ve all felt it — the massive increase in junk created for the internet.

And it’s all crap.

It all looks the same, reads the same, and is all glaringly absent of any additional value. If your feed is anything like mine, you’re pretty close to giving up on it. It’s all slop. But as any student of trite karate movie knows, you need to know your enemy. So let’s start there.

How Do You Write a Slop Post?

Yes, this is like teaching teenagers to make crystal meth.

Here’s the short of it: take a format that works and optimize it to death . That’s it.

There’s a lifecycle here.

Someone puts up a broetry post, shares it as a best practice, the misguided clicks stream in (“for shame, sir”) and it gets a life of its own. You know the best practices I’m talking about:

• You learn to start off the first line with a teaser that forces someone to open it.
• You ask people to drop their name in a comment to get a file (I tried this; it’s inconvenient as hell).
• You build a pod of promoters to push your content (I didn’t try this—found it too embarrassing to ask 🙂).
• You post a picture of yourself looking surprised or sad, or a selfie coming out of an elevator with a mirror nearby.

Congrats. You’ve made your mom proud.

By chasing numbers, you’ve generated another brick in the wall. More junk, A/B tested to perfection by standing on the shoulders of A/B tester giants. You might get a dopamine surge from a follow or like, but are you creating anything unique? Interesting? Something defensible against the rise of ChatGPT content?

Thought so.

But why?

I get it. I’ve felt the urge too. I want likes too. I’m not too proud to say it. And if you have a team, you know that content calendars can feel like they’re looming over you, ticking away, one Trello card at a time. There’s a burning temptation to just bang it out., maybe citing a crappy sales-focused report you’ve put out before. I see it too. But there’s another way. A better way. A slopless way.

Behold…

Standout Content: A Higher Standard

Packy’s newletter got me thinking about what I consider to be one of my most successful content pieces. One that I know wasn’t slop. Not in terms of downloads, media pickups, or website hits (though it performed well), but in terms of a higher standard I set for myself. For the sake of argument, let’s call this Standout Content because when everything is slop, the challenge is all about standing out to the right person.

6 Key Ingredients of Standout Content

I tried to dissect the piece of content I was thinking about - basically a very deep dive on one large shipping container company’s digital transformation. This was an epic shift in the industry that had been covered but given the role that my company played, I suddenly found myself having similar conversations with a bevy of different folks; in investor meetings, at conferences, at coffee table talks with colleagues. It was everywhere.

And the more I thought about it, the more I saw different pieces of information that I knew would plug into the piece well. There were strong maritime “Beautiful Mind” vibes. It was something timely, original, unique and I had something to say.

So I glued my derriere to the chair and started typing. I didn’t stop. And the piece knocked it out the park. I got incredible feedback, invited to speak, in publications…it was everywhere. Most importantly, I knew it was gold.

So reverse engineering it, here’s six things I think makes a piece of Standout Content:

1. Address real problems
2. Be driven by curiousity
3. Provide outstanding value
4. Write it around something tangible
5. Deeply understand the industry first
6. Make sure it’s incredibly timely

But before we get there…this is a good time to drop your email so you don’t miss my next post.

Okay, back to our regular scheduled business.

Let’s dive in:

1. Address Genuine Problems or Trends: Standout Content answers or articulates real problems or trends that industry insiders care about . It’s what senior directors discuss at trade shows, the undertones many are hesitant to share with reporters. Conversations with trade reporters and insights from salespeople, who are on the front lines, can uncover these genuine issues. Talk to more people, I promise it will drive more interesting ideas. Be open to what they are talking about instead of talking more. See what’s keeping them up at night.

2. Deep Curiosity: Standout Content comes from a place of deep curiosity . The interest in the subject shines through, making the effort and direction obvious to readers. You need to be passionate about it. Pulling together the lego blocks of new pieces, gathered from your industry information and external information - sports, tech, whateever, is hard.

One way I cultivate this is by religiously using a reading and tagging app called Reader (one of my twenty favorite apps) for capturing insights and tagging them….and then using Reflect.app, my notetaking software, to chat with all my notes. Or I’ll just doomscroll on Twitter for a while, focusing on a list of just browing to spark interesting intersects. I also schedule open idea time in my calendar to explore non-industry content to force myself to think. Sometimes this sparks new ideas (but usually I just schedule stuff over it). Hey, I’m human.

3. Enormous Value: Standout Content imparts actual, tangible, juicy value . It’s not just something you convince yourself is valuable. No one cares about your new feature and the fact that there is an industry trend that is somewhat related doesn’t mean you can bang out a whitepaper about your feature. We all see what you’re doing.

Instead, shift to what is worthwhile and meaningful for your reader. Will it genuinely help them ? I always ask myself if anyone really cares about the topic and make sure to consult with industry experts and even outsiders for their take, especially when I had a draft. Incidentlly, teaser questions like “will this help them” are hard to use - I have some other suggestions for questions you can use as content filters here.

4. Anchored in Hard Data and Unique Insights: Standout Content is backed by data, research, unique experiences , or a rare “holy-s**t” insight. I’m a staunch believer that data marketing is the golden grail but this is particularly true here. It’s not just a regurgitation of common knowledge but something that adds real value to the conversation. This isn’t always the case but it typically is. Think about it as if you were a New York Times editor. Is this something that is really moving the needle for your readers? Is there something in it that justifies spending your readers time? What is some new, so noteworthy, to make this legit?

5. Listen Before You Talk: Standout Content demands a deep, deep understanding of the industry’s nuances , the real conversations, not just the echo chamber of online posts. You can try to swoop in and write a paper based on something you wrote before but industry insiders need to know that you are up to speed to want to listen to what you’re saying. Nothing will burn you faster than them investing time in reading your stuff, reaching the end, and realizing that you missed something basic. As Tim Urban says, and I’m paraphrasing here, the second article your reader reads is the most important one. You need to prove, without any doubt, that your first one justifies them reading it to the end, and then you need to drive enough value to make sure they click on another one. This level of insight and understanding isn’t imparted by the Gods of Content marketing. It typically comes from building relationships and having open conversations, which also helps in distributing the content effectively.

6. Timely and Relevant: By dint of the fact that it needs to stick out and needs to really resonate with your readers, Standout Content has extreme dependencies on stuff actually happening in your industry. There needs to be a trigger. And, as a result, good Standout Content often isn’t part of your regularly planned content schedule . It’s timely, tied to specific events or shifts in the industry, and often arises from a unique set of circumstances.

For the record, these conditions are stringent. Very stringent. I’d guess that under 5% of what I write is close to this level. More likely 2%.

But the good news is that when you nail it, you’ll know.

Signs Your Content Was Standout

Here’s a few ways that you’ll know that what you put out actually worked.

1. True Indicators of Quality from Trusted Sources: You get feedback from people whose opinions you value. For example, I emailed my copy to an industry insider for feedback; he promptly asked me if I would be willing to speak at a conference about it. This kind of feedback is rare but when you get it, it’s a sign. A good one. Not an Ace of Base sign.

2. Standout Content Moves Faster than a Penguin on a Slip ’n Slide: Standout Content spreads quickly through organic channels. A week after I launched the report, I emailed a prospect at the shipping liner a copy for her to see. She said that she had already seen it since it was shared by a colleague and that most of her team had read it too. There’s nothing that speaks higher of the quality of a piece than someone saying “damn, my friend Sara needs to see this.”

3. Evergreen Appeal: You get requests for updates long after its initial publication. Standout Content has a lasting impact, with readers coming back for more. Typically it also doesn’t need to be a one off - it taps into something so fundamental that there’s a case to revisit. This is a strong indicator that the content continues to provide value and remains relevant over time.

4. Organic Distribution Channels Pop Up: The content finds its way into new channels without you having to push it forcefully. A few months after publishing this piece, which I assumed was insider baseball, a reporter from Quartz called up and used the piece in an article. This kind of unexpected exposure highlights the content’s quality and relevance.

5. You’re Proud of It: This is the simplest and most personal measure. If you’re genuinely proud of the content you’ve created, that pride often translates into quality. When you involve others in the creation process, they often become advocates for your work, helping to distribute it further. For instance, by seeking honest feedback from my network, not only did I refine my content, but those who helped also felt invested in its success, leading to wider distribution.

Here’s hoping this was kinda, sorta, almost Standout Content for you.