In his post Headlines Vital for Success of NYT, WSJ, NY Post—and Your Site on Content Marketing Today, Newt Barrett writes about the importance of headlines and the first commandment of content marketing: ‘Think Like A Publisher’.
Newt is right when he talks about the importance of headlines. They are the first pieces of text people visiting your website or weblog see. Headlines should be inviting and arouse curiosity, encouraging your visitors to continue reading.
Lost the battle
But I don’t know whether thinking like a publisher is still a good idea nowadays. Newspapers and magazines are in bad weather. Many of them have already lost the battle and ceased to exist.
So publishers obviously did not do a very good job. Thinking like the old publisher may therefore not be the best thing to do today.
Think like a customer
Instead I advise you to Think Like A Customer. What information are your customers looking for. What arguments can convince them to buy your products. What material do they need to keep them happy.
That is also why you should imagine talking to somebody when you are developing content for your website, weblog, e-newsletter or whatever. Imagine you are talking to somebody you are trying to convince to buy your products.
Build yourself one or more persona’s. The fictional characters created to represent the different user types that might use a site or product. Imagine this person is sitting across the table, asking you why you are the best one to do business with.
So think like a customer and forget about the old publisher. He has had his time. Now it is your customer’s turn.
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