Content isn’t a magnet—it’s a filter

If content published by a brand promises quick fixes or devolves into offering hacks and silver bullets, that’s fine — so long as the organization knows what that means.

It means the product or service they sell must also offer quick fixes or hacks. It means the product and design teams must be aware that they’re in the business of building silver bullets. It means that the prospective customers who arrive do so only because they’re of the mindset being espoused in the content.

And if the product doesn’t also yield a quick fix or magical solution (spoiler alert: it won’t), the company is in trouble. Turns out it’s a lot easier to tell others you’re able to provide magic solutions than to actually deliver one.

Marketing likes to talk about who arrives. It’s a race to grow the top of the funnel, and content becomes a magnet to attract people. But great marketing isn’t about who arrives. It’s about who stays. And if a certain type of person is here for a certain type of content, the organization publishing that content needs to be aware. What they’re publishing isn’t a magnet. It’s a filter.

Promising tips and tricks and cheats and hacks, lacing your site with dozens of pop-ups and sensational promises—that will create a certain type of audience, one that tolerates such behavior.

Likewise, slowing down, offering things that make others think better, not just execute better, and generally designing experiences that respect the intelligence of others—that yields a different set of customers.

Just be aware: the content and the tone of the experience are helping others reject or embrace you. It’s not just the general topic. It’s how you approach it and how it makes them feel.

Content isn’t just a magnet. It’s a filter. Construct yours for the type of person you want to serve.

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