How to Make Your Content Stand Out From the Crowd in 2017

When everyone who’s anyone is content creating, it can be hard to stand out and get noticed, and this number is only set to increase, making it a lot harder for your brand to stand out in 2017. When everyone is shouting it can be difficult to be heard through all the noise. To be heard and seen you need to say and do something worth listening to. You need to say and do something different. This article discusses how you can make your content stand out from the crowd in 2017.

Find Your Unique Voice

To be heard in the crowd you need to have a voice. You need to decide what makes you and your brand different. What is your unique value proposition and how do you solve problems better than your competitors? Find your specific niche and decide what is your thing and what makes you worth listening to.

Communicate this through your unique brand voice. Be witty, be funny. Write with flair, and make people remember what you said to them and how you made them feel. Write in an alternate style, perhaps a poem or short story. Be personable and human. Be unpredictable.

Example:

Innocent have a unique and memorable tone of voice. Their content across website, blog and social is informal, funny, witty, quirky and engaging. They’re sure of who they are as a brand and what makes them stand out from every other juice brand, and this is what their customers engage with and buy into.

Differentiate From Competitors

Picasso once said that ‘good artists copy, great artists steal’. Obviously, don’t steal your competitor’s exact ideas, but use them to create your own, better ideas. Picasso drew inspiration from those around him and invented cubism. He created something completely different and is consequently one of the most famous artists in history.

See what your competitors do but observe what they don’t do, and use this to fill a need of your customers that isn’t already there.

Example:

Joe Pulizzi saw that competitors were using content to market and foresaw that content mania would sweep the web, so created the Content Marketing Institute to fill content marketer’s needs.

Say Something Original

There is so much similarity between content these days, and so many hold the same views or opinions and approach information in the same way that everyone else does. In order to stand out, you need to say something different, hold an opposite opinion, and approach information in alternative ways.

So don’t follow the crowd, stand out from it.

Take risks and turn ideas on their head, be thought-provoking and tell your own personal stories. Get a different view by approaching a topic from another angle.

Be creative. Don’t just create a blog post, add intriguing images and repurpose blogs into infographics, videos or podcasts.

Possibly every successful artist, entrepreneur, inventor or theorist sees something that no one else sees. They change the way we think about and see the world, and are original in their work.

Mark Zuckerberg saw a different way of socialising, and I don’t need to tell you the rest of that story.

Stand Out in 2017

There is loads of content on the blogosphere on ‘making content stand out’, some of which I’ve drawn inspiration from to write this, and I’ve therefore tried to say something different from competitors using my own unique voice. Ultimately, though, I’m still working on what differentiates me from the next content writer.

You too should work on making your brand and content different. Take advantage of your unique voice and the opportunity to say something original.

Successful content and successful businesses share these similarities; they have a unique value proposition and brand voice, they build on their competitors and fill a gap that they don’t, and they provide an original service and do something in a new way. And they get noticed.

The world would make for a boring place if we were all the same, and the same goes for your content. If your content is the same as everyone else’s, then it’s just boring, and you won’t stand out from that indistinguishable crowd.

In 2017, there will be more of an emphasis on content that stands out, and we need to focus on creating content that is original and creative. In 2017, content needs to be of higher quality, provide greater value and relevance, create better experiences, and form deeper connections with the audience.

Of course, the popularity of content is a good thing and it offers great potential for businesses to achieve their goals. Content marketing will continue to grow and evolve in 2017 and beyond, and continue to provide value for both businesses and audiences alike.

If you need ideas for what kind of content you could produce, check out our guide here.

Let us know in comments how you’re making your content stand out in 2017, or drop us a line and we’ll help you to create content that stands out and gets you noticed.