Estimated reading time: 4 mins
Effective content pieces distill an idea into a main point that offers value to a target audience. For businesses that work with pharma companies, the main point of each content piece should support the ultimate goal of generating demand for your product or service or educating your audience to make more informed, future purchasers.
As we noted in the first piece of this series, step 1 in the process of creating effective content is to develop ideas that align with (1) your overall business goals and (2) strategy for each specific piece. In this article, we explore the second step in content creation: turning ideas into compelling main points.
What’s the Point of a Main Point?
Here are some sobering statistics. Your audience will spend an average of 37 seconds reading your article. To make matters worse, 55% of visitors will spend less than 15 seconds on your page. And, of those that do stick around, 43% will merely skim what you’ve written.
Unless you can capture your audience’s attention when they begin reading, they will tune out. Let your readers know early what your article is about and what they will get out of it.
“Make your point right up front,” says Carolyn O'Hara, Harvard Business Review. “By succinctly presenting your main idea first, you save your reader time and sharpen your argument before diving into the bulk of your writing.”
Crafting your article around one central idea can improve the organization and flow of your piece. “You have to structure your online content to let the viewer (who is not yet a ‘reader’) find and understand your main point quickly. You must help your audience decide to stick with you by being succinct and clear in your narrative. This allows the viewer to decide whether it is worth his or her time to transition to ‘reader’ and absorb your content more deeply,” says Kern Lewis, Forbes.
The process of narrowing down and articulating a main point crystallizes the one takeaway that you want your audience to read and remember. When you keep this takeaway in mind, you can ensure the rest of your article supports it. “Condense the main nugget of what you are trying to say into just a short phrase or sentence and you'll have a better shot at composing a tight, organized piece,” says Catherine Clifford, Entrepreneur.
Providing a clear main point also promotes interaction with your piece. “When your article has a point, it gives readers something memorable to latch onto. They are more compelled to share it, comment on it, and engage with it. An article with a point is an article that accomplishes a mission and is therefore successful,” says Neil Patel, Entrepreneur.
Your main point should dovetail with your goals for both the specific piece and your broader communication plan. For businesses that work with pharma companies, each content piece should support the overarching aim of generating demand for your product or service.
4 Steps for Turning an Idea into a Main Point
Now that we’ve surveyed the benefits of conceptualizing your article’s takeaway, let’s dig into the process of how to develop a main point. A repeatable process for distilling main points will save time and effort while producing better results across all of your content marketing campaigns.
1) Evaluate your idea from the perspective of your audience. If your main point does not add value for them, continue to refine it until it does. You may even have to start from scratch, but this exercise will be worth the extra time if you can present something with tangible value to your audience.
One way to assess your main point is to apply the “so what” test. This test can help you determine whether your main point adds value for your audience. Asking “so what” of your main point narrows your focus and increases the relatability (and readability) of your piece.
2) Outline your article. Once you think you have the main point narrowed down, see if you can outline an entire article to support it. If your main point is too broad, you will run into difficulty crafting an outline that isn’t miles long. If your main point is too narrow, you may have difficulty writing enough about it. A good target is to have three robust supporting points for your main point.
3) Write for the target content type. We’ll discuss content marketing format in more detail in our next post, but during the planning stage, it’s important to at least briefly consider what you believe the final format of your post will be because this will help you determine what to write. Writing a how-to post will require different structure than writing a case study. Knowing the type of content you will produce will ultimately help you focus your efforts most effectively when creating content.
4) Don’t bury the lede. This bit of sage journalistic advice also applies to content marketing. Include your main point in the first paragraph, if not the first sentence. Of course, it should be interesting and prompt readers to continue reading, but even if your main point isn’t earth-shattering, it needs to occupy a prominent position within your article so that your readers’ experience is optimized.
Conclusion
A main point that offers value to your audience is a critical component to every piece of content you create, particularly when your goal is to generate demand for your product or service.
Contact Brian to learn more about how our team can help you and your team create compelling content to generate demand and educate prospective clients.
What value is your main point offering your audience?
Other articles in this series: