Matching content to what they still do not know at each point

5 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

Content fails in two symmetrical ways. It tells people things they already know, which wastes the attention it took to get, or it assumes knowledge they do not have, which loses them entirely. Both come from the same cause: material written from the business's perspective rather than from a position on the buyer's path.

The correction is not sophisticated. Establish what somebody at a given point already understands, identify the specific gap between that and the next decision they have to make, and write to fill exactly that gap. The result is less material, more useful, and considerably easier to plan than a general content programme.

1. Matching content to what they still do not know starts with the next decision

The organising question.

Not what you want to tell them, but what they have to decide next and what they need in order to decide it. Every useful piece serves one specific decision. A piece that cannot be attached to a decision is usually one written for the business rather than the buyer.

2. Establish what they already know at each point

The audit.

Somebody researching whether to fix or replace knows different things from somebody comparing three quotes. Writing the same material for both serves neither. Listing three or four positions on the path, with what is known at each, takes half an hour and organises everything that follows.

3. Get the gaps from your own conversations

Where the list comes from.

The questions asked repeatedly at each stage are the gaps. An hour listing them by stage produces a better content plan than any keyword exercise. Ask whoever handles enquiries to note the questions for a fortnight; their list will be more accurate than yours.

4. Do not explain what they already understand

The first failure.

Content that opens by explaining the problem to somebody who has been living with it for six months is skipped. Meet them where they are rather than at the beginning. Long preambles are the commonest form of this and the easiest to cut.

5. Do not assume knowledge they lack

The second failure.

Material that starts from your terminology, your categories or an assumed familiarity loses people who would have bought. Frequently one explanatory sentence is all that is missing.

6. Write one piece per gap

The structural discipline.

A single piece attempting to serve every stage serves none. Separate material for separate questions is easier to write, easier to find and easier to use in a conversation.

7. Sequence them so each leads to the next

The path.

Somebody finishing one piece should have a natural next question and an obvious place to find it. This is what turns a collection of articles into something that moves people forward.

8. Check whether the gaps have changed

The maintenance.

Buyers become better informed over time, and material that filled a real gap three years ago may now explain the obvious. The list of gaps needs revisiting annually.

9. Use it to decide what not to write

The practical benefit.

Most content plans fail through being too large. A gap-based list is finite, prioritised by how many buyers hit each gap, and it tells you what to leave out.

Be careful about assuming the gap is information. Sometimes what a buyer lacks is confidence rather than knowledge, and more explanation makes it worse where reassurance, evidence or a smaller first step would help.

Conclusion

Write to the specific gap between what they know and the next decision they face.

Establish what somebody at each point already understands, take the gaps from the questions you are actually asked, avoid explaining what they already know and avoid assuming what they do not, write one piece per gap rather than one piece for everybody, sequence them so each leads naturally to the next, revisit the list annually as buyers become better informed, and use it to decide what not to write.