The single most common problem with brand content, the thing we see time and again, is that it offers little to no value to the reader.
It talks about the company. It pushes the product. It uses industry jargon to sound smart. And it completely ignores what the reader actually came for.
Good content marketing should be treated like a gift to your readers. Not a sales pitch wrapped in a blog post.
The Gift Mindset
Here’s a mental model that works: every piece of content you publish is a gift. Gifts should be useful, thoughtful, and given without expectation of immediate return.
When you write with this mindset, the questions change:
- Instead of “How do we mention our product?” → “What does the reader actually need to know?”
- Instead of “What keywords should we target?” → “What question is someone trying to answer?”
- Instead of “How do we capture their email?” → “How do we make them glad they found us?”
The paradox is that content created with the gift mindset performs better commercially. Readers trust you more. They come back. They share. They eventually become customers because you proved value before asking for anything.
Why Most Brand Content Fails
Let’s be direct about the failure modes:
The hard sell disguised as content. The entire piece is a thinly veiled pitch. Readers bounce within seconds because they feel manipulated.
The keyword-stuffed SEO play. Written for algorithms, not humans. Technically ranks but converts nothing because it reads like a robot wrote it.
The “thought leadership” that isn’t. Generic observations anyone could make, dressed up with stock photos and executive bylines. No actual insight.
The internal-facing content. Interesting to your team, irrelevant to your audience. Product updates nobody asked for. Company news that doesn’t affect customers.
The jargon dump. So many acronyms and buzzwords that the meaning is lost. Written to sound smart rather than be understood.
You’ve probably published content that fits one of these. We all have. The first step is recognizing it.
The Search Console Audit
Here’s a quick exercise that reveals a lot about your current content:
If you have Search Console enabled (and you should), pull up your landing page data. Look at:
- Pages by impression (excluding homepage). This is what Google thinks you’re relevant for.
- Pages by clicks. This is what people actually want.
- Compare the two. Where’s the gap?
- Check bounce rates. Are people finding what they expected?
The pages with high impressions but low clicks? Your titles and meta descriptions aren’t compelling. People see you in results but don’t click.
The pages with high clicks but high bounce rates? You’re attracting the wrong traffic, or your content isn’t delivering on the promise.
The pages with high clicks and low bounce rates? These are your anchor pages. Study them. What makes them work? Do more of that.
Content That Earns Attention
What actually works? Content that does one of these things exceptionally well:
Solves a specific problem. Not “10 tips for better marketing” but “How to fix Salesforce duplicate records in 20 minutes.” Specific problems attract specific people who need specific solutions.
Provides genuine insight. Original research. Proprietary data. Patterns you’ve observed that others haven’t shared. Something the reader couldn’t find elsewhere.
Saves time or money. Templates they can use. Frameworks they can apply. Tools they didn’t know existed. Concrete value they can extract immediately.
Entertains while informing. This is harder, but content that’s genuinely enjoyable to read spreads further. Voice matters. Personality matters.
Challenges assumptions. Contrarian takes backed by evidence. Not hot takes for clicks, but genuine “here’s why the conventional wisdom is wrong” arguments.
The Authenticity Test
Before publishing anything, ask:
- Would I read this if a competitor published it?
- Does this actually help someone, or am I just filling a content calendar?
- Is there anything here that’s genuinely new or useful?
- Would I be proud to show this to the smartest person in my industry?
- If our branding was removed, would anyone know it was us?
If you’re hesitating on any of these, reconsider publishing. It’s better to publish less content that matters than more content that doesn’t.
Revitalizing Your Content Strategy
Start with your anchor pages. Those high-performing pages you identified in the Search Console audit? They’re your brand anchors. Make sure they’re up to date, comprehensive, and leading to the next logical step.
Kill underperformers. Pages that get no traffic and serve no purpose are dead weight. They dilute your domain authority and confuse search engines. Either improve them dramatically or remove them.
Invest in depth over breadth. One exceptional piece that becomes a definitive resource beats ten mediocre posts. The internet doesn’t need more content. It needs better content.
Update, don’t just publish. Your best content should evolve. Add new information. Refresh examples. Keep it current. Google rewards freshness, and so do readers.
Let your voice show. The safest content is also the most forgettable. Take positions. Have opinions. Let your personality come through. The people you turn off weren’t going to buy anyway.
The Long Game
Great content is a compounding asset. Unlike paid ads that stop working when you stop paying, good content continues to attract, educate, and convert over years.
But only if it’s actually good. Content that doesn’t serve readers won’t serve you either.
The question to ask before every piece: Is this a gift worth giving?
Need help auditing your content strategy? We’re happy to take a look. Sometimes fresh eyes see patterns you’ve been missing.