a graduate degree can understand it, about giving away the store, but look yet it’s still intelligent. It’s presented around: the most successful content in a way that grabs attention and marketers are the most generous. The best content pulls people through to the end. And provides genuine it looks good—it’s free of distracting 5. Freshness insight and moves errors and tacky art. You may not have new ideas, but you definitely have a personality—use it! a conversation 3. Credibility A fresh take on a perennial topic, a forward. Content marketing is all about humorous approach to bland how- establishing a bond of trustworthiness to material, personal anecdotes and and value with your audience. If you novel presentation can all make your want people to trust your content content stand out. Creative content (and your company), it has to be is more memorable and has a longer accurate, well supported and plausible. shelf life than bland content. Generalities, exaggerations and “Good” is a judgment involving a marketing hype are enemies of significant amount of subjectivity, credibility. Fact-checking is your friend. but if your content hits these marks, 4. Generosity you can be confident of its quality. “How can we help people?” is a And quality content is more likely to great way to approach content be shared—and remembered. development. Content that’s September 2014 obviously self-serving doesn’t educate or inspire, and it won’t draw an audience. Professional services firms in particular tend to worry thinkshiftcom.com | Content marketing manifesto | 9