Readers Want to Skim; If Not, They Skip

Very few content creators go into a piece of writing with the notion, “I hope readers skim this piece!” But, in fact, that’s exactly what you want them to do.

The binary isn’t between whether readers will skim your article or read it in its entirety; it’s whether they will skim it or skip it altogether.

And thus becomes one of the primary purposes of developing effective content for marketing purposes: the skim. Facilitate that, and you will earn the readers’ trust, interest and engagement. That initial skim, therefore, becomes the introduction to you, your expertise and the subject matter of the discrete piece of thought leadership. It is the portal into a deeper relationship between the author and reader.

The skim is the invitation to delve deeper. Without it, you’re risking the dreaded skip.

Is Automated Content Truly Thought Leadership, Or Is It Following the Leaders?

Mere “content” for content’s sake is generally not enough to fully allow an individual to differentiate, to establish a credible expert reputation, and to separate oneself from the competitive field of peers and rivals in the increasingly crowded marketplace of ideas. Sure, if you would’ve asked me ten years ago, “Is any content better than no content?” the answer would’ve been a reluctant “sure.” But today, the media are noisier, the voices are more plentiful, and our audiences have never been more distractible.

The good news? Most of the content out there is considered by decision makers to be subpar. There’s your opportunity: to elevate your subject matter expertise into thought leadership, and your thought leadership into new business opportunities. But you likely won’t achieve your aspirations by adding to the content tsunami. You must engage in thought leadership, not just content creation.

So what’s the difference?

I recently shared the following post and Entrepreneur article, relaying how LinkedIn’s algorithm update will be a game-changer for content creators and publishers on the platform. What made this post generate 100 times my typical impression account? In a word, it was “helpful”…

If you are in the business of selling expertise, a professional service, or consulting engagements, one of the best ways to earn the confidence of a prospective client is to consistently and convincingly demonstrate domain authority and subject matter expertise.

But the goal is almost never to move a prospect into market. Typically speaking, no amount of marketing can, as the purchases are significant, well-thought-out, thoroughly discussed, and of significant scope and dollar value.

So, if we can’t convince someone to buy from us with marketing, why should we bother? Because of the natural lifecycle of a purchase of professional services.

Is it better to focus on SEO-friendly long-form content, or short, more digestible content that audiences seem to have a preference for these days? If you only play the short game, and all of your content lives only in social media posts, it will be invisible to anyone searching for your expertise online or visiting your website to vet you as a service provider. If you only post short-form content, will search engines find you invisible?

The truth is you have to do both if you want to be truly effective—the short game AND the long game. The nice thing is, one overlays against the other.

I don’t think it’s wise to approach LinkedIn as prospecting “CRM” software, wherein you go trawling for leads, playing the spray-and-pray numbers game.

Instead, I think there’s a more genuine, human approach you can take to the world’s largest business-to-business social network in a way that will almost assuredly result in business-development wins, but will not have you pounding the proverbial pavement, cold calling and knocking on doors.