Learn the Principles of Content Marketing

After joining the digital marketing industry, I quickly realized what it is all about. Marketing is a clean terminology for deception, manipulation, and propaganda. This was one of the key reasons many beginners in the industry, especially content writers, suffer from impostor syndrome.

Wherever they look, they find a watered-down definition of what promoting yourself or a company entails, which prevents them from learning the foundational principles critical for career success.

Since I have an odd habit of “keeping it real” at all times, I stopped kidding myself about the nature of the job as soon as I saw through the mist.

Then, the goal was to look for the dark knowledge that helps media houses, politicians, religious leaders, and other hustlers peddle crap for mercantile gains.

In this chapter, let’s look at some condensed nuggets of wisdom I managed to scrape by lurking in the underworld.

Repetition will foster belief

If you tell someone repeatedly that they are ‘stupid’ and ‘not worth anything,’ eventually, they will start believing it. Over time, their posture will become imperfect, and they will start to second-guess everything they do, even basic things like eating a meal.

The same tactic is followed by organized religion, particularly the three Abrahamic ones.

The followers of the three ideologies have only one leg to stand on: “It is written in the book, so I believe it.” Most, if not all, doctrines within these books that relate to science, society, and general universal phenomena have been thoroughly disproven by many.

But still, people continue to believe in the notion of an eternal heaven.

The reason is simple. From a young age, they’ve been going through the contents of the religious texts over and over again. Now, their minds are shaped in that way.

Therefore, it’s key that you repeat your core message in various forms to ensure your audience takes a desirable action.

Thinking for yourself is hard

People struggle to do difficult things alone, particularly if it involves juggling multiple variables and making a responsible decision. You can definitely do it once in a while, but if the analytical thinking process continues for days, you will buckle.

This is one of the pivotal reasons why people tend to follow others. Activities like going to a reputed college, aiming for a job in a certain company, and having a certain type of romantic relationship are done by mimicking others to save energy.

The same holds true for your audience.

They don’t want to think too much when deciding whether your products or services are the best for them. And it’s your job to create content that offloads or automates their thinking while making you look good to increase the chances of a conversion.

When writing marketing content, avoid modals, such as ‘can and ‘may ’, because they relay uncertainty and a lack of confidence. Yes, you don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver, but your readers would rather think less.

Add ego to your messages

This is related to the previous point. You need to truly believe that your offerings are the best and that consuming your content is worth your time. Of course, the right way to back it up is to continually improve your writing skills.

Confidence makes you a better communicator. It allows you to connect more with your readers and persuade them with sincerity.

You can observe politicians, pimps, and religious leaders doing the same. 

Politicians lie about the potential impact they will bring, but believe it themselves. The more delusion a politician can foster, the better they are at speaking to crowds and gaining public support. 

Similarly, pimps run on ego and arrogance when talking to their bitches. They certainly do believe that a woman should sell herself on the streets and hand all of the money over to him at the end of the day.

Last but not least, religious leaders or fanatics themselves speak passionately about a heaven that doesn’t exist, except for in a book that has plenty of logical fallacies. Still, they manage to convert or influence others.

Wrapping up

Marketing and advertising professionals get a lot of hate. There’s some truth to it. Over the years, this profession has tricked people into buying terrible products, including food items that poison them.

Even petroleum companies swore that lead (used as an additive for its anti-knocking properties) was okay to inhale.

You must embrace the truth about the nature of this industry to master the aforementioned principles. Also, there are plenty of other principles, or revelations rather, that you will discover along the way.

Godspeed.

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Next Chapter: How to Experiment With Different Writing Styles

Previous Chapter: 3 Tips to Skyrocket Your Content Writing Income

Index (Prologue): What is Content Writing

Doctors in cigarette advertisements