The 7 "Rules" of Content Marketing You Can’t Ignore

These seven battle-tested best practices will help you create content that resonates, builds trust, and (most importantly) gets results.

Most businesses overcomplicate content marketing. They chase trends, write for algorithms, and forget the one thing that actually makes content work: being useful.

Here’s 7 things I’ve learned from years in the trenches of content marketing (and from watching way too many people make it harder than it needs to be):

1. Stop Talking About Yourself

Nobody cares about your brand. They care about how you help them. The best content doesn’t start with “We’re excited to announce…”—it starts with solving a problem your audience actually has. Shift your focus from what you do to what your audience needs, and you’ll immediately create content that resonates.

2. Steal (the Right Way)

Your best content ideas are hiding in plain sight. Sales teams get the same questions over and over. Customer support fields the same frustrations. Subject-matter experts have insights they assume are “too basic” to share (spoiler: they’re not). Instead of staring at a blank screen, mine these real-world conversations for content ideas that are actually useful.

3. Don’t Aim for Perfection, Aim for Clarity

Big words don’t make you sound smart. They make people stop reading. If your audience has to reread a sentence to understand it, you’ve lost them. Simple, clear writing builds trust, keeps readers engaged, and—bonus—performs better in search rankings. So ditch the jargon. Write like a human talking to another human.

4. SEO Matters—But People Matter More

Yes, keywords, backlinks, and technical SEO are important. But at the end of the day, Google’s goal is the same as yours: to surface the best, most useful content. If you focus on genuinely helping your audience, search engines will reward you. Write content that answers real questions. Optimize after—not before—you’ve written something valuable.

A caveat is needed here. AI search engines like Perplexity are going to change this equation. Meanwhile, Google’s ongoing attempts to keep people on their SERP (search engine results page, that’s the page you see after you enter your search word/phrase) is also affecting the value of SEO. So still pay attention to SEO, but keep in mind it’s also changing.

5. Trust Takes Time

One viral post won’t build your business. A steady drumbeat of useful, insightful, and interesting content will. Every blog, video, or post is a tiny deposit in the bank of trust with your audience. Consistency is key—keep showing up with content that helps, and over time, you’ll earn the kind of credibility (and customers) that competitors can’t buy.

6. Editing is the Secret Sauce

The first draft is never the final draft. Writing is thinking on paper, and your first pass is usually too long, too fluffy, or missing the real point. Good editing cuts the fluff, sharpens the message, and makes every word earn its place. The difference between average content and great content? Editing.

7. Be Consistently Good (Not Occasionally Brilliant)

A steady stream of great content beats a one-time viral hit. Sure, a big splash is nice, but what happens after the traffic spike? The brands that win at content marketing aren’t the ones who go viral once—they’re the ones who show up, week after week, delivering real value. If you can be consistently good, your audience will stick around.

Content marketing isn’t about writing for the sake of writing—it’s about solving problems, educating, and building trust. Do that consistently, and the results will come.

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Let’s find more customers for you together. Schedule a time to talk, and let’s tackle your challenges together. With decades of experience in content strategy, marketing, and storytelling, I’ll help you refine your approach and create a plan that works. Let’s make progress, one step at a time!