Be sparing about opinion-based content. Typically nobody cares about your published opinion unless it’s about major issues impacting your customers and industry…and it offers a solution that is verifiable.
Most of the time your opinion laid out like a blog post will either infuriate a potential customer – or more likely bore them. Everyone has an opinion. Why is yours more important than others? A consumer that reads your opinion will not likely drive a sale. Except…
The Two Exceptions to the Rule
Of course there are exceptions to this rule.
Exception 1) If you are a somebody then your opinion may count. When Barack Obama has an opinion people listen. When Warren Buffet has an opinion people listen. If you are the president of an association or a leader among a large group of people or a newspaper editor, your opinion may matter. And it might drive popular opinion. Hollywood stars have this kind of clout.
Exception 2) If you produce comparative content, like a review that compares three products or summarizes a product category then your opinion has value. But only as a service to provide contrasting information that helps a person make a buying choice.
Otherwise, keep your opinion to yourself in content marketing. Nobody cares what you think. The irony is the people that ignore this tip will write their opinion anyway. And their mom, their spouse and a guy that clicks on it by accident will see it. And it will be lost in the depths of the Internet.
