My first paid writing gig was for a make-money blog. My client judged the uniqueness of my content by how logical my sentences were and what plagiarism score I got from Copyscape. That formed my idea about what unique content is.

• Read the first few ranking pages
• Extract the best points
• Perfectly reword them to pass the plagiarism checker.

That was my bare and lackluster writing process until I decided to niche down in B2B content marketing and began to intern at Your Content Mart. It was then I realized everything I've written prior was nothing unique and everything the G&C founders call "Google research paper".

Are you just realizing the same as well and wondering how you can write unique content pieces with original ideas?

Well, this article got you.

I'll share with you the 8 tactics I've learned about producing unique content that drives results.

But before then…

Let's lay a foundation with these 3 noteworthy facts about crafting unique content pieces that build authority:

Fact #1: Writers are Not Subject Matter Experts

Imagine getting wellness advice from someone who became a wellness expert after studying for only 5 days. I bet you won't stake your dear life on such!

But that's what you do if you're into hiring freelance writers to write on subjects they have little to no experience in.

You're simply asking them to read up and offer expert advice in 5 or fewer days. The result? Subpar and unreliable information.

A writer's primary job is to collect data and ideas, transform them into readable content, and optimize it for the medium involved (in this case, search engine).

This means that unless the writer doubles as the subject matter expert (SME) or the article can rely solely on publicly available information, the writer must interview an SME.

Mind you, I'm not referring to contributory quotes or expert roundups. But leaning the article on the opinion and experience of verified SME(s).

This synergy ensures you're saying something worth someone's time.

Fact #2: If You Can't Make it Unique, Don't Write it

I’ve noticed that this is a hard fact to admit. But prestigious marketers and CEOs won't hesitate to back off from a keyword because they lack enough data and ideas to help them stand out from the crowd.

Why?

Because they understand that content is beyond ranking for keywords. And that every piece of content is both a marketing real estate and the building block of authority.

A marketing real estate because a piece of content can drive a pipeline of qualified leads for your business for years after producing it.

As well as a building block of authority because it can engraft your brand in the mind of your target audience and turn them into superfans that preach the gospel of your business for free.

Hence, never write a piece of content because you have something to say. Only write when you have something different and outstanding to say.

I love the way Benji, the cofounder of G&C, put it in this tweet:

Fact #3: Not all Unique Content Pieces are Created the Same Way

There's no cut-and-dry route to crafting unique content pieces. There are different tactics you can leverage to craft one.

However, the tactics you choose should be based on the keyword involved and what you believe will best appeal to your target audience.

As promised, here are…

8 Tactics for Crafting Unique Content

1. Exploit Content Gaps

4,40000

That's the number of new blog posts published each day in 2022.

While this may mean that the internet is now a choked ocean of information. In most cases, it presents lots of opportunities if you're ready to roll up your sleeves and work.

How you may ask?

By reviewing the first page of the SERP, you're likely to find:

• Cliches to avoid
• Misinformation to counter
• Shallow information to expand on.

These are gaps you can exploit to craft content with a unique perspective.

But how do you recognize the gaps when you barely know about the topic?

Hence, emphasis on the need to interview SMEs. Only an expert will help you piece out the gaps and find a point of view your article can leverage to grab attention.

Pro tip: It's best to review the SERP content before the interview. This is to help you gain the basic knowledge of the topic and ask targeted questions.

2. Customize Your Content

To customize your content, use:

One, your ideal customer profile details

Rather than striving to write for just anyone, write for those that truly need your service.

Define your ICP and tailor your content to suit them. Use details such as their challenges and desires to write highly targeted content that resonates with them.

Deep customer insights set your content apart from the competing pages that lack them. Because these pages either guessed the details of their readers or wrote for a broad audience to catch as many visitors as possible.

The SERP for the keyword "best SMS marketing software" shows this at the time of publishing this article.

All the domains here are review and affiliate sites except Twilio and Klaviyo which are SMS marketing software blogs.

SERP of this nature is an immense advantage for direct customer-facing brands like Twilio and Klaviyo.

In this case, using your ICP details to inform your content will make you stand out to quality visitors that are likely to engage further with your brand.

Two, patent data

These are insights and data generated from research carried out by your company, or observations made from your working experience.

If you sell an email marketing software for e-commerce, you can research the most preferred e-commerce store for different product categories and publish it.

Such articles don't just draw people's attention but can generate lots of links. They can also be used over and over in future articles to validate your claims and show expertise.

3. Use Custom and High-Quality Multimedia

Multimedia is to a piece of writing what an accessory is to a lady. They complement and visually enhance your article. They break up blocks of text and relieve your reader's brain from the strain of reading.

Beyond the visual appeal, they add an extra layer of value for your audience.

You can:

• Demonstrate practical aspects of your article with videos as Wistia did in this post or explain the whole article. The video can be a recording of yourself or an animation that can be created using tools like OpenToonz.

• Help lazy readers and visually impaired readers by embedding audio into your blogs. This can either be your voice record, a podcast discussion, or at the least a text-to-speech tool.

• Show statistics, and relationships, and summarize your message with infographics using tools like Venngage.

• Make your message memorable with relevant images. Use custom images by taking high-quality photos or design graphics with tools like Canva.

• Add humor with GIFs & Memes. You can find GIFs in Giphy apps or create one with Veed.io. Memes can be created on Canva or Kapwing.

• Show testimonials, processes, and steps with screenshots.

Investing in custom, high-quality multimedia can give you an edge in SERP.

This is one of Ahref's tactics for grabbing readers' attention. Ahref uses custom featured images in all their articles. Proof that it’s been effective is from comments like this:

Source: Leadfeeder

4. Write In-depth Content

The aim of in-depth content is not to impress Googlebot with word count. But to create the most informative and valuable content on the keyword.

This is one attribute that made me develop a soft spot for all things Ahref.

The first time I encountered Ahref was through their article on "search intent" which my mentor shared with me. It was so in-depth and detailed that I had to bookmark it.

But as a habit, I read at least the first 5 articles on a keyword to be sure I'm bookmarking the best.

The shallow and lean look of the other content made it easy for me to stick with Ahref. The reason is—I couldn't accept that anyone can deliver more value than I got from Ahref in fewer words.

Merely scratching the surface of a topic can make your audience perceive you as "another one".

Like Ahref, you want to stand out by having the holy grail resources on the topic.

Learn to drill deep and answer all questions around every topic worth writing about.

Need any ideas on how to drill deep into a topic?

• Answer the "people also ask" questions on SERP.

• Research what people are asking on forums like Quora and Reddit.

• Conduct a social media pool to get an idea of what your audience will like to know.

• Satisfy your conscience. Expand and clarify points whenever you feel the need to do so.

Beware! Don't fluff up your content with irrelevant details.

5. Offer Freebies

Nobody likes to miss a party where they're not only promised fun and good food but a gift to take away.

Most times it takes beyond a great onsite experience to win readers. Think of a freebie they can take away.

Chima Mmeje, the founder of Zenith Copy, perfectly addressed this point in a LinkedIn post.

This is the Guru article Chima cited in the post.

6. Use Compelling Headlines

Your headline markets your article. If it does a poor job, your unique content may never get the chance to defend it.

Hence, your unique value proposition must reflect in your headline. It should outrightly promise your audience what you're offering that no one else does.

• If your content is in-depth, you can state it with words like "most comprehensive guide to.. ", "A-Z of…", "Exhaustive insight on…"

• If you're offering anything for free, your headline can say +free infographics, +free template.

• If you narrowed down your audience, you can pull in the right audience by stating who the audience is "...for B2B audience", "email marketing for—Shopify store owners".

The point is, to leverage the specific ways your article stands out to call in your audience.

Also, always ensure you're using compelling verbs that can evoke clicks. According to CoSchedule, it is what separates the best headlines from the rest.

To ensure you're using compelling verbs, analyze your headline with tools like CoSchedule, Sharethrough, Content Row, MonstaInsight and so forth.

7. Leverage a Unique Structure

This is not just about rearranging your headings to look different from similar articles. It's more about prioritizing readers' experiences. Such that it's easier to find the relationship between points, spot important details, and skim.

Yes, skim!

HubSpot reports that 39% of visitors admit to skimming blog posts. Skimming of content is not a question of whether your content is good. It's not a factor you can control. Hence, it's wise to consider skimmers when structuring your content.

Need ideas on how to structure your content?

Think of how to:

• Group long lists under similar headings. It could be based on features, audience type, or price.
• Break H2 into H3 and H3 into H4 and so on, when appropriate.
• Breakup long sentence lists into bullets (like I did with this structure idea section).
• Use H-tags in their correct hierarchy.
• Use quote blocks.
• Highlight an important message with “side note”, “key takeaway”, “pro tips” when necessary.
• Use a table of content with jump links.
• Use tables for comparisons.
• Use charts and graphs for stats.

Based on the format of the article involved, you might find more nuanced ways to structure your content to stand out.

8. Leverage Your Unique Voice and Style

The method of conveying a message is as important as the value it holds.

Letting your natural or honed style of writing seep into your content adds a subtle difference that sets you apart. More like lining a lace with luster satin, it adds glimmer and shine to your message and teases the reader.

Source: Giphy

Writing styles to weave into your content include:

• Storytelling

When a story is well told and relatable, it's hard to forget. It makes your audience the main character and endears them towards you. Even more powerful when it reveals your personal or customer experience and shows how the character moved from struggling to winning.

So, how do you craft compelling stories?

The Why, How and What framework is a great and simple framework that I've found helpful. However, I'm sharing this LinkedIn post by Chima Mmeje because I love the way she explained it.

• Analogy and Metaphor

Analogies and metaphors add fun and color to your ideas, but they do more than that. They bring obscure ideas to life and help your B2B audience make sense of your industry jargon.

When an analogy is creative and relatable, it makes the message remarkable and prompts organic engagement like the analogy of "album and mixtape" by Ross Simmonds of Foundation Marketing.

The blog post had people commenting on how it resonated with them.

And even earned another Twitter share for it.

Always think of how to drive your point home by drawing a creative contrast between the familiar and the unfamiliar.

I love how Ardath Albee, CEO of Marketing Interactions, said it.

“With some creativity and a metaphor, you can really draw attention and have people think differently. Think comparison and focus on creating a mind picture for an instant ‘aha.”- Ardath Albee

• Humor

Many B2B marketers don't take humor well. This is because some think it doesn't resonate with B2B audiences. Others think it's a technical skill and if you suck at it, trying can be fatal. So, it's best to keep off.

To an extent, these thoughts are true. But I believe they wouldn’t have arisen if people aren't taking humor to be more than what it is — HUMANIZING.

Humor isn’t a rib-cracking one-liner along an article. It’s about thoughtfully injecting light stories and ditching dull words and sentences for livelier options. It is supporting your points with memes and GIFs.

The aim is to put your readers at ease, warm them up and keep them digging on.

Trust me, only audiences with rock-stiff faces wouldn't choose such an experience.

• Conversational tone

Writing in a conversational tone breaks the barrier between you and your audience. It changes the silent, boring, one-way transaction of a lecture room to an interactive session.

Using “you” and “your” is a great way to make the reader the main character of the article, but it doesn’t make it conversational. A conversational tone is a good mix of “you” and “I” or “we”.

In essence, don't just tell me about myself and what I should or shouldn't do. Tell me about your experience and opinions.

You can also make your content pieces conversational by mentally engaging your readers. You can do this by:

• Asking questions intermittently. (I love to use questions to break off to solutions after stating a problem).

• Painting a picture and asking them to imagine. (I did that in the first paragraph of fact#1.)

• Use quizzes. See how Ahref used a quiz in their article on "search intent".

Crafting Unique Content Seems Like a Lot of Work

Yes, it is.

However, look away from the hard work involved and focus on the reward—star content, more web visitors, and authority.

Your journey starts when you insist on using original ideas. If you're not an SME, reach out to one.

If you ever feel you can't write better than the existing content on search engines, maybe you don't need that article.

But most times, there's always a chance to ride on. All you need do is leverage these tactics:

• Review the SERP content pieces to find gaps to exploit.
• Use insights about your audience and patent data to write customized content.
• Craft deep and detailed content.
• Visually enrich your content and offer more value with custom and high-quality multimedia.
• Use your USP and compelling verbs in your headline.
• Lure your readers with relevant freebies.
• Improve readability with a unique content structure.
• Convey your message with a touch of your personality by letting your natural or honed skill shine through.