Disclaimer – I AM a freelance copywriter (and I think a darned good one!)
Why Original Content is Better Than “Template” Content
Okay, so – yes, Google and its SEO algorithms are all about Keywords and Domain Authority and yadda, yadda, yadda.
That’s well and good BUT even granted that AI (Artificial Intelligence) will eventually become our WIKI for all knowledge, it hasn’t displaced human beings yet, especially when it comes to making decisions about money and commitment.
Despite everything you might read or hear – eventually you want real human people to READ and react positively to what you have to say. Part of learning how to read back in the last millennium was rote learning – “See Jane run, see Dick run…” repetition to beat concepts into people’s heads. 
Millennials are Digital Natives (people who learned digital along with toilet training) and they’re NOT interested in SOSO – Same Old Same Old. Repetition has its place, but it’s not EVERYPLACE and not only for Digital Natives. Their actions have changed how we think and how we want to learn about things, ESPECIALLY when it comes to how we decide what to do with our money.
Originality and creativity are the two drivers that cause people to change – what they think, what they believe, AND what they do with their money.
The people who bombard our inboxes and phones with spam – over and over and over – and others like them, still have the old-school notion that “selling is just a numbers game” and are willing to be satisfied with three-tenths of a percent (.03%) return on their marketing effort.
Believers in “tonnage” are convinced that tons and tons of content seen frequently, even if it’s mediocre or actually stinks will get you enough sales to get by. If you are selling a commodity, that MAY work, as long as you have the lowest price.
However, what seems to be working best these days is to engage people, to capture their attention in a different way. It’s called Content Marketing and blogs are one of its most significant forms. By definition, those who read them are interested in learning more about things that pique their curiosity.
Those people don’t want to be pounded with sales messages, they want to be informed in a way that is interesting, likable and NOT repetitive and boring.
Using a cookie-cutter template and churning out reams of “salesy” material will turn off ALL readers, not just Digital Natives. We all have adjusted to a do more/see more/faster pace. Who doesn’t check a Smartphone? Who has patience with spam of any kind? The vast majority of non-Millennials have converted to being Digital Immigrants – trying to fit in and keep up with the “crowd.”
That’s why study after study shows that informative and well-written blogs get read and the information that they share will be acted upon by their engaged readers.
Andy Chiodo is the President of Charisma PR, a full-service copywriting firm in Columbus, Ohio, that is well-known for Content Marketing – blogs, social media profiles and more.