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How to Create Content that Fascinates

How to Create Content that Fascinates

October 18, 2012

What exactly is content? And how can it be fascinating?

According to Wikipedia, “the word is used to identify and quantify various formats and genres of information as manageable “value-adding components of media.”

Who determines what is “value-added”?

With so much noise in today’s digital world, it’s hard to stand out.

That is, unless you’re a clown.

Science World in Vancouver ran a brilliant advertising campaign. (And by the way, content is advertising, and advertising is content).

The photo above is one of many used in the campaign. It resonates because it:

1) Evokes emotion

2) Offers an interesting fact

3) Tells a story

It’s data-driven brand storytelling. And it works. Why? Because it fascinates.

Fascinating content doesn’t just engage an audience – it compels them to go out of their way to consume the content. That can mean tivo-ing an episode of Breaking Bad or subscribing to a blog post.

But wait…there’s a psychological underpinning to fascination.

In the book “Fascinate” Sally Hogshead argues that any activity has many degrees of attraction, with different scales of intensity:

Create content that’s right in the middle in terms of intensity. Content simply needs to be interesting and engaging. The obsession and compulsion part? Not a good look.

What content fascinates you? Please comment below.

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