This is a variation of Seth Godin's quote, "When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one." And it's one of the best tips in content marketing that freelance writers like me and business owners like you can apply when writing content or blog posts.

Here are 5 characteristics you should remember to create great content:

Understands the subtleties and nuances of a platform

It's not enough for businesses to just be there. With thousands of content consumed by everyone daily, your content can easily become junk among other junk online. If you take time to learn and understand how you can leverage a platform's capabilities, then your brand may become the thumb-stopping content between the clutter in a channel. Different platforms have different specs, and ideas are best executed in a way that takes advantage of how users consume content.

Easily digestible

Communicate using micro-content—small bite-sized information, inspiration, commentary, and so on. It makes it easier for your customers to digest what you want to say because you minimize the number of messages you are sending across.

When posting content, focus on one key message at a time to minimize the number of things that customers need to absorb.

Leverages moments

Creating content that leverages trends is a way for your brand to adapt according to the situations that may resonate with your audience without making it too hard-sell.

One example is during the 2013 Super Bowl. The power went out in the Superdome in the middle of the game, leaving spectators in the dark for half an hour. Oreo took this opportunity and tweeted "Power Out? No Problem," and a photo of a single Oreo in the dark with an accompanying text that says "You can still dunk in the dark." The tweet didn't tell anyone to buy an Oreo, but it reminded everyone that the cookie is for all occasions.

Made for your customers

Gone are the days when you can simply slap a giant 50% off violator over your product images and call it a day. People are more likely to purchase from brands they believe can understand what is important to them over those that offer no relevance to what they perceive as valuable.

Great content makes your consumers feel emotions that urge them to act on that feeling. When you deliver content, focus on how you are giving value to them first—be generous, or informative, or entertaining, or inspiring—before focusing on the value to you—making a sale.

Creating content following the 9:1 rule is a good practice, especially for businesses that are new online. The 9:1 ratio means you need to make content about your audience nine times before creating one content about you And even with that 1 content you create, it should be in terms of what's in it for your audience.

Consistent with your identity

Great content is consistent. Regardless of what campaign you launch or how you tell your story, your brand's identity and personality must come through. Does your brand have a luxurious, elegant personality or a bubbly, lighthearted image?

Keeping consistent also means that you have to be tasteful of the types of events or trends you leverage so that they are on-brand. If you are a premium brand, latching on to memes may not be suitable compared to a mass-market brand.

In summary, great content may be argued by some based solely on who has published more. But it's the quality that makes customers engaged and the reason why they would also want to stay. In fact, with Google's Helpful Content update, content made exclusively for search engines will take a huge hit. As a brand, humanizing your content is essential to make sure you get to the top of search engine results pages.

If you need help keeping your website updated, check out my content writing and retainer services. Or if you already have an idea of what you want or would like to discuss how I can help you and your business, you can request a proposal today.