The Format Isn’t What Makes Content Stand Out—Your Voice Is”

When I was still running a blog with a partner, he once said to me, ‘I hate list posts.’

And while I think that everyone probably has a preferred post format, I have a love/hate relationship with list posts.

My mathematician heart and mind like everything with clear structure, and list posts come with an inbuilt structure of their own.

Not much thinking required for the subheads or structure. Just add another list item, and you are good.

List posts are also easy to write - especially when you don’t have deep insight into the matter. Just Google your topic and add what you find to your list. Rearrange the items, add some more from a different source.

That is why content writers loved lists for guest posts. Many guest posts were essentially collections of things everyone could find with a little time on any search engine.

Why List Posts Were So Popular

For a while, these lists resonated well with social media audiences. To win with lists, writers often simply had to make the list longer.

That made most of this list content rather generic and not very well suited for branding.

And when one of the first questions people ask about content these days is: ‘Is that generated by AI?’ a generic list post should probably not be your first choice of content - because a generic prompt can easily create a longer list that is no worse than what the ghostwriters created.

Yes, lists can still work: if you add something very personal to it.

The most important tip if you want to brand with content is to go beyond generic content and add a unique point of view, personal experience, or story to your content. List posts often lack this.

The natural question that comes from these thoughts is: What other content formats are there that don't instantly set off the AI alarm bells? And which of them resonate with your audience?

While I cannot fully answer the second question, I certainly can help you find inspiration for more variety in your post formats.

How- to posts:

According to Orbitmedia’s recent study about the state of blogging, this format is even more common than list posts. But they also say that it is not the strongest format when it comes to results.

Judging from my Substack feed, this is also quite common on Substack - especially for ‘How to grow on Substack’ content- and it is not the format that I like to open and read, but that is just a very personal observation.

I would recommend using it when you have something new to add. Not every boring question that has already been answered needs another how-to post from you. But if you figured something out that came as a surprise to you, maybe your audience will be surprised too!

Personal Stories Build Trust

While some consultant and coaching content probably wouldn’t work particularly well if it consisted solely of personal stories, there are many niches where personal stories work exceptionally well.

They build trust and recognition. And they make content memorable.

Travel writers, for instance, can turn personal experiences into unique, almost exclusive tips because nobody else had their experience.

What is posts

Explain What You Discovered—not Just What Something Is

It works if you are explaining something they don’t already know.

“What is X?” content about generic questions is boring. And most of the time, AI can give people a quicker and more thorough answer.

So don’t just explain what something is.

Explain what you discovered about it.

Use Controversy and Myth-Busting to Create Curiosity

Now we are talking.

If you have discovered that something commonly accepted is wrong - or at least badly misunderstood - this is your content format.

Present the contradictory take early to catch attention and create curiosity.

You asked AI about something and got a completely wrong answer?

There is your post.

There are many more content formats you can use, like problem-solution posts, roundup posts, why posts, beginner guides, and more.

But the examples above are already showing the most important lesson:

Choose the Format That Best Serves Your Insight

Don't choose a format because the format performs. Choose a format that gives you room to bring something of yourself to the subject.

The format is rarely the thing that makes your content stand out.

It is what you bring to it.

Your Voice Is What Makes Content Stand Out

Your experience. Your perspective. The thing you noticed that everyone else missed. The mistake you made. The question you couldn’t stop thinking about.

The format gives you the container. You still have to bring the human.

Add your voice, your opinion, and your experience, and the content format becomes secondary.

That is what people want to read because they cannot get it anywhere else.

Get the Voice Activation Workbook today

If you need a little help adding your voice to your content, the Voice Activation Workbook is for you. Get it here!​

Happy Weekend - I will spend mine harvesting apples and making cake and crumble from them,

Susanna