Local radio personality Dan Cole likes to tease his producer that he’s a “tasteless box of mashed potatoes.” A little harsh, but it describe the dangers of bland content pretty vividly. Don’t let your content become boxed potatoes from Wal Mart by trying to make something that all can enjoy. Your readers deserve candied bacon kabobs dusted with cayenne pepper.

Content Depth

Content subject matter can be thought of in three levels: Tourist, Local, and Native. Tourist content answers ‘what’ questions and gets steady traffic from casual readers. Local content tackles ‘how’ and ‘why,’ resonating with regular readers who want to go deeper. But Native content? That’s where you explore the nuances that only true enthusiasts care about. Take coffee brewing for example. While tourists want to know general interest and introductory topics like ‘what’s the best coffee maker?’, natives are debating whether a 15-degree angle difference in their pour-over technique affects extraction time. Each will attract a very different audience.

Every hobby community has its segments. Take mechanical keyboards. Most people are happy with whatever came with their computer, but there is also a thriving subgroup of enthusiasts who can tell you exactly why the Cherry MX Blue switch provides the perfect tactile feedback for their coding sessions. And they won’t respond to generic, safe claims.

When you create content that tries to appeal to everyone, you end up speaking to no one. Your ‘Ultimate Guide to Mechanical Keyboards’ might get more clicks, but your deep dive into ‘How Different Spring Weights Affect Typing Fatigue’ will build a loyal following.

The Power of Going All-In on Your Die-Hards

The core of heavy duty users in your niche is the toughest group to win over, but the most rewarding as well. When you show up as genuine and enthusiastic, and deliver the content at the right angles, you can tap into the IYKYK virtual head nod of recognition and respect of hard core users. But it’s also exponentially more powerful. People who live your niche every day not only have their own buying power, they command the attention of the next ring of enthusiasts who want to level up.

Content strong enough to win over power users

• Selecting the right topics – bringing regular, timely reactions to what’s trending demonstrates industry acumen
• Using insider vocabulary and terms – not watering things down for beginners
• Hot takes – tourist content provides reference material, native content has an informed opinion and takes a specific stance

Practical Steps to Deepening Content

What does it take to go deep? First and foremost, you have to be an active listener. That means investing in conversations with power users, participating in discussions, and taking time for personal immersion for content creators. Push for closer contact with customers and pay attention to the language they use and emotion they bring.

When defining your content topic areas, it’s tempting to chase the biggest demand. Commit instead to delivering the next layer down of specificity, and break down your topics across more posts and materials. It will require most consistent contributions to cover a single topic, but a steady drumbeat will work in your favor versus general purpose content posted across disparate topics.

Break new ground. To be a contributor to your niche, you need to go beyond curating content from others to bring something new and add value. That can be your specific first hand experience, original research, proprietary tools, or a contrarian take that departs from conventional wisdom. As you stick your neck out with new thinking, the ability to look back and evaluate your previous takes as valuable will build trust over time.

Use case: How specialty coffee roasters build cult followings

Coffee in America is a wonderfully popular product area and content branch opportunities abound. So if you’re a specialty roaster, why write the same article about Arabica beans that has already been written dozens of times, just because it’s a popular topic? Instead, go deep by highlighting rare and sought after varieties like Excelsa, grown in Southeast Asia and less than 1% of the global coffee harvest. It will appeal to hyper enthusiasts looking for smoky, fruity flavor and who are willing to hunt down a difficult to find and expensive bean. But those are the ones you want. However the benefit doesn’t end there. Behind the life long coffee aficionados, there are newcomers to the hobby who want to jump to ‘the best’, and are willing to follow what the tastemakers drink.

If your roasting brand goes on to publish breakdowns of detailed processing methods, and seasonal harvest analyses, stuff that most of the world doesn’t ever think about, you are signaling to the powerful core of your base that you are one of them.

Being a part of a tribe is what niche content is about. It’s difficult enough to dissuade many brands from doing what it takes to earn trust from the insiders of insiders. If you are willing to put in the work you’ll have a less crowded competitive landscape and the backing of the most influential voices too.