How to Create Content That Actually Stands Out (When Most of It Doesn’t)
Spend a few minutes on LinkedIn, and a pattern emerges. Different people, different sectors, but the same tone, structure, and recycled thinking, appearing again and again. On the surface, much of it is well written and thoughtfully presented, yet very little of it leaves a lasting impression.
The issue isn’t a lack of effort or quality. It’s that most content has no meaningful effect on what matters. It doesn’t shift perception, it doesn’t create conversation, and it rarely contributes to growth. I’ve seen the same thing play out in real-world marketing, where budgets are spent on campaigns that generate activity but very little measurable impact. LinkedIn isn’t creating that problem; it’s simply reflecting it.
Developing a point of view that actually matters
Most people approach content by asking what they should say or how they should say it. A more useful starting point is to ask what they actually believe, particularly where that belief challenges what is commonly accepted.
In practice, that means looking at your own experience and identifying where it contradicts the narrative in your industry. What are people investing in that doesn’t deliver results? What gets talked about frequently but rarely makes a difference? Those are the areas where a genuine point of view starts to take shape.
From there, the discipline is in keeping that thinking clear. It’s very easy to soften a message in an attempt to make it more balanced or widely acceptable, but that often removes the very thing that makes it worth reading. Clarity is far more powerful than completeness, especially when attention is limited.
The difference between content and conviction
You can usually recognise content that cuts through because it feels different straight away. It doesn’t follow a familiar style, and it doesn’t try to sit comfortably with everyone reading it. Instead, it takes a position and invites the reader to respond.
For example, it’s easy to say that digital tools can enhance tenant engagement, and in some cases, that’s true. A more honest and useful observation might be that if a building app has more features than users, its strategy has failed. The topic is the same, but the second statement is grounded in experience and invites a response, rather than simply describing a possibility.
That gap is crucial. Content that merely informs is soon forgotten. Content grounded in belief is remembered, discussed, and acted upon.
Using AI without sounding like it
There’s a lot of discussion about AI shaping content, and the data suggests that over half of long-form LinkedIn posts are now AI-generated or heavily influenced, with marketing content among the most affected. That’s not necessarily a problem in itself, but it does explain why so much of what we see feels increasingly similar.
The difference is in use. Asking AI for finished content yields generic output. Use AI to explore, challenge, and refine ideas, but never let it replace your own thinking. Your perspective is irreplaceable. Experience, judgement, and strong positions create distinction. Without this, content blends in, no matter how polished it appears.
A practical framework · Applying AIDA properly
Frameworks like AIDA are often referenced in marketing, but they're rarely applied with clear intent. Used properly, it’s a simple way to bring structure and clarity to your thinking without making your content formulaic.
Attention comes from saying something that disrupts expectation, rather than trying to sound clever. Interest is built by expanding on a point the reader recognises as true from their own experience. Desire follows when that point becomes relevant to them, particularly regarding what they might be doing wrong or what they might be missing. Action, in this context, is less about a call to click and more about encouraging a shift in thinking.
The framework itself is straightforward. What matters is the substance behind it. A clear idea, expressed well, will always outperform a well-structured version of a weak idea.
Knowing whether your content is actually original
It’s tempting to measure content purely through likes and impressions, but those are often surface-level signals. They can indicate visibility, but not necessarily impact.
A more useful way to assess your content is to look at the quality of response. Are people engaging with it in a meaningful way, offering their own perspective, or challenging what you’ve said? Are the right people responding, or simply more people? And perhaps most importantly, does the content stay with them beyond the moment they read it? Or is it immediately forgotten, if read at all?
There’s also a simpler test that can be applied before anything is published. Could someone else in your industry have written this? If the answer is yes, it’s worth pushing your thinking further.
Content volume will only increase, especially with AI. The gap between what’s produced and what’s remembered will keep growing.
The opportunity isn't to make more noise. It's to create content that’s considered, built on experience, and boldly says what others won’t. In a bland world, creative voices stand out by being truly different, not just louder.
Apple’s Think Different campaign gave people permission to challenge what everyone else accepted. Not to be different for the sake of it, but to stand behind a point of view and create something that actually matters. In a world full of recycled thinking, that’s still the edge.
