An embarrassing photo of me could well be the saving grace for your content.

Hear me out.

Thanks to water damage in my parents’ shed, a cartload of old photos were dumped unceremoniously in my kitchen a few days ago. 

Amidst the random holiday photos, birthday keepsakes and evidence of terrible photography, there were about three or four that made the blood rush away from my head with shock.

I remembered when my hair was cut into curtains.

Not just any curtains though.

Oh no, I slicked my barnet with enough hair product to solidify Brian May’s weave.

Honestly, it was cringy.

My wife lapped it up of course – especially seeing as I’m now bald.

But while my family were cackling over what a muppet I looked like – I remembered why I had chosen that hairstyle.

Because I had tried others before it.

The spiked do that looked like Bart Simpson.

The ‘short back and sides’ that made my head look like a brick.

I had even gelled my hair together in the centre, like an undernourished mohawk.

And the curtains?

Well, it was the best of a bad bunch.

A motley rabble of mullets, if you will.

So I settled on the curtains.

I had tested what worked, what didn’t – and the hair style that garnered the least amount of laughs was the curtains – believe it or not.

Your content is crying out for the same approach.

How can you confidently say what you’re putting out there is what your audience wants to read?

Is there any conceivable way you can say your call-to-action button is worded correctly, without testing it again and again?

And when you do get some success – does that mean you stop testing?

A/B testing gives you the ability to continually optimise your content. You can evolve and find the nuances your audience are crying out for.

So when you have something that really needs to be heard – you can rest assured people will hear it.

Emails, landing pages, blogs, homepages, social media – try something, look at the response and then adjust accordingly.

That does mean you’ll need someone producing regular content and someone keeping a close eye on your engagement levels.

Good news? I’ve got your back.

Even better news? 

My hairline no longer offends anyone.