When people learn that I am a writer with a bachelor’s degree in physics, they have one of these two responses:
- They are wildly impressed and assume I must be super smart (because who actually majors in physics?)
- They laugh. Because how does a degree in physics help me be a better writer?
Let’s look at the bigger picture here. Science is ultimately about discovering knowledge. Not randomly, but through systematic observations, measurements, and experimentation.
Think back to your middle school science fair project, where you were forced to learn the scientific method: ask a question, do background research, construct a hypothesis, test your hypothesis, analyze the data, draw a conclusion.
What I do as a content writer is not all that different from the scientific method.
- Ask my client questions about their business,
- Do background research on the demographics and psychographics of their Dream Client,
- Construct a hypothesis about how to help this Dream Client and write content to that end,
- Test my hypothesis by publishing different kinds of articles and other helpful posts,
- Analyze the data. I track everything and look for trends so that the process can be systematized to increase efficiency. Systems also remove emotion that slows down the process (read: worry and doubt).
- Draw a conclusion: Which pieces of content performed the best? Let that inform the content that you post next.
Rinse and repeat.
How do you apply the scientific method in your marketing?
