Read time: 4 minutes

I was just like you.

Obsessing over headlines.
Agonising over every hook.
Tweaking CTAs until my eyes crossed.

For months, I thought this endless cycle of optimisation was productive.

Surely all these subtle tweaks made a difference... right?

But in reality... I felt paralysed!

The content creation process dragged on. My mind raced 24/7. Frustration and burnout were becoming my best friends.

Despite all my efforts, it never felt like enough. There was always something more to improve, or another tweak to make.

Then, one day, everything changed...

I stumbled upon a timeless law that made me realise what mattered most with my content. It made me laugh at my former self and realise how wrong I'd been all along.

What was it that freed me from this self-imposed prison of perfectionism?

That's what you'll find out today. What I'm about to share will enhance your approach to content creation forever...

The Attribution Trap

We've all been there:

Maniacally refreshing our analytics dashboards, trying to decipher:

• "Was it the new style of post that gained more leads?"

• "Maybe it was swapping the CTA at the end?"

• "No, no...it must have been changing my LinkedIn banner!"

Sound familiar?

We crave the ability to draw neat, tidy lines between our actions and our results.

It's logical.
It's comforting.
It's...completely misguided.

The Curse of Goodhart's Law

This whole pursuit of logical measurable results violates a key principle known as Goodhart's Law.

Never heard of it? Don't worry, you're not alone. But understanding this law could change your approach to content creation and marketing for good.

Goodhart's Law states:

Let's break that down and see how it applies to our content creation efforts.

The Illusion of Perfect Attribution

Imagine this scenario:

Your engagement rate improves by 20% this month. You also drive 30% more email sign-ups. And you changed your LinkedIn banner last week.

It's tempting to declare victory, right?
"See? That snappy new piece of content is what moved the needle!"

But...is it really?

Could other factors be at play that you're overlooking?

• Changes in competitor strategies?

• Shifts in social media algorithms?

• Campaigns behind the scenes?

• Increased word-of-mouth?

• Seasonal demand spikes?

The truth is: You can never fully isolate and attribute results to any single tactic.

Too many untracked variables and contributions are in constant fluctuation.

The Danger of Obsessive Optimisation

When we become glued on specific metrics or tactics, we risk falling into the trap of Goodhart's Law. Here's how:

1. Tunnel Vision: 

You focus so much on improving a specific metric that you lose sight of the bigger picture.

2. Gaming the System:

You use strategies that artificially inflate a specific metric . But they it doesn't actually improve your overall performance towards your core goal.

3. Ignoring Unmeasured Factors: 

You could end up sacrificing important metrics that are difficult to measure. Think aspects like brand perception or long-term client loyalty.

These are difficult to measure, so you can easily overlook them. But at what cost? You end up pursuing short-term, measurable goals at a cost to your overall goals.

4. Analysis Paralysis:

Tweaking and testing every minor detail can lead to decision fatigue. It slows down your content creation process.

Embracing Uncertainty in Content Creation

So, if we can't rely on perfect attribution, what should we do?

Here are some strategies i'd recommend:

1. Focus on Consistent Value:

Avoid obsessing over individual tactics. Instead concentrate on consistently delivering high-quality, valuable content to your audience.

2. Take a Holistic View:

Look at your content strategy as a whole, rather than focusing on individual elements. How does each piece of content contribute to your overall goals?

3. Trust the Process:

Understand that good content compounds over time. The effects of your efforts might not be immediately measurable, but they make a difference over time.

4. Listen to Your Audience:

Direct feedback from your audience can often be more insightful than raw analytics data.

5. Measure What Matters:

Of course you shouldn't completely disregard metrics. They help you assess progress, track results, and adjust over time. But there's no point focusing on them all because when you do, you effectively focus on none of them.

So, focus on the metrics that align most with your long-term goals, not just what's easy to measure.

Moral of the Story

Chasing perfect attribution is a fool's errand.

There's no point obsessing over every individual tactic that moves the needle. Because let's face it, you'll only end up going with something that suits your narrative anyways.

This way of thinking leads you down a dead end. It's confirmation bias at it's finest.

Think of it like this...

if you want a specific factor to contribute towards a goal, you'll find a way to come to that conclusion.

In other words, you'll pick out the facts, the data, the evidence, that supports that outcome and ignore other things.

So let the content you create and the impact you have act as your measure, not surface level metrics. Because when you serve your audience and your clients with care, great things follow. Even if you can't with certainty say which individual factors had the greatest impact.

As the marketing legend Seth Godin said:

So, ask yourself:

Are you missing the point? Or are you focusing on what matters most?

Until next week,

Ryan