Your Rabbit Holes Are The Secret To Your Content Strategy

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You know that feeling when it's suddenly 2 AM and you're 17 tabs deep into articles about ancient Roman concrete techniques? Yeah, me too.

I spent three hours last week learning about the mating habits of deep-sea anglerfish. Am I marine biologist? Nope. Do I scuba dive? Never. But something pulled me in and wouldn't let go.

We waste hours falling down these internet rabbit holes, yet struggle for content ideas that keep our audiences engaged.

Those very rabbit holes are actually your secret content strategy goldmine.

Think about it. The same psychological triggers that kept you clicking through an obscure Wikipedia wormhole are exactly what you need to build for your audience. Your "time-wasting" internet sessions aren't wasted at all - they're research. At lease this is what I keep telling myself.

It’s all research. 🙃

I've discovered that by reverse engineering my own browsing patterns, I can create content that hooks others the same way I got hooked. And I'm going to show you how to do the same.

Let's turn your digital distractions into your content marketing superpower.

Why Your Brain Can't Stop Clicking

Ever wonder why you keep reading about that one random topic until 3 AM?

It's not just poor self-control (though maybe put your phone away at bedtime, seriously).

Your brain is following information scent trails, hunting for small dopamine hits with each new discovery. There's actual science behind this behavior, and smart content creators weaponize it.

I once spent an entire Sunday learning about how movie soundtracks are composed. No reason. I don't make music or movies. But each article revealed something unexpected that made me need to know more.

That's exactly what we want our audience to feel.

From Consumption to Creation: Flipping the Script

Here's my three-step process for turning your rabbit holes into content strategies:

1. Track your trails. For one week, note which content kept you reading/watching longer than you planned. What was the hook? How did they structure the information? What questions did each piece answer that led you to the next?

2. Spot the patterns. Was it curiosity gaps? Surprising statistics? Personal stories? Contrarian viewpoints? You'll start seeing specific triggers that work on you.

3. Mirror the mechanics. Now build those same psychological triggers into your content funnels. If unexpected comparisons hooked you, use them. If question headlines kept you clicking, try that format.

If you wanna get super nerdy, paste the last weeks internet history into ChatGPT and ask it to check for such rabbit holes.

More than anything though, be prepared for the harsh truth about what you’re looking at online….

✌️ Tim "Alice In Wonderland" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai