One of the distinguishing qualities of successful marketers is they are passionate students of human behavior – more specifically, buying behavior.

Human beings have innate tendencies that lead to actions – some favorable, and others not.

Addictions are unfavorable behaviors that can develop very innocently. For example, exercise is a positive action that people take to improve or sustain their vitality.

Yet, even exercise can become an obsessive and unhealthy addiction, one that can lead to fatigue and a number of other imbalances.

What you are really interested in is not addiction, but desirable actions – attracting prospects and customers in a way that is healthy, and therefore, sustainable.

The Addiction Cycle

Human beings are driven by desires. These desires encourage actions that lead to results that are favorable, and therefore, memorable.

Many of us would say that we are addicted to content. We seek out all kinds of information that feeds our desire to be current with our industry and profession, and it all starts with memories.

The addiction cycle is one of memories, actions, and desires.

When you consume anything that creates a favorable response, such as the confidence of being in-the-know, you create memories. Those memories propel your desires. You seek out more of the same to recreate that feeling of confidence.

So, you return to the source. If you are greeted with new information that is congruent with what you previously experienced, you are likely to come back for more.

But what happens if the information is unsatisfactory?

You still have the desire, so you will come back again to recreate that feeling – but it soon becomes one of desperation.

Create Congruent Experiences with Fresh Content

True addictions are the result of trying to create a remembered experience with the same circumstances and conditions.

When conditions are unchanged, the addict seeks to recreate the memorable experience by reaching for more. Eventually, the realization dawns that more and more of the same will not achieve the desired result.

That’s addiction.

As content marketers, you want to create desirable experiences. This is only possible by introducing fresh information that is congruent with the original experience.

Thus, you have to first know you audience – their needs and desires. Then you have to work to give them a reason to keep coming back, and that is only possible if your content is both fresh and congruent with what previously worked well.

The headline of this article was written for purposes of search engine optimization. The word addiction is edgy – it attracts attention.

Notwithstanding that, desires are what you should focus on. Desires work because they are fresh and contain an element of the unknown.

Desire is attractive because it is healthy – leading to new experiences that create new memories and new desires.

That is your goal as a content marketer.

And it explains why Google is placing a premium on fresh and original content.

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And please share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff