# Content Purpose Guide

**Make every word measurably effective**

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## What Is Content Purpose?

A **Content Purpose** is a clear, testable statement of what a specific piece of content must accomplish. It defines the content's job, enabling strategic creation and objective review.

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## Why Purpose Matters

### Without Purpose:
- ❌ "Write something about our product"
- ❌ "Make it sound good"
- ❌ "Add social proof here"
- ❌ Vague, subjective review ("I like it" / "I don't")
- ❌ Content that's beautiful but ineffective

### With Purpose:
- ✅ "Convince Problem Aware users that shelf life matters"
- ✅ "Show 3x competitive advantage with facts"
- ✅ "Remove final purchase barrier with risk reversal"
- ✅ Objective review ("Does it achieve its purpose?")
- ✅ Content that does its job

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## Anatomy of a Good Purpose Statement

### Format:

```
[Action Verb] + [Specific Audience/State] + [Desired Outcome] + [Optional: Strategy]
```

### Examples:

**Good:**
- "**Convince** Problem Aware users that shelf life matters **(activate fear of spoilage)**"
- "**Show** Product Aware users our 3x advantage **(fact-based confidence)**"
- "**Enable** user to add to cart with confidence **(they're choosing the longest-lasting option)**"

**Bad (too vague):**
- "Describe the product" (no outcome)
- "Explain benefits" (which benefits? for whom?)
- "Add credibility" (how? what belief?)

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## Purpose Hierarchy

Content purposes work at multiple levels:

### Page Level
**Purpose:** Enable confident product selection between us and competitors

### Section Level
**Hero Purpose:** Orient user to comparison context, reduce choice anxiety  
**Table Purpose:** Provide decision-enabling facts  
**CTA Purpose:** Convert comparison into confident purchase action

### Element Level
**Headline Purpose:** Validate that choosing is hard (Problem Aware empathy)  
**Shelf Life Row Purpose:** Prove 3x advantage (competitive edge)  
**Button Purpose:** Make selection feel like the smart choice

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## Purpose by Content Type

### Persuasive Content

**Landing Page Hero:**
- Purpose: Hook users at their awareness level and promise transformation
- Review: Do they recognize themselves? Do they want to continue?

**Value Propositions:**
- Purpose: Activate specific driving force (wish or fear) with clear benefit
- Review: Does it speak to their motivation? Is it compelling?

**CTAs:**
- Purpose: Make next action feel confident, low-risk, and empowering
- Review: Would user feel good clicking this? Is barrier removed?

### Educational Content

**Onboarding Steps:**
- Purpose: Enable user to complete [specific action] with confidence
- Review: Can a new user follow this successfully? Do they feel capable?

**Help Articles:**
- Purpose: Solve [specific problem] with minimal cognitive load
- Review: Does it solve the problem? Is it easy to follow?

**Product Tours:**
- Purpose: Show user they can [specific capability] in [timeframe]
- Review: Do they feel more capable? Can they do it themselves?

### Functional Content

**Error Messages:**
- Purpose: Maintain user confidence while enabling recovery action
- Review: Does user know what happened and how to fix it? Do they feel frustrated or supported?

**Empty States:**
- Purpose: Reframe emptiness as opportunity, guide first action
- Review: Does user know what to do? Does it feel like progress opportunity?

**Form Instructions:**
- Purpose: Enable correct input with zero guesswork
- Review: Can user complete it right the first time? Any confusion?

### Brand Content

**About Pages:**
- Purpose: Connect user to our WHY, build emotional alignment
- Review: Do they understand what drives us? Do they feel aligned?

**Mission Statements:**
- Purpose: Inspire team/users with clear, motivating vision
- Review: Is it inspiring? Is it clear? Is it memorable?

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## How to Write Good Purpose Statements

### 1. Start With The User

❌ "Describe our 90-day shelf life feature"  
✅ "Convince users that 90-day shelf life saves them money and hassle"

Focus on what it does FOR the user, not what it IS.

### 2. Be Specific

❌ "Build trust"  
✅ "Build trust through customer testimonials from their industry"

Vague purposes lead to vague content.

### 3. Include Success Criteria

❌ "Explain the pricing"  
✅ "Enable user to choose right tier without confusion or regret"

How will you know it worked?

### 4. Name The Awareness Level (if relevant)

❌ "Get them excited about the product"  
✅ "Move Problem Aware users to Solution Aware by introducing product category"

Different stages need different content.

### 5. Connect To Driving Forces (if known)

❌ "Promote premium pricing"  
✅ "Justify premium pricing by satisfying 'wish to be smart shopper' (quality/longevity)"

Which user motivation does this serve?

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## Purpose + Model Priority Matrix

Different purposes emphasize different strategic models:

### Purpose: "Convince skeptical users to trust our claims"
**Model Priorities:**
- Customer Awareness ⭐⭐⭐ (Product Aware need proof)
- Action Mapping ⭐⭐ (Enable: believe claim)
- Badass Users ⭐ (Less critical)
- Golden Circle ⭐ (Less critical)

### Purpose: "Inspire users with our mission"
**Model Priorities:**
- Golden Circle ⭐⭐⭐ (WHY story)
- VTC ⭐⭐ (Who we serve)
- Customer Awareness ⭐ (Meet their level)
- Action Mapping ⭐ (Soft)

### Purpose: "Help user recover from form error"
**Model Priorities:**
- Badass Users ⭐⭐⭐ (Maintain capability)
- Action Mapping ⭐⭐⭐ (Enable: fix it)
- Customer Awareness ⭐ (Keep simple)
- Golden Circle ⭐ (Not needed)

### Purpose: "Convert landing page visitor to signup"
**Model Priorities:**
- ALL FIVE ⭐⭐⭐ (Full journey)
- Customer Awareness (Hook)
- Golden Circle (WHY)
- Badass Users (Transform)
- Action Mapping (Enable)
- VTC (Context)

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## Using Purpose in Workflows

### During Page Specification

1. **Define page purpose** - What must this page accomplish?
2. **Break into section purposes** - What job does each section do?
3. **Define element purposes** - What must each text block accomplish?
4. **Document purposes** - In page spec for traceability
5. **Review against purpose** - Does content achieve its job?

### During Content Creation

1. **Load purpose** - "This text must [specific purpose]"
2. **Select model emphasis** - Which models matter most for THIS job?
3. **Generate strategically** - Content optimized for purpose
4. **Review objectively** - Does it achieve the purpose?

### During Quality Review

**For each content piece:**
- What was its purpose?
- Does it achieve that purpose?
- How effectively? (scale 1-10)
- What would improve it?

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## Examples: Before/After

### Example 1: Product Feature Description

**Before (no purpose):**
"Our product has a 90-day shelf life, which is 3x longer than competitors."

**After (with purpose):**

**Purpose:** "Convince value-conscious users that longer shelf life saves them money"

**Model Priorities:** VTC ⭐⭐⭐ (fear of waste), Badass Users ⭐⭐

**Content:** "Stop throwing away spoiled product. Our 90-day shelf life (3x longer than competitors) means you'll use what you buy. No more waste. No more emergency reorders."

**Review:** ✅ Speaks to fear of waste, shows benefit (saves money), empowering tone

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### Example 2: Error Message

**Before (no purpose):**
"Error 422: Invalid input"

**After (with purpose):**

**Purpose:** "Help user fix validation error while maintaining confidence"

**Model Priorities:** Badass Users ⭐⭐⭐, Action Mapping ⭐⭐⭐

**Content:** "Hmm, that email format doesn't look quite right. Double-check for typos? (We're looking for: `name@example.com`)"

**Review:** ✅ Non-judgmental, shows what's wrong, how to fix, example provided

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### Example 3: Landing Page Headline

**Before (no purpose):**
"TrendWeek - The Beauty Industry Newsletter"

**After (with purpose):**

**Purpose:** "Hook Problem Aware hairdressers by validating their frustration"

**Model Priorities:** Customer Awareness ⭐⭐⭐, Golden Circle ⭐⭐⭐

**Content:** "Are Your Clients Asking About Trends You Haven't Heard Of?"

**Review:** ✅ Problem recognition, emotional truth, resonates with frustration

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### Example 4: CTA Button

**Before (no purpose):**
"Submit"

**After (with purpose):**

**Purpose:** "Make signup action feel empowering and low-risk"

**Model Priorities:** Badass Users ⭐⭐⭐, Action Mapping ⭐⭐

**Content:** "Start Staying Ahead"  
**Supporting:** "Free. No credit card. Cancel anytime."

**Review:** ✅ Capability-focused, clear action, risk removed

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## Purpose Templates by Content Type

### Persuasion Templates
- "Convince [audience] that [claim] by [strategy]"
- "Activate [driving force] through [benefit/proof]"
- "Move [start awareness] users to [end awareness] by [approach]"
- "Remove [barrier] with [solution/proof]"

### Education Templates
- "Enable [user] to [action] with [confidence level]"
- "Help [user] understand [concept] in [timeframe/effort]"
- "Show [user] they can [capability] without [fear/barrier]"

### Functional Templates
- "Guide [user] to [action] with zero [friction/confusion]"
- "Maintain [emotion] while [outcome]"
- "Prevent [problem] through [instruction/constraint]"

### Brand Templates
- "Connect [audience] to our [value/belief]"
- "Inspire [emotion] through [story/truth]"
- "Position [offering] as [perception] for [audience]"

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## Common Mistakes

### ❌ Purpose Too Broad
"Make users like our product"

**Fix:** "Show SaaS users our onboarding is 10x faster through 60-second demo"

### ❌ Purpose Is Feature, Not Outcome
"Describe our AI-powered algorithm"

**Fix:** "Convince users the algorithm saves them 2 hours/week (enable purchase confidence)"

### ❌ Purpose Missing Audience
"Build credibility"

**Fix:** "Build credibility with B2B buyers through enterprise customer testimonials"

### ❌ Purpose Has No Success Criteria
"Improve understanding of pricing"

**Fix:** "Enable user to choose right tier in < 30 seconds without regret"

### ❌ Purpose Isn't Testable
"Make it sound professional"

**Fix:** "Establish authority through expert credentials and industry-specific language"

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## Integration With WDS Workflows

### Phase 4: UX Design - Page Specifications

Every text block in a page spec should have:
- **Object ID:** `hero-headline-01`
- **Purpose:** "Hook Problem Aware users by validating frustration"
- **Model Priorities:** Customer Awareness ⭐⭐⭐, Golden Circle ⭐⭐⭐
- **Content:** "[generated text]"
- **Review Criteria:** "Do users recognize themselves? Want to continue?"

### Content Creation Workshop

Purpose becomes **Step 0** or part of context loading:
1. **What's the purpose?** Define the job
2. **Who's the audience?** Specify user state
3. **How will we know it worked?** Success criteria
4. **Which models matter most?** Strategic emphasis
5. **Generate content** optimized for purpose
6. **Review** against criteria

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## Purpose-Driven Review Checklist

When reviewing content, ask:

### Alignment
- [ ] Purpose is clearly defined
- [ ] Content addresses the stated purpose
- [ ] Success criteria are met

### Effectiveness
- [ ] User will achieve the intended outcome
- [ ] Barriers/friction points addressed
- [ ] Appropriate model emphasis applied

### Measurability
- [ ] Can test if purpose is achieved
- [ ] Clear success/failure criteria
- [ ] Objective, not subjective assessment

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## Next Steps

**For Designers:**
1. Define content purposes during page specification
2. Use purposes to guide content creation
3. Review content against stated purposes

**For Agents:**
1. Ask "What's the purpose of this content?"
2. Select appropriate model emphasis
3. Generate content optimized for that specific job
4. Enable objective review

**For Teams:**
1. Make purpose statements mandatory in page specs
2. Review content objectively against purposes
3. Iterate based on purpose achievement

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## Related Resources

**Strategic Models:**
- [Customer Awareness Cycle](../models/customer-awareness-cycle.md) - Language/focus by stage
- [Golden Circle](../models/golden-circle.md) - WHY-HOW-WHAT structure
- [Action Mapping](../models/action-mapping.md) - What action must content enable?
- [Kathy Sierra Badass Users](../models/kathy-sierra-badass-users.md) - Empowerment framing

**Whiteport Methods:**
- [Value Trigger Chain](value-trigger-chain-guide.md) - Strategic context for content

**Workflows:**
- [Content Creation Workshop](../src/workflows/shared/content-creation-workshop/content-creation-workshop-guide.md) - Using purpose in content generation

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**Make every word earn its place. Define its job.** 🎯

