Where your content lands within this grid tells you everything you need to know. Whether you’re entertaining the wrong people or boring the right ones, identifying your quadrant makes it easier to see what’s working, what’s not, and what to improve next.

And it will help you understand what you need to do to create that valuable content that allows you to turn posts into revenue.

So let’s look at the four quadrants, how to figure out where you are and how to get to the money spot.

📖 Read more: How We Get Our Clients 250+ Leads a Week on LinkedIn (Without Sending a Single DM)

1. The Totally Lost Content Creator: Low Engagement x Low Targeting

You’re investing time and energy in creating content, but it’s not landing – no likes, barely any comments and certainly no leads or sales.

We typically see this happening when the content is trying to be too clever or technical, usually designed to impress peers rather than resonate with your prospects.

An example might be a video production company creating a 15-minute explainer video titled: “Technical Workflow Breakdown for 8K Colour Grading in DaVinci Resolve.”

Now, while this might be packed with detailed and technical information, it’s made for fellow videographers, not for the business owners or marketing teams who would actually hire them (you probably have no idea what DaVinci Resolve is, and had to Google it like us).

If you’re lucky, you might get a “nice insight” comment from a fellow videographer, but it’s the content that’s stuck in an echo chamber.

It’s no wonder content like this isn’t reaching the right audience or getting a lot of engagement, because there is no practical takeaway for the client, no story about results, and no connection to common problems the audience might have, like how to make their brand look more premium on video or how to stand out with content.

Not to be dramatic, but this is the last place you want to be with your LinkedIn content – low engagement content that isn’t resonating with the right audience for your business.

You need to fix things, and fast…

How to move out of this quadrant…

To shift out of this quadrant, you need to re-centre your efforts around your audience’s actual challenges and speak directly to their needs, fears and ambitions.

What do they genuinely want to know?

What questions are they asking over and over again?

A great place to start is your own inbox; you’d be amazed at how many questions come up in sales calls, proposal discussions, or customer onboarding, and it’s an absolute goldmine of real-life questions that are relevant to your customers and prospects. You can also head to forums, Reddit threads, or LinkedIn groups and pay attention to what your audience is asking about.

Each of these questions is a content opportunity, and a great way to transform your insights into highly relevant, engaging content that directly answers the questions your audience is asking.

When your content starts sounding like the answer to a question your reader was already thinking about, that’s when you start moving out of ‘Totally Lost’ and into the realm of results.

For the videographer example, a more effective video might be titled: “How We Helped a Local Buildr Look Like a Million-Dollar Business (Without a Million-Dollar Budget).”

This version speaks to real client desires, showcases results, and keeps the storytelling accessible and relevant. It might even contain a lot of the same information as the original video, but it’s framed and served in a way that actually meets their customers’ needs.

It’s moving from content created for vanity to content created for your customer, and that’s when you turn content into revenue.

2. The Fighter: Strong Audience Targeting x Weak Engagement

You’ve done the hard part: you know your audience, you understand what they care about, what problems they’re facing, and how you can help – and you’re creating content that resonates.

But despite all that, your content still isn’t cutting through the noise and you’re lacking any real engagement that drives sales.

This is where many creators get stuck. Creating content that is informative, but not memorable – lacking in personality with nothing pulling the reader in or encouraging them to engage.

Let’s take a look at the videographer example again. They’ve shifted away from overly technical, peer-focused content. They now understand their audience is made up of busy marketing managers and small business owners, not fellow creatives. Great!

But then they write a long blog titled: “Why Strategic Video Planning Can Increase ROI in Q4 Campaigns.” and share a link to it on LinkedIn… 💤 (snorefest).

There’s no story. No hook. No real-world example to bring it to life. It sounds like every other blog their ideal client has already read, with a boring LinkedIn post to boot. And while it might have really useful information that has the potential to help their potential clients, without any engaging hook it’s about as interesting as watching paint dry.

But don’t worry this isn’t the worst place to be, you don’t need to abandon the content; you just breathe some life into it.

How to move out of this quadrant…

You know what content your audience wants. But now you need to find a better way to connect with your target audience, or it will be lost in the content void.

There are two ways to help make your content more engaging;

1. Content
2. Delivery

The actual content should be filled with personality in a way that could only come from you. It should include storytelling, unexpected analogies, pop culture references, and even a bit of humour where appropriate.

You also need to think about how you share your content. Posting a link to your latest blog isn’t going to cut it on a platform with 2 million new posts per day. Pull out stories, make a carousel, use memes – whatever resonates with your audience – content that’s genuinely useful but also enjoyable to consume is far more likely to gain traction.

Let’s now imagine that the videographer created a similar blog, but with a real story called:

“Our client nearly pulled their ad budget – until we helped them turn a 90-second explainer video into £22k in new sales.”

That post walks through the process, gives numbers, shows the transformation, and connects emotionally. This could then be split up into carousels, stories and other formats to share on LinkedIn.

Same knowledge. Same expertise. Just packaged in a way that connects.

Moving out of this quadrant isn’t about doing things drastically different; it’s just about being smarter about what you create and using it in more creative ways. You’ve done the work, now make it work for you.

📖 Read more: 5 Tips to Look and Sound Like a Pro on Camera

3. The Entertainer: Great Engagement x Poor Targeting

This is where things can feel deceptively successful. You’re posting content that people really like. It gets shared, laughed at, and your follower count is ticking upwards.

But your revenue isn’t reflecting this success 💰

This is the danger of prioritising reach over relevance. It’s a problem we’ve shared before in our post on thought leadership vs viral content. Viral posts feel great in the moment, but they rarely translate to real results unless they’re grounded in strategy.

This is what happens when you’re prioritising engagement without relevance. Your content is popular, but it’s not converting because it’s not tailored to the specific needs of your potential clients.

Let’s go back to our videographer example – they’ve ditched the overly technical tutorials and now create funny behind-the-scenes reels about chaotic shoot days and the pain of rendering times. They’re getting tonnes of likes, a few DMs with laughing emojis, and even some shares. But no enquiries.

Why? Because while it’s entertaining, it’s not educating or selling. Their audience might enjoy it, but they don’t need it.

Worse, the content doesn’t make it clear what services are on offer, or why someone should pay for them.

How to move out of this quadrant…

The answer isn’t to stop being entertaining (that would put you in the ‘totally lost’ quadrant). You’re already halfway there, you’ve got the flair, the tone, and you know how to stop the scroll. That’s a huge win.

But attention alone isn’t enough; now you need to ask: What am I doing with that attention?

Once you’ve got someone watching, you need to deliver something that matters to them, something useful, relevant, and aligned with their goals.

To make this shift effectively, it starts with refining your audience focus. Ask yourself who exactly you’re speaking to and what they care about. The more specific you are, the more targeted and effective your messaging becomes.

From there, blend your personality into educational posts. While entertainment earns likes, value earns trust. Use storytelling and humour to hook your audience, but make sure the content also teaches, solves, or transforms something meaningful for your ideal client.

And lastly, plan your content strategically. It’s easy to chase the dopamine hit of a viral post, but the real results come from a content mix that balances entertainment with actionable, relevant insights. Your audience should come away from your content not just amused, but informed and motivated to take the next step with you.

So yes,keep the creativity and your voice front and centre.

But always ask yourself: Why does this matter to my audience?

That’s the difference between content that’s just fun and content that’s profitable.

📖 Read more: Thought Leadership vs Viral Content: Why Fortune Beats Fame for B2B

4. The Profitable Content Creator: High Engagement, High Relevance

This is the quadrant we all aspire to reach 👼- the holy grail of the content sphere, and the space we all want to be moving in.

Here, your content is equal parts engaging and effective. In this space, you know who your audience is, and you’re speaking directly to them. You understand what they’re struggling with, and you’re delivering value that actually helps. But you’re also doing it in a way that feels human, fun, and brand-aligned.

Let’s bring back our videographer one last time. Now, instead of posting a technical video or a trending meme, they share a short documentary-style case study detailing how their client wanted to launch a course but didn’t know how to stand out, and they helped them create a punchy 60-second trailer, grounded in their unique value proposition.

Then, they repurposed that video strategically across LinkedIn: turning key insights into a carousel that walks through the creative process, powerful client quotes into bold visual posts, and behind-the-scenes clips to humanise the project and build interest.

Each format served a purpose, carousels deliver structure and storytelling, quote graphics reinforce credibility, and BTS clips added authenticity and personality.

Together, they keep the content engaging and laser-focused on the people most likely to convert. It educates. It engages. It builds credibility. And most importantly, it speaks directly to the type of clients they want to attract.

How to stay in this quadrant…

Creating high-performing content takes effort, there is no denying that. But when you’re intentional about how you approach it, it becomes far more sustainable, and far more effective. You’ll actually start to see results from your content and LinkedIn posts.

It starts with listening. Speak regularly with your audience, not just through your content, but in comments, messages, and especially sales calls. Let their language, questions, and challenges shape what you create.

Inject your creativity, but always with a strategy behind it. Use storytelling, bold hooks, carousels, videos, and longer-form thought leadership.

And every time you hit publish, pause and ask: Would my ideal client find this valuable? Would they feel seen, understood, and inspired to take action?

When you build content around real problems and deliver it in a way that’s engaging and purposeful, that’s when your content becomes more than just posts, it becomes a lead magnet, a trust builder, and a silent salesperson working for you while you sleep.

How To Turn Long-Form Content Into Revenue On LinkedIn

So far, we’ve focused a lot on long-form content, but the truth is, the same principles apply whether you’re writing blog posts, creating videos, or crafting a single LinkedIn post.

And in fact, LinkedIn is often where your long-form content gets a second life.

We’ve seen time and again that starting with a solid piece of long-form content gives you the foundation for weeks of shorter, high-impact posts. You can break it down into bite-sized lessons, turn insights into carousels, or repurpose stories into quick videos.

The beauty of this approach is that it helps you stay consistent on LinkedIn without starting from scratch every time, and you know the content is grounded in value because it’s been created with strategy first.

That’s how you drive real results on LinkedIn. Not just by posting often, but by posting with purpose, rooted in the kind of content that actually helps your audience solve problems, make decisions, and move closer to working with you.

📖 Read more: How to Repurpose One Video into 150+ Pieces of High-Converting Content

Ready To Become a Profitable Content Creator?

Wherever you currently sit, your goal should be to shift into the Profitable Content Creator quadrant, someone who consistently attracts the right people, builds trust, and generates meaningful results from LinkedIn.

This isn’t about reinventing yourself as a viral content machine or churning out endless posts. It’s about showing up intentionally, sharing stories, insights, and ideas that not only resonate but convert.

If your content has ever felt like it’s falling on deaf ears, or if you’re exhausted from posting and getting nothing in return, you’re not alone. Most people don’t struggle because they lack talent or commitment. They struggle because they’re missing a simple, effective structure to guide their efforts.

That’s what the Profitable Content Framework is all about: it’s a tool that helps you diagnose what’s not working and map out what to do next.

And now that you’ve got the full picture, the next step is putting it into practice.

If you need help to do this, then get in touch, we can help you understand where you are going wrong, and help you get to where you need to be to turn content into revenue.