Remember in December when your entire team was talking about all of the new ideas that were going to transform your content strategy?
I know it seems faint, but dig deep.
Coming back yet?
Before the close of each year content marketers are infamous for coming up with the most creative content ideas to never be implemented. I’m guilty of this and I am sure many of you reading this are too.
How’d it happen this year?
Everyone broke for the Holiday.
Binged Schitt’s Creek.
Got some new joggers and hoodies for 2021 Zoom and BOOM…
Back to the status quo syndrome with content marketing.
You know what I’m talking about.
Instead of identifying innovative new ways to get the attention of your future customers you are stuck creating that new blog post infested by a keyword salad so stale it’s putting me into content hibernation thinking about it.
Are you feeling this at all?
I’m going to give you 3 ways to reignite your ideas and drop some inspiration at the end of this post that can help you step your content game up this year.
- Don’t copycat B2B - pull from B2C
In order to stand out as content marketers we need to turn left when the rest of the market is going right. The content that we produce and deliver to the market can’t look and feel like 2012. It needs to educate and entertain. Consumer expectations have skyrocketed with the rise of Amazon, Netlfix, Hulu, WWE Network (I plug what I like), Spotify, and any other direct to consumer instant gratification platform that exists. Make sure you are studying how these platforms are delivering best-in-class experiences to their consumers because that is the new bar.
- Content Distribution is the new black
I’m going to date myself here, but I remember when it was all about the volume game. How many posts? How often can we post? These were legitimate questions that came up in marketing meetings. We were all building for machines and many of us neglected thinking about our customers. Now content marketing teams receive diminishing returns by marketing to the same audience with the same content formats repeatedly. It’s time to punch your last time card to the content factory that you’ve been working in for the past few months, years, or even a decade. Push distribution in your team meetings. Being a proactive content marketer thinking about distribution will allow your work to reach more people who need to hear about your brand. I wish this stuff was like Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams and if you build it they will come, but it’s not. Get strategic about your distribution strategy.
- Take Big Swings
I had several conversations with our CEO, Jonathan before I officially joined the team. The one thing he continued to talk about was that we needed to take big swings and we shouldn’t be afraid to miss. This message resonates with me and has been validated by all of the marketers that I have spoken with since joining the Fathom team. As content creators we are in the business of gaining attention. You think a white paper, data sheet, e-Book, or cookie cutter webinar is going to allow you to stand out? That’s what everyone else is doing. We need to push ourselves to think outside the box, embrace our creativity, and take risks. Start small and focus on megatrends like audio and video. Treat it like the minor leagues of marketing. It takes practice. The most famous comedians today still play the small, dingy comedy clubs to make sure their timing is right. Practice. Yes, we talkin’ about practice!
I want to close this piece out by layering in some social proof of a content marketing team that is thinking about reaching their future customers in all three of these phases.
I was sitting in my old man recliner watching some college football bowl games when I was scrolling through LinkedIn during break. I was seeing the standard fare of the LI scroll. You know what I’m talking about:
Someone you worked with just got a new job...didn’t they just get a new job?
Marketing influencer remixing a bunch of people’s thoughts into today’s hot take.
People sharing content about their company without proper context.
Ok. I’m sorry. These just got into my pet peeves with LinkedIn. I promise I’ll bring it back up a notch.
Then I got hit with the ultimate pattern interrupt.
I saw a dumpster on fire….YES A FREAKIN’ DUMPSTER ON FIRE!!!!!
I was immediately engaged with this piece of content. I loved the creativity and the messaging was on point.
When it was over I realized that it came from ABM leader, Terminus.
As I was ramping up my journey back into the B2B marketing space, I had spent a lot of time studying other brand’s content. This was the first time that I saw a dumpster on fire and it was beautiful.
This is why this video works:
- It felt very B2C. This is the type of ad that I’m used to getting hit with on Instagram that gets me to watch.
- It was distributed across many different social platforms, but stood out from all of the sterile content that I was used to getting from LinkedIn.
- This is the definition of a Big Swing that worked - I’ll forever associate the Terminus brand with the phrase “dumpster fire”. I know that might sound off balance, but it is extremely powerful.
I loved this video so much that I knew I had to have some of its contributors on the 3C Podcast (Series Launch next week) to talk about the thought process behind the creation of the video.
I had a blast talking with Jillian MacNulty and Brad Beutler from the Terminus content team this week. I think the episode turned out awesome and can’t wait to share it with all of you in a couple weeks.
If you are interested in hearing more stories about content marketers building their audience through Facebook Live streams, Content-Based Networking, and the next dumpster video on fire subscribe to the 3C Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you consume fine audio content. I’m excited to share more of these stories with you.
