Three things to remember when creating content

Let’s call them the content triumvirate. Not just because it sounds good (which it does) but also because — if you include all three of these things — I believe you will almost always be creating great content.

If you make sure your content is relevant, connects emotionally with a targeted audience and is within your brand’s authority, you’re well on your way to content greatness.

Let’s take a quick look at what each of these mean:

Make it relevant

Seems obvious. But the important part here is relevant to whom? When creating a message of any kind, whether it’s a TV spot or a postcard, you must make sure it’s relevant to your target audience…otherwise, why should they care? But here’s the thing: this means you must have a target audience in the first place.

Ensure that it connects emotionally

Truly good content must make an emotional connection with your aforementioned audience. Anything else is just content, not Content Marketing.

Stay within your brand’s authority

This is the least intuitive of the three but, perhaps, the most important. Your audience will listen to you if your message is relevant and connects with them emotionally. But the message also has to be on a topic in which you have some authority. For example, if you make shoes (like Converse) anything shoe related will make sense coming from you. But what if you send a message about how to fix a leaky sink (Converse Liquid Drain Opener)? Not so much.

As you may have noticed in the graphic version of this concept, the spot where all three things converge is quite small…and that’s by design. Make no mistake, this is not an easy task.

But, if you’re able to do these three things simultaneously — creating relevant content that connects with a targeted audience emotionally while staying within the space of your brand’s authority — you’ll be creating great content indeed.

Good luck!

Both sides of the Facebook argument

Early in 2015, Facebook is changing its algorithm yet again and there are two sides to the argument for why they’re doing it this time.

On one side of the argument are the advertisers/brands, who say its extortion. They have been reaching people through Facebook at no cost all along, the brands say, so why will it now cost them to do so?

On the other side of the argument is Facebook itself. They say they have surveyed their customers and are hearing loud and clear: “Too many ads.” So, in order to give its customers a better experience, they are doing something about it.

Of course, things may not be this simple. But one thing is certain: Facebook is clearly the most powerful Social Media channel on the planet:

• With more than 1.1 billion active monthly users, Facebook is simply dominant

• And it's not just its users; research shows that nearly one in four visits to a brand’s website (22%) comes directly from Facebook

• That same research shows that is more than four times the referrals of its nearest SoMe competitor, Pinterest, and it’s on the rise — it was just 10% in 2013

So a change in the Facebook algorithm is critically important. Is being able to charge for these messages simply too tempting to pass up? Or, perhaps from the Facebook perspective, is it not in the best interest of Facebook shareholders not to make this change.

What will be interesting to see is the number of brands willing to shell out the dollars required, as of the January 2015 change, to continue to reach people using Facebook.

Some smaller brands simply won't be able to afford it and others may go elsewhere, either out of principle or because they believe the other ’free’ social channels can deliver enough traffic to make it worthwhile.

Either way, there are several things that could happen in January:

• Pinterest could stand to gain from this and may grow substantially

• Other SoMe channels may follow Facebook and start monetizing their networks, as well (some, like LinkedIn, already do)

• Another social network could benefit even more than Pinterest, but that’s a long shot; even though it lags Facebook, Pinterest still refers five times the web traffic of any of the other SoMe channels

• Facebook could offer to buy Pinterest, seemingly closing the door on its other SoMe competitors

• Of course, someone else could offer to buy Pinterest, as well

• And who knows what new network could pop up

One thing's for sure: early 2015 will be an interesting time in social media.

How content is like a used car

Okay, follow me here.

Great content is like a great used car, everyone recognizes it when they see it. Greatness inspires ooohs and ahhhs and stirs conversation, whether it’s a restored 1969 Chevy Camaro (photo credit: imagejuicy.com) or a hilarious, well-executed video.

But things have changed.

In the old days, if you had a great used car you were ready to sell, all you had to do was put a sign in the window and wait. Chances are, most people where you lived knew about your car because, well, it was awesome. The word would quickly get around and someone — maybe several someones — would come and make an offer.

Content is much the same. Not so long ago, great content would be easy to find and, if it truly was awesome, people knew about it and would share it without being asked.

Today, there’s so much content (and so many used cars) that even the best can’t be found without some promotion.

Let me put that another way. If you had a used car today, do you think you could sell it simply by putting a sign in the window? Perhaps eventually. But if you really wanted to sell it now, you’d probably promote it on a website somewhere to get the word out, right?

It’s the same with your content. We know it’s awesome. But other people don’t know it’s awesome if they haven’t seen it.

I read recently where one firm recommends spending 60% of your budget on creating great content, but reserving 40% for promoting that content to the right audience at the right time where they prefer to get their information. That sounds about right to me.

So, go out there and create great, compelling, targeted content that solves a problem in the lives of your target audience. Then, don’t forget to promote it so they have the chance to see how awesome you are!

I wish I had my minivan back.

I know. It’s not often you hear someone wishing for a minivan. Least of all an old one. But, when I read the ‘I had to have it’ challenge on Medium, I knew this would be my story. So I’m sticking to it.

It was 2010 and we had owned two minivans back-to-back. Almost 10 years of driving in an oversized toaster had taken its toll. The understanding nods from other toaster-on-wheels owners, the disappointed looks when soccer moms mistakenly thought I was one of them. I was ready for a change.

Then GM introduced what they now call a crossover SUV — not huge, but certainly not a minivan — and I was smitten. The Chevy version of the crossover is called the Traverse, and it was my way out. But was it the responsible thing to do?

Of course not.

There was nothing wrong with our minivan, at least mechanically. It ran well and gave us no trouble (knock on the dash). And we had three kids at home with school and sports and friends, so we needed something big.

But the kids were getting older and college was coming. Times three. Would now be the best time to buy a car? We had paid off the ‘toaster’ as well as our other car, so we didn’t have a monthly payment. Ah, the days without a monthly car payment.

But I was not to be denied. $30,000? That’s not so much. Heck, they won’t even charge us interest and we can pay for it over five years — 60 long months — so it won’t be so bad. Right?

I talked my wife into it. And, to be fair, she was dragging her feet all the way. Smart lady that she is, she gave it her best shot. She’d say things like, “If that’s what you really want” and “If you really think that’s smart.” Of course it wasn’t smart. She knew it wasn’t smart.

But she could see it in my eyes. We may as well start talking about which color we want, ‘cause this thing was happening.

So we did it. The Traverse was just becoming popular, so there were very few discounts to be had. But did I care about getting a deal? No way. This was my car, why haggle a bunch over the price, right?

Wrong. In retrospect, I’m sure the dealer was very happy to see me. “Here are the keys, just sign here and leave your firstborn at the door. Thanks for stopping by.”

And off I drove! The first month was great. New car smell. People other than soccer moms actually making eye contact with me. This will be great!

Then month two came. And the payment book showed up (okay, they really don’t make payment books anymore, but you get that it’s a metaphor for that huge new monthly payment, right?). And I realized I was stopping by the gas station. A lot. Like, they knew my name. My MIDDLE name.

So I did the math. 17 miles to the gallon, that’s what we were averaging. Seventeen. How many more months are we doing this?

So, let’s review. We’ve got a new monthly payment. Another weekly payment over at the gas station. And, to add insult to injury, the thing was just a dog off the line. I mean a D-O-G (for those who may not know, in car talk, that means it had no acceleration. I could have just said that, I guess).

Anyway, the soccer moms in their vans, who had summarily kicked me out of their club, were now routinely blowing me off the line at traffic lights all over town. Their soccer-playing kids laughing it up in the back and pointing at the old guy with the fancy crossover SUV. “Nice car, buddy,” they would yell. “Does your wife have the van?”

Ouch.

How many months are left, 58? Great.

Then the recalls started. First the power steering (which still isn’t quite right), then the air conditioning — in August, of course. Then the seat belts. It’s as if the car gods were trying to tell me something. But was I listening?

How could I? This was my idea. It was the best thing we could have done. Or, maybe not.

So here I stand, four-plus years later with nine monthly payments to go. Still on a first name basis with every gas station attendant in the tri-state area. And I’m longing for my minivan back.

I just had to have that crossover SUV.

Boy, did I learn a lesson with that one.


(If you enjoyed this story, please head over to Medium and recommend it. Thanks!)

Content strategy aint what it used to be

Back in the day (say, 10 years ago), the term content strategy was a web-specific thing. And, while it continues to be both necessary and worthwhile for the web, we’ve reached a point where we’re going to have to ask for some flexibility here.

Web content strategists: we’re going to need to use your term more broadly.

Now that brands are embracing Content Marketing, they’re publishing content on their own behalf (not just on the web) to attract people to their brand. This action needs to have some planning around it and, because it’s about content (again, not just on the web), we’re going to need to call that planning something.

That something is content strategy

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that the web is critically important. I hear that people use the web almost every day (sorry, that was snarky). It’s true that the web will only continue to get more and more critical, but it’s not the only way people get information. And — here’s the important thing — it’s not always the way they prefer to receive information.

Sometimes it’s where they start, sometimes it’s where they finish, but it’s not everything.

Because, after all, we should be creating and distributing content the way the people we’re trying to attract would prefer. So we need to talk about content strategy more holistically.

I completely understand that our web-based content strategy brothers and sisters invented this term long ago and have been using it for a long time. But, for the good of the industry (nay, the world), ladies and gentlemen of the web, we’re going to need to borrow your term.

Permanently.

So, in summary:

Web: very important.

Content: not just on the web

Content strategy: important for everyone (not just the web)

Web content strategists: thanks for being cool about this.

A Content Manifesto

We believe in content.

We believe in big content and small content.

We believe in creating, curating and sharing worthwhile content.

We believe in thoughtfully managing content.

Making it available, consistent.

We believe in putting our best foot forward.

We believe in having content standards — and following them.

We believe in making people look good.

We believe it’s the best way for us to look good.

We believe in breaking through the clutter.

We believe content without a plan is clutter.

We don’t believe in clutter.

We believe in the power of a human story.

We believe in finding the true story and telling it well.

We believe people will listen when the story helps them.

We believe in relationships.

We believe in growing them, not leveraging them.

We believe in nurturing relationships, not leads.

We believe in being useful.

We believe in being consistent.

We believe in being clear.

We believe the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.

We believe content is the future of marketing.

And we believe in leading the way.

An open letter to those offering headline writing tips for the world

If you have ever written a blog post, article or other piece that even remotely offers advice on how to write headlines, this message is for you. And it’s quite a simple message: please stop.

The world needs a whole lot less of this and we would all appreciate it if you would cease and desist. Thank you.

Why should you stop? It’s a fair question. You see, even though all computers (tablets, smartphones, etc.) are equipped with a keyboard, this does not make everyone a writer.

Sure, everyone can write. But there should be limits on what the average person does write. And that limit, I argue, does not include headlines.

Emails? Sure. Texts? K.  Notes to your mother? You betcha.

Headlines? No.

A little about headlines

Did you know that most headlines in news media aren’t written by the author of the piece? It’s true. They are usually written by an editor or a headline-specific writer, someone who hones their craft writing headlines for a living.

Some of the greatest stories ever told started with a great headline. Here are some historical examples:

Titanic sinks four hours after hitting iceberg

Greatest crash in Wall Street’s history

Assassin kills Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson sworn in

Nixon resigns

War on America

These headlines make clear right away what the story is about. Yet they are still able to pull you in for the details. That’s what a headline should do…not trick you into clicking on some link-bait line designed to puff up a site’s unique visitors.

With a good headline, there are no tricks, no numbers to pull you in, because they simply aren’t needed.

Granted, we’re typically not talking about these kinds of world events in Content Marketing, but we should take inspiration from these great examples — that were very effective, by the way — and use the biggest best practice there is: have a writer write the headline (if not the whole piece).

Advertising is closer to what we do.

Ads are much more like what we do in Content Marketing and the good ones have compelling headlines, written by copywriters. Why? Because a headline is the front door of your message…and don’t you want just anyone answering your front door, do you?

Good advertising headlines are a great expression of the brand itself. Here are a few of my faves (and the brand they promote):

Calling it transportation is like calling sex reproduction. (Porsche)

Drinking champagne is a perfectly acceptable way to celebrate being elected president. Of France. (Jack Daniel’s)

When was the last time you met a stranger and knew he was a brother? (Harley Davidson)

If your Harvey Probber chair wobbles, straighten your floor. (Harvey Probber Furniture)

You know the story the brand is telling right away. And, more than likely, you know if you agree or not — as soon as you’ve read the headline. A great headline tells you where a brand stands and asks if you want to come on over and stand there, too.

If painting by numbers is bad, why are there ‘formulas’ for writing headlines?

Quite simply, there shouldn’t be. Don't get me wrong, painting by numbers is fun for fun's sake. But it's not for the professional world and it's definitely not how to promote a brand.

It seems to be understood that only designers should design, but everyone is a writer. Plumbers fix sinks. Doctors fix ailments. Attorneys fix whatever it is they fix. All of these professions have a respected seat at the table and an area of expertise.

Where is the seat for writers? Oh, we’re way down here at the end of the table.

Writing headlines.

Don't DIY your content

We all like to think of ourselves as do-it-yourselfers from time to time. We may try to fix a minor plumbing problem or do a little interior decorating around the house.

But when it comes to your brand — whether a personal or professional brand — please, I’m begging you, don’t DIY your content.

Clearly, everyone has their own unique skills and abilities. By the time we get out of school and get a real job, we all know what these things are within ourselves. 

We can list the two or three things we do really well (and, let's be honest, none of us do 18 things really well). Everything else is just dabbling. And dabbling is fine if you’re painting the inside of your garage.

But not your car.

Some things aren’t as visible; if we screw them up, few people will know. Creating content for your brand is highly visible and, if we screw that up, there’s hell to pay.

Everyday you can see people — well-intentioned, trying-to-be-helpful people — passing along tips and tricks designed to help you create your own content. One of my favorites goes something like this: '15 tips on how to write a headline.'

Eek.

I mean, tips and tricks are one thing, but writing headlines and graphic design are specific skills people either have or they don't. As an example, I couldn't design my way out of a paper sack. I just know this about myself. So I leave it to the people who can.

Can people create their own content today? Absolutely. I would argue that whether people should create their own content is another question entirely. And it's a question each of us has to answer for ourselves.

My take is this: If you consider creating content one of the top three things you do well, go for it! If people compliment your writing or ask your opinion about their own content, you're clearly doing things well.

But if you're not sure, keep this in mind: just like painting your car, unless you create content well, you should really consider talking to a pro.

Of course, you could use one of those really big, bristly brushes and paint the car yourself. I mean, how bad could it be, right?

It’s your call.

What did you just say?

When creating content, we have an obligation to be clear and helpful

Using words to confuse people used to be the exclusive territory of lawyers and snake oil salesmen. Some of them still live there, of course, but others have joined them, sadly including us marketers.

Marketing is charged with doing many things: attracting people to a brand, helping sales close the deal and others. One of the most important things we do is making things easy to understand for the people we’re trying to attract. Using words and images to clarify and be helpful — you know, Content Marketing!

Content Marketing gives us a perfect opportunity.

In this new world where people decide what brands they will invite into their lives, we need to be useful, helpful and interesting. Unfortunately, many of us are still trying to do that with industry jargon and what I’ll call thick language.

When we do this, we outsmart ourselves.

I work in the insurance space and, as an industry, we’re big offenders. The language we use, especially in documents like policies and contracts, makes things so hard to understand that people often just give up.

For instance, many of us talk about things like ‘subrogation’ and ‘liability’ without explaining what these terms mean — heck, we’ve even done research that tells us people don’t fully understand more basic terms like ‘premium’ and ‘insured’.

And it’s not because people aren’t smart. It’s because they don’t have time to learn all of this stuff. People are busy and we, as marketers, have an opportunity to help.

How about an example?

Let’s take a look at how two insurance companies define the term ‘subrogation’:

One way:

In insurance, the substitution of one party (insurer) for another party (insured) to pursue any rights the insured may have against a third party liable for a loss paid by the insurer.

What?

Here’s a different way:

With subrogation, we can pay you for your claim faster because it allows us to give you your money now, rather than waiting to see if the person who caused the damage (like the person driving the car that hit yours) can or will pay for the damage they caused. If that person (or their insurance company, if they have one) does pay, that money will come to us since we’ve already paid you. We’re simply taking your place in the process because we know you just want to get back to living your life.

As you can see, it may take a few more words to help people understand a confusing term. But, in the long run, we believe people will appreciate the effort (and you). Also, keep in mind that you may get some pushback on longer copy internally, so be ready to remind your boss or business partner that people do still read long-form content — especially if it helps them.

And it's not just insurance. What are the terms in your industry that people may not completely understand? Ask them! And, when you do find those confusing words or phrases, take a minute in your copy to help them understand.

Okay, enough preaching from me. I’m going to get back to finding ways to help people understand the words we use and what they mean. But, please, consider doing this in your own content, as well.

Your audience will thank you with their loyalty.

One hundred things I learned at Content Marketing World 2014

Because I want to share what I learned with those who couldn’t attend, and because the going theory is that all headlines should include a number, here are the 100 things I learned in Cleveland this year:

1.     Joe Pulizzi continues to attract the best and brightest to the North Coast.

2.     Even though Joe’s name doesn’t contain a single letter T, it’s still pronounced Pu-LITT-zee. Go figure.

3.     The Orange-clad CMI crew does a great job. Every year.

4.     Every speaker is writing or has just written a book.

5.     One sponsor took to giving away money (in the form of $2 bills) this year. Subtle.

6.     If you wanted to get into Robert Rose’s session on Tuesday, you needed to show up about 30 minutes earlier than I did. Bummer.

7.     Kristina Halvorson speaks the truth.

8.     The ‘brown bus’ is actually white (it’s the brown route, which they could have mentioned).

9.     By the time midday arrives, it turns out people will walk right in front of you for a sandwich and some pretzels in a colorful box. Hmmm.

10. Apparently, some folks were using one badge (it was two sided) to sneak two people into the event. Really?

11. That’s only ten things? Crap, I’d better pick this up.

12. Drew Davis didn’t disappoint as the keynote this year. Inspiring as usual.

13. Attendance at the show was more than 2,600 and has quadrupled in just four years.

14. That’s 400% growth for you ROI people.

15. The WiFi was mostly good. Charging stations were nice, too.

16. More orange, of course. Orange cupcakes, orange Jell-O, orange Rice Krispies Treats. You get the idea.

17. Ann Handley suggested having a writing plan that’s like a GPS. Smart.

18. She also has a new book.

19. If you write, you should probably get it.

20. And, as she contends, we all do, so…

21. Kirk Cheyfitz from Story Worldwide correctly noted that we can gather a bigger audience on Facebook than with the Super Bowl today. As he says, “Digital is everything.”

22. Can I say Super Bowl?

23. Those SEO guys are smart.

24. There are people actually called the linkerati.

25. If you get a bunch of publishers together for a chat about Native Advertising they will be disappointingly nice to each other.

26. Put a creative guy in there like Doug Kessler and he’ll tell you what he thinks.

27. “Publishers aren’t nearly concerned enough about this (native advertising). The line is blurring and it’s blurring intentionally,” Says Doug.

28. And this: On native advertising: "If the content is good and people love it, tell them what it is."

29. Right on, Doug.

30. Jason Miller may be the only person that talks (and thinks) as fast as Drew Davis. We should have a contest.

31. The ‘big rock’ concept Jason Miller talks about worked for him at Marketo. It’s clearly working at LinkedIn. It may not be as much about rock (and more about Jason).

32. He also talks about using content like Thanksgiving turkey. Also works.

33. Turns out, Mark Schaeffer knows a thing or two about Twitter.

34. He also knows about tools like Twellow that can show you what people are searching for on all the major search engines. Simultaneously. That means at the same time!

35. I think he also speaks Latin or something.

36. “Even great lead nurturing can’t fix crappy marketing,” according to Matthew Sweezey. He’s right, of course.

37. Turns out those little donuts are great right from the food truck.

38. And they’ll keep giving them to you as long as you have tickets.

39. You can have nothing but donuts for dinner.

40. Okay, sorry, back to work.

41. Twitter also has yellow pages, where businesses can search for customers by geography, category…it’s like the opposite of real yellow pages.

42. NewsCred says they made $5 million in the first 8 months of the year just from Content Marketing.

43. Also said that LinkedIn converts at a 40% rate for them. (forty percent!)

44. Sure, this is number 44, but did you see that last stat…4-0 percent.

45. That cute Friskies video was shown in more than one session. It has more than 16 million shares. It’s one cat talking to another cat. About cat food.

46. Beech-Nut remade their product after listening to their customers (moms), who said they don’t trust what’s in baby food.

47. Today’s ingredients in Beech-Nut carrot baby food: Carrots.

48. Not even water or anything. Just carrots.

49. Apparently, Content Marketing can help companies know what products to offer or how they need to change them. Writing that idea down.

50. “With Content Marketing, people don’t feel like they are in a sales process, but they are. They are being educated along the way,” said Brian Clark.

51. He also made about 80 references to CopyBlogger, but it’s awesome, so we’ll allow it.

52. Kristina Halvorson challenged us to be “More than marketers shouting at customers.”

53. Amen to that.

54. She also noticed that, while this Coke Journey website thing is awesome and all, if we wanted to find out how to apply for a job at Coke, it’s almost impossible to do.

55. Same for Ameriprise Financial. The University of Notre Dame. United.

56. Oh, airlines. Don’t get Scott Stratten started on Delta.

57. Or is it Detla?

58. Either way, he’s funny. And right.

59. Oh, and there was this from the Unmarketer: “Don’t’ try to be first, be right first.”

60. I wanted to support my fellow #CMWorld tweeter Erica Heald and attend her talk about curation, but I couldn’t get in.

61. Sold out. Awesome.

62. The BuzzFeed guy: “We are a platform-agnostic platform."

63. Huh?

64. When a big unexplained noise happened backstage during the panel discussion he was moderating, Mitch Joel didn’t skip a beat: "It's just my mom cleaning up."

65. Some phone company also had a big announcement during the show.

66. I must have missed it.

67. Think they’re into watches now.

68. Cathy McPhillips was nice enough to organize a meet-up for those of us who join the #CMWorld chat each week. The chat is Tuesdays at Noon ET.

69. The meet-up was at 7:15.

70. In the morning :)

71. Scott (the Content Wrangler) Abel rocked a lunch & learn about Content Engineering.

72. People stopped eating, it was that good.

73. Twitter advanced search can show you the conversations that are happening right now.

74. Mark Schaeffer called Twitter a “real-time global brainstorming session.”

75. Also called it the “Movie trailer to your movie.”

76. And “The most powerful networking tool ever created.”

77. So, he likes Twitter.

78. Proof: “Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a retweet now and then.”

79. Okaay.

80. Email tip: if you use shorter emails, limit the use of links. Spam filters will measure the proportion of links to copy and, as emails get shorter, you’ll have to use fewer links.

81. And, as Matthew Sweezey said, “No one clicks on the link in your email sig anyway.” Good point.

82. Shafqat Islam from NewsCred reminded us: “Behind every tweet, every share, every purchase is a person.”

83. Jason Miller appreciates his B2B brothers and sisters…

84. “B2B marketers like to have fun, they’ve just been locked up for a while.”

85. According to David Kirk, Google searches for Content Marketing were up 181% this past week.

86. Kevin Spacey also bent the ‘If a tree falls’ metaphor toward his audience: "Does it matter what's behind a link if no one clicks on it?"

87. No. It does not.

88. At one point, I was concerned for the Content Marketing space-time continuum when I saw Ann Handley and Kristina Halverson chatting between sessions.

89. Thankfully, security was called and they were moved to separate locations.

90. Can’t risk it.

91. Turns out that Kevin Spacey is familiar with the F-bomb

92. Very familiar.

93. He demonstrated his knowledge of Content Marketing terms throughout his talk.

94. When the audience seemed surprised/impressed, he quipped: “Yeah that’s right, I know your f---ing terms!”

95. Halverson on the infamous Oreo tweet:

96. Just 0.008% of active tweeters engaged with Oreo.

97. She did the math.

98. “That was advertising, not engagement.”

99. Content Marketing World is back in Cleveland September 8-11, 2015.

100. Registration opens December 1^st

See you all there?