Content Marketing in 2020
Content marketing gets a bad rap because a lot of it is so badly wrapped. What happens in the land of marketing and business (b2b marketing or B2C - it doesn't matter) is that someone takes a good concept and sullies it with poor execution. A strong intention becomes a watered down effort to lure people into a sales funnel with search terms. While SEO is a useful part of earning attention, it's not the soul of content marketing. Let's talk about that.
Content Marketing Strategy is About Being Helpful
Attention spans in 2020 are shot. The COVID-19 pandemic and other world events pushed us into having to consume more than our share of news. It's built an intention of shutting out too much information. But what types of content earn attention? Helpful material never goes out of style.
One way to help: brevity. People want the payload, not the fluff. Whether it's business goals or personal pursuits, skip the backstory and cut out the fat.
Guide people by making all your content simple to scan, easy to read, and worth bookmarking for later. By this, I mean: use subtitles and bullets. Create transitions and straightforward messaging. Don't make people work to consume what you create.
Content Types for Context Types
Video marketing is an undeniable part of 2020's content marketing landscape. It's useful for when we feel like being nurtured, or when people's content needs also match a desire to lean back and simply absorb the material. But what if many of your target audience are in a car for long stretches (like truck drivers or suburban commuters)? Then a portion of your marketing methods would be better suited for audio. If not a full fledged podcast, then at least audio content you can invite the recipient to play while commuting. Remember that just because you might prefer text, the most effective way to reach people is the type to choose. Never let your preference guide this choice.
Use Different Types of Content But Tell the Same Story
While matching content to the customer journey, remember that it's preferable to tell your story across a variety of marketing channels. If a prospective customer is evaluating your product, shoot an Instagram video showing why your product is the better choice for them. Follow it with an infographic comparison chart or the like. Remember that you can get quite varied in delivery methods. Make a Slideshare of "How to Convince Your Boss to Buy Our Product for You" and arm your internal allies with what you know. But be sure that you use an editorial calendar or content calendar (however you prefer to call it) so you have an eye towards optimizing earned attention.
Perform a Content Audit
It's easy to mistake content marketing efforts and published material for being actually useful. But there's so much at stake. All content is a reflection of your branding. If the content marketing your organization creates doesn't serve both the consumer of that material and the sales team, it's not content marketing. It's just content.
A content audit investigates whether your organization's marketing strategy and tactics align with its business objectives. If funny dance videos don't make the phones ring, then who cares? But at the same time, if your company still pushes bland white papers circa 2000 because you're "doing b2b marketing," then you're missing far too many opportunities. There are so many ways to reach more people and earn more customers. But it takes effort and it can't be phoned in. It's 2020. Let's get you ready for the years ahead.
May I Help?
I offer consultation around business strategy and marketing as it applies to content marketing and much more. I'm quite available to help, should you want to talk that over and see how I can get your company's content marketing to serve you better. Just drop me a line via this contact form and I'll get right back to you. Or email me directly: chris@chrisbrogan.com . Either way. I'm here to help.
Business Storytelling
Business storytelling is the act of using story as a way to interact with others to convey business values and/or business information. I like to say that "story is the best unit of memory" (tweetable) and that's because the goal of business storytelling is to help information stick, both internally among various teams and leadership, as well as externally in alignment with marketing, sales, customer service, and other parts of a company.
Stories to Tell
There are three types of business stories the way I teach it:
- Mission stories - stories that help people understand and align with the mission of the organization. "We work to give every mother the tools she needs to raise compassionate athletes."
- Belonging stories - these are stories that inform people that they are in the right place, so to speak. "Moms of athletes don't always agree, but they all want their kids to have what they need to thrive."
- Growth stories - part motivational talk and part "corrective" language, this helps employees stay aligned with the mission of the organization. "While we want you to sell as many coaching packages as possible, it's important to work within the budgets and schedules of the mothers you're supporting."
One doesn't have to be any kind of master storyteller to make this happen. Remember that the definition of story is simply "an account of people an events." While I'll show you some story structure as it applies to business storytelling, essentially the spirit of your work here is to learn that a story helps people remember important information better than most any other tool.
Business Storytelling Approach
The goal of every story you tell should be to convey information in a memorable (and maybe even repeatable) way. Because these are business stories, and the goal isn't to become some kind of master storyteller of fairy tales or something, let me give you a few more details to consider:
- Clarity - Business stories must be succinct and clear. There should never be a surprise. Instead, people need their information to be straightforward and understandable.
- Brevity - The attention span of people these days is diminished from stress, from too much information, and from a shift in how we prefer to consume knowledge. Create brief stories. Snacks more than meals. And seek to be as brief as possible while staying clear.
- Metaphors - To craft a compelling story, sometimes an easy tool is a metaphor. "Life is a stream. It flows in one direction and when we step out of the water, we can never get back in at the exact same moment." That sort of thing is a metaphor.
The first two should be used all the time. The last is a tool you can use more as a condiment than a meal. (A metaphor.) "Think of metaphor as a condiment, not a meal." <-- that's a tiny business story to remind you how to use metaphors in your writing. (Not much in the "account of people and events" department, but we'll stretch the definition a little.)
Content Marketing Thrives on Compelling Stories
I'm working on a project with my friend Saul Colt. The goal is to help physical stores and galleries all across Canada to build online storefronts to enable these organizations to sell online. While brainstorming ways to earn more sign-ups for this project, I came up with two different ideas (stories) that complement the project and can be told as content marketing (in this case, on Instagram).
The project is called "shopHERE powered by Google" and because I want to encourage more people to sign up, I proposed storytelling elements that are a play on "shop here." The first is built around regional business pride and uses the hashtag #myshopishere . The second is about women-run businesses and the uses the hashtag #shopHER (minus the e. Get it?) They're meant to be quite relatable (as good stories are).
If I didn't tell you much else about the campaign, can you imagine the kinds of photos people will take for 'My shop is here?' Pizza places. A favorite nail salon. Maybe a cool pawn shop would be part of it. And of course 'Shop her' is about empowering women owners, like an auto body shop, and an MMA gym, and so on.
The projects are content marketing designed to drive awareness and signups to the shopHERE powered by Google project, but the STORIES are about regional pride and woman-owned businesses. Make sense?
Storytellers Invite Their Listeners to be the Protagonist
The power of storytelling works best when it becomes a collaboration between the creator of the story and the consumer of that material. The reader or listener or viewer best experiences compelling storytelling when they are invited to tell the story from their perspective and participate in it themselves.
Star Wars has stuck with us better than many other media properties because the stories are bigger than the main characters. Even if you don't want to be Luke or Leia, you can decide if you want to be an Imperial Tie fighter pilot or a rebel scout or someone else in the captivating stories that follow.
Story, as it turns out, works best when it is a collaboration.
In business, this can happen in branding. On the day I wrote this to you, Nike's website has a tag line that says "Where All Athletes Belong." They're pushing inclusivity and this goes beyond a marketing strategy and instead pushes deep into the fabric of their brand stories overall. It matches.
Story Structure is a Powerful Starting Point
You've watched a TED talk before, I presume. Reserved to no more than 18 minutes (there are very few exceptions to this online), presenters are trained and drilled in how to craft stories that start with cores of data visualizations or case studies and add an emotional connection to the material. Sometimes these are funny. Other times, they make us see what we thought we fully understood in a new light. And even other times, we simply enjoy the experience and go along for the ride.
The structure of TED, the little details, how it all gets wrapped together into a compelling narrative is worth understanding for your future business communications as well. I recommend Talk Like TED by Carmine Gallo, a book that is every bit as useful today as the day it was published.
How to Get Started
With business storytelling, you might be thinking: "Okay, I don't disagree with you, Chris, but I'm not sure what to do now with this information." Fair enough. I'll help.
- Write a story of what your product/service is and who it helps. The agile user story template works well for this: As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>. Being able to answer this succinctly helps you see your business more clearly.
- Work on a few sentences around this: The type of people who buy from us are ___ . They like __ and they don't want ___ . (This is a belonging story.)
- If you were hiring a new employee today and she will be working from home, what story does she need to know that sums up the culture of your organization? Are you sticklers for timeliness? Are you a very collaborative company? Are the rules cut and dry and there's not really a lot of flexibility? (Remember, this isn't always a bad things: franchises must follow the systems that are in place.)
- Write a few sentences around the ideal customer experience. "If everything went flawlessly, a customer would start on our website and click here. And then..."
- At a team meeting, host an exercise around "A meal we used to have at home." Have people write down some details or a paragraph to explain something about food that inspires at least a little emotional attachment.
End Clearly and Strong
Another detail. For whatever reason, it seems that the art of ending a story is lost on the world. The best endings point to what might come next. In many ways, the best endings are beginnings. This piece ends with me offering help, which might lead to a beginning. Your stories might end in different ways. But "stopping" and "creating an ending" are vastly different efforts and exercises. You want to end clearly. Like this.
If You Want More Help
My core business at StoryLeader™ is dedicated to improving your success with expressing yourself within (and outside of) your organization. I help you convey your intentions, clearly express your business goals and values and needs. And I'm an expert at turning that terrifying blank page into something you can run with and complete on your own with confidence. Never hesitate to drop me a line either by email (chris@chrisbrogan.com) or by just filling out my contact form.
If I Were Selling Real Estate Today
The world of real estate has become a lot more software driven in recent years. Sure, ultimately, a buyer interacts with a person, but with the number of real estate apps out there, a lot of up front work happens before a real estate professional is contacted. That's not necessarily bad, but for a lot of Realtors (and other professionals in other industries for that matter), a personable connection with a buyer matters immensely as well.
If I Were Selling Real Estate Today
For years, I've had the pleasure of keynoting various real estate events and speaking at industry conferences. In every interaction, I found a warm, smart, driven person looking for new tools to reach and serve their buyer. My book with Julien Smith, Trust Agents, seemed to resonate with the primary challenge of "how do you build business remotely on the web?" Since that book (over 9 years have passed), I can say that the use of digital tools to evaluate real estate has only grown.
If I were selling real estate today, I'd embrace these apps and I would have a website/blog where I could add some content that my buyers might want. What would I put on that site? Oh, I'm glad you asked.
A Real Estate Professional's Content Marketing Checklist
- Sure, you want to post pictures and videos about the properties. That's a given.
- Take the camera on your phone and shoot a "neighborhood walk through" video.
- Record an audio file where you talk people through how to evaluate a home. Tell them to keep this playing in the car when they're out hunting around.
- Record another video where you list out what people need to bring to closing.
- Find community points of interest and interview people to show off the neighbors.
- Shoot an autobiographical video talking about your passions for serving people and your career so far.
- If you have other skills/talents, like interior design, give people a video of tips for how to spruce up their place. OR, make a video to show homeowners how to prep their house for sale.
Naturally, there are plenty more pieces of content I could recommend. This is a great starter set that will keep you busy for a few weeks.
How to Go About Making All This Content
I'm sure you might have seized up a little upon seeing that list of seven ideas. The thing is, you already have the tools to make this. You have a smart phone. This comes with a video recorder and a voice recorder built in. If you feel like you have to edit the videos a little, you can record lots of little clips and dump them all into either Windows Media Maker (PC) or iMovie (Mac) and trim off the edges a bit. I promise that none of it is rocket surgery. If you know how to cut/paste words in a document, it's almost the same thing.
Practice. That's what I most want to share with you. Just practice.
As for scheduling, pick a weekly schedule of creating and posting that will let you take a little time to make your content, edit it, and post it. It's that simple (but not easy).
Get my Newsletter!
If you like what I covered here, I invite you to grab my newsletter. It’s not the same as this blog post. It’s completely unique content that comes out on Sundays. I promise you that it’s the best of what I do every week.
Try me!
Here Are The Two Types of Videos to Post
We create videos with the goal of educating and entertaining people. Beyond that, we are all at the mercy of various algorithms in play on the platforms where we hope to share our ideas. In both cases, there are two types of videos that get attention.
The Two Types of Video to Post
- Brief - Less than 3 minutes, maybe even less than 1.
- Long - Ten minutes or more.
We either want the snack or the meal. It doesn't matter which platform, though YouTube tends to promote long form much more than brief works. What matters is what your prospective audience is meant to do after watching the video.
Longer videos earn more camaraderie, trust, likability (if you are worthy of those emotions). Brief videos serve people looking to solve a specific problem.
It's up to us to create both. It's not our choice. We don't pick the length. The platform and our target audience's intent are what drive these choices.
Want to see an example?
Get my Newsletter!
If you like what I covered here, I invite you to grab my newsletter. It’s not the same as this blog post. It’s completely unique content that comes out on Sundays. I promise you that it’s the best of what I do every week.
Try me!
My Simple Live Video Setup for Mac
In 2019, I intend to deliver quite a lot of video as part of my media making. This includes live video on YouTube as well as uploaded videos to other content platforms. If you want my simple live video setup for Mac, here's what I'm using. (By the way, the only part that is Mac specific is the actual video making software.)
My Simple Live Video Setup for Mac
Software - I'm using Ecamm Live. I love this software because it allows me to use multiple cameras, multiple views, links to Facebook Live and YouTube Live AND lets me record a local copy of every video that I can upload to other places like LinkedIn after the fact. Ecamm Live is simple, super affordable, and works smoothly on a Mac. (Note: I've had past business dealings with this company and the owners are friends.)
Webcam - I took a chance and bought a no-name brand Chinese webcam and it has worked beautifully for me. I have used it for over a year and I've never had a problem. I also picked up this little mini tripod and this sits on my desk.
Microphone - I just picked up the Blue Yeti Nano in Shadow Gray (few other color choices). It's a smaller and more condensed version of the regular Yeti. I've used Blue brand microphones for about ten or more years now and they never cause me an issue. I also picked up this boom stand to go with it. That is clamped onto the side of my desk and works wonders.
Lighting - I'm not super great with lighting, but I purchased two of these lights and also two light stands for those. To do it again, I might consider this kind of light instead.
And that's my basic setup.
My Process
When I get ready to do a live video, I announce that I will be doing so on both Twitter and Facebook, and then I open up Ecamm Live. I turn on both lights, make sure my mic and camera are plugged into the USB slots on my Mac. I double check that I've got the software set to broadcast live to YouTube (and keep a local copy on my machine). I check that the mic is on and not muted. I check that I'm in the camera frame.
I review my notes (usually a list of bullet points I want to hit during the recording), and then I take a big drink of water. I double check that all alarms are off on any devices. I turn my phone to silent. I make sure the AC/heat won't come on. I stick a "recording" sign on my door so neighbors don't screw up my recording effort (I live in a factory building).
I then hit broadcast, and start talking.
Make This Your Year of Video
The setup I showed you up top isn't expensive, particularly. Everything in it is attainable over time. But don't let that stop you. Even if all you have is your smartphone or a point and shoot camera that shoots video, get started making video. It's pretty important to create more material for that medium.
Want to See A Sample?
Here's an example of me using this setup:
And if you get stuck, I'm always here to help.By the way, consider grabbing my newsletter. It's the best thing I do every week. I promise I'll work hard to help you succeed.
Most People Use LinkedIn Wrong
I feel bad for LinkedIn. I think it's one of the least understood tools and platforms in the modern digital landscape. Heck, maybe I'm using it wrong, too. But I want to talk you through what I see as the value and opportunity for employing LinkedIn for your business pursuits.
How To Be More Effective With LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a talent and skills discovery platform. When you build your profile, the intent of that action is that people will review that profile, learn what you know and your capabilities and your experiences.
Beyond the profile, LinkedIn invites you to post and share information. Links, articles, and now most valuably, video.
The Importance of Posting
I feel like most people don't fully understand the intent of the opportunity to share. This is a talent and skills discovery platform. If I share a link to an article about how funny Wendy's is on their Twitter profile, what am I telling a potential business connection? At best, I'm telling you what I find interesting. At most, I'm flooding your stream with non-important information.
So what should you share?
Share information that highlights your areas of professional interest. Share information that highlights your capabilities. Share information that better elaborates on your offerings. Light up the beacon of "what you do to serve others."
The goal of posting and sharing is to extend the story of your capabilities so that people might assess their business reasons for connecting with you. That should be the guidepost for what you share.
Why Connect With Someone?
My connection philosophy has changed immensely over the last several years. I might be wrong. In the past, I used to connect with anyone. Why not? Now, I have a slightly different criteria:
- I connect with professionals I hope to do business with - prospects
- I connect with professionals I know I can help because I know their capabilities well enough to refer them - allies
- I connect with professionals I find aligned with my intellectual pursuits - mentors
That's my criteria. Yours might be different.
Who I Don't Connect With
I almost never connect with my peers beyond friends. If you're doing what I do, I don't see much need to connect on LinkedIn. I'm there to find business. I'm there to find clients and customers and people to serve. I'm not there to say, "Hey, let's all agree on things." I've built my career NOT doing what my peers do. It's no judgment on you. You're a peer. Good for you. I hope you build your business. But what do you think the value of connecting with me will be?
Instead of Actually Linking
I do follow some peers. I love seeing what they're interested in talking about. I don't need them to be linked to follow them. You might also do that.
And finally...
LinkedIn is Just Software
I feel that people get emotional around social networks. They equate "connection" in a piece of software with value judgments. If I don't link with you, it must mean I don't like you or value you professionally. That's the perception some people seem to have.
That's important for people to examine in themselves. If a piece of software is how you're determining your self-worth, or if YOUR perception of how you THINK I value you is driving your self-worth, that's probably an issue worth considering.
LinkedIn is just software. Use it or don't and look for value or don't. Look for a way to make it work for you because I feel it's pretty darned valuable. Just try your best not to stumble in there and expect it to yield anything.
And if ever you need help or need to reach me directly, just email me: chris@chrisbrogan.com
Earn Your Place in the Inbox
I just deleted an email without reading it (like you do). The subject line was "Not your typical Monday email." I deleted it because I knew without a doubt that it would definitely be a typical email. (I just fished it out of the trash. It was a sales offer. Pretty typical. No?)I'm told by so many people that email marketing is dead or that they have low open rates or that no one cares about email any more. I'm also told that no one reads email any more.None of this is true. But there's a massive catch. You have to actually earn your place in the inbox.
Earn Your Place in the Inbox
What gets someone to open your mail?First, we have to discount the types of mail you really want to receive. If you LOVE fly fishing and "Fly Fishing Weekly" shows up in the inbox, of course you'll open it. We can't talk much about that. There's no lesson learned by trying to copy something beloved.But what makes you choose to open those letters that aren't your top passion?To earn your place in the inbox, your efforts have to touch on at least a few of these important details and points:
A Great Subject Line Helps
I subscribe to the Lefsetz letter about the music industry and culture in general. What makes me open his emails? The subject line. We are a world of browsing-swipe-right-Netflix people now. If the subject line doesn't catch us, who's going to open the letter?The key to a great subject line is the act of promising something of value will be contained within. OR, if you're clever and tricky, sometimes a clever subject line will get people in. Here are a few samples of recent subject lines I've sent out:
- Connectivity Drives Repeat Business
- The Simple Mechanism of Marketing
- What I Told the Rockstar
- What to Do When Everything Sucks
- People Want a Guide
None of the subject lines are especially amazing. They're all kind of "working class." That's an aesthetic I really love and push here. You're welcome to be a bit more fabulous if you want. But the point is the same. Make sure the subject line earns your way in. Boring subject lines equal easy deletes.What comes next?
Teach me Something
Whether or not you're selling something, make sure you teach me something. I asked my fiance Jac what makes her choose which newsletters to open and read and she had three main points: newsletters that give her steps to follow, useful takeaways, or some deep research. Those are her top three reasons to read a newsletter. This makes sense when you see the quality of her Maria & Jane newsletter, covering women in the cannabis business world.Education in a newsletter is a powerful tool.
Make It Human
For years and years, this has been my battle cry. So many people write newsletters as if they're sending out a web page. They heavily HTML format the newsletter so that it's very graphically appealing, and there's barely a touch of humanity in the letter itself. It feels written by slaves chained to desks in a sweatshop. Here's a hint: if you hate sending it out, no one's going to love receiving it.The best way to make a newsletter human is to write as if you have something to tell to a person who matters a great deal to you. Write the letter to be helpful, informative, and dare I risk it, entertaining.
Lead Somewhere
It's amazing how many newsletters and emails are sent with not much of a sense of what you want the reader to do afterwards. They've read the letter. Now what? For my personal newsletter, I just invite people to hit reply. Unless I'm selling something. Then I invite them to click the purchase link OR hit reply.But letters that end quickly, abruptly, and with no sense of a next step are a wasted opportunity. Give people a chance to go further with you. It makes a world of difference.
Summary: Earn Your Spot
The inbox is still a very powerful place to earn customers. Much better than any specific social media, that's for sure. People still do go to their inbox. They do still open, click, reply and the like. But only if you make your work worth it to them. Hopefully this helps a bit.(And if you want to sample my newsletter, sign up here and check out the process for yourself!)
Do We Need Critics and Commentators Any More?
Do people actually need (or want) a critic or commentator to stand between them and an experience any longer? Or are people okay with processing for themselves? I have some thoughts on this.
Last night, Jac and I went to see the new Tom Hardy movie, Venom. It's yet another superhero movie with a slight twist: Venom is a murderous alien parasite and at best can be labeled an anti-hero. The movie topped the box office for its opening weekend, earning $80 million (double the next best movie) and setting a record for October releases. But critics didn't like the movie. It's sitting at a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes right now, for instance.
I feel critics didn't understand Hardy's performance. Most critics (I almost said "people") said they thought the movie was a tonal mess, uneven, unintentionally funny. I saw none of that.
Hardy played a regular joe (out of work investigative reporter) with fears and flaws who becomes infected with an alien symbiote hellbent on taking over the planet with its alien buddies. The alien communicates with Hardy and takes over his body from time to time. For his part, Tom Hardy plays this like a guy infected, a guy fighting off an invasion inside his body. He seems drunk. He's definitely conflicted. Venom is violent and aggressive. Hardy wants to avoid everything.
My point through all this is that the movie made perfect sense to me, was completely fun, and even though some of the CGI effects were a bit silly (as is the general premise), the movie was entertaining and accessible and worth my time and money. Only, critics, many of them, told me I wouldn't like it.
Do We Need Critics and Gatekeepers?
Why does sports commentary still exist? Are any of the commentators actually more interesting or valuable than your friends who watched the game? Do we need someone to decide for us whether something is worth it?Companies must strive to get closer to the people they intend to serve. They can't trust the systems any longer. Without a direct connection, they risk losing their potential customers to the whims of someone who may or may not be qualified to weigh in.(Oh, and if you like weird superhero movies or Tom Hardy - or the amazing Riz Ahmed for that matter, go see Venom.)
How to Earn More Customers
As I plow through the writing for my tenth book, Be Where They Are. Go Where They're Going, what I'm most concerned with doing is helping you best understand what customers want these days when it comes to content marketing and customer experience overall. Companies must evolve and adapt from the past few years of lobbing content into various channels and hoping to reach prospective customers. Instead, they have to develop material and touchpoints that show the customer that you're ready to serve a customer at their point of need.Part of this involves changing how you build out content marketing.
How to Earn More Customers
Busy customers want to find something that helps them move their story along and they want to know that you're ready to serve their needs. They also need everything delivered in bite-sized pieces. As most everyone consumes content and marketing materials via a mobile device these days, gone is your opportunity to create rambling and wandering text posts filled to the top with unnecessary words and blather. And finally, every piece of content has to offer the opportunity to connect and/or move forward. Police have the motto "protect and serve." You need to adopt the motto: "Connect and Serve."
Story Support
A customer's first experience with your brand should be what I've labeled story support. This means that whatever content you create has to match what they're seeking along the way. This requires thinking about (or knowing about) your various customer types.Let's say you sell digital cameras. Maybe one of your markets are aspiring YouTubers. (If I sold cameras, this would definitely be one customer type I'd pursue.) Build content that helps them improve their game. Here are some sample topics:
- Inexpensive Lighting Solutions for a Starting YouTuber
- Conducting Interviews for Your YouTube Channel
- How to Shoot Fancy Shots with Affordable Cameras
In all cases, the story goes beyond your technology but incorporates it. You're gently asking for the sale and/or making it clear you're there. But you're also providing something of value with or without a purchase.
And where would you put this content? YouTube in this case, silly. And also your site. But this post isn't about that.
Bite-Sized Engagement Opportunities
This post will top out at around 600 words. That's not exactly bite-sized. But it's better than 2000+ words. Plus, if I wanted, I could pull out little tidbits and do something different with them. Like here's a quick video, for instance:At every turn, make your content modular, small, dispersed to where people might need it, and ALWAYS with an opportunity to connect.
Be As Specific As Possible
My last piece of advice for today is to speak directly to one group at a time, if at all possible. Build your content and materials such that it reaches out to a very specific group at any given time. If you serve multiple potential customer audiences, that's fine. Just speak to one group at a time. Obviously, this works better if you speak to your biggest groups first, but don't be afraid to get very drilled down, too.
Ask for the Sale
Content marketing is marketing, which is part of sales. It's never a bad time to ask for a next step from the people you hope to serve. Just make sure it fits into the context of the interactions and/or that it matches a potential point of need for your customer base. For instance, if you like this article, it's a great time to grab my newsletter to get the BEST of what I do weekly.
See? Like that.
Finally, Be Where THEY Are
People ask me about which site, which social platform, which whatever. That's not the question. The question is: in which context would someone likely take a next step with the material I'm offering, and how does this help the customer? That's always the mindset. Always.I hope this was useful. Like I said, feel free to keep this interaction going. And if I can help you in any way, I'm here to customize this process for YOUR business and help you earn more customers.
Now That the Subject Line is So Important, Now What?
I'm not sure you've noticed, but the rules about subject lines on blog posts have changed. You now have approximately the subject line plus the first two lines of your post to earn someone's full attention. If that's true, now what?
Subject Lines as Drivers of Eyeballs
It's not that the subject line has to do ALL of the work, but at this point, the subject line is where someone decides whether or not to click and drill down into your article. The subject line has to give enough information for someone to actually choose to read further.Because this is true, you have to top-load your articles and writing. It's vital that the MOST IMPORTANT stuff is shared first, and then you work your way down. Let me sketch that quickly:Subject: Most important eye-catching information.First 2-3 Lines: What the reader will most need to know.Next Paragraph: The story that supports the top of the post.Rest of the Post: The details.Call to Action: Invite the reader to the next steps.
"Marketers" and "Content Experts" Drowned Everyone in Junk Content
Listicles and Buzzfeed and Clickhole title writing is why we're doomed to have to fistfight our way to earn someone's attention. It's our mess, so it's ours to fix.What will that take?
- Clarity - be crisp about why you want someone's attention
- Value - give something worth the click
- Alignment - speak to a specific group, not just "anyone who will stop by"
At this point, if you're not writing to reach a specific reader who is seeking reasonably specific information, you're talking to no one.
Get Practicing
Writing with a top-loaded style takes a little adjusting. Especially since people don't really want "just the facts" but a little bit of entertainment into the mix, your goal now is to determine how to deliver quality information to whoever gives you their attention. It won't come naturally, but it's very doable.And if you want ongoing help, grab my newsletter. I write weekly about how to help people grow their businesses through the use of better media and customer experience design.
Content Marketing is a Privilege
We are all creators now. All publishers. And companies are collaborators. Okay, and sometimes, we're fans of other people's creations, too. But even then, there's a change afoot. We see ourselves on the same level. We're all the star. But you? You're the star.
Publishing is a Privilege
This post is a bit meta for me. I walked out of the movie theater feeling so exhilarated after seeing a movie (doesn't matter which one). I thought to myself, "Wow. If I want, at this very moment, I could go write a blog post (this one), shoot a video for my YouTube channel, or record a podcast episode. I have a voice and I can use it.
But there's also a huge distance between what I choose to create versus what I can make that might be of use to others. Because even though there's a "me" in media, it doesn't count for much of anything unless it's useful to someone else. Everything else is journaling. Which is fine. Do that all you want. But to me, the real power is in creating something useful. Your mileage may vary.
To that end, publishing is a privilege. We earn the right to snag a little attention. Never waste that on something frivolous. Don't "post just to post." Make your material matter in whatever way you choose. Bring your particular awesome self to the picnic. But always treat this like the gift it is. Attention is an asset. And people run out of it quickly. Try never to eat someone's attention for no good reason.
Every Company Can Participate
If we're all publishers, all the stars, all collaborators, it's really important that companies learn that they're just a participant in the stories of their buyers. They're not always the center of the spotlight. In fact, they rarely are. Only in shampoo commercials do people rave about shampoo. We have to be a participant in the story of our buyer's success, not some weird star company demanding adoration.
Use your powerful publishing and creation powers for good. Make the world better for someone, or maybe many someones. The new stars are all about the collab. Find some costars and shoot/write/sing/make/build/create/dream. Whatever you do, do it as part of something bigger than you.
What a time to be alive and creating. Are you in?
Customers Don't Want Content - They Want a Better Path
I'm in the business of helping companies use tech to drive better customer interactions. I help companies earn more customers. The most common way people employ me is to help them build content marketing projects, expand their existing ones, or in general, turn their marketing, sales, and communications efforts into something more effective.
Well guess what?
Customer's Don't Want Content - They Want a Better Path
The reason I'm so bullish on AI, blockchain, chatbots, IoT, and video media for the future of business is that in all cases, these technologies can be applied to improve the success of a customer's journey from prospect to so-happy-they-refer-people levels.
Here's a simple one. Parking lots. The Logan Airport central parking lot in Boston is a zoo. It's really hard to find a space, even when you pay extra for "Logan Express." And yet, my son and I went to a sensor-filled parking lot in Braintree that told me at every level how many spaces I might find. This was updated in real time. How? Sensors. Easy. A few dollars per sensor and maybe $100,000 total for the project, including the software. (That sounds like a lot, but if it improves commerce and satisfaction, isn't it worth it?)
That project isn't content. It's really grindy-basic technology. And yet, a customer would be MUCH happier with something like that installed.
Content is Useful Only When It's Useful
I'm typing this at a Dunkin Donuts at the airport. I wondered to myself which content a customer would actually want in association with coffee, donuts, and whatever else they sell. My thoughts were "A guide to sneaking in Dunkins while you're on a diet." I figured that would be fun. Video plus a downloadable PDF would be fun. Right?
But sometimes, a customer doesn't need content. They need a solution. They need something to work better/faster/clearer. They OFTEN need more communication. They OFTEN need more support. They OFTEN need a better sense of how to navigate something unnatural to them.
Content is JUST ONE of the Marketing Tools a Company Needs
I do think there's a benefit to content. But I think there's a massive opportunity to make the customer experience so much better with content *AND* some of these emerging technologies. A really well executed chatbot could change customer interactions immensely. Voice interface is here whether or not you're using it, and it opens up a lot of new potential use cases for you. Blockchain mixed with the Internet of Things and all those delicious sensors means that you can build some amazing new customer interactions that are fast, with less friction, and that serve everyone involved in better ways.
Sure, make a great piece of content that turns someone on and educates them and makes them feel smarter. But the time is now to look beyond content marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing, and *just* marketing as a way to drive more sales and retain more customers.
What's next is here now, and it's your job to make it work. Dig in and start learning, start drawing your customer experience paths, and you know, if you get stuck, drop me a line. I can help.
Quit Your Bullshit
We have to stop phoning it in. Everyone. You. Me. Those guys. It's not okay. It's boring and it's messing up the entire opportunity to reach people and help them succeed. In short, quit your bullshit.
I'm on a flight to San Francisco to help credit union people market their services better. When I went looking at how they do it now, it's all copy/paste. If I strip the logos off the sites, there's nothing that differentiates one from the other.
"Get a car loan.""Get our credit card.""Want some life insurance?""Save. Make your dreams happen.""It's your plan." (I actually like that one.)"Low rates."They all use stock photos. They all try to reach everyone. They all want to promote their rates.It's not that they're bad. It's just that there's a journey prospective customers take with any product or service, and there are opportunities to market better at all the checkpoints along that path.
You and I Have to Do Better
Sameness kills. I read someone's marketing materials for his leadership business and if I had to red-pen all the phrases that were used on every leadership site, he'd have been left with about 11 words. Also equally boring.And when it comes to "content marketing," it was novel for a moment. But if it's not HELPFUL, then people really won't care.My son and I are doing some computer hardware projects (his idea) and we're buying our stuff from Adafruit. They use a lot of video to show off the functionality of various products they sell. They also do how-to videos. They also give really concrete project plans out, all while gleefully selling you the stuff to execute those projects.The whole experience feels personal, personable, and helpful.That's what our marketing has to be. Or why bother doing it? We need to earn the right to sell and serve, not throw junk over the wall.
On my Kill List
At present, I'm sick of:
- Stock photos/Generic photos
- Copycat podcast formats
- "Make sure to like and subscribe and HIT that little bell button"
- Blather (words that are more garnish than value)
- Listicles (blah, blurgh, hruuuckkk!)
There's probably more.We just have to do better.People will hate us if our version of "marketing" is just clogging up someone's attention with junk, reruns, leftovers, and generic clones.Stop it. Get messy. Find the real threads and follow them, knots and all. And help people. Equip them for success. It's the best way to market. Treat them like they are in the right place and among like-minded souls.That's the work.
Grab My Newsletter
If this was fun and interesting, stick around. I've got more for you:
Your Customer Data Needs to Be Smarter
One of the new content marketing trends for 2018 is to build stronger levels of content personalization into the marketing and communications workflows you send to your customers. It sounds tricky, but the truth is that the data is often there, and with just a little bit of manual intervention, there could be even more. The big point I want to make in this post to you is that your data needs to be used in better ways to improve customer engagement and to nurture better customer experiences.
Your Customer Data Needs to Be Smarter
If you have customers, you have data. You know their name probably, and there's a contact method or two, and there are payment records of some kind. Most everyone has that. You might also have purchase history. For instance, at Owner Media, I know who's bought what, how much they've spent, etc. And this is all pretty common for most companies. It's what ELSE you can do that we're going to talk about.We need to collect and/or USE what we've collected to better shape the customer experience. What do I mean? What does that look like? Let me lay out a few samples.
Example: Hotel
I stay in plenty of hotels, Marriott often. Here's what COULD be done with the data Marriott probably has laying around for me:
- Chris doesn't care about the view from his room - exclude "primo" rooms so we can save them for guests who care about that.
- Chris wants lots of plugs for his gadgets - upon checkin, send someone to his room with a power strip for his stay.
- Chris travels mostly randomly - exclude marketing for specific locations, but include marketing for system-wide deals, and/or maybe destination recommendations.
There are so many other ways to collect and use the data, but those were three quick ones. Let's move to another idea.
Example: HVAC Company- B2B
Let's say I'm the operations and facilities guy at a data center. You run the HVAC company that services my systems.
- Keep Chris's service calendar up to date, but also product end-of-life dates and "walk back" the start of a sales process conversation so that it matches before that EOL date.
- Marry the above information to what Chris told us about his company's purchase process to find the right date to start the re-sale process.
- Bring Chris weather and power forecast data for his center to help improve Chris's ability to size and scale his systems appropriately.
- Stay updated on related and complementary products and services and send updates to Chris, even when (especially when!) they aren't a product you sell.
Some companies do this, but they are few. Most B2B companies pay attention to product lifecycle and sales cycle information, but rarely go beyond this to collaborate with the client and find other potential opportunities to serve.
Example: Online Grocery Delivery
I'll tell you that I have a huge desire for someone to build me this.
- Chris tells the system: plan 6 days of meals for 1 person, vegan, with a $150 budget.
- System checks allrecipes.com for "vegan meals"
- System checks myfitnesspal.com for calorie and nutrient breakdowns for the meals from allrecipes.
- System matches finalized meals against grocery store price lists to match the $150 budget.
- A little rework probably happens
- System schedules meal grocery delivery to my house.
This is SO do-able. And once you get really smart with the data, you can add in some details, like food preferences (fewer beets and more Brussels sprouts, or whatever).
Start With Tagging
The first step of being able to use smarter data with your customer base comes from mapping out what you want to collect and/or how you intend to use it. You might know the "what" long before you know the "how." For instance, I know who went to my Boston event and who went to my Portland event at Owner. I can thus start with them when inviting someone to another in-person event. I can then invite whoever's spent more than $2000 with me. Etc. I can do this because I have the data and have added tags to various accounts accordingly.
What other tag categories should you consider? These are recommendations of tag "categories," not specific tags. (And when I say "tags," I'm saying "affix this information to the customer's record in a way you can query it later. Taxonomy and folksonomy stuff.)
- Location - you might bucket people up based on where
- Frequency - are people frequent buyers or rare
- Interest - this one's a "duh." If you know WHAT people like, you can offer more of it
- Preference - what does your buyer like or dislike
- Buyer Persona - David Meerman Scott's great term for what you might also call an avatar, etc
- NEXT - this one's fun. Tag people with "people who like this might also like that" data.
Start Somewhere
As I said in my post about needing better CRM, we have to start with creating more smart data to pick from. Then, we can sample and test using that data to drive better customer experiences for our buyers. From here, we can see what works and what doesn't and grow from there.But the starting point? Collect, tag, and review some of the data you already have but aren't using. Look for ways to append this data with more useful information. And build possible maps to see where knowing what you know leads your customer and your efforts to support him or her.And, as always, I can help.--This story first appeared on chrisbrogan.com.
Flying Cars, Smart Robots, and Cars Made from Ocean Waste - The Brief for 11.08.17
Here are the notes from the Chris Brogan Media broadcast for 11/08/17. (You can watch this on my Facebook account).The goal of these posts is that there are trends and ideas here that might impact your business now or soon. Think on the stories here and look for ways to adjust your business accordingly. If ever you’re stuck, get in touch with me and I can help.This live video was all shot using Ecamm Live (client), the best way to do Facebook Live for Mac.Please note that all links may be affiliate links. If someone is a client, I'll call that out specifically.
Stories Shared
According to a report from Deloitte, over 26000 blockchain projects were launched in 2016 alone.If you're STILL confusing bitcoin and blockchain, this is a great article that helps.Even though I think Snapchat is a bust, China's Tencent just snapped up 12.5% of the company's shares.Evidently NASA is partnering with Uber to make flying cars.From the skies to the seas, Volvo is making cars from ocean waste. Well, their interiors.I'm not a big fan of VR, but this museum visiting project seems pretty cool.You know I love video. Here's a great article from Content Marketing Institute about the formula for making great video featuring Amy Schmittauer Landino herself.Congrats to the first openly transgender US legislation member, Danica Roem, who beat out the guy who sponsored the infamous "bathroom bill" and called himself the state's "chief homophobe." Victory plus karma?Want to find out how much a sponsored post is worth on your Instagram? Now you can. I'm not worth crap. :)Have you heard of Sophia? She's an AI communications robot that famously made a crack at Elon Musk but also said she wanted to destroy all humans. She's an interesting one to see interviewed.I love ending with cosplay. How about people who dress up as Star Wars vehicles?Hey, if this has been interesting, consider picking up my weekly newsletter. It's all unique ideas by me about how to improve buyer interactions and grow your business. Give it a peek
What ELSE is News?
You want to get featured on the Chris Brogan Media show? Drop me an email: chris@chrisbrogan.com and let me know what's news!
Please Get My Newsletter
My newsletter is the best work I do every week. You can get yours here.
I Get a Lot of Things Wrong
It's become something of a strategy for me to jump into something, try to do it, fail, and then learn a little bit in the process. I learn more by failing than by studying something to death. But that's not all.
I Get a Lot of Things Wrong
I get people wrong. I forget that not everyone should be taken at face value. For me, I just don't know how to be a lot of different versions of myself. I'm me. No matter if you see me on a stage in front of thousands or say hi to me while I'm peeing in the men's room, I'm the same guy. (Though I'm not going to shake your hand in the men's room.) I take everyone at face value anyway, and then am willing to be wrong about them.
I get technology wrong. Sometimes, I think something is really dumb. Like putting text on photos. I thought that was dumb (said so in 2012). But emojis and gifs and text on photos is a HUGE part of how people communicate now. Whether or not you like it is immaterial. It's what it is. I will always get some tech wrong. And other times, I'll be right but it'll take you 3 years to know it.
I get business wrong. I constantly bet too early on trends. I also fall into the marketer's dilemma of thinking that of COURSE you know why this is vital. And then you forget to buy it. And I feel dumb.
I get content marketing wrong. I've been just posting those CBMXXX post titles for a while on this blog and was getting complaints. I felt like "screw that. Click just one and it'll all make sense." But. Um. I was wrong.
Wrong is Okay
I'm a fan of wrong. Because it also means that I'm learning and progressing and experimenting and that I'll have the chance to learn from my experiments and exploration.
If my job is to help you use tech to drive better human interactions, I'm going to have to stay ahead of the curve so I can tell you where the dragons are. If I'm turning the NEXT into the NOW and giving you ways to turn insights into opportunities, that means I'll probably have a few failures in the lab before I can give you a tried and true thing.
I'd rather be wrong than out of date. I'd rather be wrong than certain of something no one else cares about any longer.
Mistakes will happen, that's for sure. But I'll share the learning from those, too. And you'll appreciate that.Right?
Dear Bad Marketers - Stop It
If you're looking at this, it's because you bothered someone with your emails and they want you to know your approach wasn't appreciated.Dear Bad Marketer (and if I pointed you specifically to this post, I really do mean you). Stop it.
Stop. It.
Let me give you the rundown on "it" so that you'll know what to stop:1.) Cold email - Hey (PERSON WHO DIDN'T WANT YOUR EMAIL). Here's something WE want to promote because it benefits us, but we'll pretend we think it matches your audience even if it has nothing to do with your last 1000 blog posts.I ignore this email. I delete this email. I used to write "no thanks" with a few more words, but not even that.2.) Cold email 2 - SUBJECT: Checking In - Hey (PERSON WHO DIDN'T WANT YOUR EMAIL) - I'm just checking in. A few days ago, I sent you something you didn't ask for and could care less about. How come you didn't immediately reply to me and offer me up your hard-earned audience so I could promote my stupid thing to them, whether or not it fits their interests?I ignore this email, too.3.) Cold email 3 - SUBJECT: Not sure if you saw my previous 2 emails - Hey (PERSON WHO DIDN'T WANT YOUR EMAIL) - at this point, I'm just burning my name into your memory so you can say bad things about me to anyone and everyone you come across and use me as an example without blurring out my name in front of rooms of thousands. Sound good?
Stop It
Here's what's wrong with how you're approaching this:
- You didn't do your homework. If it really was interesting, I'd have emailed back on the first try.
- You're using cookie cutter emails. If you actually tried to connect with me, I'm a pretty nice guy and usually curious about a lot of things.
- You're going way above and beyond the "bugging me" line because you THINK that abundant email equals good marketing.
Stop.
Instead
I will help a little.
- Do better homework - find out who has actually talked recently about the thing you're looking to have promoted.
- Reach out in a personable way - be a human. Make this a 1:1 interaction. Don't push your tongue down my throat before we've even shaken hands.
- No more than two emails. Ever. If someone doesn't reply, take the hint. (After the 2nd email, not a 3rd or more.)
This isn't rocket surgery, but YOU are why people like me go from polite responses to silence. I'm worn out. I'm tired of bad marketers. And again, if I sent you to this post, it's because you're currently in the 'bad marketer' camp.
What to do Next
Tweet about what an asshole I am.Tell everyone you know that I'm a dick.ORFix your methods and actually get more success at what you do.I don't care which. Just stop.
What Launching a Facebook Live Show Taught Me About Media
I recently rolled out a Facebook Live news show that I create using a great Facebook Live for Mac software called Ecamm Live. I did the project because I wanted to get the word out about that software for the guys who create it, but something has really clicked with me. I'm really loving the process of creating the show.
What's really cool, though, is that it's opening up new lines of communication and reconnecting people with my business and also bringing more people back in touch with me. I wanted to give you all the lessons I've gathered (so far) about creating my Facebook Live news show and maybe even encourage you to create your own show, too!
Lessons Learned From Launching a Facebook Live News Show
- I shape the narrative - This is MY news show. I don't feel like talking about all the bad news. Instead, I have a kind of criteria for which articles and stories I share. The only news I cover is that which I find future-facing, culturally enriching, or technology that improves human interaction for businesses.
- The NEW news opportunity is to be more real - Lately, I see so much of our culture playing from the 1980s/1990s rulebook of how to communicate. Life isn't that way any more. We MUST adapt if we want to keep people's attention. Part of that is being the REAL you, not some polished version. Be excellent at what you do, but be human.
- Automate so I can focus on the good stuff - I use Feedly to find my stories, Evernote to make the list, and TextWrangler to format the links I've gathered before I post them on my news page. I'm getting faster at the repetitive parts and this helps.
- WHEN doesn't matter - This is counter-intuitive. It's called "Facebook LIVE," but hey. We live in a DVR culture. I post the show to Facebook, and then upload it to YouTube, and then update my blog with the video after it's ready to embed. I don't really care if you're there live (though I love it when you are). I just want you to have the news.
- I have to be interesting - It's not good enough that you have the technology to make a Facebook Live show. You have to be interesting. I work hard to make sure the mix of topics is worth it, that I deliver them in a useful way, and that I interact enough to make the show feel vibrant. (This is also where I need to step up my game.)
- A little prep goes a long way - I mentioned that automation was helpful. In general, if I pre-read the article, I sound smarter about its content when I present the story. The more I prepare, the better the show comes off. I look and feel smarter if I'm prepared.
- The more I do it, the better I get - Because it's super easy to just fire up Ecamm Live and launch, I'm compelled to practice (live in front of you) more and more. This gives me a whole skill set that's useful because doing a LIVE show is very different than being able to edit. I can use this in a variety of ways. THAT is valuable.
Should YOU Make a Facebook Live Show?
If you ask Mark Zuckerberg, the answer is yes. I don't want to say that. Why? Because I don't want garbage cluttering the Facebooks and thus people will really have to sift through it to find something worthwhile.My answer is yes IF you have something you want to share.
You Can Break ALL The Rules
Think about these details:
- Your show doesn't have to have a specific length.
- Your show doesn't have to be about a specific topic.
- Heck, you can make a new show every day if you want.
- You can make episodes when you feel like it (though consistency does evidently count a little bit.
You don't have to look and feel and sound like the old TV. You can be new. Your "news desk" can be a picnic table. You can dress your set however you want. You can speak however you want.
Provided you can entertain, inform, and connect with people, there's a great chance that it can help you earn more viewers.
Is This Good For Business?
Something like Facebook Live is a tool. Like I said in my list of 21 Facebook Live Shows I Want You To Make, there are a lot of ways to build business. You can use the show to develop attention for your projects. You can build sponsors into the show. You can create a show that's ready-made for a particular brand or industry and partner with them. The options are pretty broad.
What's the Down Side?
If I had to point out a potential negative to this kind of project, it's simply that people will half-ass this and add it to some kind of weird "cluster up your junk drawer" approach to content creation. For every great invention, there's a way to use it poorly.If you're going to bother making a show, try to connect with people and be useful. That's all that I ask. Make it worth it by honoring the time of the people you hope to reach.(And if ever you're stuck, drop me an email: chris@chrisbrogan.com)
Oh, and Grab My Newsletter?
If THIS was useful, you ought to see what I share weekly with people I want to help succeed. Get the next letter here:
21 Facebook Live Shows I Wish You'd Create
I've been experimenting with Facebook Live for Mac using a software I'm helping promote called Ecamm Live. The show I've created is a proto-news kind of show, and I'm trying to make it better every episode. But every time I go live, I end up wishing YOU would make a show, too.
So here are some ideas for shows I wish you'd produce that I could then watch (either live or the recording). And hey, if you're using a Mac, check out Ecamm Live as a great tool for making a show like this.
21 Facebook Live Shows I Wish You'd Create
- Poker Tips (My dad could make this one.)
- Accountability Buddies LIVE - get your goals straight
- Case Study Theater - fun reads on boring case studies
- Website Reviews - have people send in their sites. Tell them what's what
- Coffee shop confidential - get people to whisper weird secrets to us live from coffee shops
- Brain Pickers - agree to brain picking coffee meetings ONLY if you can stream them
- Speaker Practice - professional speakers practice a lot. Stream it
- Product Demos - show us how things work
- Beer Me - live taste reviews of craft beers (I might do this one)
- Comic Haul - show us what you've picked up lately and give us a teaser
- Draw/Paint With Me - be creative and guide the audience in a group art project
- Kitchen Wizard - cook things and share it
- Smoothie Bo Boothie - similar, but blend it!
- Wake Up And Make Up - beauty shows (not for me specifically, but I think it's cool)
- Yoga ta Be Kidding Me - parent and child yoga stream
- Bad Advice - I, for one, would watch a show where you promised bad advice every episode
- Make Up My Mind - thoughts and opinions backed with reasons
- Amazing News - good stuff without the bad stuff (who doesn't want this?)
- The Good Stuff - find me the good shows online on YouTube, Hulu, Netflix. Review!
- Universal Translator - teach me a new language that you've known your whole life
- Code for Mortals - oh, we all need to learn code? Help us! Make a project
Steal these ideas. Make them your own. Launch your own damned shows! (Secret hint: almost all of these are sponsor-ready. I thought of at least two potential sponsors for each project. Or you could just get a ShareaSale account and make your own sponsorships.)Okay? Go make some of these, and report back!And check out Ecamm Live as a good tool for doing so.This post first appeared at chrisbrogan.com
How to Attract The Attention of Big Companies For Your Small Business
I've had a VERY fortunate career. I was ahead of the curve on a particular shift in technology that affected how businesses and people interacted. Because of this, I've spent time with a lot of the biggest companies in the world, often meeting their CEOs as well. The picture above is Bob Iger, CEO of Disney. I've met and spoken in front of Beth Comstock, vice chair of GE. Fritz Henderson, when he ran GM was kind enough to blurb my first book with Julien Smith. And so on.
I'm not writing a single word of this to brag because to be honest, every single time I'm in front of people from Coke or Pepsi or Google or Microsoft, I have the same feeling: why the HECK am I here? How did I get here? And is it really that easy to be invited into the offices of some of the biggest companies in the world? (No, it's not.) I'll tell you what I know.
How to Attract the Attention of Big Companies for Your Small Business
Share Everything - So many people worry that if you post your "big ideas" on your website that "someone might steal them." Here's a few truths: your ideas aren't that amazing just written out, and also you probably (unintentionally) stole a chunk of your idea from someone else so don't worry about it. Put your best ideas out there.My own path went like this:
- Blogging and no one really noticed.
- Blogged for a bigger place, paid in linkbacks to my own site. More attention.
- My blog starts picking up steam. I'm sharing everything I can dream up.
- Twitter comes out. I'm early to it. More people "discover" me.
- Guy Kawasaki gives me a big break asking me to speak with him at a Thomson/Reuters event.
- Book deal because my blog is one of the top 10 marketing blogs in the world (at the time).
- Book hits New York Times Bestseller list and several other lists (written with my friend Julien).
- Speeches and consulting roar in.
If I were to give you some advice on changing this up to fit the times, I'd still blog, but I'd also add a podcast and a videoblog. Yes, that's more work. But the facts are out there: people just aren't reading as much. I'm sorry. Learn how to podcast. Learn how to videoblog.But that was step one to reaching all the big guys. I'll stress the important part again: I shared everything I was thinking, all my best ideas," and they paid me to come in and share what I meant and how it applied to them.Stress Your Outsider or "Regular Guy" Status but With Some Insider Language - In every situation where I worked with a large company, I came in representing the "regular person" perspective but with some ideas and "hooks" to help the company see what they could do with my information. I'll explain:Sony Electronics USA wanted to do a content marketing product with some of their cameras and video cameras. I said, "Well you know, as a dad, it's interesting that there's so much effort pointed towards 'mommy bloggers' all of a sudden. Why don't we ZIG and do the Sony Summer of Dads, and have kids and dads work on content projects with your devices?" They loved it and bought the idea.I got the idea across by pointing out my "regular guy" status as a dad and as someone who used gadgets like any other consumer. I didn't go with the "I'm an expert" method because lots of people come to big companies talking about how they're experts and super smart and the best in class. I stood out simply because I had a concrete and tangible idea based in the real world experience of what people might really do with their products.Make it Easy to Do Business With You - This one is insane to me. I hear little company people telling me all the time how they want to land work with big companies and yet, they make it really hard to connect, really difficult to understand what working with the company means, and more.Put "serving suggestions" all over your website so that people understand what types of projects they can work on with you. Put contact information wherever it makes sense for a next step. Talk through how a typical engagement works in your web copy. And once you get a call with an organization like this, be clear about how your process works at all stages.Part and parcel of this is learning how bigger companies function. I'll give you a personal example: lots of companies have a relatively complicated vendor management system in place. That means when you or I want to work with them, it's not like they whip out a credit card to pay us (though sometimes they do). There are forms. There are processes. There are sometimes corporate database sites you have to put yourself into. Learn this. Ask that question early in conversations: "Hey, what's the process like for vendor approval there?" This signals to the big company that you're not some clueless newb. (You might be, but at least you used the secret code words.)Look for this at every turn.I went to the National Entrepreneur Center in Orlando, where Disney (mostly, if not solely) helps school the little guys how better to interface with a big guy (like Disney). So for instance, you might bake a delicious muffin, but when Disney orders 26,000 of them, what do you do? It's important for you to think that way and ask yourself that question: how do I make it much easier to connect with me and do all the other interface stuff that's required?I saved the hardest one for last.Have Something Actionable and Worthwhile For The Big Company - I once got to spend some time with a health care company. They wanted to know how they could activate their customer base to get more involved in telling Washington DC what they wanted from a health care management perspective. In my meeting, I gave really concrete action steps for what could be done. I showed mini project plans of how we could roll out the experience. I didn't just brainstorm ideas. I moved the ideas to a point where the actions necessary to accomplish the task were clear.Many times, the little guy doesn't deserve the meeting. Not because you're little. Because you don't really have anything that changes the big guy's life enough. You have to have something that will show a measurable change in business. (This almost always means revenue.)There's a real big reason why I quickly distanced myself from a lot of people calling themselves "social media" marketers or experts or the like. One reason was that most of my brethren in the field were giving advice that had no tangible revenue impact. Having worked inside big companies, I know that most every decision is based on revenue (and share price) or retention (keeping the people happy). If you don't bring an idea or product or service that impacts those core areas, you really haven't got a reason to be at the table.
Be Helpful and Be Easy To Work With and Make Yourself Known
Those are the three biggest pieces of advice I can offer for you, if you're looking to reach the larger companies with yours.Be helpful - make really good media that helps people with some solution. Show it to them in video, in a blog post, in a podcast episode.Be easy to work with - make it easy to reach you and work to integrate with whichever businesses you can serve.Make yourself known - keep up the content marketing and media making. Try not to waste your platform writing something that doesn't nudge someone further ahead on deciding to work with you.
Get More Advice Like This
Every week, I send out a newsletter with my best advice. I give you ideas and information designed to help you do the work you want to do and improve your modern business. Sign up and join me today!
This post first appeared on chrisbrogan.com