We lost our way as content marketers. Whether it was the adoption of the Inbound playbook and gated content, the rise of demand generation, marketing attribution, or something else, content simply became a vehicle for conversion.
I was incredibly fortunate to spend time with someone who fell in love with content marketing from a different angle. I recorded an episode of our (soon-to-be-relaunched) podcast this week with David J Ebner of Content Workshop.
He is an artist at his core—a creative writer. He and a group of other artists turned creative writing into freelance copywriting into content marketing and now operate as Content Workshop, a story-first agency.
Remember stories…
We have become so focused on conversion, we lost our story along the way. In our conversation about content’s impact and how to measure it, we both started talking (ranting) about how content’s whole purpose is to entertain, educate, or tell a story.
That’s when he said it, “at its core, content marketing is philanthropy.”
You can and should give away value with your content. On our platform, we see templates out-perform other content formats by a factor of 3x. People are engaging with branded content because they want to be grow their career or grow their business. How are you helping? Give away what you know.
Here are a few ways we think about it at The Juice:
- Market the Villain: You want people to have an emotional reaction to your content? Stop talking about the hero (you) and talk more about the villain (the problem you solve). Loss aversion is real and people hate pain.
- Giveaway Data: One thing that AI can’t duplicate (at least not yet) is your proprietary data set. Use data from your platform to educate your reader. We talk about stats on gating vs. ungating, content in the salescycle, and best topics/formats for content
- Be Brave: This was David’s point that I loved. The path of least resistance is to do what everyone else is doing and fit in. Or, you can be brave and take risks, step outside of your comfort zone. We’re pushing our brand to be weird, be brave, and stand out this year.
- Be Curious: Ask questions! Questions make for great content. They require research, conversations, and exploration. If you are asking yourself a big question, chances are your audience is too. Go find the answers.
- Find Your Tribe: Collaborate with creators who are just as passionate about your subject matter. Build your audiences together and share your perspective. There’s strength in numbers.
Neither David nor I are arguing that you shouldn’t measure content. But don’t fall so in love with the measurement that you forget to be philanthropic.
In fact, we’re both big fans of measurement. SEO rankings, attribution, views, downloads, and more. You should absolutely measure your impact (just like good philanthropic organizations do) but that’s not why you should do content.
Be philanthropic.
Jonathan
This Week’s Best Content:
🧃 From Full-Time to Fractional: What CXOs Need to Know Before Making the Jump
From: Pavilion
Over the past two years, the rise of fractional CXO leadership represents a paradigm shift for seasoned go-to-market (GTM) executives seeking new avenues of growth and challenge. Inspired by discussions within the Pavilion community, this article delves into the critical pros and cons of transitioning from a full-time CXO role to a fractional one.
🧃 An open conversation about Workplace Burnout
From: Storyblok
We tackle a pressing issue in today's fast-paced world: *burnout*. In this episode we had an open conversation about effective strategies to navigate and conquer burnout. Expect to gain valuable insights in this live event where we talked about some practical tips for maintaining work-life balance, fostering resilience, and prioritizing self-care.
🧃 Helping-First, Selling-Second: SEO, Content, Marketing, & Sales
From: Content Workshop
Brave brands are helping-first, selling-second brands. But how do you even do that? Learn how to use content marketing to help your customers.
