Whatmakesgreatcontentmarketinggreat.

We’vebeenthinkingalotabout
whatmakesgreatmarketing
ingeneralandgreatcontent
marketing,specifically.

Lousymarketingtendstofallinto justafewbigBadBuckets: Ignoranceoftheaudience. Anempathybypass. Cliché.
Totallackofcraft. (Alloftheabove.)

Butgreatmarketingis
ahugelydiversechurch.

Isthereanysinglethingthatconnects somethinglikeDumbWaystoDie to‘EatBeef,YouBastards’ tothelovelyPathsofFlightvideo totheoutrageouslybrilliant
‘FollowtheFrog’video?

They’renotallfunny. Onegreatpieceofcontent mayshout,anothermaywhisper. Someisbeautifullycrafted, othersarerough-edged
andimmediate.

Soisthereacommondimensionthat allgreatmarketingcontentshares? Some thatwe canalllearntoapplytomakeourown
contentbetter?

There’sonequalitythatyou’llfindin
greatpieceofcontent.
Andonethat’slackinginalmostall
badcontent.

It’sthesamequalitythatwelovein
ourfavoritenovelsoressaysorpoems.

It’swhatmakesus giveourselvesover togreatmovies insteadofresisting theirpullforthewhole
ninetyminutes.

It’saqualityweloveinallart.
Andmaybeeveninthe
welikeandadmiremost.

Thequalitythatmakes
allmarketinggreatis
averysimplething.

Themagicingredientofgreatmarketingis

Confidencesays,
“IknowwhatI’mtalkingabout
andIpassionatelybelieveit’s
importantandtrue.”

Nomatterwhattheactualcontent ofamessagemaybe,communicating itwithconfidencetrebles,quadruples oreven itschance
ofbeingwellreceived.

Confidencetellsus
we’reinreallygood
handswiththisauthor
ordirectororpoet
orbrand.

Confidencetellsusthatwe’llbegoingon thejourneythatthisperson wantsustogoon. Itmaynotbeapleasantjourney. Butit’stheintended
journey, ledbyanexpertguide.

Whenyouthinkaboutit, that’s what we’relookingforwhenwe seekoutartandnovels
andmoviesandeven brandedcontent. Wewanttobetakenplaces byexpertstorytellers.

Conversely,messagesandstoriesand contentthatlack confidencerepelus. Theyloseusinthefirstpageorscene. Theymakesusthink,
“Ifyoudon’tbelieveinthiswhyshouldI?” Or, “You’renotverygoodatthissoIwon’tinvestmytime.”

Greatcontentmarketingisalways
confidentcontentmarketing.
Always.
Noexceptions.

Ifconfidenceistheonlythingyou communicatetoyouraudience, you’vegotashotatareturnvisit. Andifyoucombineconfidence withasmart,compellingstory...
you’reontheinsidelaneofthe fasttracktotheshortlist.

Unfortunately,
thevastmajorityof
contentmarketingtotally
lacksconfidence.

Mostofitiscareful. Andprofessional. Andintelligentenough forthetaskathand. Butvery,verylittleofitis
trulyconfident. Soit’sbland.Andmuddy. Andeye-wateringlyboring. It’sabrownZune.

There’saseriousdisconnecthere.
Whenyoumeetmanyofthepeoplein
thecompaniesdoingthisblandmarketing,
they’reactuallyfullofpassionandbelief
andcommitment.

Theylovewhattheydo.
Theygivethemselves
toit100%andachieve
amazingthings.

But,somewherealongthecontent marketingassemblyline,thatpassion andbeliefisdrainedawaybeforeit reachesaprospect. Orpeckedawaybyathousandwell-meaningdetail-geese.
Orburiedunderahundred-weightoftechno-dung.

thatifweshowtheworldthat
wereallycareaboutthisstuff,
we’llbelaughedat.

Orifwetalklikearealpersoninsteadof
amarketer,someonehigher-paidthanus
willfrownandsay,
“Thatdoesn’tlookandsoundlikeall
themarketingI’vegrownusedto.”

Orthatifweactuallysaywhatwemean
andhavefundoingit,theskywillfall.

Let’sfaceit,fearsucks.
Andincontentmarketing,
itsuckssomuchitborders
ontragedy.
Soherearewaysnottosuck:

Whatdoesconfidentcontentlooklike?
Herearesevenprinciples:

Insecurepeoplefilleverypause withnervousbabble. Andinsecurecontentmarketersfilleverybit ofwhitespacewith‘benefits’. Youendupshillinglikeaginsuknifesalesman.
Itsmellsofdesperationanddesperationdoesn’t smellgood. 1.Sayless.

Thebeststoriesaresimple.
Theydon’tneeddozensofcorollariesorproof-points.
Havetheconfidencetosaywhatyouneedtosay,
thenshutup.

Peoplewhodon’treallybelieveintheir
offersfeelcompelledtodressthemup
infancyjargon.
2.Speaklikeahuman.

Peoplewhobelieveintheiroffers
justsaywhattheymean.

Confidentmarketingusesplainlanguage.

Funisthemostmagneticforce
inhumanrelations.
Ifconfidenceisthenucleusoftheatom,
funisthezippylittleelectron.
3.Havefun.

Butmostcontentmarketing
readsasifitwerewrittenduring
ahigh-schooldetention.

Confidentcontentisfuntocreate.
Thatdoesn’tmeanit’salaugh-riot.
Justthatsomeoneenjoyedmakingit.

Toomuchcontentreadslikebarbecue
assemblyinstructions.
There’snopassion.Nobeliefthatthisstuffmatters.
4.Giveadamn.

Ifitdoesn’tmatter,
don’twriteit.
Ifitdoesmatter,
giveitthepassionitdeserves.

Thisdoesn’tmeanusingbreathless
proseorinsanehyperbole.
Itmeanssharingyoursincereconviction.

Crappycontentsendsoutsignalsin
ageneraldirectiontowardsafuzzy,
indistinctaudience.
5.Look‘emintheeye.

Greatcontentalwayshas
alaser-focusonthetarget.
Whenyoureadit,youknoweveryword
hasbeenwrittenforyou.

Startwithactualempathy,
thencommunicatethatempathy
earlyandoften.

Theonly‘birdsbees’talkIevergot
frommywonderfulfatherwasatwo-
sentenceinstruction:
6.Exposeyouragenda.

“Sexissomethingyoudo
with agirlnotto her.
Benice.”

Well,sellingissomethingyou
dowith aprospect,notto her.

Weakcontentcomesacrossasslightly
dishonestbecauseit’snotreally
comfortablewithitssellingrole.

Ifyoubelieveinyouroffer,
youwantpeopletohaveit.
Thatmeanssellingto
themisnotadirtything,
it’safriendlyone.

Beopenaboutyoursellingagenda.

Evenverygoodcontentoften
fizzlesoutonceit’smadeitspoint.
7.Askfortheorder.

Greatcontentknowsit’sthereto
getyoutodosomethinganddoesn’t
shyawayfromaskingyoutodoit.
Greatcontentearnstherighttoaskfortheorder.

Sohere’swhat I’murgingyoutodo: Aimhigh. Sayless. Sayitplainly.
Betrueto anindividual visionnota teamconsensus. Haveaball. Giveashit.

Saywhatyoureally,reallywant
tosayinsteadofwhatyoufeel
you say.

Sayitwithallthepassion,beliefand
confidenceyoureallyhaveinside.
Andifyoucan’tfindanybelieforpassion
orconfidenceinsideaboutthetopicor
issueathand...

Gofindanotherjobwhere
youwill findthesethings.

Lifeisshort.
Don’twastepeople’stime.

Don’tcrankitoutlikepasta.

Goforthandcreatewithfull,brilliant,
blinding,magnetic,joyfulconfidence.

Thankyou.

VelocityisaB2Bcontentmarketingagency
thatspecialisesinconfidence.
velocitypartners.com