The document discusses what makes great content marketing great. It argues that the key quality that connects all great marketing content is confidence. Confident content communicates that the author passionately believes in and knows about what they are talking about. The document provides seven principles for creating confident content: say less, speak like a human, have fun, give a damn, look people in the eye, expose your agenda, and ask for the order. It urges marketers to aim high, speak plainly, be true to their vision, have fun, give a shit, and create content with full confidence.

1. Whatmakesgreatcontentmarketinggreat.

2. We’vebeenthinkingalotabout
whatmakesgreatmarketing
ingeneralandgreatcontent
marketing,specifically.

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

4. Butgreatmarketingis
ahugelydiversechurch.

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

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

7. Soisthereacommondimensionthat
allgreatmarketingcontentshares?
Some thatwe
canalllearntoapplytomakeourown
contentbetter?

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

10. It’sthesamequalitythatwelovein
ourfavoritenovelsoressaysorpoems.

11. It’swhatmakesus
giveourselvesover
togreatmovies
insteadofresisting
theirpullforthewhole
ninetyminutes.

12. It’saqualityweloveinallart.
Andmaybeeveninthe
welikeandadmiremost.

13. Thequalitythatmakes
allmarketinggreatis
averysimplething.

14. Themagicingredientofgreatmarketingis

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

16. Nomatterwhattheactualcontent
ofamessagemaybe,communicating
itwithconfidencetrebles,quadruples
oreven itschance
ofbeingwellreceived.

17. Confidencetellsus
we’reinreallygood
handswiththisauthor
ordirectororpoet
orbrand.

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

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

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

21. Greatcontentmarketingisalways
confidentcontentmarketing.
Always.
Noexceptions.

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

23. Unfortunately,
thevastmajorityof
contentmarketingtotally
lacksconfidence.

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

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

26. Theylovewhattheydo.
Theygivethemselves
toit100%andachieve
amazingthings.

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

30. thatifweshowtheworldthat
wereallycareaboutthisstuff,
we’llbelaughedat.

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

32. Orthatifweactuallysaywhatwemean
andhavefundoingit,theskywillfall.

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

34. Whatdoesconfidentcontentlooklike?
Herearesevenprinciples:

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

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

37. Peoplewhodon’treallybelieveintheir
offersfeelcompelledtodressthemup
infancyjargon.
2.Speaklikeahuman.

38. Peoplewhobelieveintheiroffers
justsaywhattheymean.

39. Confidentmarketingusesplainlanguage.

40. Funisthemostmagneticforce
inhumanrelations.
Ifconfidenceisthenucleusoftheatom,
funisthezippylittleelectron.
3.Havefun.

41. Butmostcontentmarketing
readsasifitwerewrittenduring
ahigh-schooldetention.

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

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

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

45. Thisdoesn’tmeanusingbreathless
proseorinsanehyperbole.
Itmeanssharingyoursincereconviction.

46. Crappycontentsendsoutsignalsin
ageneraldirectiontowardsafuzzy,
indistinctaudience.
5.Look‘emintheeye.

47. Greatcontentalwayshas
alaser-focusonthetarget.
Whenyoureadit,youknoweveryword
hasbeenwrittenforyou.

48. Startwithactualempathy,
thencommunicatethatempathy
earlyandoften.

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

50. “Sexissomethingyoudo
with agirlnotto her.
Benice.”

51. Well,sellingissomethingyou
dowith aprospect,notto her.

52. Weakcontentcomesacrossasslightly
dishonestbecauseit’snotreally
comfortablewithitssellingrole.

53. Ifyoubelieveinyouroffer,
youwantpeopletohaveit.
Thatmeanssellingto
themisnotadirtything,
it’safriendlyone.

54. Beopenaboutyoursellingagenda.

55. Evenverygoodcontentoften
fizzlesoutonceit’smadeitspoint.
7.Askfortheorder.

56. Greatcontentknowsit’sthereto
getyoutodosomethinganddoesn’t
shyawayfromaskingyoutodoit.
Greatcontentearnstherighttoaskfortheorder.

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

58. Saywhatyoureally,reallywant
tosayinsteadofwhatyoufeel
you say.

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

60. Gofindanotherjobwhere
youwill findthesethings.

61. Lifeisshort.
Don’twastepeople’stime.

62. Don’tcrankitoutlikepasta.

63. Goforthandcreatewithfull,brilliant,
blinding,magnetic,joyfulconfidence.

64. Thankyou.

65. VelocityisaB2Bcontentmarketingagency
thatspecialisesinconfidence.
velocitypartners.com