Sometimes, I feel like we have hit Peak Content. There’s a lot of noise out there. Every time I turn around, I see a new branded podcast, a new B2B magazine, a new blog series or interview show.
You could think of all this copycat media as “commodity content” (hat tip to Jay Acunzo for naming this problem).
And B2B marketers sometimes come to me, wanting to make more of the same.
They say:
“Our competitors have a great podcast. We want to make one, too.”
“We need to target leaders in our industry. We know they like newsletters, so let’s make one.”
“We need to hit the market with this now, before everyone else does. We just need something out there…we can figure out the details as we go.”
As a natural skeptic, my first instinct isn’t to say, “Yes, please, sign here and we’ll get to work.” It’s to say, “Why? What are we adding to the conversation? What are the new questions you want to ask? What’s missing that you want to add?”
That’s the hard part. Deciding to make something is easy. Figuring out what exactly you want to say — your angle, your perspective, your unique overlap between what people want and what you have to offer? That’s a lot harder to figure out.
Here are a few ways I nudge marketers and thought leaders in a new direction, to create their own frequency instead of adding to the static:
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Try asking a different question. If everyone in your space is talking about what’s next, maybe you could ask why, how, why not, why now, or who will be there?
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Go narrow. One of the biggest missed opportunities in content is going too broad. If you try to be broadly appealing to as many people as possible, you probably won’t stand out to anyone. Get hyper-specific and zoom in on one topic at a time.
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Move 5 degrees in a different direction. Even if you don’t totally reinvent the wheel, try to move in a slightly different direction. If you’re tackling the same topics as everyone else, could you do it from a different angle? For example, if you want to make an interview show with leaders in your industry, brainstorm unique, new questions to get them talking about stories beyond their standard talk track. Some of my favorite interview questions: What did you want to be when you grew up? What has surprised you lately? What’s something new you’re trying out? What has you stumped?
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Look outside your industry for inspiration. Find new triggers to start your brainstorm. Talk to new people. Go on a walk. Turn off your devices for a few hours. Pick up a book by someone outside your industry. I get more inspiration from poetry and novels than I do from business books.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned from ten+ years working in thought leadership? If you don’t have a vision, perspective, or angle for your content, stop what you’re doing. Don’t publish anything until you’ve spent time defining your unique angle. If you don’t know who you’re talking to, what you want them to take away, and why you’re making content, do not pass go until you’ve figured it out.
Because once you know your why and how you’re going to approach your topic differently than everyone else, what you make will be so much better.
P.S. This is an abbreviated version of the full newsletter I send to subscribers every other Friday. Want more links, ideas, and the things that make me think? Sign up below.
