I recently read a post written by Brian Carroll of MECLABS. An excerpt caught my attention as this is a problem I see often. He was discussing a finding in Marketing Sherpa’s 2013 Email Marketing Benchmark Report that found only 15% of marketers reported they have dedicated resources to produce content for each stage of the buying process.
Brian’s colleague, Daniel Burnstein, shared that he had heard a related story from one of their partners:
They, too, wanted to send emails that were relevant and didn’t know where to begin. Typically, as a matter of rote, they blasted out an email every week about one of their products. The marketing team knew it wasn’t the optimal approach, but didn’t have the time to think it through – the emails had become merely another part of their weekly list of activities.
This is why content marketers find themselves in a pickle. They’ve realized what content can do to facilitate buying, but they’ve lost the passion in the quest for quantity over quality. Sound familiar?
Instead of a strategic and thoughtful application, content marketing has become a rote activity. And that’s causing all kinds of commentary in marketing circles, my favorite of which is the CRAP presentation from Velocity Partners.
I decided to share a few of my thoughts about why it’s important to step off the treadmill and create more thoughtful content. Sometimes it’s hard to see past the chaos. Marketing is inundated with a never-ending list of things to do as channels multiply and buyers, executive teams and salespeople demand more and more.
But we have to stop and think. We need to calm the chaos and wrestle the content marketing beast into a thoughtful approach that delivers returns. MORE content is not the answer. Better, more thoughtful content is what will make the difference.
