Hello Content Creators!
Anyone ready to return to theaters yet?
I’m not, but Matrix: Resurrections might finally get me back there. (F9 was close)
I can’t even remember the last time I was in a theater, honestly.
But I do, all too vividly, remember this one time someone wouldn’t turn their phone off. It rang, they’d pull it out, the bright screen would distract me, and they’d chat with whoever.
It got me thinking about how some marketing happens.**
A brand sees a captive audience and dials in, regardless of how ready those folks are for their message. Or how receptive they’ll be to it. It’s like they sat behind me and started chatting up their product just as the movie’s beginning.
It might be a great pitch, but that’s not what I’m there for. They’re delivering the message at the wrong time and the wrong place.
It happens all the time in marketing.
There’s a famous saying in advertising that half the money spent is wasted, we just don’t know which half.
We see a crowd and think “Let’s blast our message out there!”
Billboards, radio, TV…and now Roku, Peacock, YouTube.
You can tailor the crowd a little, but it’s still a firehose with a lot of overspray. And you don’t exactly know who you’re reaching or what mood they’re in.
Fortunately, with Content marketing, it’s really easy to get your content delivered in the right place, at the right time..
Here’s how to do that*
Before we begin: These tactics refer to produced content, not social media or ads. There are plenty of studies about timing your social posts, and even apps that will do it for you. And you can run ads with keyword bidding that show when people are searching for something similar… but those aren’t the type of “content” I’m talking about.
I’m talking about content like:
- Blog posts
- Feature articles
- Interviews
- Reviews
- Videos
…and the like. Basically, anything that’s telling your story, talking about your products, or trying to Inform, Entertain, or Educate.
How to time your content
Timing is easy. Just make the content and put it out there…like, right now. Google takes care of the rest. Because when people are searching for something, that’s the right time, so if your content is out there, and it shows up, then you timed it right.
The example above shows how a story I wrote in 2019 about gravel cycling in Slovenia ranks #1 on Google right now, in September 2021. And my video shows up on Page One, too. Slovenia’s tourism board sponsored our trip then, but they’re getting the benefit every single time someone searches it, 24/7/365.
Where to locate your content
Your content’s location depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Examples:
- Put it on your website to move people through your sales funnel.
- Put it on YouTube as a tutorial or entertainment.
- Put it on established media to build credibility through 3rd party validation.
There are other places, too. Look at your goals, determine where the best place is to achieve them, then create the type of content that works there. Sometimes that means letting others (media, influencers, bloggers) create the content for you.
The *
All of this assumes that your content is good. If your content sucks, or isn’t structured and written to rank well, then none of the above will work. If you need help with that, Let’s talk.
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Cool Stuff I’ve Found
Headed back into an office or classroom and still a bit sketched out?
Turns out it’s not just masks and vaccinations that will help us get past this pandemic. Getting fresh air into your workspace is key, too.
Since one of our kids has to sit in her classroom to eat lunch, all up close and personal with 25 other kids now de-masked and chomping about, my wife built these portable virus filters for her classroom.
What you’ll need:
How to make your Box Fan Filter:
Construction is super simple, here’s how to build your COVID-busting room filter:
- Form a square with four of the air filters and tape the edges together. The top and bottom will be open.
- Place the fan on top, positioned so it will blow upward and the control is facing out.
- Tape the lower edge of the fan to the filter box.
- Make sure there are no gaps between filter edges and fan. Tape over any gaps or holes.
- Plug in and turn fan on to Low speed.
That’s it. Just let it run. If you need something shorter, you can switch to 16x20x1 or 14x20x1 filters instead. Yes, a HEPA air filter would be smaller, but they’re expensive, and they won’t move nearly as much air volume as this will. Now, if I could just bring one of these to the movie theater…
Right on time,
Tyler Benedict
PS – If you enjoy these newsletters, support it by buying me a coffee.
PPS – I’ll be speaking at Philly Bike Expo in November if you’d like to hear a creatively titled session on how to work with the media.
PPPS – **If you get my email newsletter, I used a different example to kick off this week’s concept, but it wasn’t great and wasn’t fair. While I can’t hit unsend, I can apologize for being insensitive, so I rewrote things for this blog post. Live and learn.
DISCLOSURE: Any items, services, or products mentioned in these emails are provided solely because I think you’ll like them. Some links might be affiliate links and/or Amazon Associate links, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something. This helps support all the free content. Thanks!