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So, what exactly does content-first mean? A lot of things, as Joe Pulizzi explains in this episode of the Marketing Smarts Live Show.

It means you should develop a content mission statement. It means you should spend less time on creation and more on promotion. And much more...

But whatever you do, don't start and then just... stop.

"When somebody says, 'Why do [content] programs fail?' I always say because they stop. Don't call it a campaign. If you call your content creation any part of a campaign, it's not content marketing, it's something else.... When you say it's a campaign, that means at some point you are going to stop."

And if you stop for too long, your audience drifts away. It's true of media, it's true of artistic endeavors, and it's definitely true of content marketing. People forget.

"I'm like, you were doing so well," Joe laments. "We were just getting to a point where we were learning the needs and the wants of our audience, you were just getting down to a point where you were telling good stories, you just figured out the processes, and then... blah."

Content marketing takes patience, above all, Joe says: "If you don't have the patience built in, the internal communications built in so that you can offer yourself air cover to give yourself the time...go do the campaigns, go buy advertising, go do other stuff."

You should also probably focus on a few channels instead of spreading yourself too thin. Kill some things, he says.

"The average B2B enterprise creates and distributes content on 13-16 different platforms. You have Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, podcasts, webinars, and research reports. I can tell you that just creates a lot of mediocrity."

Watch the episode for more valuable insights and tips:


Make sure you don't miss any future episodes: Subscribe to the Marketing Smarts Live Show on YouTube. And to catch up on all previous episodes, check out the full playlist on YouTube.

Episode Details, Guest Information, and Referenced Links

Episode No. 41

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MarketingProfs resources referenced in the show:

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Full Transcript | Marketing Smarts Live Show Episode 41 | The Mechanics of Running a Content-First B2B Marketing Department

This rough transcript is machine-generated. It's been only minimally edited by humans.

George B. Thomas: So what exactly does content-first mean? A lot of things. As my guest Joe Pulizzi on the Marketing Smarts podcast put it, it means you should develop a content mission statement. It means you should spend less time on creation and more on promotion. But whatever you do, don't start and then just stop.

I love when Joe said this in our original episode: when somebody says why do content programs fail? He always says, because they stop. Don't call it a campaign. If you call your content creation any part of a campaign, that's not content marketing, it's something else. When you say it, it's a campaign, that means at some point you're going to stop. And you shouldn't stop; if you stop for too long, well, the sad news is your audience drifts away. It's true of media, it's true of artistic endeavors, and it's definitely true of content marketing people.

Today, I'm super excited to bring you episode 41 of The Marketing Smarts Live Show. This week's topic is all about the mechanics of running a content-first B2B marketing department.

So if you're ready to get your learn on buckle up and get ready to rock and roll. I'm George B. Thomas, speaker, trainer, catalyst, and the host of this hear show, the Marketing Smarts Live show, as well as the Marketing Smarts podcast, found on your favorite podcast app.

Our guest clips today are brought to you by none other, the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Joe Pulizzi. Joe is one of the world's top content marketing authorities. He has founded three companies, including the Content Marketing Institute, and launched dozens of events, including Content Marketing World. He is the bestselling author of seven, count them, seven books, including Content Inc. And Epic Content Marketing, which was named a must read business book by Fortune Magazine. And I'm proud to call him a friend. Yes, that is right. I would call Joe a friend. Now remember, the clips of Joe Pulizzi today are pulled from the full Marketing Smarts podcast episode.

And if you wanna listen to the full interview with Joe and myself, make sure to tune in to the Marketing Smarts podcast. Link to the full show will be in the description below after the live show ends. Now in this episode, again, I'm talking with Joe Pulizzi about the mechanics of running a content-first B2B marketing department. For the first piece of today's conversation, I asked Joe what content marketing is in his mind and why it's essential. Now, I need you to listen as Joe talks about how content marketing is actually a starting point and how it leads to community fans and even super fans. Let's be honest, it's Joe Pulizzi here. The nuggets of useful information in this clip are fire. So enjoy.

Joe Pulizzi: I think it's becoming more and more important. And if I had to go back to when I wrote Content Inc in 2015, I talk about building an audience and I still think that that's the first thing you do. You figure out, okay, what is my content tilt? Uh, okay, what's my differentiation area? What's the platform I'm gonna build on so that I can go out and build this audience? And then once I build this audience, then I monetize it so that there's a general formula for doing this. But then you take it one step further as how do I take that audience, find my super fans, the people that really love what we're doing with our brand, and how do you develop that into a community? That's where the opportunity is; that's why I love Web three and I know Web three is in a bear market right now, and we can talk about whatever we want to, but I've learned firsthand we have our own, NFT private community of about 60 content creators and the fact that we can create scarce assets and then they can actually purchase and own them and we can be part of this community.

I've never seen something more powerful. You want to talk about brand ambassadors, take that times 10, and that's the community that I think we've been able to build. So when you think about content marketing, you're like, oh yeah, we, the pinnacle is building an audience, but then from that audience you figure out your super fans, those are the ones that buy everything you do that don't question everything, that share all the stuff, and you wanna cultivate that. That doesn't mean everyone in your audience is going to be part of your community. It's never going to happen, but you're gonna have those 100. Kevin Kelly's talked about the thousand, you know, who's your thousand fans? Lee Jen talks about the hundred super fans, and I think that's what we want to go at first.

Who are the hundred? Especially for a B2B company, keep it small. And who are those people that you're going to, that you share a little bit of that insider information, but it starts, you can't get to community until you first deliver consistent value over long period of time, and then they self-select. Cuz you don't know who among those people are right for you. Now to your second point, let's just go back to the basics of content marketing. So content marketing is a strategy. It's a philosophy, if you will. You're going to, as a B2B organization, create valuable, relevant, compelling information on a consistent basis to a targeted audience for what purpose? To see some kind of positive behavioral change.

That's it. You should start with that first: I wanna see a behavioral change and I'm going to choose to employ content marketing strategies to get there.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of George B. Thomas

George B. Thomas is a marketer, video Jedi, and HubSpot certified trainer with 25+ years of sales and marketing experience. George is owner and HubSpot Helper at georgebthomas.com. He has a record-breaking 38 HubSpot sales, marketing, service, CRM, and CMS certifications. George harnesses his expertise in graphic design, Web development, video editing, social media marketing, and inbound marketing to partner with, teach, and develop solutions for companies looking to develop their businesses and increase their revenue.

LinkedIn: George B. Thomas

Twitter: @GeorgeBThomas