This week, I’m feeling peckish thinking about food-related analogies for content marketing…
Food seems to be the analogy of the week for content marketing. My chum Dennis Shiao got his newsletter picked up by Joe Pulizzi in the Content Inc. Podcast, by talking about snackable content.
Some so-called marketing experts will tell you:
“Long-form content is out. Snackable content is in.”
The thing is, no one ever purchased multi-million dollar business software after watching a few TikTok videos.
Snacks are really just mini-meals that tide you over until you’re ready for the main course.
Very nicely put, he was riffing off my last Tuesday 2¢ that he kindly shared in his newsletter, that made the point buyers have time for content, but his analogy is better than my post wittering on about buying a pickup truck.
Anyway, this week I too have been thinking about food and content marketing.
I was chatting to a B2B content marketing consultant, and they were discussing how they have a client with a very fixed view of how their content is consumed by their audience, in a very ordered way.
Which sounded to me like a restaurant, serving the well-regimented buyer the starter, main course, and dessert, in that order, to the cadence expected of an evening out.
But, of course, buyers don’t consume content like that.
We have no idea if this diner just came from another restaurant, already has had the starter, and is now ready for the main course. They understand their problem, they want the heavy, meaty, detailed content.
Yes, as content marketers, we need to understand the whole meal, the starter, main course, and dessert. Ensure we provide what the buyer might like at each stage, but serve it to them buffet style.
Do you want your creme brulee before a shrimp cocktail? Sure. Sirloin with a side of fruit salad? Yes, ma’am. A flick through the product manual before you purchase? Absolutely.
Step up to the content buffet.
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I’m a 3xCMO, now a marketing strategy advisor and podcast host at Rockstar CMO. Although, I’m not a rock star, but a marketing leader, strategist, content marketer, columnist, speaker, industry watcher, and creator of ART (Awareness, Revenue, and Trust) for the companies I work with. But most of all, I am an enthusiastic tea drinker.
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The half-baked thoughts shared on this blog may not reflect those of my employer or clients, and if the topic of this article is interesting or you just want to say hello please get in touch.