CM Chronicles: Has Marketing Become Too Technical?

I was about 7 months into my job as a content marketer when I realised that I didn’t even enjoy reading about what I wrote. 

Like most Content Marketers that start on a non-linear career path, I did my best to stay by the books. You know…don’t upset the godfathers of marketing. Utilize high-value keywords strategically, consider google’s search bar when writing, optimize your blog posts for search ranking, write between 1000 - 1600 words, blah blah and blah.

But the truth is, I couldn’t feel proud of myself, no matter how beautifully written the article or social media post was, no matter how fully optimized the content was... It was lacking something…warmth, depth, humanity…relativity. And in this era of AI-powered everything, nothing could be more robotic than content written by humans who couldn’t even bare to read them.

It is true that SEO, keyword research and all that good stuff that makes content marketing what it is today, is very relevant in the grand scheme of things. But from my point of view, things had become too technical. 

At least, at my day to day.

I was writing for an audience right? The few real people who still read articles off the internet. So why did it feel so technical? Why couldn’t I relate to the words that flowed out of my mind? From the H1 tags to the conclusion, why couldn’t I stomach my own words on digital paper. 

Then, it dawned on me.

My passion for storytelling had taken a backseat while my marketing brain wielded the reins as I clocked in every morning on my company’s slack channel.

As a multi-tasked content marketer who’s day-to-day was never the same, it was overwhelming to keep up with everything in the beginning. But once I started to see the patterns and learn the tricks, I found my rhythm and thus, began my one-woman tango. 

So what did I do differently after my discovery?

Created a new content strategy - As a growing professional, I lack some level of creative autonomy on the processes and tactics I could implement without…as you probably guessed…informing my bosses.

I researched what other companies with successful content strategies looked liked, what they did, how they did it and why it worked for them. 

Audited my job role, daily activities and goals - I took my learnings and turned on my analytical brain. I mapped out what my day looked like and highlighted the tasks that were important in helping me achieve my new goals. 

What tasks would I have to pay more attention to? What tasks needed to be outsourced?

I manage content for about 6 products and it’d be a writer’s suicide to attempt to transition my current strategy into my new one without falling behind. So, I focused my efforts on our newest product (I was really excited about it because I got to get my marketing hands dirty from the start) 

Researched blogs that I wanted to emulate (basically steal, copy and borrow from) - In the beginning, it was a whole lot easier to copy a strategy that worked for a company. I mean, if it ain't broke…right?

I canvassed through different content formats, taking notes of how a single piece of content was repurposed across many channels. How trends were utilised as topics of discussions? 

I went a little LinkedIn crazy, searching for marketing directors, digital marketing managers and anyone on the marketing team that had a hand in creating the magic that I wanted to recreate. I stalked their tweets where possible and took notes of the tips and tricks that they dropped along the way. 

Shoutout to the Superpath community on this one - finding content marketing people was such a breeze.

Testing, Testing - All of my newfound knowledge was simply that - knowledge if I didn’t put it to good use. So I started running little tests.

Change the tone of voice on the blog to suit the target audience. Make it sound like a conversation over coffee and croissants. Educate my audience on what the product could do for them. Show them what to expect from the product - POV style. Share first-hand accounts of my experience with the product. Republish on social media using Amanda’s zero-click rule. Address trends that they should be aware of. Describe what the product essentially does in a no-bullshit, direct and simplified manner. 

Results - Well, as I have only just started this process, I’ll be back to update you on my progress. But it’s important to know what KPIs I’ll be measuring my results against.

Again, taking off my marketing brain and moving away from page views, clicks, mentions and website traffic to social media chatter, reshares, and comments.

In the end, my sworn oath is to my reader, you…yes you! It’s my duty to provide you with cruelty-free, robotic-like, content that irks your soul whenever you see it.