Joe Pulizzi’s MKTG 2030: 7 Laws of Content Marketing (& Other Takeaways From Content Marketing World 2019)
Content Marketing World 2019 was another incredible event in Cleveland, with nearly 4,000 content marketers in attendance, terrific keynotes and sessions, and amazing conversations. Oh, and the best conference swag. (I admit to being the attendee that got in line four times to win a sloth for my five-year-old. The fourth time in line, I ran into a Write Blog reader from Belgium, who said that our blog was one of only two that she reads because of how comprehensive each post I publish is. What an absolute delight to hug and talk to her! Bonus: We both won a sloth for our littles, and I even picked up one of two last stuffed narwhals from another booth!) It was an amazing week. I took Jessica, our Client Specialist from Express Writers, with me; and this year, I had the honor of going for the first time as a speaker. My session, co-presented with Jason Schemmel, was A Masterclass on Creating and Publishing Authority-Building SEO Blogs. I’ve gone to CMWorld three times so far, and this was my first year as a speaker. My favorite talk at CMWorld this year, hands-down, was Joe Pulizzi’s keynote, MKTG2030. I also took away some insights from a few private parties I was invited to attend, one of which was hosted by LinkedIn, and from listening and watching on the Expo Hall. Here are my Content Marketing World 2019 insights. Joe Pulizzi’s MKTG 2030: 7 Laws of Content Marketing (& Other Takeaways from Content Marketing World I don’t know if you’ve already guessed or noticed this, but I am a major fan of the “godfather” of our industry, Joe Pulizzi. He tells it like it is, is incredibly insightful in content marketing, and to boot, he’s 100% genuine, kind, and authentic as a person. Seriously, you can’t find anyone more “down-to-earth” than Joe. He embodies good content marketing. It’s no wonder that it has become a yearly tradition of mine to get a picture with him. I also have a running joke with CMI staff. How do I make it to one of the top retweeted/favorited tweets for the #CMWorld hashtag on Twitter? I just tweet Joe. It’s true. That’s what I did last year, and my tweet had over a hundred likes. The same thing happened again this year. ? “The #1 reason content fails is not because of strategy, consistency, value, patience… it’s because someone internally has no clue what you’re doing.” @JoePulizzi #CMWorld ???????? ? ? pic.twitter.com/QPmiwCgsvr — Julia McCoy | ? #CMWorld Speaker ‘19 (@JuliaEMcCoy) September 4, 2019 MKTG 2030: 7 Laws of Content Marketing Joe Pulizzi’s keynote kicking off CMWorld on Tuesday, September 3 was titled MKTG 2030. Inside, he covered what he called the “7 Laws of Marketing:” Law #1: The Law of They Have No Clue What You’re Doing The #1 reason content fails is not because of strategy, consistency, value, patience… it’s because someone internally has no clue what you’re doing. This rings true for me in so many ways. I had to turn away a Content Hacker client (my elite new consulting agency/personal brand) recently because of this very fact. They had no clue regarding high-ROI, valuable content. They massacred the hook I’d carefully compiled and trampled over every recommendation I made. I’ve seen this happen repeatedly in our industry. It’s sad. The answer, Joe says, is to sell internally to the executives budgeting for content. These people should be the focus of your “selling.” We need to turn the tables, Joe said, and be the ones marketing the worth of content to executives. Need some help convincing your manager or clients on the worth of content? See our content marketing statistics mega-list. Law #2: The Law of Self-Sustainment Joe is in love with Buzzfeed. They’ve achieved $130M in revenue in household appliances, and in 2019, their goal is $260M in revenue from Tasty appliances at Target and in other stores. By 2020, half a billion in revenue will be produced in non-media revenue by Buzzfeed. They are a #contentmarketing champion to learn from, Joe says. Joe also talked about Cleveland Clinic, which publishes Health Essentials, generating revenue through research, advertising, syndication, and sponsorship. There are multiple ways to drive revenue once you build a loyal audience. The most innovative brands drive five, six revenue lines through content. [bctt tweet=”By 2020, half a billion in revenue will be produced in non-media revenue by @Buzzfeed. They are a #contentmarketing champion to learn from, @JoePulizzi says. Read @JuliaEMcCoy’s #CMWorld recap” username=”ExpWriters”] [bctt tweet=”There are multiple ways to drive revenue once you build a loyal audience, @JoePulizzi says. The most innovative brands drive five, six revenue lines through content. #CMWorld #CMWorld19 recap by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] Law #3: The Failed Start-up Law Joe says that it’s much wiser and also less risky to buy an existing audience than to build from scratch yourself. (If you know our story, you know we’ve been working for eight years to build ours. Building a strong audience and presence from scratch hasn’t been easy!) For example, hardware maker Raspberry Pi recently bought two magazines from a company called Dennis Publishing. Smart move. Law #4: The Law of Ryan Seacrest I found this meme that emphasized every single point Joe was making: Joe says he comes home and tries to relax to a show, and every time he turns on a show, there is Ryan Seacrest. It’s getting old. What the heck is Ryan doing, hosting shows he has no business hosting? As in standing in for Regis on Live with Kelly and Regis, and appearing again in a few hours hosting American Idol. Joe says he can’t enjoy cable TV without seeing a constant stream of Ryan Seacrest. Well, as content marketers, Joe said we’re making the common error of trying to be Ryan Seacrest. We want to do all the things, but no one is doing them well enough. ? The way to succeed is by focusing on one or two … Read more
