I Have Nothing To Say

I’ve been silent for the better part of the last year.

For one, I’ve been tired.

And two, I thought I didn’t have much to say (my constant Voxer conversations with my biz besties say otherwise, however).

Any time marketing, or content, or small biz, or Instagram, or email, or TikTok (still shaking my millennial head at it), or blahblahblah came up in conversation, I DID have something to say.

I had a lot to say – to my biz besties, to my team, to myself.

They would all say the same thing “You need to say this! You need to talk about this!”

To which I would reply, “I don’t have anything to say.”

And then they’d argue back: “B.S. Look at everything you just said.”

Touché, friends, touché.

I thought I didn’t have anything to say because I think much of “online marketing” is real crappy right now.

There. I said it. And now I have a lot more to say on it.

I guess they were right.

I do have things to say.

And I’m starting with why online marketing needs a revolution this year.

Out with the shit, in with the good stuff.

Puh-lease. For the love of our integrity and of Ogilvy’s legacy.

Speaking of David Ogilvy, ‘marketing’ has gone through some rapid and intense and constant transitions over the last ten years. Some could argue a lifetime’s worth in just the last two to three years alone, with the introduction of Reels, TikTok, and the larger focus on video.

The need for a larger quantity of marketing content increases each week, it seems.

But with that, the quality of what most small business owners create has also decreased.

And that’s where I’m ready to draw the line in the sand. I’m stepping over to the quality side (okay, I’ve always been on that side, but I’m gettin’ the sand wet and digging my heels in even deeper).

There’s too much gimmicky crap out there.

Open up Instagram – an app we all hate to love – and it will take you .5 seconds until you see a professional, talented, great at what they do, business owner dancing their way through the latest ‘trending song.’

Give it thirty more minutes and that same song will have been replaced for another, newer ‘trending song.’

All the while, this is supposed to be their marketing content.

This dance and point and song is, somehow, supposed to sell their product or their services.

But it’s the equivalent of the smarmy used car salesman.

Gimmicky.

Designed to get your attention (it’s not their fault, is it? it’s the used and overcrowded lot they find themselves selling in.)

It’s lacking substance. It’s lacking remarkability. It’s lacking a larger strategy.

But, it’s the tool. It’s ‘the way of 2023.’ It’s the avenue in which we market these days.

Does it have to be so crappy though?

What would happen if we brought more storytelling, more empathy, and more intention into our content pieces this year?

Like this recent Instagram Reel from queen Joanna Gaines.

It’s not THAT extreme in creation. It’s not over the top. It’s pretty simple, actually.

But the fundamentals of this piece of content are done so well.

The storytelling is there.

The radical empathy is there.

You’re left feeling it, too. You’re remembering the story that’s being told, you’re remembering what you wanted to be when you grew up, too.

You’re experiencing this piece of content like you’re the one in it (EH EM, EMPATHY!).

And that’s the revolution that online marketing needs right now.

This is another example of a piece of marketing content, again a Reel, from ole JoJo that’s executed well.

Everyone has that specific teacher. Everyone feels something when they imagine walking back into their old school.

Both of these Reels are marketing pieces in support of Joanna’s new book launch.

Both of these Reels could stand on their own.

Simple in execution, remarkable in strategy.

I’m not suggesting you never create a Reel or short-form video again. Not at all.

I’m simply begging that we return to remarkable creative marketing content.

Want to embrace short-form video in your marketing?

Brilliant! Amazing! Yes! Go on with your bad self!

Just please try to ensure you’re creating from a place of purpose, rather than ‘don’t-get-left-behind-on-insta’ frame of mind.

With literally every single piece of content we create for our clientfriends, I’m always asking one single question:

WHY?

(k, ya caught me, sometimes it’s more like “arrggghghhugghhhhh WHHHYYYYYYYYYY?!!?!?!?”)

But we’re always asking why?

Why are we creating this, and more importantly, WHY does the customer care?

If they don’t care, it doesn’t get finished.

Even if it’s the most remarkable sentence or email newsletter idea in all of the land. If the customer doesn’t care, it’s not remarkable enough for that brand.

Period. The end.

See, turns out I do have things to say. And perhaps I’ll keep saying them if you promise to commit to less crappy internet content with me this year, alright?

Onwards we go – remarkable content awaits!