Kevin Spacey.

Enough said…? Okay. Maybe I need to go into a little more detail then. I bet, first, that you’re asking yourself, “why is this guy blogging on an internet marketing company blog about Kevin Spacey?” Well, you’re right. It is out of the ordinary, but bear with me. It’ll be worth it.

I’ve been captivated with this recent speech Mr. Spacey gave at the Edinburgh International Television Festival on the heels of the very successful Netflix Original Series release of ‘House of Cards.’ He talks about the television industry as a commodity. It’s something that is being sold and a service that’s being provided to the audience. And he asks a very important question, “Does the audience have control?” This gives us something to talk about. So let’s correlate some of his quotes, that I’m most fond of, to content marketing (Ashley Lichty did a great post here about Content Marketing).

1.“We wanted to start to tell a story that would take a long time to tell.”

• Great content isn’t always a once and done phenomenon. (And if it is, make sure it has many elements that help to flesh out your content in different social spaces - see next quote)
• Your content marketing is never a one-opportunity-to-wow-the-audience “pilot.”
• Build something that is going to be engaging and take a while to tell, but break it into consumable sections for organization.

2.“We were creating a sophisticated, multi-layered story, with complex characters who would reveal themselves over time and relationships that would need space to play out.”

• Let your content breathe.
• Work to deliver something that is very complex in a simple way. (example: Reshoring jobs is a really complex discussion)
• It really takes hard work to deliver big content, the kind of content that makes an impact.

3.“Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in…”

• Audiences really want the transparent and the genuine. Talk about your industry’s struggles, talk about how you messed up, create a tool that might show your weaknesses (and your competitor’s at the same time).
• Plan. But plan around when your audience will want to be the most engaged with the subject of your content (Exaggerated example: An infographic about Giving Awesome Gifts for Christmas around July 4th…you get it). Be sensitive to holidays.
• Don’t make your audience work to share your awesome content. Present it in a form that can easily be shared and talked about. (Hint: must have social share buttons on the page the content is resting on)

Finally.

Tell your story. You can be your own content marketing. Don’t create content for the purpose of advertising! Create content to be shared. Create content to connect and evoke emotion with your audience.
Concerned about your industry not being the most exciting? Asking, “how can I evoke emotions about my industry?” Well, real people make up your industry. Those real people want. They have lives. They feel things. Give them something of which to be proud. Give them something that they can share with their co-workers, their families, their friends, etc. But most importantly…

Give them something!

By Joshua Cranmer, Director of Client Marketing at ProspectMX.