Is Your Content Invisible? Time to Break the Bland Barrier.

Good Morning Marketing Leaders.

This week, you’re in for a treat, Chris Hutchings (from It Better Go Bang) & I break down the current state of play with content & why so many companies content becomes invisible.

Here are the most important chapters

• What do you think brands get wrong about content and marketing their content? 00:30

• Brands are playing it safe 01:11 

• What is the point of some content that brands put out 01:29 

• Paddy Power leading the light 02:56 

• Goal setting has killed content 05:41 

• The true misunderstanding of what people want 09:00 

• Losing to the algorithms - allowing to be engineered by the platforms 10:02 

• Guardrails, not guidelines 15:22 

• Duolingo the example everyone loves (but could never do) 16:17 

• The modern web has confused Marketing Leaders & CMOs 22:51 

• The Substack influence 29:40 

• Understanding the power of distribution 34:12 

• The power of brand personalities and connecting to employees 38:33 

• Own your audience - Go Direct! 39:52 

• Boring & vanilla, Or Do you want to stand out? 43:14 

• The Maya Jama Opportunity 53:22 

• The Power Of IGC (influencer-generated content) 1:11:05 

• The difference between content creators, influencers, KOLs and b2b influencers 1:16:00 

• Does live still have a place in the future of marketing? 1:27:35 

• Great example of employees joining podcasts - OpenAI researchers joining high-profile podcasts 1:29:28 

• Are there any quick wins for marketing leaders 1:35:05 

• The sweet spot? Mid form content 1:42:54

• The golden rule 1:44:20

🎧 Or prefer podcasts? Listen below 🎧

The Key Takeaways For CMOs & Marketing Leaders

Here are the most important takeaways for senior leaders from my and Chris’ chat:

1. Stop Playing it Safe: The vast majority of brands (95 %+) are too "vanilla" with their content, missing opportunities to stand out. Fear and lack of knowledge and being able to explain the business benefits are key barriers.

2. Content is Broad: Content isn't just social media; it's the entire spectrum of what and how companies communicate - this has been hugely missed in recent platform shifts 

3. The "Point" of Content: Much branded content lacks a clear purpose and fails to achieve anything meaningful. With the mixed length formats now you can be tactical to serve the audiences there

4. Embrace Relatability: Shift from talking at audiences to talking with them. Authenticity and connection are paramount. Brands do not get away with talking at customers anymore. 

5. Huge Potential to Stand Out: Because most content is similar, even small, strategic changes can yield significant differentiation - your brand guidelines are likely handcuffing you and your team from producing great content.

6. Learn from Bold Brands: Companies like Paddy Power, despite operating in regulated industries, demonstrate the power of being quick, relevant, and understanding their audience deeply - calculated risks work in a trusted cross-functional environment.

7. Beware the "Watering Down" Effect: Ideas often lose their impact as they pass through multiple layers of approval (brand, legal, CMO). Empower teams to be strategically braver.

8. Rethink Content Goals: Moving beyond direct sales ROI for all content is crucial. Focus on building top-of-mind awareness, being entertaining, or informing and when they are ready, they will seek you out.

9. Content is Not Just Advertising: Audiences are inundated with ads. Create content that makes people think and keeps your brand relevant. Organic Marketing and advertising (Paid Marketing) are very different components to business success  

10. Learn from Individual Creators: Brands are missing a trick by not studying how individual creators build niche and dedicated audiences or go bigger and build massive, engaged superfans. 

11. Organic Reach Isn't Dead (For Good Content): Platforms will promote content people genuinely want to watch and share. "Organic reach is dead" is often an excuse for poor content or content that is specifically designed to be engaged with...

12. Don't Chase "Brand Dopamine Kicks": Likes and superficial engagement metrics don't tell the whole story of content impact, especially with evolving platform behaviours (e.g., Instagram Stories vs. feed posts and how we are engineered to not necessarily have to like anymore - this is why sharing in DMs is such an essential signal).

13. Challenge Internal Perceptions of "Seriousness": Overly formal or "high-brow" brand perceptions stifle creativity and relatability, especially with newer platforms like TikTok. High-quality high-produced content has a place, but maybe not on smaller screens, filling times of boredom or commuting.

14. Guardrails, Not Strict Guidelines: Provide teams with frameworks for success but allow them room to experiment and "bump into" the guardrails. Overly strict guidelines lead to bland content and blands not engaging or high-trust brands

15. Foster an Idea-Friendly Culture: Encourage teams to bring forward creative, even "outlandish," ideas without fear of immediate dismissal. Don't let good ideas die in employees' heads.

16. Marketing Leaders & Disconnection: Senior leaders must avoid projecting their personal content consumption habits onto their entire audience. What a leader isn't interested in doesn't mean the audience isn't and often this is the most important point to be made 

17. The Three Webs: Understand content's role in the public web, semi-private (gated/subscription) web, and private web (iMessage, WhatsApp, DMs). Content for private sharing is an emerging frontier.

18. Long-Term Content Strategy is a Brave Play: Investing in content that builds an audience over time (6-12 months or more) requires courage and CEO buy-in, especially with shorter CMO tenures - if you are going to invest heavily in content curation, distribution and leading other channels and tactics is critical - content alone is never enough (just ask the streaming platforms)

19. CRM Content is a Goldmine (Always Untapped): Most brands fail spectacularly with CRM content, often leading to unsubscribes. It should be engaging and provide value, not just constant sales pitches. Think how to make the customer successful, how to rewrite content for email format, embed rich media - be creative and shape their successes with the product(s) they invest into 

20. The Power of Human Connection: CEOs and senior leaders being more communicative and visible (e.g., live videos, direct responses) can transform brand perception, especially during crises or changes - don’t just put out statements that are overly vetted or overly protective. Get in front of a camera, show some personality and create that human connect to the personality not to a statement and signature 

21. Own Your Narrative (Go Direct): Publish internal communications (like Shopify and Box CEOs did with AI strategy) directly to social media to control the message and add a human touch. These updates will generate press, generate videos being created about you and the product and enable you to scale your PR and content-driven PR efforts 

22. UGC, EGC, IGC are underutilised: User-Generated Content, Employee-Generated Content, and Influencer-Generated Content (especially from niche creators, not just mega-influencers) are powerful but frequently mishandled. Give creators guardrails but allow them creative freedom as they know their audience, they know their voice and messaging and know how to incorporate your brand or product better than you do.

23. AI: Tool, Not a Panacea: AI can be a gift for efficiency and idea generation, however also a curse if used to mass-produce generic, soulless content. The human element and strategic oversight remain critical. AI should be an assistant, a producer or a co-editor where you inject personality, taste and insights 

24. Focus on Mid-Form Content: Mid-form could be a sweet spot – not too short to lack depth, not too long to lose attention, offering a way to build characters and connection.

25. Distribution Strategy First: Think about where the content will live and who it's for before creating it. Don't just create one piece and blast it everywhere.

» Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or through his site 

Copy & paste https://www.marketingunfiltered.co/p/content into your slack or teams channel to share to help them today!

Have a great weekend, and we will see you next week!

Thanks,

Danny Denhard