A Newsletter on Marketing (and Life) #019

AI + Content Pillars + Focus on the Basics

Author

Jordan Ogren
October 27, 2023

"You know this is a marketing newsletter, right?"

You're right. I've been going too deep–in my feelings. Let's talk about something unemotional... AI.

JK. It's likely one of the more supercharged topics. But at least it's directly related to marketing.

I was at a breakout session on AI this week. While much of it wasn't new (for me), I still have three insights for you:

  1. AI is here. You need to begin adopting it into your process. I haven't been this bullish on something in a while (or since crypto...jk!).

  2. AI WILL IMPROVE YOUR CONTENT. I'm screaming this because it's the easiest place to see its value. Use it for brainstorming, editing, and improving your insights/conclusions.

  3. AI isn't going to be as big as quickly as people think. Especially in the image/video space. The next time you hear how you can consistently create great images using AI, make them prove it (A few percent of prompters can develop invariant results).

I believe AI is the future. I also believe it won't change as much as we think (in marketing). Please prove me wrong.

What are your thoughts on AI?

Enjoy this week's letter:

Marketing Micro Essay 💡 Content Pillars

(Time to read: 1:34 minutes)

Without this, your content is unlikely to flourish 👇

You could know how to write the perfect hook, use white space, and end with a question, and your content could still suck if it…

DOESN’T RESONATE.

What makes content resonate with your audience? Sure, the writing and delivery of it are important. But there’s something more vital:

WHAT you are writing (posting) about.

The content or meat of your post matters more than how you write your post.

It’s 100x easier to teach someone with solid content to write well vs. help someone who can write well-developed content that resonates.

But… I have found a simple mental model that helps people improve their content while building an audience around specific topics.

That model is Content Pillars.

What is a “Content Pillar?”

Content pillars are 3 to 5 core topics or themes that a brand consistently explores and communicates through its content across different platforms. These pillars reflect the brand's mission, values, and the interests of its target audience, aiding in establishing a niche, building authority, and engaging the audience more effectively.

Imagine a brand with top talent and a huge budget that creates content without Content Pillars. They will likely create kick-ass content, but the momentum won’t be there. Why?

If I enjoyed an amazing video on cow poop’s benefits because I care about agriculture, I doubt I’ll like their new video on Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s romance (🤢).

When you don’t have Content Pillars, it’s hard to build an audience around your content. Your content will be sporadic and likely not “on-brand.”

It will also be challenging to continue getting buy-in on new marketing investments if there is no traction to be shared. You may have many impressions or other vanity metrics but lack a community that carries the exponential potential to drive marketing results.

Without community, you are forced to depend on paid ads to get conversions. This results in higher costs per customer and lower future optionality (meeting pipeline demands forces you to use ads, resulting in less money to build community).

“We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.” – Craig Davis (former chief creative officer at J Walter Thompson)

Content Pillars help you focus your content on things “they” care about, build a focused audience, and help those people make true progress.

But before I share how to define your Content Pillars and uncover your audience’s interests, I want to cover another similar concept that is quite different: Pillar Content.

📹 Marketing Clip of the Week

Demand vs Lead Gen...

The dichotomy we never thought we needed (do we need it?).

Sam Kuehnle does a beautiful job sharing the differences in this 2-minute video:

Three Books – Three Quotes

"Most of the sentences you make will need to be killed.
The rest will need to be fixed.
This will be true for a long time.”

– Verlyn Klinkenborg (Several Short Sentences About Writing)

"Without a hierarchy of values, which helps form and direct desires, we can’t even begin to think about what to pay attention to and to what degree.”

“Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.”

– Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking)

Heard – Saw – Experienced

Heard:

Be human.

That was one woman's takeaway from a recent panel I attended. She shared a vulnerable story about losing her sister to suicide. And her takeaway was that we are all human.

We have shit going on in our life. Stuff no one sees.

Don't hide it. Be human. Lean into vulnerability and show the true you. It's okay not to be okay. We must learn to sit with our "humanness."

(Our Exec. VP moderated it, and she did an incredible job creating a safe space for the four women panelists)

(I believe in you)

Saw:

I love watching animals—more than I should.

I love how they don't care. They live their life on their terms.

I was sitting at a light when I watched ≈ 50 birds fly up at once and do a unique tornado-like movement. They landed (by water, which I found out later) and then returned to the air a few more times. It was beautiful.

Nature is like that. It's not perfect, but completely whole. If you sit long enough, you can (always) take something from animals, nature, or water.

One thing I want to do more of is be in nature. Any tips?

Experienced:

No one deserves to die at the hands of their (ex) partner.

(No one deserves to be abused by their (ex) partner either. PERIOD.)

Sadly, this happens more times than you think. 96 people died in domestic violence incidents last year in Wisconsin. I don't understand why it happens or how to stop it, but I stand with the victims and advocates on the front lines.

Last week, I attended the Show of Strength event by Golden House to raise funds to combat domestic violence.

One line that stuck out to me was, "If it's predictable, it's preventable." Some signs and patterns can signal that things are heading this way. But even then, it can still strike in the least expected places.

I am saddened by the problem and optimistic because of the people working to end this.

Personal micro essay 🙆‍♂️ Focus on the basics.

Imagine your habits, environment, and mindsets as soil.

Improvements to your HumanOS are seeds that occasionally fall into your soil. The determinant of whether it grows or not is the health of the soil. Healthier soil grows better.

Here’s what poor soil looks like:

  • Eating/sleeping horribly.

  • Living in a chaotic home.

  • Having negative views of yourself (due to past trauma).

It will take more time to grow, and the progress isn’t promised. Luckily, most aren’t there.

Many are in the middle. We could improve our habits, surroundings, and mindset, but that’s a lot of work. I’m there, too. I struggle to rationalize the costs and actualize those enhancements.

Good soil is rare. Ironically, it takes a lifetime to gain, so when you need it early on, few have it. Even then, many (older) adults don’t have great soil. This results in many people living with average soil, upgrading their HumanOS fewer times.

That’s what it comes down to. Good soil helps you upgrade your HumanOS with less friction.

Progress comes easier as if you were rolling a ball downhill.
With bad soil, it’s like Sisyphus rolling the rock uphill.

The good news is that you get to choose which soil you have.
The bad news is that some people are growing on concrete due to life’s circumstances…

Imagine you throw seeds into a parking lot; nothing will happen. That’s symbolic of our fundamental needs not being met. Things like sleeping, eating, drinking. Without these, it’s (nearly) impossible to continue upgrading your HumanOS.

As discussed earlier in this guide, some humans have been traumatized and, sadly, been denied these things, creating significant (sometimes permanent) bugs in their software.

The fact that some humans are denied this is terrible, and resolving that is beyond my (and the guide’s) ability. I strive to help through volunteering, but my ideas at this stage will not help those who have been hurt this deeply.

Moving forward, we are assuming you haven’t been traumatized to that extent. But don’t let the metaphor evade you: Don’t try growing trees on concrete.

You control your habits, environment (most of the time), and mindset. If your soil isn’t where you want it to be (you have the power to change).

In the following chapters, I will cover specific techniques for cultivating your habits, environment, and mindsets. And likely go to some unplanned areas. Let’s embark on upgrading our soil (HumanOS).

Works in progress:

I love writing these. I hope you enjoy reading them.

If you do, drop me a note. Share what you’re working on or offer some feedback on how I could help you make progress with these emails.

Till next time 🙏

– Jo (every second counts)