Creation, Distribution, Reporting - HIKE!

By: Courtney Love

​Well, it’s official – the 2019 football season has begun! I WAS happy until half of the Eagles (my team) decided to head to the medical tent one after another in last week’s game.  Hey, at least my fantasy football team is 1-1, even though I have a feeling I’ll lose to the front runner: my 9-year-old son who’s standing strong in first place.

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At least it’s early: We’re only in Week 3 and there’s plenty of time to make a playoff run.  The same also applies to content marketing for your business … there’s still time to create content for the upcoming holiday season and prep your strategy ready for the New Year.
 
As I was deciding which QB should start for my fantasy team this week (Rollin with Mahomes) I realized there were some interesting parallels between the game of football and content marketing.  Since you’re still reading, I’ll assume you’re a football fan which means you’ll probably enjoy the remainder of this blog. So let’s kick off. 
 
Here are 3 parallels between content marketing and football.
 
1.  You need a playbook. 
Just like football content marketing needs well thought out strategy and a plan. Too many marketers think they can jump right into creating content without considering goals and the steps to get there.  Some of the important things to ask yourself:

• What is your main goal?
• Who is the audience you want to reach?
• What products or services to you offer that can solve their problems and address their pain points?
• What expertise do you have that you can share about markets and products to help distributors sell?
• Who will do the work of writing the content, designing the piece and distributing it?
• What distribution channels do you want to use to push your content to the right prospects?

 
2.  You need to break through the noise.
If you want your cheer to be heard, you need to make sure it’s appealing to other fans, so they can join in too. If you’re just screaming for your team by yourself, you’re making noise but you aren’t getting your message across.
 
Our industry is noisy too.  Content marketing isn’t new and each year more and more suppliers are adding it to their strategies.  Everyone is screaming for the attention of potential customers.  But you have an advantage over your competitors.  When you’re distributing content through your channels, you’re playing on home turf. They’ve signed up for your newsletter or visit your website because they want to see you and it’s your job to show them what you’ve got.  Providing valuable, engaging content on a regular basis will show them that you care about helping them be successful.  These are the “wins” that will leave them coming back for more.  And with that earned trust, they may just become season ticket buyers.
 
3.  You need a strong team.
​Eagles players Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffrey are talented football players but none of them can win a game on their own.  A successful strategy requires a coordinated effort by all players, each with their own unique roles to play.
 
At ASI Creative Labs, we’ve been team players since we introduced our in-house marketing agency.  We understand the importance of teamwork and collaboration and have formed a team made up of strong individuals who come together to execute projects and help our supplier team members win. With the demanding season of writing, editing, designing, proofing, deploying and analyzing a content marketing program, there’s no way one person can do it all.    You’ll find greater success by signing some key players and putting them in the game.
 
If you’re looking for a winning record in 2020, draft ASI Creative Labs and start practicing your touchdown dance.