The Single Worst Piece of Marketing Advice

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to go somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that! --The Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass

If someone advised you to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place, you'd think it was utter nonsense.

And yet that's what so-called experts are telling us to do with our marketing, especially marketing with content.

"Write longer posts--they get more views and engagement."

"Publish content every day to get more traffic."

"Use richer media, and they better be slick, or nobody will pay attention."

Make your marketing content longer, faster, better--that's the message we're all getting. And it's the worst marketing advice, because in reality, it's daunting to keep up. Companies that are already big and successful to begin with are the only ones who can afford to "run twice as fast" as they're already going, by hiring more and better creators of their epic content, and by using the latest and most expensive media production equipment.

For the ones who are just starting out, it's almost impossible to compete. They can only hope to run as fast as they can, so they don't get farther behind than they already are!

And so when your competitor comes up with a listicle of 50 top tips, you scramble to put together your own 101 tips. That's great until somebody else publishes their 999 tips.

Is there no hope for getting ahead in this content marketing arms race? I believe there is.

A marketing lesson from Malcolm Gladwell.

You can make your content stand out, and it's not through speed, length, or even quality. It's by being different in a useful and meaningful way.

I like to call this the Malcolm Gladwell strategy.

Malcolm Gladwell excels at presenting a different and interesting perspective. He doesn't write the longest books, nor is he the most prolific writer in the world. His books are compelling, because they present a different angle.

We can emulate Gladwell's originality in content marketing. Rather than looking at the most successful content in your market and saying, "What can I do better?" try asking:

• "What's missing? What gap can I fill?"

Example: Everyone else is writing blog posts, but nobody has created the step-by-step video yet.

• "What questions could somebody still have after consuming this content? What might they not know how to do?"

Example: Everyone's talking about the benefits of outsourcing, but nobody teaches how to onboard new contractors quickly and manage their work effectively.

• "Having read all this, what might they try to do and screw up? What are the common pitfalls and mistakes?"

Example: There's plenty of material about defining your niche, but no guidance on troubleshooting your niche statement once you've drafted one.

With a lot of research into your competitors' content, you can easily pinpoint the neglected angles, viewpoints, and approaches that will be the kernels of your unique content.

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