I was recently phoned by a hot prospect currently entertaining a proposal. Not to brag but he thinks I’m great! By his own admission, he loves what I do, has always wanted to work with me and was really excited to receive my proposal, which he found very compelling but… (Ah, there it is!)...But the first few weeks of the engagement I'm charging him to build a documented content strategy before moving on to an entirely performance based remuneration model for the content creation and distribution.
“Why can't we just pay for the content?” He asks, wide eyed and innocent like Puss In Boots (I assume, I mean he was on the phone so...).
“Because we’ve no real idea what content we need yet.” I tell him, “What stories to tell and how best to tell them for your audience depending on their needs, media, format and platform preferences.”
“You’ve got great ideas though and I know you can deliver.” He flatters me.
“Thank you, and yes I can deliver the content but without a strategy I’ve got very little chance of delivering the results you want.” I respond.
“But you’ve been in the game a while, you must have some idea??”
“I’ve been in the game a long time." I confirm, "And I that's how I know you need a strategy. You've tried creating content based on assumptions and it hasn't worked, that's why you called me. I don’t want to make assumptions. I want to make a few great things that perform well.”
“Well, why don’t we just take that strategy money and give it to you to make LOTS of great things instead?"
“Because it’s quite likely that no one will see or engage with them."
“They probably will though I reckon.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“Well, at least we’ll have the content to show for our investment, even if it doesn’t do that well, right?”
"I guess."
And that, dear reader, is why most content marketing dies. True story. The end.
Stay tuned for The Marketer’s Dilemma Pt. 2: Paying For Time vs. Paying For Tasks, coming soon and if you'd like your content to live a little longer and perform a little better then check out my content strategy and storytelling solutions at www.mooreslore.com.