The content marketing treadmill

I’m spending a lot of time on the treadmill. I know I should be running outside, it just seems each time I do I tweak a muscle or it’s raining… or… the list goes on.

So, the treadmill is the easy option. But there’s a trade-off.

The sensation when you complete an outdoor run is so so different. I live in a nice part of the world. The scenery can inspire you. The legs seem to throb a little more when you pound the tarmac compared with the rubber of the treadmill conveyor belt.

I guess I’m taking the easy option. I’m doing something at least. It’s just the easy option.

THE CONTENT MARKETING TREADMILL

And there lies a similar problem with content creation. Sometimes you just feel like you’re doing it for doing it’s sake. It has to be done. So you do it (not in a Nike inspirational sort of way).

I’ve earned the right to name and shame the following business. They’ve advertised the following article extensively on Linkedin for the past couple of weeks… ‘Top 5 Tips To Increase Productivity In Your Workplace’

Rexel Europe. A big player in the stationary market. Masters of the desk space, they should know a thing or two about writing. What drew my attention to the article in question was a thought process of ‘Bad title. Let’s see what else they’re up to’.

Yikes. Talk about doing for the sake of doing – the true intent of the article is exemplified by point no.5 and I quote ‘Stats show that swapping the old-school manual shredders, which require individual sheets of paper to be fed into the machine, with Auto Feed shredders that take up to 750 sheets in every go

So, in summary, reward staff, be happy, spend less time talking, encourage team work, buy an auto feed shredder’. I jest you not -> proof

Rexel aren’t alone. There are so many businesses, large and small, missing out on the content marketing opportunity. To build community and connect through creating content that serves.

This is clearly a traffic generation campaign. Somewhere there will be a pat on the back. ‘Indeed, Linkedin advertising is helping to increase traffic’. We all know how expensive Linkedin advertising can be. This is the content marketing treadmill set at 1km/hr with a £1000/month membership plan. Nobody will win.

There’s the counter argument ‘at least they’re doing something’. Just like me hitting the treadmill today, it’s better than sitting still and wondering. I will push myself. But, I know there’s greater reward if I stepped outdoors. A greater experience.

THE EASY SETTING

Somewhere on the journey (content or running) you have to pick up the pace. You have to feel the reward for your efforts. It’s all too easy to just labour at a slow pace. It’s all too easy to just ‘tick’ the content marketing checkbox.

Sometimes we just need to get a little bit uncomfortable. That’s where we earn the reward. We may get a little bashed and bruised along the way. Make sure it’s worth it.

For Rexel, somebody has to take a step back and ask ‘what the hell are we doing this for?’ That ‘what’ should be quickly replaced by ‘who’.

Sure we can make the effort to head down to the gym. What’s the point when you’ve set the treadmill speed to the minimum viable? It makes more sense to take a brisk walk outside.

We all start blogging from zero. The first article. The first visitor. There has to be a purpose. I just get so concerned that there will be a ‘blogging doesn’t work’ mentality at Rexel when there’s such a huge huge opportunity for them to take ownership of their digital space. Auto-shredder or no auto-shredder.


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Ian Rhodes

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First employee of an ecommerce startup back in 1998. I've been using building and growing ecommerce brands ever since (including my own). Get weekly growth lessons from my own work delivered to your inbox below.

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