B2B Marketing is a Battlefield: Welcome to Content Wars

So, Adam.

Nathan.

Welcome to the first episode of the podcast.

I want to say thanks for having me, but this better not be the last time.

Well, you never know. We'll see how you do.

I guess so.

Being the first episode of the podcast, should we talk about what it's called?

I think that's a great idea.

Good. Okay, so what's it called?

I thought you said you wrote that down.

These are all done. Yeah, I thought.

This is awkward.

Okay, well, let's just name it here. Let's call it… Battle… Battle Star… Battle the Podcast? I don't think that's any good. No, no, no. But something. Something violent, though. You're thinking.

I was just… it's what I'm feeling in the moment.

Yeah.

Something violent, probably. I mean, it's content. Like, the podcast is content.

This is content.

I mean, it will be, probably, assuming he remembered to hit record.

Yeah, we'll see.

Hey, let's go with Content Wars. I think maybe.

Content.

Content Wars.

How did you come up with the name Content Wars?

When companies are trying to market themselves, there's really only two ways that's going to happen. It's going to happen on a 1-to-1 basis where you're in front of someone, or a representative from your company is in front of someone, talking to an individual. You could potentially, at a trade show, be talking to many people if you're on a stage. But other than that, if you want to have a prayer of actually reaching your audience in a way that matters, and in a way that you can transfer your information, your message, your value, your experience, your fill-in-the-blank to that audience, you're going to have to do it with content. And when you look at it, every company is in that same position.

The reality is that every company needs to have content that is able to win over their audience. There is a literal war for your audience's mind, preference, and dollars that's going on, and content is the biggest and best weapon that you have—if you do it correctly. So the companies that want to, or are striving to get the attention of their audience, the trust of their audience, and eventually the dollars of their audience, need to get into the content game in a much more major way.

As we progress in this, and we've already seen it, we've already seen it in the B2B space from back in 2011, 2012. All of a sudden, the blog was cool. Well, you look around now and every B2B company has a blog. They're all cranking out content. But those times have changed.

We're not in the time of, "Let's just write a blog and everybody's going to read the blog." That's not the society we live in today. So I think B2B content is going to change. It's going to start changing. We're going to have a lot more personal content happening. We're going to have a lot more actual experts in the conversation within the content. And I think as you bring two things into account: one, the additional types of content that you're going to need to create, whether that be video content, audio content, written content—there's a greater need for content now than ever before.

And then you're also going to have the challenge of the actual experts and expertise that you're bringing within your content. So it's no longer, "Sure, just look up some keywords and have the marketing team create some SEO content and hope that someone comes to your website." There's an actual competition going on for your audience's mind and attention where you better bring your A-game. You better produce meaningful content. You better have people that know what the hell they're talking about presenting it.

When you look at that competition that's going on, it is very similar to a war. There will be a winner, and to win, you better sharpen your ax.

I think that's one of the things that we've seen a lot of companies fall behind on over the last few years. They're really focused on the end of that customer's journey—or at least the middle to end. And at that point, they already have a preference for somebody else built and you've essentially lost that battle.

The types of content you're talking about, I love, because it really helps bring that conversation earlier, before a buying trigger. And it really allows you to transfer the belief that you know about your company and you allow your audience to learn that and essentially determine if it's a good fit for them. But it will help you win the war over a longer period of time.

Definitely. If you're fighting a multi-different war, whereas historically we've just looked at the front of who's ready to buy right now, be there in a way that informs them so that they can buy with you immediately.

You've lost at that point. They've already made up their mind. Whenever they know what they want and need, they usually have a preference toward somebody. And if it's not you, the chances of you winning that are really slim.

It's just not realistic that somebody is searching and then comes across your blog, digests your blog, and then has that preference for you and ends up buying—at least the majority of the time—from you in that situation. That's not real. That's not how people consume content nowadays. That's not really how people look for content.

It doesn't all happen at that last little leg of the journey where they're just going to consume all the content and then make a purchasing decision. That's not real. Part of the strategy is having a multi-front approach to how we can be part of that buyer or influencer or customer's life well before, leading up to, during, and then well after whatever that purchase is going to be.

And that's really what the battle becomes. There's no, "Well, we need just this piece of content or just that piece of content." It's, "No, we need to figure out how do we add value? How do we be meaningful in this person's life or these people's lives across the board, whether they're buying or not?" And we do have to admit, the majority of the time, they're not buying.

So how do we just add value to that equation? That becomes the strategy for the war that you're engaged in.

That's a great point. Looking at Content Wars and thinking about future episodes, what are we going to be covering?

Obviously, the type of content we produce is heavily video-focused. But that's not the only type of content. It's important for us to eat our own dog food in a way and actually be that valuable resource for our audience, which many times is either going to be from a marketing background or potentially from an executive background. Basically, how do we communicate with our audience in a more meaningful way with content so that we can win the content war in our industry and become that voice for our potential buyers?

We'll be talking a lot about what content you need to be creating in different situations. How can you add value? How can you be that voice? How can you become viewed as that expert? Whether we're talking about a customer that is in a buying journey, they've already bought, or more than likely they're not even thinking about your product or service. Being able to sit down—not just us—we're going to have a lot of experience going through different types of video, applied in different ways, formats, and marketing scenarios.

But there's also stuff outside of our realm that we'll need to bring other people into the conversation who can add value. At the end of the day, we want this to be something that the marketing community and the executive community can consume and say, "Hey, there's value here." Not that they need video content right now necessarily, but they can at least learn how these principles apply and how they might be able to evolve and grow their current content efforts into something more meaningful for their audience. Whether that's video, written content, or audio, there's a lot we can all learn moving forward in a format like this.

We're sitting here in what looks a little bit like a war zone—pun intended. But realistically, over the next few weeks, this is going to transform into something pretty cool. You want to just share with everybody kind of what the vision is for this?

Yes. The whole premise of not just the podcast but also the direction our company is going is, how do we help companies meaningfully contribute to the conversation within their market? Prior to now, we've been primarily a video production company. We've helped companies create awesome content that they were able to share with their audiences. To take that a step further, we've decided to completely gut our offices, move into a temporary space, redo it completely, and turn it into a production studio.

It's a little bit different than most production studios. You go into most, and you're looking at video studios geared toward B2C content—actors, products, etc. B2B just has different needs. So when we started thinking about what we're going to do as a company and where we're going to focus, we stayed with B2B and video. It's about how we create a space that adds value to that conversation.

We’re creating this beautiful spot right here… well, we may need to go back to the drawing board a little! But when we're done, we'll have multiple podcast studios, webinar studios, a four-cycle studio, conference room, office settings, and collaborative spaces. A lot of areas where B2B content can be created—not just a single video. This isn't a space to come in and knock out one video and be done. This is a space to spend time, spend the day here, and create a multitude of content types: multi-person podcasts, webinars, round tables.

It's how we get our clients into this space and really allow them to maximize their time to create not just quality but also quantity of content to effectively and continually communicate with their audience.

And that's what's so interesting about us doing this in this space right now. We're kind of christening it with a conversation like this. But that's the goal: to create a space where people can have those conversations that help drive their voice in the market.

That’s the goal for us moving forward—to really create a space where people can come and have those conversations that help drive their voice in the market. Because I really feel like that is missing today, at least in the market we serve. There are so many people who have the excuse of, “I don’t have a place to do it,” or “I don’t have a way for my executive team to come in. I don’t have a place for them to do it consistently, or for it to look different and have different feels.”

So, building this space, when it all comes together, it’s really going to be a unique spot where we can capture multiple looks, multiple topics, multiple people, and really drive that conversation forward in the market.

And that’s probably the most important thing. There are a thousand excuses for why executives don’t create content. A thousand excuses for why… and we’ll be getting into some of those. That might happen! There’s just excuses, right? So, the goal is: how do we take away as many excuses as possible and really create an environment where there’s no hassle, no headache? You can literally walk in, sit down—we’ve got lights, cameras, microphones ready to go—you can come off the street, sit down, hit record, and just say what you need to say within your market. Create that meaningful content.

Versus, “Well, we’ve got to talk to the production companies, they’ve got to come out here, set this up, are they available, what’s it going to…” It just becomes a hassle. Especially when you’re dealing with executive calendars and schedules. It’s hard to line it up—especially if there’s multiple people. You want to do a podcast with two or three executives? Have fun lining up their schedule with a production company’s schedule. Have fun getting everybody in the same area. It doesn’t always work out that way.

So, when you have a space you can just walk into and sit down and record—whether it’s 12:00 that day or 3:00—it really doesn’t matter. You remove some of that hurdle, you remove that obstacle, and you open up the possibility of people being a little more willing to commit to it.

“Sure, you know what? I’ll go in there. We’ll sit down, we’ll just have this conversation about what we need to talk about.” Versus, “Well, it’s this big hassle, and maybe we’ll do it, maybe we won’t.”

The big benefit I see is, if we can tear down the reasons not to do it—if it’s already set up, if it’s already ready to go—now we’re enabling the marketing teams and executive teams to shed the excuses and just start creating the content they need. And the content their audience probably would like to hear from them.

It opens up a whole world of possibilities. You’re not just talking about, “We did that product launch video,” or, “We did that overview video,” or, “We did one case study last year.” It opens up the opportunity to come in and do a multitude of content and really start to become a presence—not just for the company, but also for the executives themselves, the thought leaders, the customers involved in these markets and products and services. To show value to the customer base and the market. To really gain a meaningful voice.

Versus, “Well, we created a video once.”

That’s an interesting point because over the last year or two, being in more conversations with clients, the thing that comes up again and again is, “We did a video,” or, “We did a few videos and we’re done.” And I think that’s a common misconception. I know we’ll get into that in later episodes, but it’s something I want everybody to know: that’s just fundamentally flawed. If you’re trying to gain momentum on a certain front—literally like a battle in a war—you cannot do one thing, one maneuver, one attack, one anything.

You have to constantly have your voice present in the market. The only way you can do that is by creating a continual stream of content that your audience resonates with. Because they’re not going to see every video, they’re not going to read every post, they’re not going to see every single piece you put out. So saying things again and again, in different ways, in ways that inspire and educate, has a true lasting impact over time. That’s how they begin to form a belief, an opinion, or a preference toward your organization.

It’s not like we don’t know this. You talk to any marketer, you talk to any executive—they already know it. You talk to the marketing team and they’re like, “Yeah, we create a blog article a week.” Why? “Well, the repetition and compounding factor of the content over time has value.”

You talk to the executive team. “Yeah, you know, I saw this industry leader or that person at this conference or on this social platform.” Who’s the voice of the market? “Well, it’s the person I’ve seen a lot.”

The goal is to combine these ideas. The idea of consistency, repetition, and compounding influence over time—combined with the people we see. The people that are talking, that are out front, that are in front of the audience, they are the market leaders.

If you’re consistently creating the content and consistently in front of that audience, you start to become viewed as that market leader. And that’s what’s missing in so much B2B marketing right now. Honestly, most companies are waiting to be found instead of going and actively talking to their audience.

And there are so many companies we talk to that have either an expert or a group of experts, and they’re just pent up and put in the corner. They help influence the day-to-day success of the organization, but they’re not out front having conversations, sharing their expertise, their knowledge. They’re not allowing that to drive relationships and conversations before they become customers.

There’s so much underutilized talent and knowledge they could broadcast to their audience to help them understand what makes the company different—what they believe in, what they stand for, what they don’t believe in. Really polarizing the market to move in one direction or another. They just don’t highlight those people.

And it’s difficult from both perspectives. It’s difficult for the marketing team to go to the executive team and say, “Hey, we’ve got this crazy idea. We want to do something totally different.” And it’s difficult for the executive team to say, “Well, hell, go ahead and put me on camera. I’m not sure what I’m going to say or how I’m going to do it.”

There’s hesitancy on both sides of that equation. So not many are really taking that path. Now, you can pull up YouTube, LinkedIn (to a lesser degree), or TikTok, and you’ll see people doing this well. They’re becoming that voice, that influence in their market, that trusted resource. And honestly, they’re winning more than just influence. They’re winning deals out of it.

We know the model is there. We know it’s not going away. It’s only going to increase. So, for the companies that are having that difficult decision of, “We can’t keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them. We have to change.” Maybe they’re unsure how, what needs to change, who needs to be involved. Or it could be as simple as, “We know what to do, we just don’t know what first step to take.”

That’s two things. That’s what I think this podcast is really geared toward helping people decide. Not everything we say is going to apply to everyone. Not everything we say is going to be 100% correct or applicable to every situation. It won’t be. But if we can create content that applies to the majority, or to certain situations, and it can help marketers progress the message they need in their market, or help an executive express themselves and get their ideas and their position out into the market so someone can more clearly understand who they are, what they do, and the value of what they’re offering—it’s going to be worth it.

And whether it’s our space here or a different content studio, it’s going to be a valuable resource when creating that type of content. When they move beyond just written form.

Awesome. I know there’s going to be a lot more we talk about in future episodes. And the space will probably look a lot different next time we’re sitting down.

I hope so!

But I think that definitely sets the stage for what we’re about to experience this year and moving forward. And I know I’m really excited about it.

Yeah, it should be fun. It’ll definitely be an interesting path—not just what happens here, but the conversations. None of the conversations I want to have are highly technical, or nerd out over the situation. I want it to be super applicable to real situations we run into with clients, with prospects—the hurdles, the challenges, the problems, the things we do awesome, and also the things we completely mess up.

Let’s put it out there and say, “Hey, let’s grow together.” If that helps somebody—great! Let’s do it. I have no reservation about being wrong. It’s going to happen. We’re all human. We’re all wrong. It happened only once to me.

Confirm this with your wife?

No. It was only once—and it definitely wasn’t with her.

But the more we can share and the more we can bring to a platform like this, the more we can help everybody grow together. The more benefit we bring, the more benefit everyone gets out of it.

That’s what I’m excited about. Obviously, our studio space is going to be cool. It’ll be much better when our podcast actually looks like a podcast and not a war zone. But I don’t know, it seems fitting. Maybe the whole war zone thing is better. I don’t know… Content Wars. So here we go.