If you’re passionate about college basketball like I am—or if you’ve watched any sports on TV at all in the last few weeks—you know that March Madness is upon us once again! And, of course, you know that another passion of mine is content marketing, and how, with sustained effort and focus, it can elevate a company from a pretender to a contender. I was thinking of March Madness and content marketing the other day, and it occurred to me that the two have a lot in common.
Here’s how two of my favorite “games” match up:
- Number 1 seeds. In men’s college basketball, there are the perennial favorites. Programs like Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas have been putting in the work for decades to improve their teams and position themselves for a run at the title every year. There are companies in every market that do the same with their content marketing. By consistently outworking their opponents in the way they plan, produce, and promote their content, they’ve established themselves as leaders and garnered the respect and admiration of fans and foes alike.
- Come from behind victories. It’s a beautiful thing when a team that’s down by double digits the entire game finds the will and the way to stage a miraculous second-half comeback and wins the game. While the consistent effort mentioned above is the way to go when it comes to content marketing success, it’s nevertheless a great feeling when an exceptional piece of content gets into the right hands, generates some serious buzz, and vaults you past the others in your market just in the nick of time.
- Slam dunks. Nothing’s more exhilarating than watching a player from your team throw down a monster dunk and let out a rapturous roar. While you may not express yourself exactly the same way in the office, it is no less exhilarating when you put the finishing touches on a piece of content that you just know is going to score with your target audience. Go ahead… give your teammates a high five (yes, I’m dating myself).
- Cinderella stories. Every year there’s a team in the NCAA tournament that just seems to have everything go their way—lucky bounces, favorable calls from officials, amazing half-court buzzer beaters, gritty wins against higher ranked opponents (I'm counting on that being my Oklahoma State Cowboys this year). Sometimes content marketing enjoys the same kind of ride. Pieces resonate with people in ways you couldn’t have imagined, new materials are released right when prospects are most eager to have them, a blog post gets noticed and mentioned by a major influencer in your industry. When it happens, it’s magic.
- Rabid, face-painting fans. Some of the greatest images from March Madness are of the unbridled joy of the college students rooting on their teams. Crazy costumes, painted faces, tears of joy after a big win… it is truly awesome. While your fans may not express their approval in the same ways, if you provide them with engaging, informative, and compelling content, they will raise the roof.
The Takeaway
So what’s the takeaway from this blog post. Aw, heck… maybe it was just an opportunity for me to reflect on my brief stint as a college basketball player (I was the guy who had a permanent seat at the far end of a very long bench). But maybe it's about more than that. There might just be some valuable nuggets in here about striving to elevate your game, being a better (content) team player, and “playing” with passion. I’ll leave that for you to decide.
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