UNTHINKABLE: How the World’s Most Creative Content Marketers Do What Others Wouldn’t Dare

Jay Acunzo

Content Creation

@jayacunzo | #ContentJam

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WHAT IS THEBEST PRACTICE?!

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You’re stuck at pretty good, Doc!

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Good marketersfollow best practices.Great marketerscraft their own.

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what thedata says

worked

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what thedata says

worked

what yourintuition says

could work

The Unthinkable

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David Cancel @dcancel Co-founder & CEO, Drift

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Drift’s Content Marketing

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SUBSCRIBERS:• Gated content: 200/month.• Ungated: 500/month.

They call me CMO.Chief Mini-Officer.

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USERS:• Grew 30% in May.• Grew 35% in June.

How you like me now?

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1.When you tell storiesothers can’t resist,others tell stories about YOU.

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“If we put on a prospect’s hat — remember, we’re all committed to being customer-centric, right? — this actually seems, well, pretty nice.”

Scott BrinkerEditor, Chief Marketing Technologist

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“If we put on a prospect’s hat — remember, we’re all committed to being customer-centric, right? — this actually seems, well, pretty nice.”

Scott BrinkerEditor, Chief Marketing Technologist

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2.When you make the leap, you stop playing in the market and start SHAPING it.

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3.When you admit you sell the means and not the end itself,you sell more.

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+

YourAudience

YourProduct

=

Courtesy UserOnboard.com

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When you do the Unthinkable…

1. Others tell stories about YOU.2. You start SHAPING the market.3. You sell MORE.

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what thedata says

worked

what yourintuition says

could work

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what thedata says

worked

what yourintuition says

could work

Not so scary

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AdWords

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Treating content like this is

dangerous.

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Telic.

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GoodMarketers

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GreatMarketers

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“Our quest to automate everything has left us out of touch with our customers.

Marketing has become more about gaming systems or get-rich-quick schemes.

You can’t build something big by doing things the same way as everyone else.”

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3 TRAITSof those who do the

Unthinkable

Finn DowlingWriter & MarketerHumane Society ofSilicon Valley

EddieThe Dog

Puppy Adoption Wish List: Loves children

EddieThe Dog

Puppy Adoption Wish List: Loves children’s fingers

EddieThe Dog

Puppy Adoption Wish List: Loves children Hates other dogs Barks uncontrollably

EddieThe Dog

’s fingers

Eddie

Puppy Adoption Wish List: Loves children Hates other dogs Barks uncontrollably

The Terrible

’s fingers

Like to go for walks in dog infested areas?Enjoy the dog park? Keep walking. He goes zero to

Cujo in 0.5 seconds.

Want your kids to grow up with a full complement of fingers and toes? Not the dog for you.

“

32,000 6,300

Over 7 million reached

Finn Dowling• Didn’t start at the end result.• Didn’t simply present the facts.• Wrote something she enjoyed.

Finn Dowling• Didn’t start at the end result.• Didn’t simply present the facts.• Wrote something she enjoyed.

“Most shelter blogs make me want to stick my head in an oven.”

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1.Intrinsically

Motivated to Make

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• 1 post per weekday• 1,000 total (4 years)• Awesome things only

Neil Pasricha@1000Awesome

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50,000 visitors per day

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$0

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Our job is not to “be creative.”Our job is to CREATE.

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2.Ship. A lot.

#Intuition

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• 1 post per weekday• 1,000 total (4 years)• Awesome things only

Neil Pasricha@1000Awesome

Mikael Cho@mikaelcho

“We had no money … and had 3 months worth of cash left to turn things around. If we didn’t

we were toast. Done.”

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Unsplash.com

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50,000 visitors in 10 min Customers

5M uniques & 1B views= #1 customer source

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$19

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3.Launch

Side Projects

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Those who do the Unthinkable…

1. Start with the means, not the ends.2. Ship work on a consistent basis.3. Learn from side projects to grow.

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Didn’t follow the best practice.CREATED IT.

Didn’t emulate the standard.BECAME IT.

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AdWords

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what thedata says

worked

what yourintuition says

could work

Crazytown, USA(Population: Jay)

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shortcutculture

love creatingfor its own sake

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“art” is the wrong idea

real artists shipand stand out

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factoryteams

tinker on the side & be irreplaceable

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WHAT IF WECRAFTED

OUR OWN?

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Learn More & Keep in Touch:MonumentalShift.com/Jay-Acunzo

Jay Acunzo@jayacunzo | #ContentJam

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