Attention Span Is… Bird.
So there’s been a certain phenomena that has been bugging me lately. See, the long form content I write that I actually think is really good consistently perform worse than the stuff I half ass. Momentarily, this forced me to consider that my marketing instincts were broken.
But that’s not it. I know my strengths and weaknesses. I don’t do everything perfectly when it comes to marketing. I liberally make mistakes and I’m grateful that I work in an environment where that’s acceptable.
But I swing and hit a lot more often than not. Ask Charney.
But to me, fundamentally as a marketing rule, a great story is always better than some list of half assed options to important questions. When I take the time to explain my logic behind where bad managers come from and how it’s fundamentally the same as blaming bad parents for criminal kids, it should perform better than some top 6 list about your dream culture. I want to make people nod and think, not just check boxes.
My point here, besides ranting, is that my marketing instincts aren’t broken – everyone’s attention spans are. Look at the research. Our culture literally has the attention span of a goldfish.
That being said, I probably already lost you.
But for those of you still reading, thank you for trying to stick with me. It’s just got me nervous about this whole “content is king” movement. There’s already far too much shit content out there and everything the big inbound marketing people tell us to do is piling more bad content into what’s already easily described as a shit storm. Why aren’t we coaching people on good and bad? Training people to do what’s right and be creative instead of regurgitate these god awful checklists in an hour.
The templates just don’t work every time.
social media strategy Uncategorized bad content blogging Content is king inbound marketing social media telling a story with marketing what is bad content
Kat Kibben View All →
Kat Kibben [they/them] is a keynote speaker, writing expert, and LGBTQIA+ advocate who teaches hiring teams how to write inclusive job postings that will get the right person to apply faster.
Before founding Three Ears Media, Katrina was a CMO, Technical Copywriter, and Managing Editor for leading companies like Monster, Care.com, and Randstad Worldwide. With 15+ years of recruitment marketing and training experience, Katrina knows how to turn talented recruiting teams into talented writers who write for people, not about work.
Today, Katrina is frequently featured as an HR and recruiting expert in publications like The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Forbes. They’ve been named to numerous lists, including LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Job Search & Careers. When not speaking, writing, or training, you’ll find Katrina traveling the country in their van or spending some much needed downtime with the dogs that inspired the name Three Ears Media.
What I’ve learned so far about writing reminds me of artists and their music.
The stuff you write that you really like doesn’t take off. But that post you write in a hurry that you don’t love spreads.
I can imagine artists feel like this about their music as well. :( I guess we can’t decide. Keep with the long form though :) And keep dropping beats. At some point in time they will become a hit?