All stories, all content should have a purpose. You should never create content just for the sake of creating something.
"Content, Content, Content! Everyone else is doing it, they say we should be doing it. Let's get some content created!"
If you're just creating content because 'that's what everyone says we should be doing,' then how are you going to measure your return on your efforts?
Creating content takes time, resources and money so before you jump in and start creating it, be sure you have a purpose for what you're about to do and clearly communicate that with your content creators.
Full transcript, apologies for any typos.
0:00 All stories, all content should have a purpose. It should never be just creating something for the sake of creating something.
0:09 (knock at the door) Hey Walt, I need a video. Why?
0:12 (knock at the door) Hey, Walt I need an article. Why? What's the purpose? Why am I creating this?
0:18 If it's just for the sake of creating it? Well, I can do go ahead and create something. But how do I know that there's any return on what I just did?
0:27 You really want to work backward from that goal. Not "I need I need, I need" It's "Here's what we're trying to achieve. Okay? You figure it out. But this is what I would like to have happened in the next 60 days. This is the goal that I would like to see happen."
0:45 And now it's my job as a content creator, to create videos, articles, podcasts, photography, print, billboards, whatever it is, that in 60 days, we are going to achieve that end goal. Without that goal, I'm just creating a bunch of content. And you as a client, you as a boss, you might be getting frustrated because like, well Walt's creating a bunch of great content, but I don't see any return out of it. Because there's no goal there's no cohesion, I don't know what I'm going after.
1:18 When we have a goal, we can craft, the stories, the print, the photography, to take the audience, on a journey with your brand that achieves that goal
1:32 What's a great example? "Coco," the movie "Coco" from Pixar. If you've never seen it, I can almost guarantee you, you are going to cry at the end of the film. When Miguel sings to his grandmother. Why? Pixar set us up for the entire film for that one moment. If you go back and you watch the film, you'll understand why or if you think about it, you'll understand why, but they've taken that entire film. Whether intentionally or not. I don't know a soul who doesn't cry when he thinks who his grandmother because everything was set up for that moment.
2:06 And it's the same with your content, whatever it is you want your content to do, whatever you want your brand story to do. You have to clearly communicate that with the content creators. So they can develop a social media strategy. They can develop a print strategy, a billboard strategy, a website, strategy, whatever it is to achieve that goal.
2:28 So make sure your story, your content has a purpose.