What we can learn about content marketing from The Office

What do people working in an office wear to work?

Given 16+ months working from home, maybe this’ll take some mental jostling, but - 

I feel like we could assume ourselves into an answer & conjure up visuals and details, right?

But what if the success of your JOB hinged on you getting the answer to this question EXACTLY RIGHT?!

This is what Carey Bennett faced as the costume designer for NBC’s The Office - 

I heard her tell this story on the Office Ladies podcast - with such high stakes, she couldn’t guess her way into knowing how real workers at a paper company in a small city would dress.

She visited a real-life paper company, spent days taking extensive notes, photos, & interviews…

then asked a friend traveling to Scranton to take pictures of locals around town - 

Those 1000+ photos & research informed how she costumed the cast for the pilot and each season beyond!

WHY THE HELL am I telling you about a show that ended in 2013 - maybe one you can’t even stand?

Because too many of us assume our way into knowing our audience - 

making marketing, content creation, sales, & success a hike up a mountain carrying a bag of rocks on our backs!

In my first business at the fitness studio, I refused to find out how our ICA described their challenges. 

Nor did I ask about solutions they were looking for. We assumed all over the place because I kept telling myself, 

I AM THE IDEAL CLIENT.

I’d been through their journey. KNEW their pain points. KNEW the result I wanted - and thereby, what THEY wanted.  

RIGHT? Soooooo wrong.

EVEN THOUGH several marketing experts & business coaches repeatedly suggested we do customer discovery - 

WE DID NOT WANT TO because it was easier (for time, energy, & ego) to assume we knew what clients needed & wanted. 

Hence, marketing & sales were downright painful & exhausting. 

Assuming you know anything about your audience’s pain or desires - without speaking with them REGULARLY - 

causes us to miss the mark in content, messaging, copy, & sales conversions.

{Warning: don’t assume talking to your current customers is enough - 

They’re no longer at the insertion point where your audience MEETS you for the first time via your content}.

Even experts in their field - in business for 20+ years - struggle to deeply know their audience - and spend too much time making assumptions. 

REMEMBER: your audience meets you at different places on their journey. You must meet them where THEY are - 

Not where you want them to be…

YOUR CONTENT is the RECEPTIONIST - meeting your audience for the first time. 

Are you hiding from content? Pretending it’s not important? Assuming anything? 

Then I’m 100% sure you’re SLOGGING up that mountain with a backpack of rocks!

This problem is so pervasive & crippling that I created my “Audience-First Framework” with trainings to solve this problem:

• Curate Your Exact-Right Audience: attract the right clients & repel tire kickers
• Get Inside Your Audience’s Mind: speak the exact right language for your exact right people
• Say This, Not That: what to say to connect with your audience so they can finally hear you

What if it was EASIER? SIMPLER? With REALISTIC weekly support from a live expert and a community who GETS IT?

THAT’s why you should join us in the Content Creator’s Studio - enrollment at $47/month is only open through July. 

Don’t confuse the low price for low value. Studio Members & business colleagues tell me I’ve underpriced it - and I know that. 

I’ll be honest: content creation is one of the most confusing, overwhelming, & paralyzing aspects of business, 

which is why I dream of impacting as MANY people as possible to make this all a lot EASIER & SIMPLER at a lower price point. 

The membership will re-launch in the fall at $97/month. 

I encourage you to join us now, as it includes a 15-minute 1:1 onboarding call, weekly access to LIVE support, and immediate access to every training, call, & conversation!

Learn more about the ins & outs of the program HERE.

Questions? Reach out! 

Xo, Jen

PS: Are you a fan of The Office? People are so polarized around this show! 

It took me a while to deal with the cringe, but I’ve come to enjoy it deeply!

How ‘bout you? What do you love/hate about it?