Cutting the Marketing Bullshit with Adam Bastock

Adam and Simon busted the first social media myth around whether we should all be churning out content on our social channels. Simon pointed out that many content ‘influencers’ are in the business of telling people to make more content because it works for them, but that this is an unrealistic expectation for everyone else.

Instead, dial down to what your audience wants to hear, what they like and what they’d readily consume. They got us thinking about what coaches can put out there in terms of the common issues or questions they get asked, and how to repurpose those findings into blog, video or audio content.

They talked about how to strike a balance with your content so you’re putting out what you think people will want to know and how you guide people to a desired outcome. Adam tells us, ‘A lot of value is how you address a question rather than what’s been said – to make it easier to digest (with a different approach and view)’.

They busted a few more bullshit myths on SEO and the Google Algorithm. They addressed the most glaring myth around social media and that’s when is the ‘perfect’ time to post. Their answer: anytime you feel like it! The main thing is to create content you enjoy on your schedule – as long as you are consistent with the message you put out there. When you’re consistent with your message and approach, you don’t have to post more than 3 times a week for visibility on your social networks.

Simon calls this ‘prolific beats perfect’ – be prolific with your content, and your audience will take what resonates with them. Equally, how consistently you post will affect how often you show up to your ideal client. Adam tells us to avoid chasing the ‘quick wins’ of getting views in an ‘inflationary world’ because they’re concealed behind generic and inauthentic outcomes.

This led the conversation onto SEO myths as Adam pointed out that people don’t need a certain volume of content but should instead focus on the usefulness of the content. Instead of focusing on the technical bits of SEO – think about what content to create to reach the right kind of people. Think about your network effect: this idea that your content spreads through different levels of interaction from first contact (your followers) to secondary contact (your followers, followers) and so on. When you put your audience first, with what they want to see, you focus less on the nonsensical pressure of the algorithm. .

As a final take-home of the discussion, Simon invited the audience to put themselves in their audience’s shoes and to not beat yourself down with the things you feel you ‘should’ be doing. Adam said to focus on your content ‘infrastructure’ by nurturing your ideas and leading with empathy when considering your outcome.

If this has got you thinking about your own content marketing, then join the community and add to the ongoing conversation.