Get grounded

Help new ideas fly by bringing your processes back to earth. [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( WEEKLY NEWS 6.14.24 WEEKLY NEWS 6.14.24   FEATURED [What Every B2B Brand Should Know About Influencer Marketing]( [(Pricing Included)]( By Dennis Shiao Businesses are the most trusted entity today. Adding B2B influencer marketing to your owned media strategy can boost that advantage. Learn the benefits, influencer types, estimated pricing, and how to get started today. [Read more](  READ OR LISTEN TO MORE STORIES FROM THIS WEEK: [How To Use Technology To Unlock Content and Marketing Potential]( by Ann Gynn Don’t let fears around the tech revolution thwart your marketing success. See AI and other technologies as the opportunity to do things for your brand and audience that you could only imagine a few years ago. [Is It OK for Platforms To Train Their AI With Your Content?]( by Content Marketing Institute Team This week, people grew outraged over Adobe’s update to service terms for its Creative Cloud, and Meta let UK and European users know their information can be used to develop its AI products. What should marketers make of all this? [Don’t Upgrade Your Content Strategy — Make Room for a New One]( by Robert Rose How often have you been asked to build something new while you're busy with an existing content project? You’re probably resourceful enough to do it. But your chances of success go up when you don't try to. Here’s a better option for getting a new content project off the ground. [ICYMI: How Hackensack Meridian Health’s Content Program Became an Award-Winning Strategy]( by Marisa Tranchina Is your organization on content autopilot? Learn how Hackensack Medical Health took back the controls and flew its content program to new heights.  A NOTE FROM ROBERT ROSE Get grounded I’ve heard about more organizations kick-starting their content marketing strategy lately. That’s a welcome change from the past year when teams hunkered down to figure out generative AI and all the changes in social media and search. But I too often hear these teams say they’re trying to rebuild their airplanes while flying them. I don’t know where that phrase originated, but a 22-year-old advertising campaign from Fallon for digital consulting firm EDS helped popularize it. [The comical TV and print ad]( showed people assembling an airliner in the air and professing how much they love their jobs. The ad’s tagline explained that EDS could help you “build your digital business even while you’re up and running.” Fallon created the ad as part of an integrated campaign with two other funny videos: [Cat Herders]( about managing the complexity of digital business, and [Running With the Squirrels]( which claimed EDS could help legacy businesses compete like disruptive startups. Any one of these ads would be relevant in 2024. But it’s time to ground the “build the plane while flying it” approach to new content marketing projects once and for all. The to-do list for implementing a new (or rebooted) content marketing initiative includes: - Redefining roles and responsibilities - Adjusting editorial approaches - Developing new workflows - Implementing or changing technologies It’s a lot. Frustration sets in quickly when team leads realize they can’t shut anything down while they work to implement all the new ideas. And everybody else is busy, too. They all still need to launch campaigns, write blog posts, craft event materials, and feed content to the website, all while trying to master technology they haven’t fully implemented. When marketing teams cite the airplane cliché, I suggest a spin on the metaphor: Don’t try to build another airplane while flying the existing one. Instead, let the existing planes fly while you build an airplane factory. Let me explain. I recently worked with a client in the B2B technology space, where enabling content (educational content that helps customers improve at their jobs) is hot. My client initially planned to tap its digital and PR teams to modify the existing PR newsrooms on its website to create a new online learning platform. But neither the newsroom nor the website suited that content marketing strategy. Everything from the website hierarchy to the audiences it attracted to the technology platform it ran on posed challenges to the new project’s success. The content team wanted to build a new learning destination using different technology. But the firm’s existing processes were built to focus all digital efforts — and paid and earned media — on its website. So business leaders resisted. They said, “We already have this technology and that team with that skill set. Why don’t we just use what we have?” It was as if the company said, “OK, you can bring us into the jetliner age — as long as you do it by repairing and upgrading our propeller plane while it’s in the air.” Instead of pressing forward by explaining why the new project needed this or that, the content leads found a different answer. They pulled back and audited all the existing teams, workflows, technologies, and processes used for content marketing across the business. And they found that the company had room to do something new. To tie into the metaphor, they found that by changing how they manufactured all airplanes, they could upgrade their factory to handle new projects without having to rebuild old ones while in the air. In [Rose-Colored Glasses this week]( I explain three ways you can go about this transformation. Drop me a line to let me know if it’s helpful. [I’d love to hear about your plans.](mailto:robert@contentadvisory.net?subject=CMI%20content%20feedback%20%E2%80%94%20Building%20a%20new%20airplane%20(content)%20factory&elqTrackId=87B55FE44661238FAE78F428E6E601A2) Remember, it’s your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Would any of your colleagues or friends benefit from Robert's weekly updates? Please invite them to [subscribe]( here.  A WORD FROM ONE OF OUR SPONSORS Virtual Event: Content & Beyond Is Quickly Approaching Content and web teams share the same goal of captivating audiences through meaningful storytelling. Attend Content & Beyond on June 27 to learn how to integrate your marketing teams! [Register now »]( MORE FROM CMI Reach New Heights With 20% Off Certification Ready to elevate your marketing skills this summer? Enroll in the [CMI x AMA Content Marketing Certification]( and embark on a journey of discovery and content marketing mastery. Explore new horizons in your marketing career with a 20% discount on your enrollment when you sign up by June 21 with code EXPLORE20. [Start your journey »](  Next Week’s Webinar: Unlocking the Power of TikTok for Agencies In today's competitive landscape, how can agencies effectively introduce new platforms to their clients while prioritizing their best interests? With over 7 million businesses thriving on TikTok, the platform's surging popularity is transforming consumer–brand interactions and can be a critical tool for driving performance and growth. Join us Tuesday, June 18, at 2 p.m. ET, to learn best practices for establishing a strong presence on the platform, hear success stories, and explore how to make TikTok a cornerstone of your clients' digital strategy. [Register for free »](  Was this email forwarded to you? Please [subscribe here.]( To change your email preferences or unsubscribe, visit our [preference center.]( Copyright © 2024 Informa Connect, All rights reserved Content Marketing Institute, an Informa Connect brand 605 3rd Ave | New York | NY 10158 [Terms of Service]( | [Privacy Statement]( [informa tech]