Why you should break your content rules

You know you want to. Go ahead – and see what happens. [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( WEEKLY NEWS 8.18.23 WEEKLY NEWS 10.27.23  FEATURED [5 Writing Tricks That Treat Audiences to Better Data-Based Stories]( By Ann Gynn If the thought of numbers sends you running into the night, try these tricks to become the writing wizard of numerals. No addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or other calculation required. [Read more](  MORE OF THE WEEK'S BEST STORIES [Marketers Say They Know the Missing Ingredient for Success – Are They Wrong?]( by Content Marketing Institute Team New research finds marketing isn't aligned operationally or strategically at most companies. But the study’s takeaways get the fixes wrong. Robert Rose has some thoughts. [How Core Topics and Content Clusters Lead to Better Google Search Rankings]( by Justin Champion To climb to the top of Google search results, take a topic-based approach to content planning. HubSpot’s head of search authority explains a three-step approach to get you there. [Why Your Content Team Needs Rule Makers – and Rule Breakers]( Robert Rose Content teams often resist creating rules because they don’t want to operate in a box. But that’s a mistake. Without rules, you lose the ability to benchmark the standard – and learn from the creative rule breakers. [ICYMI: 7 Formulas for Writing Introductions That Convert Scanners Into Readers]( Olesia Filipenko Readers consume only about 20% of the words on a web page. How can you change that? Take time to craft a powerful introduction. These seven methods can help.  A NOTE FROM ROBERT ROSE Why you should break your content rules Are you a rule breaker? We want rules. We need rules. But we also want to break the rules. Would you: - Not return the shopping cart after taking it to your car? - Start a company without a business plan? - Share a streaming network password with a friend? - Use a sick day at work when you’re not sick? - Copy a friend’s MP3 file to add to your music collection? - Post something on social media out of bounds with the terms of service? - Not get a city license for your dog? - Selectively present (or avoid) market data to build a desired business case? - Send unsolicited email? - Expect your employees to work off-hours? You probably feel OK about breaking some of those rules, but not all. Somewhere on that list, something crossed a line for you. (If it didn’t, what is wrong with you?! Return the shopping cart. It takes less than 60 seconds.) People’s willingness to break the rules seems to depend on three things: the consequences, the social context, and their ability to convince themselves they should break them. [One study]( found that people with creative jobs like writing and designing were more likely to be rule breakers than people with roles like accountants or IT professionals. Why? The researchers concluded creativity plays an important role in one’s ability to tell themselves a convincing story about why they’re [breaking the rules.]( In [content strategy,]( iconoclasm’s correlation to creativity is a big challenge to scalable governance, standards, and processes. Creative content and marketing practitioners usually loathe creating the “box” necessary for a cohesive and consistent content strategy to work. Other teams (such as sales, customer service, and even the C-suite) view content as an exercise in creativity that shouldn’t involve too many rules. That’s the challenge. Creating and enforcing too many rules feels like you’re squashing [creativity.]( But, without rules, you can’t scale and measure the content. Content needs rules that codify what to do to achieve a predictable and preferable outcome. People break those rules when they don’t believe the rules work. This creates an interesting paradox. If violating a rule creates a preferable outcome, then breaking the rule becomes the new rule. But that paradox assumes one crucial thing – that a rule exists. Without it, there’s nothing to break and no way to know if one approach works better than another. In [Rose-Colored Glasses]( this week, I explain why you need rules and standards – and why you might celebrate when people don’t follow them. Do content producers at your company follow the rules? What happens when they don’t? [Share your experiences with me here.](mailto:Robert@contentadvisory.net?subject=Weekly%20Alert%20-%20break%20the%20rules) 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.  SPONSORED CONTENT Bring the Creative Pushups Experience to Your Company Cultivating a culture of creativity, collaboration, and innovation at your company? Or, trying to entice your team with intentional activities that inspire them to collaborate in person? [We’ll customize Creative Pushups for you and your team](  Informa Tech Trust in Marketing Index Reveals the State of Trust Between Marketers and Senior Tech Decision Makers Senior decision makers are engaging with content regularly. Are they happy with what they see? Do they trust it? The Index uncovers their preferences, giving marketers essential insights into how to elevate trust with the most desirable audience. [Download the report for free today](  MORE FROM CMI Announcing: CMI Partnership With the American Marketing Association Have you heard? The Content Marketing Institute has partnered with the American Marketing Association to offer [Professional Certified Marketer credentials](. Packed with the latest in content marketing expertise, the 15-hour course (developed and taught by Robert Rose) will help you advance your content marketing skills and pass the exam to earn a PCM® certificate. In celebration of our program launch, the first 50 enrollees will receive a copy of Robert’s latest book, Content Marketing Strategy! [Learn more »](  Livestream Playback: Change Fatigue Solutions Change is inevitable. Resistance to change is just as predictable. How do you motivate teams to willingly get on board? On this Monday’s Ask the #CMWorld Community livestream, CMI host Amanda Subler sat down with Jenny Magic and Melissa Breker, authors of Change Fatigue: Flip Teams from Burnout to Buy‑In, to talk about do-it-today techniques and actionable tools to remove the real barriers to change and move your team to the next level. Did you miss Jenny Magic’s session at Content Marketing World this year? There’s still time to watch her session, 5 Ways Marketers Sabotage Their Success, and 150+ more by registering for a Digital Pass. Use code COMMUNITY100 to save $100 off of your registration. [Watch the livestream »]( [Register for a digital pass »](  To change your email preferences or unsubscribe, visit our [subscription center.]( Copyright © 2023 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]