Will You Stop?

mlns='> Momentum keeps you going – even when you know you should stop. [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 7.1.22 Connect With CMI [Summer Lull? Make It a Productive Time To Improve Your Content Marketing]( Your content program might slow down when everyone's on vacation. But don't get frustrated. Get busy on useful things you typically don't have time to do but will pay long-term benefits. [Read more]( By Ann Gynn More of the week's best stuff: - [Need Content Freelancers? Try This Agency's Accidental (But Successful!) Model]( by Dennis Shiao - [Turn Dry Data Into Rich, Relatable Stories With These Tips]( by Elisa Huang - [Why Guest Posting is Still Worth Doing (Even If It Doesn't Help With SEO)]( by Aaron Agius - [Look Through These 4 Windows To Right Your Content Marketing Ship [Rose-Colored Glasses]]( by Robert Rose  Will You Stop? “This ship is just so hard to turn.” That phrase might sound familiar. I often hear it from clients regarding some suggested change to existing processes. People lament the difficulty of doing something new because it requires changing or stopping something old. Institutional momentum resists stopping (or changing). That’s true even when the answer to the question “Why not just stop doing the old thing?” is “I don’t know.” Sometimes, you don’t know that you know. Want an example? I worked with a B2B health care client who shared the balance of their content output by type for the last three years. Each colored line represents the number of assets produced by content type – blog posts, analyst research, case studies, brochures, content hub, infographics, webinars, podcasts, how-to videos, and white papers – each year from 2017 to 2021. The dramatic growth in webinars stands out. In 2017, the team produced less than 10. In 2018, the company got webinar fever and never looked back. The number of webinars grew substantially each year, while nearly all other content types declined. Webinars made up almost 60% of their total content output in 2021. Your first reaction might be, “Webinars must really work for them.” Nope. In fact, each year following 2018, webinars contributed less to lead generation (the primary goal) than the average contributed by all other content types. Why did they continue to focus on webinars? Because. That’s why. In 2018, the team got good at producing them. In 2019, a new content person joined and got the message to focus on webinars, so she doubled down. In 2020, the team saw webinars as a safe way to continue their content program during the pandemic shutdowns. And, in 2021, they wanted to get back to the basics of what they had done for so many years. You guessed it: webinars. They didn’t know what they knew. The [Johari window]( offers a helpful model for self-awareness based on two simple ideas: You learn by revealing information you know to be true and comparing that to the information you seek outside of yourself. You can look through four windows: - Things you know you know - Things you know you don’t know - Things you don’t know you don’t know - Things you don’t know that you know The fourth window represents probably the most insidious risk to success. It is the unknown known. Or, as it’s called in the Johari window, the façade. Philosopher Slavoj Žižek described the [unknown known]( as when people “intentionally refuse to acknowledge that we know.” In companies, you see this all the time. You all know the ship is moving in the wrong direction, but no one says it out loud. Why not? Myriad business reasons explain why someone might not acknowledge something they know or believe. [One researcher found]( the cause can be as simple as a team’s blind faith that a project could still have a chance at success. In many cases, business leaders know they continue to do things with institutional momentum even though the programs aren’t productive or valuable. My health care client had a gut feeling that they produced sub-optimal webinars to the detriment of other types of content. But acknowledging the imbalance would mean addressing the fact that they had no strategy. I share a version of a Johari window exercise customized for content and marketing strategy in [Rose-Colored Glasses]( this week. I hope you’ll try it, then let me know whether you discovered some unknown knowns. Drop a line [via email](mailto:cmi_info@informa.com) or share your discoveries in the [article's comments section](. In the meantime, remember: It's your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Do you have colleagues or friends who would benefit from Robert's weekly updates? If so, please invite them to [subscribe]( here.   Sponsored Content Just Released! Martech Trends 2022 Report Do you have the tools in your belt to create innovative content? We surveyed over 800 marketers to dig into the top technologies for ideating, publishing and distributing content. Download the report to learn what challenges content teams are facing and how they overcome them with marketing technologies. [Download the report »](  Content Marketing Job Listings Currently on a job search? Thinking about switching gears with your career? Please check out our job listings below. Available positions: - Content Marketing Manager, Synovus – Atlanta, Birmingham or Columbus GA; open to other locations in GA, FL, AL, TN, and SC – [Learn More]( - Assistant Director - Content, Principal Financial Group – Des Moines, IA – [Learn More]( Interested in posting a job here? Please see our [CMI Careers page]( for more info.  School's In for the Summer This summer, in between soaking up the sun and trips to the ice cream shop, why not advance your content marketing knowledge? There’s no better time to dive into learning with CMI University! Sign up now with code SUMMER22 to save $100. Your enrollment includes 12 months of on-demand access so you can watch the courses at your own pace, quizzes to measure your understanding, and a certificate of completion. [Explore the curriculum](    Content Marketing World Preview: Drive Revenue with Diversity Did you know BIPOC markets have a buying power of $4 trillion? This week, we sat down with Michelle Ngome to preview her upcoming Content Marketing World session on how your company can tap into diverse markets with a solid inclusive marketing strategy. Watch the interview, and then make plans to join us September 13-16 in Cleveland (or check out the Virtual Experience September 21-22). Use promo code COMMUNITY100 to save $100 on your registration. [Watch Video »]( [Register for CMWorld »](   [SEO RESOURCES]( Events [Content Marketing World]( [ContentTECH Summit]( [Content Marketing Awards]( Resources [Research]( [White Paper/eBook Library]( [Content VIPs]( [CMI Business Directory]( Education [Content Marketing University]( [Chief Content Officer]( [Webinars]( [Job Listings]( Interested in advertising with CMI? [Learn more.]( To stop receiving future Content Marketing Institute update emails, please respond [here](. 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