FOMO in content marketing doesn’t exist.
We can all related to the image above, right?
Lying awake in bed at night, your mind racing, wondering when you’re going to fall asleep. Hopefully, it’s not because your phone is keeping you awake with alerts and notifications (I haven’t quite gotten to the point where my phone isn’t in my bedroom at night, but all notifications and sounds are off when I go to sleep).
Clubhouse is the latest and greatest shiny object… maybe it’s given you FOMO with your content marketing.
“Should I sign up?”
“Who has an invitation?” (nothing like injecting a whole lot of scarcity and urgency by requiring invitations and launching it for iOS only).
Don’t worry, this isn’t about Clubhouse.
And I have zero judgement for people who are loving it and getting results from using Clubhouse. For the foreseeable future I don’t see myself participating on the app, but I’m wise enough at this point in my life to “never say never.”
Here’s why you don’t have to have FOMO about Clubhouse or any other platform or type of marketing channel or methodology.
They ALL work.
I had a little twinge of that “did I miss the boat?” feeling about newsletters recently.
I’ve been paying attention to the space for a couple of years but really didn’t start digging deep into newsletters until last year when we launched our newsletter, Creativity Published.
Our results have been nothing but fantastic.
Since I thoroughly enjoy writing and doing the newsletter I knew I wanted to launch a newsletter for my personal brand as well (#FtheHustle).
Ditto on the results. They’ve been fantastic and almost more importantly, I’m loving doing it.
However, because I’ve been digging in and doing more research I’ve come across a couple of articles that state that last year was the height of the newsletter.
Which felt a little bit like a gut punch… then I took a deep breath and got back to work.
I simply reminded myself that the Internet is a big ol’ huge place and there is plenty to go around.
Obviously, there is always an early adopter opportunity when it comes to online marketing. When things are new people get excited and jump in, hoping to reap the rewards from being an early adopter.
It doesn’t take much though for it to feel like something is crowded or you’ve missed an opportunity. But that doesn’t mean you don’t do it.
My favorite example of this is the beverage market.
Does anyone actually think we need another type of beverage?
How many energy drinks, healthy drinks, green juice mixes, cocktails, or beers do we need?
But it’s not about what we need, is it?
The fact that people continue to invent new types of beverages and more importantly, succeed with them, is all that matters.
How this relates to content marketing
According to Hubspot 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing.
Take a look at the image below. We all know that video feels like it’s taking over (and has been for a while) but look at all the other types of content that are being created.
I have no doubt people probably said “blogging is dead” years ago (or insert any other type of content that is “dead”, because well, clickbait).
Was it easier to get traffic to a blog 10 or 15 years ago?
Sure, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still work or that you shouldn’t put time and energy into blogging and creating quality content that serves your audience.
You can view the Hubspot article for more data on each type of content (this is one of my favorite resources when I need statistics because they update it every year). It’s fascinating to see the growth in different areas. It also validates my point.
It all works.
IF… and here’s the big caveat…
If you do the work and publish consistently.
The easiest way to succeed online is to be willing to do the work that other people won’t.
About 5 years ago I was doing a “done for you” podcasting service. It was an easy service for me to sell because I fully believe in the power of podcasting. While the space has gotten more crowded, it’s still easy to succeed with a podcast.
Be consistent and don’t quit.
Too many people give up on podcasting after a year because they’re not seeing results.
Even if they’re consistent with publishing, they’re probably not doing enough promotion (note to self).
I’m taking the same perspective with newsletters.
My guess is a year from now there will be plenty of newsletters that have been neglected or let go because people gave up too soon. Instead of looking at what’s working, what’s not working, and constantly improving they quit.
In the planner we’ve listed 8 Content Types:
Of course there are plenty of other content types, but this is a great starting point.
Another favorite content type that we’ll be including in version 2 of the planner is email marketing.
People often overlook email as content, but if your email and you’re consistent, it’s going to deliver a better return on your investment than just about any other type of content marketing (and yes, you can publish individual emails as blog posts as well, but that’s for another post).
How to decide which content type is right for you
This is probably the least data-based answer I could give you, but hopefully that will help it stick.
Do what you most enjoy doing.
I’ve been jokingly saying that if I could just write and speak (i.e, podcast), that’s all I would do.
I enjoy doing live streams and webinars, but that’s usually for a different purpose (and I’m fine with video as well, but it’s not my preference).
I fell in love with writing when I started podcasting and really getting into email marketing.
I started podcasting because I wanted to have more fun. The fact that I write out my solo show episodes prior to recording is what piqued my interest for getting better and writing content.
The outcome?
Both have paid off both emotionally and financially.
If you’re not sure how to make that stick, read this article on why we don’t stick to things, and then follow the steps to shift your behavior.
I know myself well enough to know that I go into massive resistance when I feel like I “have” to do something.
When it’s something I enjoy doing? I’m going all in.
So don’t worry if you’re not doing “all the things” when it comes to content marketing and every possible place you could be publishing online.
Do what you love, be consistent, and then try the next thing.
I promise you it will pay off.
