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If you\u2019ve been reading my latest posts<\/a> here at Content Marketing Institute, you\u2019ll see a trend around differentiation. Specifically, either start telling a different story or don\u2019t bother at all.<\/p>\n Related to this, Gary Vaynerchuk made a statement in the first minute of his DailyVee 015<\/a> show that\u2019s worth breaking apart:<\/span><\/p>\n The No. 1 thing that you can do is \u2026 you need to decide what\u2019s the one thing that you are better at than anything else \u2026 and you need to become the extreme version of that.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n What\u2019s the 1 thing that you are better at than anything else? Become the extreme version of that via @garyvee<\/em> Generalist content doesn\u2019t cut through the clutter, and yet most of the content marketing examples we see are just that \u2013 general. Worse yet, they are general and not helpful. In that case, it would be better not to create any content at all.<\/p>\n While as a content marketer you may believe that is true, choosing a content area is anything but simple. Just look at any decent-sized enterprise. Each product manager wants a focus on the problems around his or her\u00a0product. The content person rises to the challenge by creating content around multiple themes and campaigns. The content person is charged with creating content for more product managers.<\/p>\n Wonderful, now all the product areas have some \u201ccontent.\u201d But what happens? We can\u2019t possibly deliver the best content in the world<\/a> if we are filling content holes in every part of the enterprise. This is like working in your email inbox the entire day. By the end of the day, you realize how unproductive you\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n You must choose. Go back up to Gary\u2019s quote and look at the word \u201cdecide.\u201d You must choose. It doesn\u2019t just happen. As Michael Porter so eloquently says, \u201cStrategy is choice. Strategy means saying no to certain kinds of things.\u201d<\/p>\n Strategy is choice. Strategy means saying no to certain kinds of things says @MichaelEPorter via @cmicontent<\/em> You have to make the hard choice. You need to make a decision on where to put your eggs. Where can you make meaningful impact?<\/p>\n In my latest book Content Inc.<\/a> I talk about the importance of identifying your sweet spot. For a larger enterprise, the sweet spot is the intersection of an exceptional knowledge or unique skill area and a defined customer pain point.<\/p>\n What do we mean by knowledge? Knowledge is information acquired about a particular subject through study or observation.<\/p>\n Joseph Kalinowski<\/a>, our creative director at Content Marketing Institute, has knowledge (by the definition above) in a number of areas including the band Kiss, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Star Wars action figures, and Jack Daniels. For\u00a0any one of these topics, Joseph would destroy the average person with his knowledge in that area.<\/p>\n In addition to his knowledge areas, Joseph is also a skilled graphic designer. Skill is defined by dictionary.com as \u201cthe ability to do something well\u201d or an area in which a person has \u201cexpertise or competence.\u201d Simply put, skill is knowledge used properly.<\/p>\n If Joseph wanted to start an audience-building content marketing strategy, he would start by listing these areas (even before looking at the target audience\u2019s needs). It\u2019s better to look at your own strengths first \u2013 where you have a unique story to tell \u2013 instead of identifying the customer pain points and then seeing if you have anything to offer.<\/p>\n Long story short \u2013 you have to find your extreme area of possible authority.<\/p>\n Begin by listing those areas in which your organization has a skill set or knowledge area in something that\u2019s larger or better than the average organization. This is brainstorming time \u2013 more is better at this point.<\/p>\n Knowledge areas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n 1.<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n 4.<\/p>\n Special skills<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n 4.<\/p>\n If you completed the exercise correctly, you should have significantly more knowledge areas than skill areas. Here\u2019s how this exercise\u00a0might look for agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere.<\/p>\n Knowledge areas<\/strong><\/p>\n Special skills<\/strong><\/p>\n After you\u2019ve completed this little exercise, rate your knowledge areas and special skills with your team. Put a 5 next to the ones where you are \u201coff the charts\u201d with your skill or expertise. Put a 1 next to those that really don\u2019t differentiate your organization from any other.<\/p>\n Great. You now have lots of knowledge and skill areas. I hope you identified a few you never thought of. Now, you need to find the customer pain point to finish determining the sweet spot.<\/p>\n First, you have to identify the customer.<\/p>\n For this to work, the focus needs to be on one audience persona<\/a>. If you are a business-to-business marketer, you may have seven to nine decision-maker, influencer, and gatekeeper audiences that you are targeting with your communications or which are part of the buying process. Again, you need to choose.<\/p>\n In this stage, most marketers don\u2019t want to choose. They believe if they choose, someone will be left out (either an audience member or a product manager who needs content). But if you don’t choose, your content never becomes specific or relevant enough to matter \u2026 to get attention \u2026 to build trust.<\/p>\n Altair Engineering, a B2B simulation-software company, created a content brand called Enlighten, specifically designed for mechanical engineers who use simulation software. Once Altair chose the audience, it identified a key problem \u2013 product weight reduction.<\/p>\n In manufacturing, the weight of a product is critical to its production costs, its shipping cost, and the possibility that the product will be specified into a larger product set. In other words, weight matters to mechanical engineers.<\/p>\n Altair chose to become the problem-solver around product weight reduction, and includes this mission statement on the site<\/a>:<\/p>\n The enlighten website has been created by Altair ProductDesign<\/a> and strives to be the world\u2019s leading source for useful, informative and inspirational content concerned with minimizing the weight of products across industry. Enlighten is intended to help inform and educate on the current thinking and trends in the market and highlight advances in lightweight design techniques, materials technology and manufacturing processes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Not bad, right?<\/p>\n Again, get back with your team<\/a> and do the exercise \u2026 list critical pain points that your audience has. You already know many of them because you\u2019ve been marketing to them, but now is the time to talk to your salespeople, your customer service folks, your engineers, and product people.<\/p>\n Once your list is complete, rate each from 1 (snoozer) to 5 (critical problem that affects the livelihood of the audience).<\/p>\n You have to choose. This is what Zig Ziglar calls being \u201cmeaningful specific.\u201d If you are \u201cmeaningful broad,\u201d you\u2019ll never be relevant enough. You have to decide on the customer pain point where you can help and make a real impact on your customer (or future customer).<\/p>\n Don’t become a wandering generality. Be a meaningful specific says @TheZigZiglar via @cmicontent<\/em> If you are struggling to know whether you are specific enough, just ask yourself the following question, \u201cIf we delivered compelling and relevant content on a consistent basis to our target audience around this topic over a long period, could we become the leading informational providers in the world around that topic?\u201d<\/p>\n If the answer is no, you are not specific enough. Period.<\/p>\n Now, match the areas which have a 5 \u2013 from your knowledge and skill side \u2013 with the customer pain points that have a 5. After going through this exercise, you\u2019ll uncover a few areas that you can seriously run with. You\u2019ll also probably discover that what you had been creating content around is not even close to being \u201cmeaningful specific.\u201d<\/p>\n Why is this model important? Your business might have a knowledge area that may not be relevant to customers. For example, a number of General Electric executives are knowledgeable in business strategy. GE\u2019s internal training programs are some of the most famous ever developed by a corporation. That said, that knowledge may not translate into solving a GE customer\u2019s issue or pain point. So GE\u2019s knowledge of business strategy doesn\u2019t necessarily align with the targeted customer\u2019s pain point and doesn\u2019t work for the sweet spot model.<\/p>\n Doug Kessler, co-founder of content agency Velocity Partners, believes the sweet spot is three-dimensional. It\u2019s important to know the exact size, shape, and depth. As he details:<\/p>\n Whether you are just starting out with a content marketing strategy for a new audience or retrofitting an old strategy with new thinking, I believe this exercise is worth doing. As my partner-in-crime Robert Rose says at the end of every This Old Marketing podcast, \u201cIt\u2019s your story to tell \u2026 tell it well.\u201d Find a story that\u2019s worth telling \u2026 your unique story that is meaningful to a particular audience. Be extreme!<\/p>\n For regular insight, practical advice, and helpful exercises from Joe Pulizzi and other experts in content marketing, <\/em>subscribe<\/em><\/a> to the free daily or weekly CMI blog.<\/em><\/p>\n Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski\/Content Marketing Institute<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Finding Your Sweet Spot \u2013 An Extreme Content Focus [Exercise]<\/a> appeared first on Content Marketing Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve been reading my latest posts here at Content Marketing Institute, you\u2019ll see a trend around differentiation. Specifically, either start telling a different story or don\u2019t bother at all. Related to this, Gary Vaynerchuk…<\/p>\n\n
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