Updated February 2021
Before marketing, I was in journalism and the training I experienced as a journalist and working with newspapers taught me some important lessons that I’ve carried into content marketing. So I’m going to share five content marketing lessons learned from journalism that will make you a stellar content marketer.
Ask Questions and Listen
A lot of times as marketers, we have several great ideas in our head that we want to share with the world. I’ve learned the best ideas come from asking questions and then closing my mouth and opening my ears. Truly listening to other people, customers and partners will allow you to collect all of the information and then form ideas of your own.
Define the Most Important Element
When there is a lot of information the key thing that brings out success is the ability to determine what actually matters in all of that information. As a journalist, that’s a big part of your job:
- Collect information
- Weed out the parts that don’t matter
- Hone in on the things that really matter
In marketing it’s the same thing. What is the thing that matters most in what you’re trying to say?
Don’t Bury the Lede
The lede is the opening statement, and it should be far from boring. You want it to be the most important element because it is what hooks the reader. In content marketing, sometimes we try to set the stage and lead up to the most important information. However, I’ve learned that the best writing is direct and to the point, right off the bat.
Use Sources and Quotes
In journalism, it’s key to:
- Conduct interviews
- Collect information
- Have sources
These three elements help build out the argument you’re trying to make. If you’re writing content and are trying to make a specific point, do your research! Pull other sources in, link to their articles, and give authoritative people their voice in your article and by having direct quotes and other sources, it proves to the reader that this is not just from your own idea, this is what other people are saying about it too.
Create Deadlines
The most important lesson learned from journalism that you can incorporate into your own content marketing; create deadlines and stick to them. In journalism, you have to get content out the door on a certain date, those deadlines force you to get in done, be creative and complete the task. A lot of times, our content just sits in draft mode and never gets completed. Use deadlines to hold yourself accountable to producing content on a regular basis.
This is the process we go through at Full Stadium Marketing, if you want help with your own content marketing, contact us!
