Bigger, Bolder Braver: The Board Weighs In
After Ann Handley’s inspiring presentation, what are you most inspired to be? Bigger, Bolder, or Braver? Why?
@ginablink: Well, all three really, but I’ll focus on BIGGER for now. The FIWTSBS line was close to home for me. It’s a fun challenge to envision much more creative ways to engage people by expanding the frame of reference and finding what is intriguing, relatable, and essential about the “stuff” you have to talk about. Take boring out of the picture and the content comes to life. Then I think that BRAVER comes quickly to the picture as we sell and own the BIG, BOLD ideas internally. The audience is usually the easy part!
@DennisDevlin: (Self-Proclaimed #AnnHandleySquadLeader) I kind of feel like the three of them go hand-in-hand. In order to be your most effective in your content marketing, you have to stretch. When you reach for that bigger context, you need to go with bolder marketing. If you go with bolder marketing, you must share a braver perspective. I am a strong proponent of differentiating in the marketplace. Ann shared that you have to tell a different story. You also have to take a stand. So, I favor the whole package in terms of what I am now inspired to be – BIGGER in terms of reaching for a broader context, BOLDER in terms of sharing my story, and BRAVER in expressing my unique voice.
@travisnipper: BRAVER! As a fellow nerd, I’ve spent a large measure of my career executing B2B marketing for engineering types in high-knowledge-base industries. In these industries, where credibility and thought-leadership are perceived to be the most valuable content currency, it’s challenging to nudge organizations a small notch up the spectrum from staid to daring. It’s a robotic formula that (de)generates the “sterile, lifeless lead gen” content that @annhandley shared in the quote from Bill Macaitis, CMO at Slack (@bmacaitis). Before we know it, complex solutions to complex problems have a way of quickly sending the audience – and the marketer too – careening into a boredom brick wall. This is a story I could tell over and over. But Ann offered a fresh perspective and encouraged me with her “Rule of FIWTSBS”…I’m asking YOU to Google it! I’m eager to see how this approach can add more personality and a “human touch” to the traditional-minded brands I work with.
@SanjivKarani: Best part of the presentation for me was simplicity of the content and Ann’s ability to draw in real and personal stories to reinforce her point. Content marketing is all about personal and emotional story that elevates one’s brand to “stand” i.e. why you do what you do and why anyone should care.
@SuzanneBuzek: Braver! For every one time I might have wished I didn’t speak up or challenge an idea I have probably three or four times that I wish I did speak up, challenge or suggest the risky idea I had been saving for a rainy day. As marketers, we are implored to challenge our colleagues and the rest of our organization, right? Ann’s presentation lit a fire in me to recognize those opportunities and seize them (while having the scrap to back it up).
Tell us what you are most inspired to be @CincinnatiAMA.
