[New Post] Content Tips for Adding Creativity in More Conservative Niches

 

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Content Tips for Adding Creativity in More Conservative Niches Jamie Heckler PR Newswire recently shared some tweetable tips from our award-winning marketing team. My favorite comes from Bradley H. Smith, who is responsible for marketing our IR and compliance services. His advice to "Try to entertain while you inform" is brilliant, but sometimes easier said than done. Click the above image to share Bradley's tweetable advice. I recently reached out to Bradley to better understand how he so successfully injects creativity into an otherwise very conservative market. Don't bore someone just because they work in a boring industry. Bradley warns that some B2B marketing tends to be so creatively safe it teeters on the edge of boring and risks not engaging its audience. "Every day Joe Jones sees all kinds of creative ads and commercials," he muses. "Think about all the excitement and energy we put into Super Bowl ads alone." Bradley continues, "When Joe goes into the office, does he take off the creative ad hat and put on the boring office hat? We're talking to the same person. Just because he puts on a tie doesn't mean he wants un-engaging content." Attract, connect and differentiate with a little creativity. Tasked with selling to security lawyers, Bradley admits that his audience is more intelligent on certain industry topics than himself. "There's so much complexity, that I can't begin to be as smart as they are. I try to be engaging." As evident in his posts on the Building Shareholder Confidence blog, Bradley often uses humor to make the dry content more approachable. "I use creative humor for the equally important goals of differentiating the brand and increasing audience engagement." While he understands that humor can be tricky, Bradley warns the alternative is worse. "[As B2B marketers] we're terrified to not offend someone and not get the lead, but the risk of being boring is much worse, because no one will read it." Use humor to show you're in-the-know. Marrying the lightness of humor with the seriousness of your market is more of an art than a science. To start, you should speak on the same level as your audience. "The humor has to be intelligent humor," Bradley clarifies. "I'm not making fart jokes. I'm trying to use humor in context with the niche." Creating jokes specific to your industry is a way to show your audience you can relate to their workplace life. As he points out, "In best case scenario, I'm making inside jokes so the niche knows I'm in the niche." A selection of images from the Building Shareholder Confidence blog. According to Bradley, your audience will thank you for your creativity. "In boring niches, there aren't a lot of inside jokes happening, so people will appreciate the effort." Stick to these guidelines with creative content in more serious markets: Avoid risqué topics. Remember you are representing a professional entity, so it's always best to steer clear of taboo topics. Laugh from inside the niche, not at the niche. The content should never insult your prospects, company or competition. Bradley advises, "Consider how you would speak to them face to face—before drinks." If your humor needs a target, use yourself as the comedic foil. Pop culture references need to be obvious and audience age-appropriate. For Bradley's targeted demographic this means he'll reference Ghostbusters or Monty Python, but not the Kardashians. Apply the reverse-mullet rule. Put the party out front and back it up with information. Bradley often uses humor in his images and blog headlines, but rarely in the actual text. The jokes help draw in the audience, but once they're there, it's all business. To connect with audiences at every stage of the marketing funnel, we must continue to evolve our approach to content creation and promotion. That means re-examining how things like visual storytelling and PR can do much more than build brand awareness. Download The Evolution of PR's Role in the Marketing Funnel and get more content tips that will spark action across the buyer’s journey. Author Jamie Heckler is the Senior Creative Manager at PR Newswire. Follow her on Twitter @jamieheckle for more #design, #PR & #marketing updates.

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