The Beatles are often credited as the greatest rock band of all time. Their following is huge now, but if you look at their beginnings you'll discover something else about the Beatles.
They are great content marketers.
Here are 3 things you can learn about content marketing from The Beatles' rise to music immortality.
1 - They created a lot of content - In 1960 The Beatles were teenagers living at a Hamburg night club and performing 6 hours/night every day. They were resident musicians and had lots of time to sample material.
How hard is it for you to create a new piece of content each week? You know paint better than anyone and you coach people on what paint to buy for their particular projects every day. Right? That's content! Edit some of those phone calls, discussions and email threads into podcasts, videos or blog posts -- as suggested here by Andy Crestodina. Hiring people to design your content is easy as well because Digital marketing has never been cheaper.
2 - They built their audience one person at a time - The Beatles took their music back to Liverpool and the Cavern Club from 1961 to 1963. They did 292 shows at the Cavern Club within 2 years. Brian Epstein, a twenty-something record store manager, stopped in the club for lunch, and the band impressed him. He agreed to manage them.
Epstein didn't hold tryouts or call people to an American Idol-type event looking for talent. He sought talent on his own. The Beatles had a small, but loyal following around Liverpool that liked their sound, humor and on-stage charm that they perfected over time. They performed constantly and the stars perfectly aligned to capture the interest of the young music executive that stopped in that day. They knew that the best way to be seen was to be performing. Being seen precisely when a target audience is looking for your offering; sounds like the equivalent of the Zero Moment Of Truth happening in the 1960s.
A modern-day Epstein prowls YouTube looking for independent artists. Just like your potential customers go online looking for products or services in your category. Don't worry if no one likes your infographic, YouTube video or blog post yet. Share your piece with the people that care about you -- your spouse, kids, co-workers, family or customers. Then, ask them to share it with their network. Like-minded people share interests. Lawyers associate with other lawyers. Content about lawyers and industry-happenings fills the typical lawyer's newsfeed. Put that new video about immigration law you did on your Facebook page and ask your lawyer friends to share it. They're your friends so they'll be happy to. They probably associate with other lawyers too that also may comment or share it. Wash, rinse and repeat this process for all of your content pieces to grow your audience one name at a time.
3 - They found their identity - All major record companies rejected The Beatles pleas for a record deal before Epstein signed on as their manager. Epstein secured a tiny record deal with Parlophone because of his enthusiasm and belief that they would be a hit. The Beatles didn't change their sound. Most generational bands don't. Take Nirvana for example. They didn't change their identity based on what was popular at the time. They were a group of kids, using second-hand equipment in a Seattle-garage. Seasoned musicians scoffed at their lack of music ability much like the record companies did to the Beatles 30 years earlier. Could you imagine if The Beatles or Nirvana went on an American Idol-type show in their time? They wouldn't make it past the auditions. Both The Beatles and Nirvana generated airplay in part because of their uniqueness. They didn't sound or look like anyone else.
Don't expect great results if your content is the same as everyone else. That's where quantity comes into play. You need to make creating content a regular habit. It's easier to do if you're armed with a team to help you publish content in different ways so you quickly find what your identity is. Publish frequently because you have no idea what your audience is going to identify with. Jim Cramer may not be the savviest stock investor (that title belongs to Warren Buffet), but Cramer is the most visible. He's the one on TV throwing chairs and using goofy sound clips. That's his identity. Find yours.
Create content you'd love to publish and your customers would love to read. You may not have the time or technical skills to design, blog or film content regularly. In that case you can always retain a digital marketing team to assist with this for a very small fee. Then, you just have to give them some ideas and feedback about your content to have them design it for you. Challenge yourself to match the Beatles and get 292 ways to promote your talent in 2 years.
You may start a revolution.
About The Author
Sajeel Qureshi is the VP of Operations at Computan, a digital marketing and software company. Computan serves as the digital department for numerous businesses throughout the globe ranging from start-ups to multinationals.
He has a degree in Business Administration from St. Bonaventure University and MBA from Eastern Illinois University. Sajeel plays tennis well enough to convince the untrained eye that he knows what he is doing and poor enough that the trained eye submits him to a drug test.