Sometimes, the best content marketing is content published on someone else’s website. You get the benefit of having that third party endorsement, and they get content for their site for free.
And here’s the handy thing about content marketing: content marketing pitches are pretty much just like the pitches writers send to editors, largely because good content marketing is supposed to look like regular content. Not tarted-up ads.
With that in mind, content marketers need to learn to pitch like writers, and the way a writer can turn one idea into five for your client without actually coming up with five whole new ideas is by just changing the story’s angle. Here are five ways you can do the same.
A note: I’m going to use Vodka Brand X and Cocktail Y as a running example, not because a vodka company pitching cocktails is particularly interesting, but precisely because it isn’t. (Sorry about that; if you’re hard-up for entertainment, we’d suggest mixing a cocktail before you continue reading.)
Haven’t people heard enough of Christmas cocktails, Academy Awards cocktails and spring cocktails? Nope. Holidays, special events and seasons are evergreen. Putting a Father’s Day twist on boring Cocktail Y suddenly makes it interesting and relevant.
If Cocktail Y has orange and ginger in it, calling it an Orange Ginger Martini might be descriptive, but it’s boring as hell. However, call it an NDP Crush and pitch it for a Calgary-based publication—well, now you have something.
We know: unique is hard, especially when everything has already been done. But there’s bound to be something; maybe Vodka Brand X is the only Austrian vodka in a Polish vodka world. Maybe they’re grape-based instead of a potato base. Whatever it is, put that out front and run with it. And if there’s truly nothing, then guess what? Cocktail Y is served in a traditional copper mug. Why? Because that picture will look unique.
A couple weeks back, no one would shut up about Dad Bod. Rather than rolling your eyes, slap some bacon on Cocktail Y and call it a Dad Bod Slammer.
Content marketing is all about making the impersonal personable, so figure out a way to fit into your readers’ lives. If Cocktail Y gets printed up on little business cards, maybe it’ll find its way into readers’ wallets. Or maybe it’s pitched as the 30-Second Cocktail, because convenience is always relevant to a reader.
Here’s the bottom line: if a simple, brain-dead cocktail pitch can turn into five things, so can your idea. Sometimes, when you’re pitching, it’s a matter of putting lipstick on a pig. Well, keep five shades of lipstick in your arsenal.