What Great Brands Do That Good Brands Don't in Content Marketing
Okay content is easy. Killer content is hard. This nifty eBook shows you the difference, based on our real-world work with dozens of brands. A must-read!
Ritika Puri, CEO & Co-Founder of Storyhackers, joins the Content Pros Podcast this week to discuss how the Lean Startup methodology applies to content marketing.
Ritika Puri helps content marketers tell better stories. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of Storyhackers, where they help build out content strategy and programs for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to growth-stage startups. She is also the Resident Storyteller for the Lean Startup Conference.
Ritika started as a freelance writer on Craigslist at $8 per blog post, looking for a side gig to supplement some of the work she was doing in digital marketing a few years ago. She started working with Forbes and other early players in the content marketing industry, which quickly grew her business into the full-time agency it is today. She intentionally keeps the business small because she wants to continue to focus on individualized attention on each client.
Ritika’s success is thanks, in large part, to her view of content as micro-products treated with the Lean Startup methodology. She brings agility into content marketing by applying three of Lean Startup’s principles to content marketing:
“Distribution is such a pain point in content marketing, because everybody is creating content, and it’s getting progressively harder for companies to stand out.” —@ritika_puri
“When your company is introducing itself to somebody new, it’s like you’re walking to somebody at a coffee shop or a bar. You’re saying, ‘Hello,’ you’re starting a conversation. You’re not going to get into an in-depth discussion about your products.” —@ritika_puri
“Every time you create a piece of content, there’s inspiration for more content.” —@ritika_puri
“We tend to let perfect get in the way of good, and we don’t ship content.” —@cnmoody
“You can think of content as very similar to product development. As a marketer, you’re creating a mini-product. It’s a mini-education product, and you want to make sure that it’s not only reaching the needs of your market as an educator, but that the folks who can use it can get the most value out of it.” —@ritika_puri
“It comes back to content—connecting your audience with material that’s not only interesting, but relevant to their business goals.” —@ritika_puri
As an 11-year-old, Ritika had her first poem published in an anthology. “From that moment forward, I wanted to be a writer. I did everything in my power to escape that trajectory.” She studied statistics, she worked as a martial arts instructor and in the legal industry, and her first job out of college was for a consulting firm.
“But ultimately I kept coming back to writing, because it’s a way to teach, to connect with others, to build relationships. So I guess I’m one of those rare cases where I fulfilled my childhood dream by accident.”
Okay content is easy. Killer content is hard. This nifty eBook shows you the difference, based on our real-world work with dozens of brands. A must-read!