The World Doesn't Need Any More Content Marketers

We seem to have reached a tipping point.

The other day I was posting an idea that I wanted to present at Pubcon 2016 in Las Vegas. The conference organizers had asked those submitting suggestions to not submit as many presentations around the topic of content marketing but in other areas like content development and creation. What was so interesting is simultaneously while I was submitting my details for this event, a mood came over me. Suddenly I didn't have motivation anymore to talk about anything content marketing. I spent almost all of 2015 doing it around the globe and well, like some things in life, it has reached a threshold.

When telling a colleague about my decision and what my new presentation would be about, they seemed baffled. One acquaintance even replied, "But content marketing is still so hot, why take yourself out of the game speaking about it?"

Then I realized maybe I needed to talk to someone who is inspiring in this area.

A voice of reason.

A breath of fresh air.

Someone who understands not only strategy, but the best forms of content creation!

Maybe the reason I'm tired of content marketing is I'm tired of the "marketing" part but not tired of the "content" aspect. I'm tired of talking about strategy of how content will help persuade or influence without developing that content and testing it. In most of my presentations the past year which I've given all over the world from Norway to Detroit to San Francisco including the ever-popular "Disruptive Content Marketing," I was quick to note that the best content marketers are also creators themselves. I even used the analogy of DJ/Producers. If you are a DJ, you should also be producing your own music to program rather than always playing other people's tunes. This helps give you an edge in terms of what you can creatively produce and test instead of constantly having to rely on others to do that work for you.

In our hybrid world of learning by doing and indirect education, I meet way too many "strategists" that don't do anything except think or direct. They have all these resources available to them but they tell me they have no time to learn something new. While thinking and strategy is an important part of our evolving cognitive and imaginary economy, the details of what makes life tick is in the execution of that thinking.

This is the difference between innovation and simply creativity.

The best engineers and developers also code regularly. The best writers write often and a lot. And the best content marketers are also voracious content creators.

Execution is the strategy. It always has been and always will be.

So I don't want to be a person standing on stage anymore talking about content marketing, case studies, best practices or theory unless I'm creating the content too.

And lately (outside my podcast) I haven't been doing enough of that.

So this year I've pitched presentations at some big conferences on how to develop and produce content. How to use business insights to develop what content to create and then actually produce it. That's right, I'm going to give people creative insights they can actually use and try to move beyond the one dimension that content marketing has become.

So what are some things I'm going to explain to people when I give this new presentation entitled "The Role of Producerism"?

Well, I touch a little more in-depth on this topic in my most recent podcast Disruptive FM with special guest and award winning content strategist Melanie Deziel. Here are some things to consider:

1. What is your target audiences business model? How do they make money? If you understand this, you'll understand more about how and why they'll use content marketing.

2. What content will motivate a business' customers to learn and take action?

3. What platforms or people will that content be distributed on or through?

4. What goes into producing that content? Will you use sight, sound, motion, messaging, live streaming or even virtual worlds to engage?

My question to all of you is how do you plan to get stronger in the creation area if you are strategic and stronger in the strategic area if you are creative?

Remember, we are all digital punks now. In the late 1970s even if you weren't a musician you could pick up an instrument and become one without following traditional rules.

The same applies in our digital world filled with creative apps to help foster this DIY producer culture.

Post what you plan to create next. Don't be shy. We need more creative hybrids in our ever-evolving world.

Art, creativity, innovation and making things always has been and always will be our greatest motivation.

Geoffrey Colon is a communications designer and creator who works at Microsoft. Follow him here on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram. You can also check out his blog on Tumblr. Listen and subscribe to his weekly marketing podcast for eccentric minds, DISRUPTIVE FM. Check out a list of dates he will be speaking at in 2016 on his Amazon author page.