When I was a freelance writer, I can't tell you how many times I wrote about the same topic over and over again. Same when I was an in-house editor, and global content lead. One topic that comes to mind—and I think it's a rite of passage for anyone who works in Martech—is "How to build a landing page." I counted recently, and I've been involved with that topic no less than 7 times. Yet... every time it's been an entirely new perspective that feels nothing like what I did before, or how anyone...
18 days ago • 6 min read
25 narrative principles Live workshop option Early bird sale starts June 27th, 2025 The problem with most content programs Most content marketers are stuck "playing content." You know the cycle: Write "good enough" content. Get vague feedback ("I don't like this"). Make random changes. Repeat until exhausted. Publish anyway. Wonder why it underperforms. Sound familiar? In the two decades I’ve worked in content marketing, I hear the same frustrations over and over again: "Leadership doesn't...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader,We don't think in keywords. We think in arcs. We wrestle with big, layered problems and go down rabbit holes when we think we’re onto something. We binge. We compare. We revisit. We want to make sense of things, and we want to be taken seriously while doing it. So when your content is structured as disconnected articles, you’re forcing the audience to do the heavy lifting of stitching the narrative together. What Narrative Planning Changes A narrative-driven content calendar treats...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Ever watch a show with a killer premise... that you gave up on halfway through? For me, it was Heroes. The first season built tension. It hinted. It layered. It pulled you forward. Season 2? It just fed you information. No tension. No hook. I watched it — but I didn’t care.That's what most B2B content does.It just kind of starts, presents a bunch of information, then... ends.It presents info, then ends. You skim it, forget it, and deep down, you know your reader will too.If that's you, don't...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
You’ve heard it before: “This needs to be more dynamic.” So you do what most people do: you punch it up. Sharper verbs. Shorter sentences. Add some urgency to the tone. But the problem isn’t pace. It’s pressure. Or more specifically—the lack of it. Earlier this week, we discussed how most B2B creators aren’t intentionally working with competing values. They’re operating on instinct, not narrative tension. So when someone says, "something feels off," you hear, "you can't get it right." If you...
3 months ago • 8 min read
“Tell a story” is the most repeated—and least understood—advice in marketing. It flatters the creative instinct, appeals to intuition, and sounds like permission to keep things loose and expressive, but without structure, even the most inspired voices lose momentum. Most of what passes for "storytelling strategy" is just glorified pep talks, not practical frameworks. Sure, do this long enough and you'll hear about "The Hero's Journey" or "The Three Act Structure," but as someone who has...
3 months ago • 8 min read
Let me paint a picture...Your boss shoots you a Slack message: “Can you do some competitor analysis? We need a new way to stand out this year.” So, you open a spreadsheet, load competitor websites, and start digging. Metrics, headlines, testimonials—line after line after line of data. After a while, your focus blurs, and a familiar question creeps in: "What am I actually looking for?" It’s a scene playing out in marketing teams everywhere. Here’s the truth nobody wants to hear: gathering data...
5 months ago • 4 min read
You know content marketing could be driving more impact.You see the gaps, the missed opportunities, the wasted effort. But then you hit a wall. Leadership doesn’t get it. First off, if that's you, you're not alone. Last year we ran The State of (Dis)Content Report to find out what had content marketers feeling down. Among many things, we found: 🔸 Only 30% of in-house content marketers say their leadership is fully bought-in.🔸 41.3% admit they aren't doing audience research nearly enough.🔸 60%...
6 months ago • 1 min read
A few weeks ago, I asked ChatGPT to pretend Frodo from Lord of the Rings was preparing for his journey by reading blog posts. (Stay with me here…) I wanted it to map out what those blog posts would be - the full journey from “Choosing Your Companions” to “Surviving Mount Doom.” Why? Because I’ve discovered something weird about content gaps. EVERYONE is missing out on their full potential. See, when I was at Shopify Plus, we had a massive challenge: We were trying to compete in enterprise...
6 months ago • 2 min read