Content Marketing Lessons from the NFL

I am an NFL football fan. And there is an NFL journalist named Brian “Baldy” Baldinger who does these fun, insightful videos. You can spot them on Twitter. He calls them “Baldy’s Breakdowns.” In these videos, Baldinger analyzes pieces of game film from the prior weekend’s games. You can see his videos here: @BaldyNFL

Football is a complicated sport, a “game of inches,” and there are a lot of fast-moving details happening on every play that can make the difference between a loss of yardage or a touchdown. Baldy does a great job of helping you understand the little nuances of the game that you might otherwise miss. I know that his videos have helped me appreciate all the different elements of the game a lot more.

Content Marketing Lessons

Baldy’s Breakdowns also provide a few good lessons for other content marketers and small businesses. Anyone who’s trying to capture attention and spread a message on social media today could learn a few things from Brian Baldinger’s NFL breakdowns.

Make it Short and Sweet

Most of Baldy’s Breakdowns are just a few minutes long — or less! If your business is creating online marketing content, whether it’s a video or blog post, try to keep it direct and on topic. Find a way to distill your company’s essence into a few key sentences, graphics and images. You want to drum up interest and enthusiasm and appeal to the curiosity of your target audience, but don’t overwhelm them right away with too much information.

You can always refer potential customers to your website or customer service extension so they can get the nitty gritty details. Your online marketing content should be a succinct and concise introduction to your company and what it can do for potential clients. This is not the time to be long-winded. You might only have a few seconds to “hook” your audience and draw them in, so make it count. G ahead and sink a lot of time and money into creating a visually stunning fifteen minute epic. But you almost certainly be better off with a shorter and more focused video that “leaves them wanting more.”

Or you could be like Baldy and do a recurring series of shorter installment videos that discuss various products and services that your business offers. Instead of having one long infomercial, you could make numerous videos that were all addressing different facets of your company or showing customers how to (quickly) solve various specific problems.

Have Fun with It!

Baldy is hilarious and he uses this to great effect in his videos. He does a terrific job of humorously praising (or criticizing) various players and showing what went right (or wrong) on any given play. If he was just posting these short videos without injecting some humor into it, they probably wouldn’t have the same appeal; it might seem too technical or boring. But the humor makes it fun.

If you can make your online marketing content both informative and entertaining, you will probably see better results from it. Find a unique and amusing way to engage your target audience and talk about what your business can do. People will view your company much more favorably if your advertising is light and cheerful. It’s widely accepted that you can win people’s affection and keep their interest when you use humor. Curry favor with your target audience by sharing your message in an amusing and memorable fashion.

Speaking of football, the biggest game of the year — the Super Bowl — is as famous for its commercials as it is for the game itself. The marketers use this platform to debut some of the silliest and quirkiest ads of the year. You don’t have to come up with the funniest advertisement ever seen, and some industries or topics require more of a serious tone. But you can definitely feel free to deliver your message with a charming slant.

Get into the Details

Not everyone knows football as well as Baldinger, but he makes it fun and accessible by highlighting the little nuances of the game, especially things that many casual fans will often overlook like good offensive line play. Every Baldy’s Breakdown leaves me feeling like a better-informed football fan who will be more likely to appreciate the little things during my next live game.

What do you know best about your business? Think about some unexpected things that people might be surprised to learn? What are some behind the scenes facts that you can share? Is there something about your industry that you’d like to change? What are some big problems or trends in your industry that you have strong opinions about? Is there a clever, amusing anecdote that illustrates a point you’d like to make to your audience?

Sometimes business owners overlook and undervalue their own expertise. This becomes especially true if they’re in a “boring” or technical field. Chances are, your tenure as a business owner has turned you into an expert at something. And your expertise might be more interesting and even entertaining than you realize. Draw inspiration from your experience. And give some unique insight into what your business does and what it can do for your potential customers.

As you are telling your story, think about what makes your company unique. Maybe it’s the history behind the founder or it could be a highly specific product that you’re featuring as part of your advertising. Whatever aspect of your business that you’ve decided to highlight, explain what makes it so special. Your story is unique and no two businesses are the same. Running a business has almost certainly given you a wealth of knowledge about your industry – just like a football wide receiver on a long pass route, “go deep.” Use this to your advantage when you are developing your content marketing strategy.

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This article, "Content Marketing Lessons from the NFL" was first published on Small Business Trends

Originally posted on Content Marketing Lessons from the NFL via Small Business and Franchises