What kind of content even works anymore?

Jay Acunzo says, “Don’t market more. Matter more.”

This has inspired me in so many ways.

It reminds me of another Jay quote: “Stop competing on volume and start competing on impact.”

I come back to both of these ideas whenever I see leadership teams desperately trying to use AI to “scale” (aka create a bunch more stuff, throwing the thinnest and least satisfying spaghetti noodles at the wall, not really sure what’s working or why they’re doing it).

Which leads me to today’s question: What kind of content actually performs today?

The last couple years, I’ve been watching as many content marketing teams have been dismantled. Roles disappearing… Green banners going up.

But I’ve also been honestly energized in finding that content made by humans still lands.

After 15 years making content strategies, reviewing performance data, and trying to edit out “content voice” anytime I saw it, this is the biggest thing I come back to:

People actually ARE the whole content strategy. ✨

The weirdness, the quirkiness, the humor, the credibility somebody brings when they’re a real expert… the stuff that gives AI could never.

And I see that successful marketing teams are making a shift to people-generated content, or PGC, as I call it 🙂

That content comes from three primary sources. All orchestrated by the brand in a flywheel fashion.

People-generated content (PGC) is a content strategy based on the real voices of employees, creators, and customers.

Let me show you exactly what I mean with this graphic!

A PGC engine is when your brand strategically orchestrates a mix of all three that makes your brand both memorable and credible, and fuels the brand right back, as I show in the bottom part of my graphic.

Here’s what I mean by each content type + examples.

Some of the best creators for your brand report to you right now.

But they lack the permission, tools, and strategies to meaningfully create.

When I worked at Microsoft, I piloted an employee influencer program to help team members make their own LinkedIn content. It outperformed brand channel benchmarks by 200% and got millions of views.

(On average, personal LinkedIn profiles get 8-12x the reach of brand profiles.)

Basically you partner up with people who already are highly influential with your target audience. This accelerates your discovery and sales cycle.

The marketers at Later, whom I’ve been working with since February, recently ran a paid media test on boosted posts. Creator CTR was 386% higher than a boosted brand post, and the CPC was 70% cheaper.

The right creator is well worth the cost.

Every B2B company has customer stories sitting on its website. Probably collecting dust. But are they formulaic or legit?

Instead of the predictable before and afters, let customers create on their own channels and talk honestly about your products, then upcycle into branded content.

For Salesforce, Trailblazer communities allow customers to tell their stories their own way. When I worked there, the most predictable edit I’d get on my content was: “Can this have more customers?”

I believe humans (not AI) will generate the most efficient and influential content for B2B brands today.

So yeah… from AI-generated to people-generated is the shift I’m excited to see.

Let me know what you think.

P.S. I work with companies on all this stuff. I create custom content + social strategies for big marketing teams. And I run content workshops for execs and employees with Vincent Pierri, who’s the design brain behind that lovely graphic above. So I’m here if you need help.

I’m speaking in a live Q&A and webinar with Storyblok on 4/15, this coming Wednesday! I’d love to see you there.

We are gonna be going deeeeepppp on marketing, AI, and where things are headed this year in content strategy.

The live convo will be at 8 AM Pacific / 11 AM Eastern Wednesday 4/15, so grab a coffee and come join me! (It’s early for me so I will def be having a coffee)

Sign up and reply back if you do so I can keep an eye out for you in the chat ⭐️

In keeping with my theme of PGC, I wanted to let you know that Vince Pierri and I are accepting new clients for THIS SUMMER in our workshop series 😎

Our EGC workshop is three hours, totally interactive, and covers:

This can be virtual, but I'm also based in LA and am making stops in Indy and Cleveland this summer.

Reply to this if you are keen!

I just booked tickets for The Magic Flute at the LA Opera, it’s a revival of this production. The art looks incredible.

I saw Nine Inch Nails x Boys Noize last summer, and I am excited about their new music together! Comes out 4/17.

If you are a 90s kid like me, you will love the new Jurassic Park Jeep Wrangler, available for pre-order now. Fortunately my kids are a little too young for this set, so I saved myself $200… FOR NOW.

I’m genuinely so happy that you took time out of your day to read this newsletter. Thanks for doing that.

I will be taking some time off next week and the following, so I might miss a newsletter or two. It’s not because I don’t care… It’s because I deeply care about recharging my own brain.

So bear with me if I take a beat out of your inbox. <3