TA #98: 🐏 Sheepish Storytelling; Content Strategies for 2022; How to Avoid Writing by Committee

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Welcome to the 98th issue of Total Annarchy, a fortnightly newsletter by me, Ann Handley, with a focus on writing, marketing, living your best life. A special hello to those of you from SharpSpring and MarketingProfs. I'm glad you're here.

Boston, Sunday, October 24, 2021

Hello, Hot Stuff.

"Experience" is one of those ideas—like "authentic" or "jumbo"—that needs context. A shrimp can be jumbo. But so can a jet.

So what does "experience" mean to us in Marketing?

To understand that, let's visit Maaemo, a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Oslo, Norway.

I don't even know where to begin to describe what it was like to dine at Maaemo. (Not “eat.” Dine.) When I visited, it was one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.

No menus. No ordering. You just roll with it. And what shows up is... theater. Crazy. An adventure.

Porridge with shaved, smoked reindeer heart (“Shaved...? Are reindeer hearts hairy?” I dad-joked the waiter. He didn't laugh.)
Salted sheep bits
Newborn baby artichokes
Stinging nettles (stingers neutered)
This postage-stamp sized thing called a liquid waffle served over mountain tea made from wild herbs found only in a place called Bøverdalen
Still-quivering oysters and scallops, the latter plump with alcohol and lounging in a hot tub of a briny sauce, like college kids on spring break

So what's all that have to do with Marketing?

Maaemo wasn't memorably remarkable just because of what we ate (the “product”).

Nay, nay friends: It was also remarkable for the context, including what happened outside the dining room: its customer journey, its story (and how it told it), and more.

We can't get into it all here. But a few highlights:

* That unforgettable story. Maaemo translates into English as "all that is living." Its story is close-to-the-earth. Real. Raw.

One video drops Chef Esben Holmboe Bang into a cold, dark Scandinavian landscape. He's hunting a herd of mountain sheep. He's tracking them. You hear primitive drums. Or is that his heart pounding? (Or a sheep's heart?) Chef closes in.

Then! A flash of knife. The whites of the animal's eye widened in its final moments. Chef skins the animal right there on a rocky shore. Seasons its flesh. Roasts it over a driftwood fire he himself built. (Video.)

Gross? Brutal? Yeah.

But honest. Memorable. You can't ignore it.

What's also memorable is the realization that Chef Bang is the real deal, worthy of respect: His kitchen doesn't exactly go to Whole Foods to source those mewling newborn artichokes, does it?

Chef probably pulls them out of the dirt.

With his teeth.

Then he licks his lips.

Gritty. Visceral.

* Anticipation. We were to dine at Maaemo on a Wednesday. On Tuesday, Maaemo sent a confirmation email. To everyone in our party. (Everyone. This part is important.) (That's why I said it twice.)

We wouldn't be on site for another 36 hours. But the staff had already begun prepping. The kitchen would kick into high gear in the early morning, it said, when it received whatever local farmers and vendors brought to the back door.

Immediately I pictured farmers from the Village Dalenskalenskolenbøver* driving up and hauling bushels of... I don't know... embryonic eggplants? Fresh-caught trout, gills a-heaving? Turnips the size of gumballs?

*Totally made-up name

I imagined the farmers and herders and fisherpeople knocking on the kitchen door with their tanned, gnarled, permanently soiled hands. Here.

WHAT IS GONNA SHOW UP!

It was like mental ASMR.

Triggered by an email. An email.

An email as ordinary as any you might receive from almost anywhere (a restaurant, a doctor's office, a vendor)—a pedestrian appointment reminder.

But Maaemo kicked the ordinary downfield into extraordinary: It worked to educate us and powerfully conjure up anticipation in our heads. You couldn't help but wonder... at 12 noon.... at 2… at 3 PM: What showed up at the back door? What are they prepping now?

"Customer empathy" gets tossed around a lot in marketing. So does “the customer journey.” But it's ultimately about not just stepping into your customer's shoes... but also walking in them through your own business.

Mine the moments that matter to your customer.

That first touch, especially, even BEFORE you meet them. Can you make it special?

* * *

Listen, I know that you aren't a Michelin 3-star restaurant.

You don't have a nursery full of mewling newborn vegetables.

Or a fjord from which to scoop a mackerel for light pickling.

Your LinkedIn isn't full of freelance nettle foragers. (LOL)

The point worthy of upper-casing every letter is this:

Experience Is The Best Marketing.

I ate this meal 4 years ago... I still can't stop thinking and writing about it. And that is the power of experience. And that is true whether you sell software, services, solutions... or drunk teenage scallops soaking in a briny tub.

* * *

Last week I emailed an attorney's office I haven't worked with before. I needed help with some contracts and planning, and I'm leaving this intentionally vague because... legal stuff. It's not that interesting anyway.

And when the business development person called me back, I thought of Maaemo. Not because the legal biz dev person delivered an extraordinary experience. But because the experience was not that. At all.

We've all had these moments... disappointing interactions that frustrate us or drive us away. Our daily lives are full of them. It's boring to complain about, because my experience with a law firm reminds you of your experience with this bank or that dentist or procurement for a brand....

All this to say: I was a client to lose. They lost me.

* * *

What if we thought more systematically about creating consistently remarkable experiences that matter for our customers?

What if we looked more intentionally at creating moments that build anticipation and signal trust? Especially that first moment?

What if we didn't practice messaging karaoke—singing the same song everyone else sings, mimicking the same words in the same voice—but instead found new and creative and brand-voice and story approaches that reflect our true identity?

What's the cost if we don't?

* * *

A version of this story ^^ appears as the foreword to my friend Dan Gingiss's terrific new book, The Experience Maker. It's a great resource to think though how you might create remarkable experiences for your own customers. I'm sending a copy to that law firm. My gift. (Not kidding.)

* * *

EVERYBODY WRITES TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT

How to Write Whitepapers that Don't Suck: Advice from the author of Science Marketing Weekly. (Bonus: And avoid writing by committee!)

DATA MODE

Two new content surveys.

1. New Blogging Stats! Survey of 1067 Bloggers Shows Which Content Strategies Are Working in 2021: What kinds of content work in 2021? Plus new stats on keywords, promotion, analytics. The werx.

Most interesting to me was the stat that looked at how we measure results. (Which is not as much as we should.) My two øre from the report:

Roughly a quarter of the bloggers surveyed—23% total—either (a) throw up the shrug emoji re blog results (we just don't know!) or (b) they are disappointed with results. That can't be true... can it? Why would that be? Why does Club 23% exist at all?

2. The pandemic proved the power of Content Marketing for companies: Proof from the MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute 12th annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmark study. This anecdote reflects the sentiment of many of those surveyed:

The pandemic reinforced the importance of our content marketing strategy. There had been a commitment to it, but now that commitment is company-wide and there is more collaboration between marketing and sales.

It's also fun to see what's working best... because everybody loves tactics:

DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS

Should you ask for a raise today? Or even get out of bed? Meet the internet's oracle.

LOVE LETTERS

Shouts from around the internet.

💌 To Marc Eglon at Letterlist for this fun interview on my writing process, my business model for this newsletter, and how I overthink every question.

💌 To Lucie Rondelet for celebrating the new French translation of Everybody Writes!

💌 To Tara Benyousky and the team at SharpSpring for this LinkedIn Live fireside chat on connecting writing to revenue.
💌 To Ted Lasso. 😂 And to team MarketingProfs for a stellar B2B Forum.
💌 To Lane Ellis and TopRank for the Top 50 Influencers shout!
💌 To Piece Ujjainwalla at Knak for this interview on writing and newsletters and virtual speaking.
💌 To Jacob Roundy at Skyword for this coverage of my Content Marketing World keynote.

💌 To Barb Mosher Zinck also for the CMW keynote love.
💌 To Neil Bedwell at Forbes for the quote in his piece on how marketing drives change.

* * *

Thanks for reading this far. Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Stay safe. Stay sane. You're doing great.

I'll be back on November 7.

P.S. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, you can:

1) buy a book.
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Ann Handley is the author of Everybody Writes and other books.
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sheep bitsNewborn baby artichokes cold dark Scandinavian landscape Chef Esben Holmboe Bang mewling newborn artichokes postagestamp sized thing pedestrian appointment reminder

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TA #98: 🐏 Sheepish Storytelling; Content Strategies for 2022; How to Avoid Writing by Committee

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TA #97: 🐥 Real People at Last! Also: How to Send Better Email

TA #96: 👟 Brilliant Creative on a Shoestring Budget; the World's Most Hilarious Press Release

TA #95: 💪 Brave Enough to Suck at Something New; Is Memorable Copy More Shoppy?

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TA #93: 💪 How to Build a Daily Writing Habit [Template]; Seeking Forgiveness

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