CMWorld Interview: Ann Handley Shares the Secrets to Her Success (with Sass). It’s amazing to witness the things they are able to accomplish before you’ve even finished your morning avocado toast. This marketer is one of my favorite speakers (and humans) of all time and is none other than the amazingly talented Ann Handley. I am gently awakened in the morning by the sweet calls of the downy-throated songbirds welcoming me into a new day. You have a fulltime job at MarketingProfs, speak around the world and still seem to find time to write bestselling books. Why is it important for content marketers to “find their squad”? Said algebraically: smaller squad >> broad audience (a smaller squad is much greater in value than a broad audience) What are the 3 most important things marketers need to do to create a memorable content experience? I’ve been saying this for so many years that I’m starting to hate my own droning, repetitive, broken-record tone of voice on this topic… but still: Tone of voice is still vastly undervalued by almost every brand or company or organization I meet in my daily jog around the Internet. And, second, because calling myself a “success” somehow would mean that I’ve somehow stopped working toward something. To get more content marketing insights from Ann Handley and 11 of her fellow Content Marketing World speakers, be sure to check out the second eBook in our series, The In-Flight Content Guide: Creating a Memorable Content Experience.
We all have the same number of hours in each day. But every once in awhile you find someone that come across a content marketing maven that seems to have the amazing ability to slow down the clock. It’s amazing to witness the things they are able to accomplish before you’ve even finished your morning avocado toast.
While this year’s Content Marketing World conference is filled with amazing marketers that can do just that, there is one content captain that sticks out in particular.
This marketer is one of my favorite speakers (and humans) of all time and is none other than the amazingly talented Ann Handley.
In addition to being one of the smartest and most accomplished marketers on the planet, Ann is a delightful combination of wit, humor and charm. So if your goal is like mine, “to be a little more Handley”, then buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life.
What does your role as Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs entail?
I am gently awakened in the morning by the sweet calls of the downy-throated songbirds welcoming me into a new day.
I arise and dine on a firm scramble of eggs laid at dawn by my cluck of heirloom chickens, while I sip coffee from the rarest Kopi Luwak bean, harvested deep in the Sumatran jungle.
It’s hand-picked.
By monkeys.
So, after that… you can imagine that I flit to my desk, dip the nib of my fountain pen in the corner inkwell, and the marketing insights spill out of me onto the page with the same intensity as the yolks of those heirloom eggs spread onto my breakfast plate.
Or: I wake up, sit down at my computer, and force myself awake by scrolling through Twitter. (I have zero chickens and no songbirds. In case anyone is wondering.)
What does your day look like? What do you like best?
Most of my time at MarketingProfs is spent…
- In meetings with speakers, content creators, writers, MarketingProfs staffers (or, as I call that last group, “the Navy SEAL team of Modern Marketing.” See below.)
- Dealing with the relentless crush of email. (Least favorite thing.)
- Focusing on more substantive work in my backyard Tiny House. It’s really a tiny office. But it’s a dedicated space that helps me focus and do the work I need to get done. (Most favorite thing.)
(I’m here right now, in this Tiny House, because you’ve already extended the deadline for this interview. So I need to get my butt in gear.)
You have a fulltime job at MarketingProfs, speak around the world and still seem to find time to write bestselling books. How do you balance all of these priorities?
I have a Franklin Planner and a label maker.
I’m kidding. I have a lot of help on the MarketingProfs front. I have an entire team of whatever the marketing version is of Navy SEALs: highly trained and talented human specimens who are also the finest people I know.
What do you mean when you encourage marketers to “slow down” with their marketing?
Close to 90 percent of B2B companies we surveyed are using content in their marketing. Yet just 34 percent of business-to-business marketers say that their content marketing is truly effective.
What’s up with that?
It’s important to slow down our marketing to get the basics right.
Like developing a documented content strategy.
Like doing the required research.
Like developing robust, non-one-dimensional Flat Stanley buyer personas.
Like articulating your bigger…
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