UnLeadership

23Leading with Content

BACK IN 2009 (OMG), WHEN we wrote UnMarketing, social media, content creation, and influencer marketing were the disruptive topics of the day. Over the years, we have shared best practices for audio, video, and written content and countless how-tos of creation and curation. As leaders, we can become overwhelmed by all the methods of information delivery available and forget the most critical point—no matter the platform, it is the content itself that matters most. If you do not have great content, it does not matter at all how you deliver it.

So, you may be asking, what makes content great? Well, as always it comes back to relationships; those you build with your team, your market, and your intended audience. Content is shared because it evokes emotion, good or bad. To go viral, your content has to reach and travel with your “third circle”: those without a previous close relationship to you. For example, if Alison shares a video of our dog Chelsea on a walk, Scott would 100% like and maybe even share that photo. But if Chelsea was also dressed for the Barbie movie,¹ more people would share it, even if they didn't know us or Chelsea; emotion sticks and travels.

To learn more about content and content creation we spoke to expert Jon Youshaei. He is one of a few marketers to work at both YouTube and Instagram and has been featured in Business Insider, Time, and Inc Magazine for “cracking the code to going viral.” During five years at YouTube, Jon was head ...