“Nejdůležitější vlastnost marketéra? Empatie,” má jasno Jon Burkhart

1. Jon, you are also a copywriter. Recently, we can see a “devaluation” of this marketing discipline in the Czech Republic. According to the slogan, „Everyone knows how to write“ everyone can be a copywriter. There are several capable individuals, but many amateurs, who damage the whole market. For professional copywriters, it is difficult to convince and explain the value of quality content. How do you deal with that?

I don’t think “Everyone knows how to write.” I think everyone should learn to write. That’s differen­t. A good friend of mine Ann Handley wrote the inspirational book on this topic “Everybody Writes” yet she’s the first one I go to find examples of brilliantly crafted writing that I guarantee you no CEO could have ever written. For me, it’s all about Story, Surprise & Speed. The CEO can tell the story but he or she may not be the right one to tell it across all channels. The CEO won’t have the surprise to get and keep the attention it needs. Plus, he or she won’t be able to write it at the speed needed in many circumstances.

It bothers me when people accuse me of being the Quick Content Guy. The ‘social media’ guy. Yes, this was the focus of my Newsjacking book, but it takes the focus away from the thing that makes folks be able to write better — having a strategy that will help dictate the best way to tell your story. With a solid strategy, you should be able to create content faster and get it to market quicker. The more surprising your execution is the more it sticks in the mind of the viewer. This is arguably the most important S of all. That’s what my Firecracker framework helps tease out. How to make your content stand out and be the most memorable moment of the day for your customer.

2. How do you explain to your clients, that content marketing is the right way to go?

The short answer is that content marketing is the most effective way to reach your audience. You can drive traffic to your site and generate leads. It’s also great for SEO. For my clients, I help them on their journey to becoming the number one source for information and entertainment for your niche and be able to answer the questions your customers have in the best, most  shareable way.

3. What’s your most important metric?

For me, the most important metric that matters is engagement. Conversion rate and shares matter to the business, of course. When we put ourselves in the shoes of the customer, we must ask, „Is your content adding value to them? Does it deliver what you’ve promised? Does it answer their most pressing questions? Can you create memorable content with all or any of these pressing questions? If your content’s not getting folks to consider your brand and eventually purchase what you sell, then what’s the point? It’s a relationship not a transaction.

4. What’s your process with Social Listening (and/or Newsjacking) ? How do you explain the social listening concept to your clients? Most people have the idea that they only have follow likes and mentions and that’s it.

Empathy is the most important skill a marketer can learn. I start with finding as many questions that customers would ask before they commit to buying your product. I have created a framework for this process that helps you find the most important questions to answer. These are the ones that help you create content that POPS. It is Provocative, Original, Playful and Surprising. This is how I approach social listening. Newsjacking has traditionally only been used to create the S bit. It surprises the customer and makes them think, “Wow, they’re quick and clever.” It’s a tactic, and it’s not enough to focus just on being relevant in real-time in 2018.

5. Do you think your book is still relevant, 5 years after publishing, given that online marketing is a fast moving field?

The mindset behind my Newsjacking book has never been more relevant than it is today. Let’s not forget that the Oxford dictionary listed ‘newsjacking’ as one of the top words of 2017. Let’s also look at the context here. That’s what newsjacking is all about. A certain tweeting president may have created the renaissance of this word, and let’s face it, political tweeting is NOT always the best way to build your brand.

What I’ve been doing since 2010 is championing brands who discover their ‘why’ first and then find a strategy that finds the perfect answers to the questions the people they’re trying to reach are asking. I’m proud of the fact that our UrgentGenius.com blog was the first to cover the TACTIC of brands using social media to respond to events. This led to the publication of the book but it didn’t change my approach with clients at all. For the last 8 years, I’ve been helping brands come up with social and content strategies that position them as an honest brand that cares at the right time. I help brands know what to say and when to say it and I help them do this in a provocative, original way. Sometimes this is related to news and culture. Often it’s not. Newsjacking is only 25% of my #FirecrackerContent framework. You’ll find out more about that at WebExpo.