32 Ways to Define a Home Run in Content Marketing

By ANN GYNN published JULY 16, 2019 https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/07/define-homerun-content/

You know what a home run is in baseball – it gets the biggest crowd reaction. But what’s its equivalent in content marketing? We asked Content Marketing World 2019 speakers to define it. Their answers may surprise you.

Your content packs a powerful punch – a high-flying, out-of-the-park hit. Your team and brand executives jump up and fist pump, while your competitors slouch glumly at their desks.

We know what a home run is in baseball – it gets the biggest crowd reaction and sometimes decides the game. But what is its equivalent in content marketing? We asked Content Marketing World 2019 speakers to define it.

Their answers surprised me and they might surprise you. Most construe a home run not as a single event or thing, but as part of a greater content marketing game plan.

Read on for a selection of 32 responses about what a home run looks like.

Makes you wish for time travel

The best content inspires comments that make you wish you could travel back through time and use that copy in the campaign. – Adam Ritchie, principal, Adam Ritchie Brand Direction

Garners dual results

Your content delivers so much value that it tangibly improves people’s lives and drives business results. For example, if your content can help reduce infant and maternal mortality at scale by improving health outcomes from mother and child while supporting business goals for a health care-related company, you create abundance in all directions. – Carlos Abler, leader of content marketing strategy, 3M

Integrates seamlessly

When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all. The program and process run so smoothly in the background, continually building on past performance, that the foundation is there and keeping things running. – Scott Spjut, assistant vice president, social and digital content, Fifth Third Bank

When you do #contentmarketing right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all, says @scottspjut. #CMWorldCLICK TO TWEET

Prompts reaction from sales team

When sales says to marketing, “Wow, you really know how to do your jobs.” – Ahava Leibtag, president, Aha Media Group

Operates like a TV show

Content marketers with a perfect vision on the future realize they have to become real showrunners. Yes, exactly like in Hollywood. They are aware they have to run content for their brand as if they are running a television series. Every piece of content is an episode of the same series. – Carlijn Postma, owner, The Post

Spins itself off

A content marketing home run occurs when the content you create transforms from driving revenue to becoming its own revenue source. – Andrew Davis, author, The Loyalty Loop, Brandscaping, and Town Inc.

Follows 1-2-3 Formula

First, target a very specific group of people. Then, create one thing (text content, video content, audio content, etc.) on one channel (blog, YouTube, iTunes, etc.) that is differentiated and helpful. Then, consistently deliver that content over a long period of time (a year plus). That’s the same recipe that has been working for over 100 years and will continue to work for the next 100. – Joe Pulizzi, founder, Content Marketing Institute

Create 1 thing on 1 channel that is differentiated & helpful to a specific group of people. @JoePulizziCLICK TO TWEET

Brings in these numbers

A 50% open rate, 30% click-through rate, 50 shares, 20 subscribers, 10 comments, and a page-one ranking that lasts for a year. – Andy Crestodina, co-founder, chief marketing officer, Orbit Media

Gets results

We produced this event for Small Business Week 2019 and livestreamed the first hour on LinkedIn and the panel discussion on its LinkedIn for Small Business company page. It contributed to earning 20,000-plus new followers in about a week to the company page. At last count, the livestream video attracted 47,956 impressions, 15,446 views, 817 reactions, and 749 comments. The engagement rate is 3.876%. And this is before the video content was repurposed into blog posts, social media posts, etc. – Sydni Craig-Hart, CEO, Smart Simple Marketing

Attracts leads and links

Two home runs immediately come to mind. The first is content that generates leads. Either the content itself is compelling to generate leads or is routinely in the path of the customer journey so that it is positively impacting lead generation. The second is any content naturally attracting inbound links from other websites. You know you have a home run if others want to link to it as a resource. – Arnie Kuenn, senior advisor, Vertical Measures

Shifts thoughts

Someone having a long-term shift in thinking or behavior that helps them achieve a goal. – Tamsen Webster, founder and chief message strategist, Find The Red Thread

Leads to anticipation

First, it adds to the conversation in your industry in a meaningful way. What can you uncover and share that hasn’t been restated in countless ways? What new perspective can you share that truly is helpful?

Next, it focuses consistency. While quality trumps quantity in the (hopefully defunct) debate, it’s ideal to deliver your content on a schedule that you stick to. And here’s the thing: Publishing meaningful content on a consistent basis leads to anticipation. People will look forward to receiving the content you produce, they’ll read it, and they’ll often become advocates for your brand. – Michele Linn, head of strategy, Mantis Research

Publishing meaningful #content consistently leads to people anticipating it, says @MicheleLinn.