The Crave

Weekly tips and stories that will help you do your job and make you smile (or groan).

By Adrie Smith November 25, 2021

The lost art of exploration

“Tiktok is going to be a big priority for us in 2022. We’re looking to build our presence there.” I had to control my visible cringe over Zoom. Tiktok? For B2B? Cue the internal eye roll. But the more I thought about it, the more I was forced to have a long, hard look in the mirror: Is it just me? Did I fall on the wrong side of “millennial”? And when did I become so closed off to exploring uncharted territory?

In the grand scheme of things, content changes incrementally rather than rapidly and radically. And while comforting, it can make us less open to the new channels and formats that pop up around us.

To Tik or not to Tok?

So what’s the point here? I’m not about to say that every B2B content marketer better get churning out content for TikTok ASAP. But I do want to point to the time-old marketing truism of challenging your assumptions. Is TikTok a legitimate channel for B2B content? Maybe! (Don’t you eye roll me too.) But is it worth prioritizing an experimental presence over scaling your tried and true content channels? That’s the question that I’ll be asking.

Let’s talk about it together!

Share your thoughts on LinkedIn using #thecravediscussion This week’s topic: What channels and content formats have you been exploring recently?

Are you having active discussions in your team about content movers and shakers? I’d love to hear how you’re embracing the spirit of exploration (and balancing that busy calendar)!

Currently craving

So many assumptions and biases start with what content thinks they know about their audience. That’s why I’m dropping this guide to creating a buyer persona here and this one as well. If you have them already, this is a gentle nudge from the contentverse to update them and stay on your toes.
Next up, in this piece, marketer-gone-advisor-gone-founder Anna Furmanov shares a framework to test new channels. And, spoiler alert, she drops Baremetics’ templated idea ranking sheet.
On the topic of nascent channels, I’ll leave you with a small piece of advice from this article: “Experimentation is key to balancing 'shiny new syndrome' with 'missing the boat.'” So approach the Clubhouses and TikToks of the contentverse not with trepidation but rather scientific detachment.
And finally, if you want to figure out if TikTok will be valuable for your business… well, I’ll just leave this session from the Marketing Meetup here. I can’t say I actively hunt for social media trends, but this session did keep me actively listening the whole way through.