What You Can Learn About Content Marketing From The Oscars
by Josh Amidon
I love the Oscars – watching a barrage of celebrities honor each other makes me happy. I don't know what that says about me and I don't care. The 89th Annual Academy Awards were this past Sunday and unlike the rest of the internet, I’m not going to talk about the Moonlight/La La Land blunder, but one thing first: I mean seriously, how does a mistake on this level happen? Aside from that, why is Warren Beatty being blamed? He knew he had the wrong card, it’s why he didn’t read it, Faye Dunaway took the card from him and read it proudly. Why is no one blaming her?!?! There. I’m done, I promise.
Beyond the glitter, glamour and scandal – what can you learn about content marketing from this event?
The Power Of A Great Image. Celebrities attending the Oscars understand the power of a great image. Everyone tries to outdo the next with the most gorgeous designer grown, most expensive bling, trendiest hairstyle and more. Fans can’t get enough – live coverage of the stars arriving on the red carpet starts earlier and earlier every year.
LESSON: Whether you’re writing a blog, posting on social media or sending an eblast – don’t skip the images. Humans connect emotionally to images more than video, audio or text. Use images.
Share Worthy. From the best and worst dressed celebs to the emotional acceptance speeches, the Oscars are full of shareable moments. Remember the Swan Dress? Or Ellen’s selfie? These are examples of Oscar’s hall of fame shareable moments.
LESSON: Give your followers/customers something they want to share with their friends and family. They will be exposed to your brand and share your content with their family and friends and so on and so on…..
Look at all those people in the background staring at Bjork and look at Bjork not caring because she knows she's all anyone is going to be talking about the next day.
Be Human. This next one kind of goes hand-in-hand with Share Worthy. No one remembers who won the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing – except the person that won and their mother. No one wants to share something that is dull, boring or impersonal. Although, people remember Jennifer Lawrence trips on her dress pretty much every year or John Travolta has no idea who Idina Menzel is – because those situations are human.
LESSON: Inject some personality into your digital game. Highlight a behind the scenes look at your company. Or if you’re a store, don’t just say you have a product – give a family recipe with the product, highlight the health benefits of said product or explain why you love it.
Remember when I said I was done talking about the biggest mistake in Oscar history? Yeah, I lied. Do you know the most Googled question Sunday night? “Who is Warren Beatty” and “Who is Faye Dunaway” – are you kidding me? Fellow millennials, I try to stick up for you – but you really don’t make it easy for me, do you? If you’re confused about who Warren and Faye are or want to talk about content marketing, please reach out to me at josh@asterfg.com or 315.258.8780.
