Contented #11: Notes from My Inbox

How (not) to do AI branding, telling incredible stories, webinar follow-up emails refreshed, and food for thoughts

Aug 19, 2024

👋 Welcome to Contented, your newsletter curating insights and knowledge delivered to my inbox from 100+ experts in Content, Marketing, and leadership.

Like many Marketers eager to learn, I subscribe to and end up with so many unread newsletters in my inbox every day. Contented is here to help me actually consume the knowledge that I want myself to consume, and at the same time, share them with fellow Content Marketers who might also find it helpful.

My biggest achievement last week was actually learning to use a Macbook. I finally figured out how to smoothly switch between multiple desktops and stopped wanting to minimize a window by clicking on the app icon in the dock. Baby steps.

Here is what I have been additionally learning from last week:

How (not) to incorporate AI in your branding

Kira Klaas wrote a brilliant piece on how (not) to incorporate AI in your branding this week that every Marketer should read:

When it comes to branding AI features within existing products, companies need to consider whether to integrate AI branding seamlessly (in some cases not highlighting it at all) or to highlight it as a standalone feature.
And as AI matures as a technology, branding strategies will need to adapt. I predict we’ll shift away from explicitly mentioning AI, much like how “digital” or “smart” have become implicit in many product categories. Successful AI brands of the future will focus on specific outcomes, user empowerment, and ethical considerations rather than the underlying technology itself.

Consumers are primed to be skeptical (due to AI’s notorious mistake rate) or bored (as everyone claims to have AI-powered something) at AI-focused messaging. Marketers need to focus on how AI branding helps them build trust.
If AI is mostly running on the backend of your products, you might not need to lead your positioning with AI. Consider questions like “Is it dishonest to not reference AI in certain aspects of the product experience” and “Can the AI make mistakes that negatively impact the customers” to decide how much you need to communicate it.
Focus on the utility of the technology and how your-product-plus-AI makes your customers look good, instead of how AI makes your products look good.

In the AI Marketing Monthly Meetup of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society earlier last week, we were just discussing how saying “AI-powered” doesn’t mean anything anymore. I’m also guilty of just slapping AI into a product copy. Kira’s article shows us there’s a better way to do this.

How to tell an incredible story

This month is a special one! Julian Shapiro published a new long read on storytelling techniques:

Talented storytellers know something bad storytellers don't: storytelling is the art of strategically withholding information. Before you begin your story, you're supposed to decide which details to withhold until the end—to maximize suspense along the way.

Withhold information with hooks: Hook requires premeditation. The best storytellers put in the work before they speak. Don’t be ashamed about artificially preparing your stories, but make sure to deliver them like you didn’t prepare.
Drag out the telling: Pepper many smaller hooks through the narrative to continually raise questions, and then drag out the answering–Slow-mo your details and employ silence to dilate time and create tension.
Blow your own mind: Use the “mirror neurons” phenomenon: Relive your stories while you’re telling them, and imagine you are smiling in your mind. This creates subconscious body languages that your audience will subconsciously resonate with.

What’s more fascinating than the techniques shared is that, while these are mostly relevant for public speaking, his article demonstrated exactly how one could implement it in writing.

I did a terrible job summing up the key takeaways here. Unfortunately, I can’t find the archive for Julian’s newsletter 😢 If you want to read the original piece, ping me on LinkedIn or hit reply, and I will forward you this issue of his newsletter.

In any case, subscribe to Julian’s newsletter yourself; You won’t be disappointed about what arrives in your inbox.

A spin on webinar follow-up emails

Jen Allen-Knuth shared a cool spin on webinar follow-up emails in her DemandJen newsletter this week:

An MQL attended one of your company's thought leadership webinars. Most of us follow up with them like this: "Thanks for attending today's webinar on X....blah blah....do you have 20 mins next week when we can show you how [company/product name] can help?"
Instead of doing that, start your email like this: "Here's something we didn't cover on today's webinar on [topic/problem statement]."

The goal is to spark curiosity by offering more helpful content on the topic of the webinar. Something bite-sized that is relevant to the webinar topic that they already showed interest in.
Next, pivot to an observation and hypothesis of the recipient’s challenge with unsure tonality: “Saw that you did [a goal or achievement]. Not sure if you’re looking for ideas to avoid [a common challenge while realizing that goal].”
Finally, position yourself as the solution: “If content like this helps, we can share more (or insert how they can reach out, get more resources, get on a call, etc.). Thanks for joining us today.”

This is a genius refresher of the usual “Thanks for attending. Here’s the recording and here’s the get-a-demo link if you want more” follow-up email. Although Jen’s advice was for SDRs reaching out in personalized emails to MQLs post-webinar, this can also be implemented in the mass follow-up emails where we share the recording.

I’m excited to try this out in my next post-webinar follow-up emails.