Content Marketing

Writing | Narrative Design

Audience attention = entertainment.

My background isn’t in traditional marketing — it’s in media and entertainment. That’s a good thing. Whether it’s writing for social media, blogs, long-form articles (800+ words), scripting for video or speechwriting, I will infuse entertainment value into your brand’s strategic marketing objectives.

My past experience includes writing for social media channels and crafting blog content across platforms that inform and entertains while protecting brand reputation and persona. I’ve written articles for top shelf real-estate companies and non-profit organizations vital to the Pacific Northwest. I’ve packaged pitches that sold to global cable networks, written lines for actors on True Nightmares (Investigation Discovery) and revised Shark Week scripts for clarity and tone.

Reach out if your organization wants to connect with people by telling stories that increase empathy and foster human connections.

My Treatise on Content Marketing:

I believe it’s time to reframe how we think about marketing.

A Shift in Mindset.

Legendary playwright David Mamet once called all speechwriters dramatists. And why shouldn’t he? Isn’t the point of a speech, a play or film script to deliver a message, capture attention and entertain? Dramatists live and sweat in a world of ambiguity where phoniness is a killer. Screenwriters and playwrights, specifically, are tasked with writing lines for actors who perform before a crowd. What is a CEO on a stage in front of 300 hundred people, if not a performer?

That same mindset works for a social media post, a blog article or any form of branded marketing content that is shared with consumers in order to sell a message, compel people to click and buy, increase awareness, or enhance a reputation.

The Veil has Lifted.

With the rise in digital platforms, the most innovative storytelling is no longer controlled by the traditional film and TV distribution model. Brands can now engage directly with consumers in authentic and dynamic new ways. That means elevating how organizations tell their stories. It’s why storytelling is the buzzword in Seattle. It’s why telling stories about real people will never go out of style. But storytelling wasn’t invented by modern marketers.

“Hire MFA’s. Hire dramatists. Hire trained actors. Hire novelists and short story writers. Hire songwriters. Hire people who were trained to connect with audiences, who constantly assess and develop ideas with key questions in mind: 1.) Who is the intended audience, and 2.) Does this sentence, paragraph, monologue, poem, lyric grab the intended audience by the throat and refuse to let go? Entertainment isn’t defined by its budget, but by the moment of joy it provides. In this attention economy where content is king, could the MFA be the next MBA?”

— Cole Akins

What is Storytelling?

Storytelling is the strategic release of information in the most entertaining and informative way possible. Storytelling is language. It is transformative. It induces an emotional response. Storytelling is drama fueled by tension. Tension is the constant push-pull between intention and obstacle.

Above all, stories entertain.

Successful content marketing deliverables share certain story elements with principles of nonfiction storytelling. Content must offer one or more of the following essential elements to resonate:

Access*

Takeaways*

Nostalgia

Escapism

Heritage

Aspiration

*Most critical

Keep these ideas in the back of your mind. Run toward them when possible. They establish a deeper personal connection and reason to tune in.

cole [at] lightgrayskies [dotcom]