Welcome to Your Content Should Sell, a newsletter that gives you practicals about creating content for your brand.

After a busy BFCM, life feels to slow down.Just me, or do you feel that too?I hope you have time to rest and recover for the new year. If you are doing something fun, reply with your holiday plans.

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The new year is coming up, and this is the time we start thinking about 2023 goals.

A massive component of new years resolutions tends to be health.

Lots of people want to get a good diet or exercise plan.

In the same way that people want to recalibrate their diet, I think brands need to recalibrate their content diet.

We will fix your diet today so you are ready for 2023.

1. Cut out the sugar

I like sugar just as much as you... maybe more, but we both know you can't just live on cookies alone.

If you fed yourself cookies and other sugary foods, your body would deteriorate and you wouldn't be healthy.

Eating sugar in the moment feels good, but too much in excess is dangerous for your health.

Since TikTok has come around the block, people have been obsessed with virality.

Virality used to be a nice-to-have when it happened, but now brands expect virality, or it is a "bust."

This desire for high views has made it where creators create for virality verses for the brand.

They will do anything for views.

I see countless well-known brands post videos saying, "I need this video to go viral or else my boss will fire me," and other desperate things of that nature.

And even when you get the rush of virality, how can we recreate this initial success?

In the pursuit of views, the substance of the content begins to lack.

The incentive is not to focus on the brand story but on virality.

Why create an educational video when you can chase this trending sound?

Views = sugar.

Feels good when you have it, but it leaves you feeling empty later.

Brands can have lots of views and not a lot of revenue.

You need to make sure that your content and strategy align with revenue, not the rush of virality.

So in the new year, we are going to focus on a better diet of content, not just sugar.

Invest in your team

As you gear up for the new year, employees start thinking about their goals and how they can level up their careers. If you have team members in growth and media buying, but they don't have a Foxwell Founder's membership, you are missing out on investing in your team and brand.

Within moments of joining the community, I had access to hundreds of hours of training and immediately got my money's worth within a few hours. This membership is one of the best continuing educational resources your team needs.

This community consists of 400+ top minds in DTC with channels for media buying, CRO, Google ads, creative, and more.

Use code MATTSCODE for 10% off anything - the membership, the courses, whatever! And enjoy.

2. Why have a balanced diet

Most people don't make their resolutions happen.

Their "why" or intention was not stronger than themselves to break bad habits and build stronger ones.

For a brand, imagine a world where you don't have to depend on ads being the only way people know about you.

Think about the beauty of having an audience online, creating content that is organic and can sell.

Having an audience that truly knows and loves your brand is unstoppable.

We don't know what 2023 will bring us with the economy, but I can tell you that it will be tough to survive if you aren't building an audience and community around your content and brand.

Influencers/Creators who have an audience can launch a brand fast because of their built-in audience.Granted, those brands don't always work out or are not guaranteed success, but having that community to count on is pretty incredible when launching a product.

You need to ensure you aren't just doing trends and getting the sugar rushes of views.

You need to curate the community around educational and entertaining content that speaks about your product, brand, and story.

3. Eat your fruits and veggies

Alright, it is time to get healthy, but what are the healthy foods when it comes to a brand's content diet?

Ad Creative

You see documents saying, here are 10 hooks to steal from.

Run.

I have tried hooks that people say work, and they don't work for specific brands.

There is not a one-size fits all solution for ads.

And if you just copy, you are just one of many in the sea of noise.

Your brand needs to STAND OUT and not look similar to everyone else, so your ads should stand out.

In 2023, you need to invest in real creative strategy and production with some weekly cadence of testing ads.

I see a shift in statics and fewer tests, but you must be testing!

Quality > Quantity when it comes to testing.

Organic Content

I mentioned Beardbrand last week, but I am obsessed with how they are a great business and don't run paid media.

It is possible to build a great community around organic content and bring revenue into the business.

It just takes times.

So you need to pick one channel for 2023 and actually invest full-time energy in that channel for 12 months.

I bet you will see great results before 12 months, but give yourself time because organic takes time to scale, unlike paid media.

You can't have this be an afterthought and expect to build your community.

Website

People obsess about ads, and not as much as where we are sending the traffic - the website.

Your website can be an incredible hub for content and education that can convert visitors into customers while also going more in-depth with current customers.

You need short-form and long-form content on your site to engage new visitors, answer questions, educate them on the product, and inspire them.

I would focus on first updating photos and videos on your product pages which can be populated elsewhere on the site.

Then I would create a plan on what type of series you as a brand could make to help people learn more about your brand on the website.

This series could be some videos you can also post on YouTube, or you can weave this series into an organic strategy.

I don't suggest you redo everything and go hard for 2023.

In fact, I think you need to scale back, reframe your mindset, and put your resources in a focused manner.

If you can adjust your diet of content, I believe you can build a brand that is healthy with an incredible community around you.

I am ready for 2023 - feel free to reply to this email if you want to talk about content creation.

Keep creating!

Matthew Gattozzi

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🎧 My interview with Ecommerce Uncovered: Your Tiktok Ad Strategy is AWFUL, and Here's Why w/ Matthew Gattozzi