11 Marketers Share Their Biggest 2019 Content Resolutions

Since I joined Contently in 2014, we’ve released an annual roundup of employee predictions. A few times we added mid-year predictions too. This year, however, we’re not. Sure, they gave us a nice traffic boost to start January, but they weren’t that interesting. Even worse, everyone else publishes similar lists. I’ve seen all the roundups for 2019, and if there’s one prediction I know to be true, it’s that marketing predictions are meaningless. We should all stop doing them.

Take the topic of virtual reality. Most prediction lists this year include a blurb about the rise of VR in marketing. (They did last year too.) Realistically, though, we may be a decade or two away from watching VR experiences become a core part of marketing programs. Most people don’t have the equipment, and most companies don’t have the budget or expertise to explore such an experimental space. Yet, that won’t stop thought leaders from hyping up a shiny new trend.

Instead of recycling these same bland truisms every year, I have a better suggestion for the new year: Let’s put down the VR goggles and focus on tangible professional resolutions. They’re much more personal and meaningful than some shot-in-the-dark guess about an entire industry. And even if the resolutions don’t come true, they still reveal the main challenges we’re all trying to overcome today.

As editor-in-chief, my resolution is to improve alignment between the sales and marketing teams at Contently. Our sales team evolved a lot in 2018, so to make sure we’re creating the right content to help them close deals, I want to set up a better system for us to communicate. To start, I’m working on setting up a monthly meeting where both sides can come up with ideas, ask questions, and brief each other on what we’re hearing in market.

While I was thinking about how Contently can improve this year, I was curious how others were feeling. In December, we put out a call for content marketing resolutions. So as you’re working out at your new gym or looking for something to do now that you decided to stop eating pickle-flavored potato chips, check out the top responses we rounded up below.

1. Deborah Block, senior manager of owned media at Libris by PhotoShelter

My resolution is to talk more with our clients. Our marketing team may not be on the front lines helping our customers day to day, but it’s still essential that I keep my thumb on the pulse of what our clients are thinking and feeling. Ramping up dialogue in this way could also further inspire content initiatives, events, and a whole lot more.

2. Tina Nguyen, head of production at Vox Media

My goal is to sharpen our branded content POV, style, and approach so we leverage our expertise for deeper storytelling with edge and cleverness. We want to stand out in the crowd!

3. Pratistha Suhasini, senior marketing strategist at Barry-Wehmiller Design Group

Repurpose relevant content generated over the past years that has not received the exposure which it was intended to receive.

4. Aaron Duffy, creative director and partner at SpecialGuest

In 2019, I want to emphasize the quality of the creative ideas we work on with our clients and partners over the volume of content. I’m not against a constant feed of content, but it seems like the priorities are off [when I see] the content some put out. I believe that one super strong breakthrough idea will beat a ton of undifferentiated and templated media any day. I want to help our collaborators think in a smart, premium way about their content.

5. Jacqueline Towers, marketing executive at Yoobic

I want to have better alignment between marketing and sales so the content I produce is more useful to them.

6. Rasa Rezaite, content strategist at Evolvery

Make content marketing a part of our overall growth process, not just a separate effort. Continue integrating it with other digital marketing solutions. Only then content reach its full potential. Also, in order to integrate content marketing into other digital marketing efforts, we must be able to calculate ROI.

7. Carly Walsh, senior communications manager at Vox Media

Incorporating PR and communications ideas more upstream in the campaign development process.

8. Katherine Doe, content strategist at Nightwatch

As a fully remote team, we struggled in 2018 to make the communication transparent and efficient. In 2019, I want to have monthly calls to discuss our blog calendar, outlines, and guest post submissions for the next month. I also want quarterly calls to screenshare presentations about our blogger outreach and blog progress.

9. Vinish Garg, strategic story designer at vhite

I will pull content from a centralized content engine. This will serve every function, role, individual, and team in the organization to ensure that every word I use is available to anybody, at any time, in any language, with the right context,

10. Amanda Jaurgeui, media specialist at MantaM Digital

Create an email marketing campaign.

11. Jay Acunzo, founder of Unthinkable Media

Stories contain conflict. Something is at stake. There’s friction. There’s a hero. Action. Emotion. But then we go to work and forget what a narrative arc actually requires, and so rather than arc, our work flatlines.

My resolution for everyone: Create those things where human protagonists relate to us, where the stakes and conflict grip us, and where the emotions move us. Craft those simple things, those glorious things, those things so often forgotten but so desperately needed. There’s no hidden or corporate meaning behind the word “story.” We know what they are. And we need to start telling them.

Have a professional New Year’s resolution you want to share? Email me at jordan@contently.com or let us know on Twitter.