Create Something (Anything!) Other Than Sales Content

Entertainment plays a big part in engaging content. Even if you’re talking about a serious subject, if you can do it in an interesting way, you’ll keep someone’s attention.

Instead of just selling, selling, selling, tell some stories. Do something kind of off the wall.

Screen Shot 2017-07-08 at 9.42.49 AMA couple of weeks ago I saw a video on Facebook from a Farmer’s Insurance salesman. He’s from some little town somewhere. In the video, he’s sitting at his kitchen table with a Farmer’s Insurance hat on and a shirt with his phone number on it.

Also at the table are his wife and two daughters, and a can of this rancid, Norwegian pickled shark or fish guts. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but it’s something awful that’s canned in its own stew.

The guy promised his daughters bicycles and gifts, and his wife a diamond or something, if they would just stay in the shot while he took a bite.

As soon as he opened the can, the little girls started retching. He finally pulled out this stringy, nasty piece of shark goo, ate a little bit, and did his best not to lose it. His wife actually threw up, and his kids were horrified. It was hilarious.

You’re thinking: what the hell does this have to do with Farmer’s Insurance? Nothing. It has nothing to do with it. But when I looked at that video a few weeks ago, it had almost 23 million views.

One could argue that out of 23 million views, 22,995,000 people won’t buy insurance from him. And that’s probably true. But he definitely has people talking. And it tells us all a little bit about him – he’s a fun guy with a sense of humor, and he’s got a family who loves him.

How many views do you think he would have gotten if he sat down at that same table, in the same outfit, and talked about Farmer’s Insurance? Maybe 6 or 7? Content doesn’t have to be hard-selling, as long as you can be a little bit entertaining. Let your audience get to know you. We can help you with that.