F*ck Keywords. Write Barbecue Content.
AI has won.
In our efforts to become more and more technical and data oriented in creating content for search engines, humans have created a system that AI is better at than we are. The by-the-numbers SEO battle that leans so heavily on the crutches of Ahrefs and SEMRush has been lost.
Maybe not right now. Maybe there’s still some juice to be squeezed from that lemon. But it’s coming. Before long, the already somewhat depressing reality of the SERPs is going to become a wasteland into which only the least tech savvy will wander.
So as a content marketing agency, what do we do? Close up shop and cry?
Oh hell no.
This is the best opportunity for content marketers and companies than we’ve seen in years. Even decades. The complete leveling of the playing field for standardized, keyword focused content means we can get back to sharing ideas, strategies, thoughts and feelings that have real meaning.
Adding tangible value into the world by sharing the insights from people who actually know what the fuck they’re talking about, instead of another piece of boilerplate ‘top ten tips’ bullshit.
What does that mean? Thought leadership.
Puke. I’ve never heard of a marketer who actually likes that term, so I’m going to have a stab at coining a new one.
Barbecue Content.
And I’m not the only one who believes in the rise of this type of content. As marketing and brand strategist Dana Cass puts it,
“The Internet is already so saturated with undifferentiated SEO content that is more or less variations on the same keywords, and the rise of ChatGPT means that this generic content is only going to increase in volume. Good thought leadership sets companies apart. Think about it: you and your competitors can all produce variations on the keywords that are important to your industry, but only you can create content based on your CEO's unique perspective on the market.”
What is Barbecue Content?
Put simply, barbecue content covers topics that your ideal client would talk about if they were at a barbecue with their colleagues. It’s interesting, current, value led topics that they actually want to know about.
Say you're a fintech company who's targeting CFOs at logistics companies. Now imagine you’ve got a friendly neighborhood barbecue, with 5 of these CFOs standing around with a beer and a burger.
What are they going to be talking about? Long tail topics like “Six key differences between the GAAP and IFRS accounting standards for US-based logistics companies”? Highly doubtful.
What about how AI could impact the logistics industry and companies that are developing new software that utilize it? Or which geographic regions have the highest growth potential? Or the best strategy they’ve used to improve margins over the last 12 months?
For SURE they will be talking about those things.
That doesn’t mean that those same people won’t occasionally google long tail queries like the one listed above. But answering that isn’t going to make you memorable as a company. They’re going to get the answer to the boring question they need to know, and then bounce.
But if your strategy is built around content that excites your target audience and makes them better at their job, those same people will take notice. Yes, this is ‘thought leadership.’ But that’s such a cringe and undefined term.
What makes good barbecue content?
This is why I like this term, barbecue content. Because it gives us an image in our head that we can picture and apply our content themes or topics to. Imagine you’re at that barbecue. You’ve got a cold beer or wine (alcoholic or non-alcoholic, your choice!) in your hand, the sun is out and you’re with a group of colleagues talking shop.
There’s a lull in the conversation as you all take a sip of your drink.
You’re going to bring up something to discuss. What’s it going to be? Do you really want to spend your Saturday afternoon discussing accounting standards? Maybe you do. But the rest of the barbecue guests probably don’t.
Even if it might be technically useful, it’s not going to light up the conversation and engage the group. You might get a few thoughtful comments, a joke about sending everyone to sleep and then the conversation will move on.
Instead, you want to bring up a topic that gets the party going. A strong opinion or a spicy take is even better. You want the group discussing, disagreeing, laughing, waving their hands around and generally just loving the vibe of the group who all understand why the topic in question is so interesting or polarizing.
That’s barbecue content. Next time you’re thinking about a topic to write an article or record a podcast or YouTube video on, think about whether it’s a topic that would fall flat at that barbecue, or bring the energy of the group up a notch.
How to create barbecue content
So the question is then, how do you practically make good barbecue content? Or put another way, if you’re trying to implement more thought leadership stuff into your strategy, how do you come up with ideas on topics to cover?
It’s pretty simple really. What is your target audience excited to discuss? Not, what do they think other people will be most interested in. Not, what topics do they think has the most search volume. What part of their job are they actually the most pumped up or intrigued about right now.
As with any form of thought leadership (barbecue) content, the best way to find this out is to ask them. But of course sometimes it’s hard for us to identify these things when we’re put on the spot. So here are a few questions you can ask your SMEs or existing clients to get the conversation started:
What’s the most controversial topic in your industry right now?
Do you use Reddit? If so, which subreddits are you spending the most time on?
What tech do you think is going to disrupt your industry the most in the next 3 years?
Are there any influencers in your industry you’re following closely right now?
What’s the most interesting work related conversation you’ve had in the last 3 months?
Distribution benefits
But there’s another benefit to focusing on barbecue content. Over time, as you create more of it you’ll develop a reputation within the industry. If you do it right, your key executives and staff will be able to build their own personal reputations off the back of that.
It means not only putting out great content that’s useful to your ideal clients, but also creating an in-built network effect at the same time. As Vimal Bharadwaj from Optmyzr says,
“[People at] our company have built public profiles over the years. They appear on podcasts and attend conferences in our space and share our insights there. Over time with network effect, that spreads across our industry and establishes a position for our brand. And we repeat this process with real-life examples regularly to reach a broader audience.”
Let’s make content for people
At the end of the day this comes down to making content for real people. If you want your brand to connect with your potential clients or customers, that’s what it’s about. SEO content isn’t going anywhere, but it’s changing rapidly. I’d argue it’s a risky place to focus all your content marketing resources on.
If you want to really stand out from your competition, to connect with your audience and to build real authority, barbecue content is the way forward.
And I’m so excited to see where it takes us.
