Weekly Alert: The Weird Paradox of Chaos

mlns='> ContentTECH Summit starts Monday! [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 8.7.20 Connect with CMI How Content Marketing Can Save Your Digital Marketing Strategy Content marketing is not dead. And it’s not better than sliced bread. Nope. Content marketing is a multiplier. And that makes it a great reason for you to play a true leadership role in broader marketing planning. Let us explain. [Read more]( By Robert Rose [High-Level Strategy] Some more of this week's best stuff: - [How to Use Google Search Console to Drive More Search Traffic]( [Nico Prins]( [Distribution and Promotion] - [10+ Buzzwords to Banish From Your Content Marketing Vocabulary]( by Ann Gynn [Content Creation] - [Write Smarter and Faster With Tips From These Top 5 Posts]( Kim Moutsos [Content Creation] - [How Are Marketers Embracing the Chaos? [The Weekly Wrap]]( Robert Rose [Trends and Research] - [Friction and Disruption Aren’t Always Content Enemy No. 1. Here’s Why]( Clare McDermott [Chief Content Officer Exclusive]  A Note From Robert Rose The Weird Paradox of Chaos What is the new normal? What’s the next normal? What even is normal? Every marketing team I speak to these days seems to be doing one of three things: They’re preparing for a reorganization, they’re in the midst of a reorganization, or they’re emerging from a reorganization. I have no idea if this is factually true, but it feels true. In all three instances, I’m finding this weird paradox. Everyone wants to do meaningful things, but no one – including, ironically, me – wants to start anything meaningful. How do you even begin to plan for the now when you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring for you, or your clients, or your audience? I’ve been working with a tech company’s CMO for the last six months. The company has done well despite the dumpster fire that is 2020. Still, the CEO and the board didn’t think the company was moving fast enough. They suggested a complete reorganization of the product, marketing, and sales teams. The CMO successfully explained to her leadership colleagues why this was a bad idea. Unfortunately, during the weeks she was making her case, rumors began to fly. Even she didn’t know how it would all turn out. Eventually, the reorganization was put on hold. But, in the meantime, the marketing and sales teams and even vendors (including yours truly) panicked or acted irrationally. And it cost those teams months of progress. People typically respond to chaos in one of three ways: We freeze, we get chaotic ourselves, or we continue down the path we laid. When we freeze, we seek safety in inactivity. We say things like, “I’m not taking a risk on that cool, interesting new initiative. I’ll keep my head down, wait for chaos to strike, and then figure out how to deal with it.” When we get chaotic ourselves, we seek safety in hyperactivity. We try all kinds of new things in anticipation of the chaos as if to say, “What do we have to lose?” We flail around, moving in every direction at once and making a lot of noise, hoping people will see us as productive and leave us alone. Continuing down the path is the most helpful response. We embrace chaos, accepting that it will come again and again and again. We get in the game. We keep our sanity. We seek ways to contribute strategic value through our work. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we don’t. Tomorrow is always the next normal, the new normal. And there is always a tomorrow. I’ve learned that when I sense chaos is coming – changes I’ll have little control over – I find little comfort in hiding in inactivity. And I get no satisfaction from distracted hyperactivity. But I do find peace in hugging the chaos. I have faith in myself. No matter what comes, I feel confident I can create a future I want to be part of. The more chaos we experience, the more faith in ourselves we need. And 2020 has served us a heaping platter of the need for faith in ourselves. It’s funny. Rational thought, which often seems to conflict with faith, now depends on our faith in ourselves. It’s your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute This article from Robert is available only in this newsletter for you, the newsletter subscriber. If you have friends that would see value in Robert's weekly updates, please have them [subscribe](. Tune to the Weekly Wrap Listen to the latest episode, browse the show notes, or watch the video version [right here](. Or subscribe on [Apple Podcasts]( or [Stitcher]( so you’ll never miss a show.  More from CMI Come to ContentTECH Summit to learn how new technologies and innovative processes are fundamentally changing what marketing and strategy will look like in the next two to five years. It's the place to be next week, August 10-12. Hear from some of the best in the business including Christopher Penn, Pam Didner, Lee Odden, Val Swisher and more. Register today! [Code EM100 saves $100 off passes. »](  CMI Video The proliferation of marketing technology has had the unintended result of marketers viewing audiences as potential transactions instead of people with whom we develop trusted relationships. Jonathan Crossfield sits down with Content Marketing Institute's Robert Rose to discuss the idea of trust vs. transactions. [Watch the video »]( [COVID-19 CONTENT MARKETING RESOURCES]( Events Content Marketing World ContentTECH Summit Master Classes Content Marketing Awards Resources Research White Paper/eBook Library Content VIPs CMI Business Directory Education Content Marketing University Chief Content Officer Webinars Career Center Interested in advertising with CMI? [Learn more.]( To stop receiving future Content Marketing Institute update emails, please respond [here](. 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