Ghosts: B2B Marketing Lessons from the U.K. Series with Director of Content Strategy at Acquia, Courtney Roe

Your content should haunt your audience.

Not in a spooky kind of way. But in a way where it sticks with them and they think about it later. 

So in this episode, we’re helping you revive your content strategy.

We’re talking about Ghosts, the U.K. TV series, with the help of special guest, Director of Content Strategy at Acquia, Courtney Roe. 

Together, we talk about infusing your core values in your content, adapting to appeal to new audiences, and multiplying your content-creating power.

About our guest, Courtney Roe

Courtney Roe is Director of Content Strategy at Acquia, a cloud platform for building, delivering and optimizing websites. She joined the company in January of 2023. Prior to her current role, she served as Director of Content Strategy for Widen, an Acquia company, where she spent over six years in different roles. She also has experience in merchandising, having worked at L.L. Bean and Kohl’s. 

What B2B Companies Can Learn From Ghosts:

• Infuse your core values in your content. Use them as a foundation that brands your content as uniquely your own. Courtney says this is important especially if you’re migrating content after an acquisition. She says, “For any product or company that has been acquired, you're going to have to ultimately give a little bit in order to fit into the new world that they're creating. But if you have a strong foundation and really know who you are at your core, you're not going to lose that foundation, even if your name and your branding need to change along the way.” It’s like how Ghosts U.K. was also adapted for a U.S. audience but is still built on the same foundation.
• Adapt to appeal to new audiences. As your brand grows, research your new target audiences and run tests to see what content resonates with them. Courtney says, “You need to find that right mix of what worked for your initial audience and then how it might need to shift to appeal to a new one. And then also just like learning from others that came before you.” There are undoubtedly differences between the U.K. and U.S. versions of Ghosts based on the style of TV series already popular in each market.
• Multiply your content-creating power by splitting up your marketing team and brainstorming new content ideas individually. Then regroup and share. This way you get an exponential increase in ideas compared to brainstorming as a group. Ian says, “I’ve found after doing hundreds of brainstorms with B2B marketing teams specifically that It's really important to do. But it also can be challenging, especially remotely, and that usually you're fitting in between meetings or whatever. But I think it is really important to let people go build something themselves and then bring it up to the larger team.” This is how the six writers behind Ghosts came up with ideas for each episode. Co-creator Mathew Baynton said, “It’s productive and fast – you get six first drafts in about the same time as you’d normally get one.” Divide and conquer!

Time Stamps

[0:55] Meet Courtney Roe, Director of Content Strategy Acquia

[4:14] What is Ghosts about?

[7:58] Behind the Scenes: Creating Ghosts

[13:44] Applying Ghosts' Lessons to B2B Marketing

[15:41] The Collaborative Writing Process of Ghosts

[17:41] Building Trust and Cohesion in B2B Marketing

[20:19] Exploring Character Influence in Creative Writing

[20:50] The Role of UX and Audience Understanding in Product Marketing

[21:33] B2B Marketing Insights from the Show 'Ghosts'

[22:13] Adapting and Knowing Your Audience in Business

[22:58] Learning from Adaptation: TV Shows and Business Strategies

[23:50] Merging Marketing Visions in Business Acquisitions

[26:01] Content Strategy and Creativity in B2B Marketing

[34:00] Content Strategy at Acquia

Links

Watch Ghosts U.K.

Connect with Courtney on LinkedIn

Learn more about Acquia

About Remarkable!

Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both non-fiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. 

In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Senior Producer). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. 

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