top of page
Search

Drafting your first content strategy? Draw inspiration from Saturday Night Live.

Writer's picture: PhilPhil

Creating a content strategy can be daunting for young companies. Too many take a safe, me-too approach and churn out bland material. When I’ve worked with startup execs looking to build their brands via content, I coach them to put themselves in Lorne Michaels’ shoes. (For those unfamiliar with him, Michaels is the creator of Saturday Night Live, an institution that’s garnered 271 Emmy nominations over 46 seasons.) While Michaels is one of the most lauded producers in the history of television, I like to think of him as a brilliant strategist.


Start with a vision.

In his pitch to NBC in 1975, Michaels described how he wanted to create “a comedy show, frank and intelligent, for young, urban adults.” 4½ decades, 150+ cast members, and countless iterations later, it’s interesting to see how that original vision still rings true. Spend some time thinking about what you want your brand’s content to do, and capture it with a vision statement. Are you looking to educate? Entertain? Advocate? Evangelize? It’s critical to include who you want to reach, too. Your audience likely won’t be as broad as SNL’s, and your channels might address different targets (e.g. consumers, partners or investors). If that’s the case, try to articulate an overarching description that can tie multiple audiences together.


Respect the live essence of social media

Michaels shared SNL’s sweet spot in a 1979 interview with Rolling Stone: “I respond to whatever is happening at the time to keep the show fresh and topical. I think people look forward to us going after the big story of the week.” Keeping your social content fresh & topical is critical. However, adopting a “live” approach doesn’t mean “winging it”. Rather, it’s working without a net. Develop processes that enable you to react to important moments efficiently, without overly compromising on quality. There’s considerable planning, preparation and refining happening behind the scenes at SNL leading up to new episodes. The same can be true for your brand’s content.


Enlist a broad range of talent.

There are scores of people working behind the scenes to make Saturday Night Live happen, each contributing a talent that addresses specific needs. It’s likely you’re looking to do too much with too few people. Your marketing team is your cast, but every other person in your organization is a potential crew member. Do you have executives who are gifted writers? Admins with a knack for photography? Everybody is busy, but if colleagues can carve out some bandwidth to contribute, your overall program is going to be better. Just give clear direction and respect boundaries. Also, embrace the power of guests. Hosts & musical guests are small parts of the overall season, but they are often the most important ingredients. Tap into your network to supplement your content marketing with relevant perspectives.


Adopt separation.

With each episode, Michaels and his production team ensure dissimilarity in the sketches. (If every skit took place in an office, the audience would surely lose interest.) Furthermore, the structure of episodes are carefully considered to give cast members and core segments (like Weekend Update and musical performances) proper moments in the spotlight. Similarly, you should push for separation amongst your various channels while keeping your brand’s voice intact. Twitter and Facebook shouldn’t share the same stage, nor the same content. If your LinkedIn presence mirrors your Instagram, something’s wrong.


Embrace variety.

If you steal one page from Michaels’ playbook, steal his variety show structure. It’s rare that a viewer will adore the entire 90 minutes of an episode, but a show can succeed with only a couple of great skits or performances. When asked to describe SNL in one word, Michaels chose one critics and viewers have been using for years: “uneven”. Variety mitigates unevenness. Just like SNL discovers itself on the air, you’ll discover what engages your audience(s) by taking risks and experimenting. “What I try to do, to use a particularly clumsy metaphor, is find enough colors to make a rainbow,” Michaels opined. Chalk up anything that falls flat as a learning experience, and it will lead to better output over the long haul.


If your content strategy needs some help (or more cowbell), don’t hesitate to hit me up.


Comments


LinkedIn Icon.png
Facebook Icon.png
Footer info - temporary.png
bottom of page