5 Reasons You Should be Reading Other People’s Marketing Content

“What are you reading these days?”

Joe Brown sent me into an anxiety tailspin the first time he asked this question. He was my new boss. It was the end of our first one-on-one meeting. We were on a Skype call. I was convinced the wrong answer was going to get me fired.

The joke was on me, of course. There was no wrong answer. And, if Joe is reading this, he’s laughing at me right now. And I’m okay with that.

Joe asked me a lot of questions — and gave me a lot of guidance — in the brief time I reported to him as a marketing content specialist at Greenway Health. Before working for him, I couldn’t have told you what a nut graf was or why it’s so important to catching a reader’s attention. But the most important thing he imparted to me?

If you want to be a marketer, be a reader.

1. Good writers borrow. Great writers read.

Why is reading so important to content marketing? Marketing doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

You know this from all the rainbow logos you’ve seen over the past few weeks for Pride Month. You know it from all the clever (and clumsy) themed ads you saw a couple of months ago with the dragons, the undead ice armies, and the wolves.  

Whether you’re creating a full content campaign for your latest product launch or you just want to start writing some SEO-friendly blog posts — start reading. Here’s why:

2. Build Your Vocab Arsenal, or That Time I Forgot About “Wading”

I was reading some forgettable article the other day, and it jumped out at me. I don’t remember anything else about the piece, but there it was: Wading.

The sentence wasn’t that interesting, on its own — something like, “Are you tired of wading through a sea of documents?” — but it gave me a verb I really liked. And one that I’d been neglecting in my own writing.

Just from reading a throwaway article, I filed away a solid word that I’ll probably use in my next email campaign. If you’re the client for that campaign, I’m sorry and you’re welcome.

3. Build Your Swipe File

What’s a swipe file? It’s a place where you keep ideas and inspirations that you’d really like to steal.

A turn of phrase, a blog topic, a beautifully composed image, a color scheme — don’t be afraid to save any marketing materials that you like. You can get a lot of great ideas by checking out what other writers are doing and how other marketers are running their campaigns.

My swipe file is a folder on my desktop titled “Stuff to Steal.”

4. Learn from Others’ Mistakes

Not everything you read will be stellar. Some of it will be total crap. Read that stuff, too. As you read, though, don’t just say, “This is crap.” Instead, look atwhy it’s crap.

Are you wading (see what I did there?) through convoluted sentences and unnecessary buzzwords? Is the topic boring? Why is it boring? Is it self-serving? Does it ignore the needs of the target audience? Is there a target audience?

When I have time, I like to do a little exercise where I rewrite bad marketing content. Sometimes it’s just for me, and sometimes it turns into a brand-new piece of content that I can use for a campaign or for my own blog.

And, if I’m being honest, sometimes I do this with my own writing. Nobody’s perfect, but sometimes we can mine our less-than-fabulous work and turn it into something decent.

5. Immerse Yourself in Different Brand Voices

Are you still trying to figure out your brand voice? What style do you want to use when you write for your customers and prospects?

Reading other brands’ content can help you better understand how this works (and how it doesn’t).

Read a blog from Southwest Airlines and see how a brand can lead with love. Follow Wendy’s on Twitter for some of the best burns on the internet. Check out some of GE’s content for a lesson in thought leadership from a lightbulb company.

Read through other brands’ work and try to identify their brand archetypes. Are they a hero or an outlaw? A comedian or a caregiver? A sage or a visionary?

The more you can identify these archetypes and how brands use them, the better you can see how they serve their companies and speak to their audiences. And the better you’ll be able to determine what you want to do with your own brand. Then, you can hone your brand voice and better connect with your audience.

The actual quote may be “Good writers borrow, great writers steal,” but if you’re going to be a master thief, you have to do your homework.

So, what are you reading these days?