Avengers: Endgame crushed all kinds of box office records, taking in over $2 billion in only two weekends. It’s one of only five films to ever cross $2 billion in ticket sales and is the 9th biggest title ever in North America.
So what can marketers learn from The Avengers? Quite a bit! Superhero stories always resonate with us, and it’s because we can discover so much about ourselves and what’s possible from seeing them.
Here are some of the content marketing lessons from The Avengers.
Build Out Content Regularly
If there’s one thing the Marvel universe doesn’t lack, it’s a variety of content. From the comic books of the very beginning of the stories’ creation to the epic blockbuster movies of today, they’ve never stopped weaving stories around the key characters of the brand.
They also promote this content regularly. Endgame is the most recent of 22 movies that were released starting in 2008. That’s a TON of content in just 11 years.
How is your content consistency? Are you putting out high-quality content on a regular basis? If so, you probably have a more engaged audience and better sales and growth than most of your competitors. Having great consistency is the key to any marketing strategy.
Release Content in Multiple Formats
Movies and comic books aren’t the only things that Marvel has going for it. Having two completely different formats is a great way to reach your fans, by why stop there?
Marvel also puts out television shows and holds in-person conventions where thousands of fans can get together and share their love for the Marvel universe. If there’s a way to get wrapped up in Marvel characters and storylines, it’s available.
How do you do with providing multiple types of content? You can write a blog, provide infographics, have case studies and white papers, make videos, and share on social media. Most businesses won’t jump into all of these at once, but building them up over time – as Marvel did – can help you develop an unbeatable brand.
Are all of these formats a challenge for your small business? Why not outsource to a company that provides digital marketing services in Ontario? They can help you keep up with your content creation and repurposing efforts.
Tell the Entire Story
Sometimes movie studios go wrong because they make three (or four, or six, or…) movies all based on a single character. While that can be compelling for a little while, what makes Marvel special is that you get to see stories from every character in the story’s universe.
Don’t like Spiderman? No problem, you can keep up with Capitan America. Love strong female characters? Perfect, take a look at Captain Marvel and Black Widow. There’s something for everyone, and the Marvel storytelling machine doesn’t overlook anyone.
As a result, they can produce 22 movies and countless other elements of content without wearing out their story. They can tell dozens and dozens of stories while keeping everyone interested the entire time.
How can you apply this to your own company? How can you tell the story of the heroes in your brand (which should be your customers)? Remember that everyone is the hero of their own personal story in their mind. If you connect with that and help them feel powerful and heroic, they’ll be drawn to your brand in a way that they cannot explain.
Use Symbols Powerfully
Do you have any doubt what hero a spider is a symbol of? What about a red, white, and blue shield? The Marvel universe has developed specific symbols within their universe so that you only need to see it and you know exactly who it’s about.
Even better, all of the stories they’ve told about that character come to life in your mind, even if all you see is the symbol. You connect emotionally and they haven’t done anything other than show you a single image.
Your logo and other images in your content can have the same power. Your logo stands for your brand in general, but what if all of your blog posts featured an image as well? What if all your case studies had a different one?
Before long, you can simplify your content navigation to symbols, and people will associate an entire story with each image. When they see the case study logo, they’ll remember the stories they’ve seen or read about your effectiveness. When they see the blog logo, they’ll remember the helpful information you’ve shared.
Don’t be shy – start putting simple but identifiable images alongside each content type and watch your brand recognition improve dramatically.
Build an Emotional Connection
Everyone wants to see themselves as a hero. They connect deeply with each of the heroic characters and look to see what parts of themselves each one represents. The emotion people felt at the end of Infinity War was incredibly real because over time they had built a real relationship with the characters.
This emotional connection was a large part of what drove huge audiences to Endgame. Everyone wanted to see what was going to happen to their favourite character in the “end” of the story. Of course, like all great stories, the Avengers epic will never actually end. But the idea that there might be redemption drew tens of millions of people to the theatre.
Building an emotional connection with your own audience can create a very powerful bond as well. You’ll have both an easier time and a harder time than Marvel. Because your company is made up of real people, it will be easier to be authentic and share your brand’s true self. However, because you’re a business, it will be a bit harder to build trust and may take extra time.
The Power of the Avengers in Marketing
If you want to supercharge your content marketing strategy, take your lessons from the unbelievably successful Marvel universe. Create content regularly and put it out in a variety of different formats. Everything from video to infographics to reports can be very engaging.
Take time to tell the entire story and don’t exhaust a single narrative. Use symbols and build emotional connections with your audience.
If you take these steps, your content marketing will be unstoppable!
