Three episodes into Vince Gilligan’s new show Pluribus (from the Breaking Bad guy, major launch, the kind of production people get excited about), I found myself doing something telling.
I was tapping on my phone.
Not because the show was bad. It wasn’t. The writing was smart, the acting solid. But I simply didn’t care what happened to the lead character. I couldn’t see myself in her. And I couldn’t believe this was how any real person would act.
That disconnect—the inability to relate or believe—is exactly what’s killing most marketing content right now.
The real problem isn’t bad content
The biggest issue facing marketers today isn’t that we’re creating content people hate.
It’s that we’re creating content people feel nothing about.
Recent research from System1 found that neutrality in advertising. Feeling nothing at all is the most common emotional response to what brands say. Here’s how bad it’s gotten: more than 1 in 4 ads create less emotional response than a 20-second video of a cow grazing in a field.
Just a cow. Munching grass. Beating a quarter of all advertising!
And here’s where it gets worse. When content underperforms because nobody cares, budgets get tighter. Tighter budgets mean more pressure to optimize, to play it safe, to average toward what looks good on a spreadsheet. Which creates more neutral content. Which underperforms again.
It’s a downward spiral where the cost isn’t brand damage, but wasted attention. Money spent on content that simply doesn’t register.
Meeting them where they care
The escape route starts with a fundamental shift: asking “what does our audience actually care about?” before “what do we want to say?”
I’ll be honest—I don’t have a clear-cut recipe for this. Confirmation bias is strong, and it’s easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that what we want to talk about is what people want to hear.
The most common trap I see is when marketers come from a position of superiority: “we know better what’s good for this audience than they know themselves!” That attitude is a recipe for creating what you want to say, not what they want to hear. And the result is content people scroll right past.
Showing real character
The second escape route is distinctiveness.
When everyone’s optimizing toward the same safe middle ground, everything looks the same. What breaks through is real conviction and cultural awareness—being plugged into what actually matters to people right now.
Look at State Farm. Insurance is not exactly thrilling territory. But they’ve made Jake from State Farm a genuinely relatable character who lives in the real world. When Taylor Swift showed up in the stands for Travis Kelce, Jake showed up for Jason Kelce—who also “needed a superstar in his corner.” They inserted themselves into a cultural moment in a way that felt human and a little cheeky.
Emotion and storytelling matter here too. Not manufactured drama, but genuine stakes and human moments. The stuff that makes people feel something rather than scroll on.
Testing your way to resonance
Now, the bad news: resonance is standing atop a mountain of failed ideas.
You can’t strategize your way to knowing what resonates. You have to test.
Comedians understand this instinctively—they try material in small clubs before it goes into the Netflix special. The same principle applies to your content. Small experiments, real feedback, then scale what actually lands.
***
The question we need to face isn’t “is this good content?”
It’s “will anyone care?”
That’s a fundamentally different lens for evaluating your work. And it’s one that might save you from contributing to the “meh” epidemic that’s quietly draining budgets and effectiveness across our industry.
Resonance matters,
⏰ Final days of my course-versary
If you’ve ever considered checking out my marketing courses, this is your sign not to delay any longer. I’m currently celebrating the third anniversary of my first course launch with discounts up to 50%, valid through December 1.
Strategic Content & Messaging is for brand marketers who need a system to plan and manage content that attracts attention and build messaging that converts that attention into profitable action.
Personal Branding Blueprint is for anyone building authority and visibility online and takes you through the key steps of building a positioning strategy, developing a distinct POV and brand voice, and content planning.
If you’re wondering which course would be a better fit, just drop me a line.
👌 Handpicked stories for you
Here are some interesting things I stumbled upon this week while reading, writing, researching, and being a generally curious marketing person on the internet:
💼 Three for work
5 Original Research Examples in 2025: What great studies look like (and why they work) | You shouldn’t be sleeping on original research in 2026! It’s a great way to build authority and attract the right people’s attention. This post will give you some examples of research done right.
My best frameworks for product marketing, content marketing, and growth marketing | These frameworks can help a ton when you’re building your marketing plan going forward. I’m a big fan of Emily Kramer’s Perceptions and Content roadmapping frameworks, in particular, but there are other gems here, too.
Topic-first SEO: The smarter way to scale authority | You may already be focusing on topic-first content creation, but in case you aren’t, this post provides a good primer on the differences and key tenets to follow. It’s also a link-heavy gateway to deeper how-tos.
📆 Plan your content system for 2026 with me and Adriana Tica
The content that you need to focus on in the year ahead comes from strategic discipline—knowing exactly which pieces are worth creating, how they connect to business outcomes, and how to make them work harder. This is the essence of a content system – and strategist Adriana Tica will help you build one in my next live workshop.
Sign up for the live workshop →
👀 Two for fun
This movie guide | Most words have been said on the big screen before. This site will show you clips based on the phrase you ask it for.
These pictures of rocks | I find scientific illustrations incredibly powerful, and I also love minerals and pretty rocks, so this is a home run for people like me.
🐈 Weekly cat
If you’re still wondering what to get that special feline for Christmas…
🤿 Diving deeper
If you want more insights and resources like these, here are three options:
- Was this forwarded to you? Get your own subscription!
- Follow me on LinkedIn for weekly pieces of content and messaging advice.
- Check out my course on strategic content marketing and brand messaging.