Ann Handley’s Post

Last week I had the privilege to interview writer, actor, director B.J. Novak on-stage at the Content Entrepreneur Expo (CEX) about writing, creativity, content creation. I'd never done a celeb interview before. I worried about filling an hour… yet at one point I looked up and the clock had 4 minutes left! (Inner voice: “Already???”) So. Fun. Here’s the biggest point that stuck with me: 👀 Artists notice things; then we notice that we're noticing. Many people notice curiosities as we go about our daily trips to the post office or airport or Costco. But only artists record it. Only artists use it. Only we *notice that noticing.* 😳 Pay attention to what doesn't fit an expected pattern: Dialogue, signs, behaviors. Notice the moments that make you pause. BJ captures those moments in a small notebook he carries everywhere (he pulled it out of his breast pocket on stage.) I use my phone… and transfer the best bits to a notebook the next day. If you want to develop that practice… find the process that works for you. ❤️ P.S. I shared BJ's 9 other thoughts on how to be more creative in my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eWBHDKnG

👎 “It’s not as good as Midnights.” Negative reviews appeared within hours of last weekend’s release of Taylor Swift’s new 31-song opus SLASH marketing extra-extravaganza) of an album, The Tortured Poet’s Department. (Midnights was her last album, from 2022.)   Yet in the same first few hours: 👍 “INSTANT CLASSIC.” (Rolling Stone) (Shouty-caps theirs.) So which is it..? Terrible? Incredible? Last week, I kept thinking not about whether the new album is “good” or “bad.” But I kept thinking about the swiftness ( 😉 ) of the judgment. >> How some inhaled the 2-hour album like my dog Augie inhales a pup cup in the back seat before we are even out of the Starbucks drive-thru. Then burps up a post. No thought; all impulse. >> How we were calling the vote either yay or nay just as the polls open. >> How our Hot Take Culture dopa-rewards shallow knee-jerk takes at the expense of slower, thoughtful consideration. Let's imagine Augie writing a food review of a pup cup: “It was…” he bats at the bubbles in his little brain in desperate effort to recall the seconds-long inhale of the pup cup. Finally, he declares: “It wasn’t as good as Midnights.”   This isn’t a comment on Taylor or pup cups. This is a reminder of something that the news cycle and social media doesn’t support… but that we can support within ourselves: Connections take time.   To new music. To a new book. To new people. To an audience. To a customer. Some things don’t need a Hot Take—microwaved to a scalding, blistering degree. Some things require a Cool Take—because it takes time to let things take root. We want everything fast. We’re impatient to get there. Terrible? Incredible? “Maybe it needed more foam?” –Augie The slowest way is the fastest way, more often than we realize. P.S. I shared part of this yesterday in my newsletter. It hit a nerve--and not just with Swifties. (Or the Pup Cup community.) If you aren't on my list, I would love to write to you every two weeks, too: annhandley.com/newsletter.

Friends! 🤔 What should I ask BJ Novak? BJ Novak is an Emmy-nominated actor, director, author, and comedian. You might know his work from his breakout role as Ryan on The Office or his films (Inglourious Basterds, Saving Mr. Banks, or (my personal favorite) Vengeance. But as a writer… I'm especially excited to ask him about writing. (I'm holding his two books above! Including that genius “No Pictures” children’s book that (ngl) wish I’d thought of writing. 😏) On May 7, I get to interview BJ on stage at the Content Entrepreneur Expo (CEX) in Cleveland, Ohio! CEX is THE event for serious content creators who want to build and grow their content-based businesses without total reliance on large tech platforms. Founded by the one & only Joe Pulizzi, it’s happening May 5-7. (I’ll l drop a link & discount code in the comments.) BJ & I close out the event. But I need your help! ***What do you think I should I ask him...?*** Will shout you out on stage! Drop your thoughts here plz? Or just add your good vibes…. That works too. 😍👇

🥳 I just got to Las Vegas for Adobe Summit 2024! I’m back after a few years in a Trends & Inspiration keynote to talk about the (…insert swell of music…) Great Marketing RenAIssance (renAIssance… get it?). We’ll look at how *this* RenAIssance brings both enormous change AND opportunity — just like the last one. Are you here, too? Say hi. And reserve your spot to come to my talk tomorrow at 4 PM PT so I won’t worry about filling a cavernous room. You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! You’ll enjoy my various character voices! We won’t paint a Renaissance-era Mona Lisa together. But we *will* get a picture of how Marketers like us can not just survive… but thrive. Reserve a front row seat here: https://lnkd.in/eiY3pzKe #adobesummit #adobesummit2024

Here are 2 stats to rolllll into the weekend with... Those of us *killing it* in customer experience are: 👉 82% more likely to host weekly cross-functional team syncs on customer engagement efforts, and 👉 148% (!) more likely to have a single, shared definition of what CX success looks like. It turns out that simply sharing data or dashboards alone isn't enough, because that doesn't inspire a real understanding of the customer. Nor does it inspire a *truly* responsive customer experience that makes our customers love us.   It's funny how effective use of data + technology always comes down to the people behind the scenes, isn't it...? The data is from Braze's new global report on Customer Engagement, BTW. There's interesting stuff about the above as well as the rise of messaging apps like WhatsApp in the channel mix. Dig in here: >>> https://lnkd.in/eR_--aUb <<< p.s. TGIF!

Reading this morning that UnitedHealth, Deloitte, and the U.S. Department of Justice are installing something called a "CIAO"... and just as I'm wondering why they appointed a head of Italian salutations I realize two things: 1) The Italian word is spelled "ciao" not "caio." (Whoops.) 🤭 2) CAIO is an acronym for "Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer," a new role responsible for setting the AI agenda. Oh. Okay then. Carry on. Some say that the role is temporary, at best. It'll be obsolete before the newest AGI robot from OpenAI gently rouses us each morning with a peck to the cheek and hands us our morning coffee then helps us finish the Wordle. But I hope not. (The obsolete part; I look forward to my personal robot named Ann-droid making me coffee just the way I like it.) Two thoughts: ☝️ 1) Maybe it's an opportunity to regard AI as less of a tool in Marketing or HR or wherever and more of a strategic directive that affects the entire company and its customers... one that therefore requires a slower, more thoughtful approach despite the wild undertow pull of All! The! Dollars! ✌️ 2) Maybe even BETTER would be a CAIO (forever pronouncing it as "ciao") who thinks more broadly and ethically about AI adoption + implementation. Kind of like the role an ombudsman first played in journalism -- functioning with a certain degree or autonomy and independence but also accountability. Too far-fetched? IDK. I'm already dreaming about espresso-delivering robots. So why not?

Why aren't we more creative in Marketing...? 😑 We're maxed out? 🔥 We're burnt out? 💸 The road to success is paved with ROI + dollar bills not stories + funfetti + imagination? Just kidding about the funfetti part. Creativity is about possibility: solving problems differently... showing up in memorable ways... considering out-of-the-box alternatives... and thennnnn... shredding the box entirely and refashioning it to construct something brand new.* *(Metaphorically speaking.) ANYWAY: Why don't we do **MORE** of that? This survey of 1900+ marketers from Braze says it's not any one thing holding us back ... it's a combo platter of 4 parallel challenges. (See the chart 👇.) Braze looked through the lens of Customer Engagement... but I'd argue that the data applies more broadly, too. What's your take on what holds us back in Marketing? The results of the Braze 4th annual survey are interesting... including stories and ideas around how AI can free up our time to help us be more creative (+ strategic), among other trends to watch and insights around how we can create more engaging customer experiences. See the whole 2024 Customer Engagement Review here: >> https://lnkd.in/gM8Qq7X4 << [It's free; reg required.]

It used to take me 8 hours toiling over a hot laptop to write my fortnightly newsletter. Now I do it in half that time. Generative AI, right? Nay-nay, friends... pretty much the opposite. It's about Process. "Process" sounds as much fun as scrubbing dirt from beets. But stick with me. Here's the non-robot, non-A.I., counter-intuitive first step in mine: 1. START WITH PEN + PAPER. Write a list of your key points on paper with a pen. Flesh out those key points with a few bullet points. Don't worry about "writing." You're welding the scaffolding for ideas that will become writing. Why this works: 1️⃣ You write slower than you type. Working with analog tools slows you down. Your high-speed locomotive brain isn't screaming ahead to get to Next Sentence Depot. It has to wait patiently for your hands to catch up, like a car driver at a railroad crossing waiting for the train's caboose. That slower pace ultimately delivers better insights. 2️⃣ You can't backspace or start over. You can only keep going. 3️⃣ It's the ultimate in distraction-free writing. Checking email. Scrolling LinkedIn. Clicking to another tab. You cannot. Because... well, paper. *** Gen AI as a tool can help us write more efficiently (I share an idea or two about that in my Process, too). But the point of our writing is to deliver insights and craft that could come only from us. No amount of AI-fueled efficiency or optimization is going to replace that. Pens and paper and other analog tools can help exponentially. Sometimes, the slowest way is the fastest way. Love, Ann p.s. If you're not on my list, I would love to write to you every two weeks, too: https://lnkd.in/gsiMkmzZ

Accidentally left my badge in my room so I was skulking around incognito at the B2B Marketing Exchange today pretending to be fellow speaker Pam Didner. 👀 If you’re here in Scottsdale… please come to the B2Bash known as my closing keynote tomorrow at 2:15 Arizona Time!* I’m on just after the Killer Content Awards, celebrating creativity in B2B. That feels like a perfect Double Header for a Wednesday, yes? *EXCITED!* We’re gonna shut down Scottsdale with a bang! 🤩🤩🤩 * Whatever time that is… lol. So confusing for this east coast gal.

Friends! I have a big question for you: How is Marketing and Creative work ***actually*** getting done in 2024? 👻 Are org structures shape-shifting? 🧩 Is CX creating new boundaries + bedfellows? 🐘 What about AI? (<--- The elephant in every room... see?) My friends at Cella are fielding their annual Intelligence Surveys for Marketing and Creative Ops. The surveys are open from now until 2/16/24... at which point the data goes into a series of tubes and pipes and crunchers and squashers and emerges with useful advice and beautiful benchmarks around critical issues affecting us all. If you have a spare few minutes while you're scrolling around here... will you please lend your experience + opinions? Here's the survey: >>> https://lnkd.in/efjpqWpe <<< [NOTE: Pick one of the two options on the landing page, Creative or Marketing ops, depending on your focus.] P.S. As a thank you, Cella is giving away a free consulting session to one lucky survey taker. You don't have to take advantage of that. But Cella is good people. They know their stuff. So why not? P.P.S. Appreciate you.