Is Your Content Strategy Caught in a Groundhog Day Time Loop?

It’s here! That strangest of American holidays. The day when we, as a nation, turn our collective attention to a small town in west-central Pennsylvania and watch in anticipation as a particular pampered furry marmot is pulled from his resting place in a fake tree stump atop Gobbler’s Knob to deliver his forecast of the future.
Groundhog Day.
And as if things couldn’t get any weirder, February 2nd always puts me in the state of mind to consider what it would be like if I were trapped in a time loop, forced — like Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray in one of his best movies, Groundhog Day) — to live the same day over and over. Nothing changes, everything plays out the same.
This year, it’s specifically got me thinking about how easy it is to get stuck in a figurative time loop at work. You get caught up in a routine, it becomes standard operating procedure, you get a little complacent, and then it becomes difficult to break outside the cycle and reprioritize or take on something else.
It’s a dangerous pattern to fall into, especially for marketers. Our profession is constantly evolving, and we need to be able to rapidly adapt along with it. Trying the same old tactics over and over again isn’t going to lead you to new and improved (or possibly even the same) results.

Breaking Out of Your Content Marketing Time Loop

In a previous post, I laid out my content marketing resolutions for the year, and the last, but maybe most important one, is to “always be trying something new”. Establishing a core strategy of tried and true content tactics is great. So is developing a reliable, consistent delivery system and building a loyal core audience. But in order to really move the needle you’re going to have to reach new audiences and produce higher impact content. And that means trying things you aren’t already doing.
Whether it’s experimenting with a new delivery channel, testing out a new tool or service, or switching things up and trying new formats, always have one new thing that you’re focusing on. Give it a shot, monitor the results, and iterate accordingly. It’s the only way you’ll escape the Content Marketing Time Loop of stagnant traction and diminishing returns.

Phil Connors Provides an Illustrative Example

The only way to alter a reoccurring scenario:

Is to try a new approach:
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Happy Groundhog Day, everybody. (Spoiler alert: looks like Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, so early spring here we come!)

What new things are you going to try to break out of your own content marketing time loop?