Nic D

Thanks for being on this journey with us! Here at B2B Growth, we continue to experiment with content and formats to bring you the best. We’re thrilled to bring you the first edition of our newest newsletter format, with a premise we know will add a ton of value to everyone actively working to improve at content creation and distribution. So what’s the new direction??

Every other week, we'll share 3 things that B2B content marketers can learn from a successful creator.

Let’s dive in…

• Over 4.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify

• 2 million followers on TikTok

• 266k followers on Instagram

• 479k followers on Facebook

• 111k subscribers on YouTube

Sitting at dinner one night, my buddy Ruslan started telling me about a friend doing some crazy stuff on TikTok. His friend was one of the first people to start doing a TikTok-first approach to podcasting. 

Everything was shot with vertical video. Topics were quick, snappy, & super lighthearted. Think “Top 5 Cereal Draft” and “sock, sock, shoe, shoe OR sock, shoe, sock, shoe” kinda stuff.

This was my first introduction to a guy who is now one of the largest independent music artists in the world… his name is Nic D.

A few hours after my dinner with Ruslan, I started going down the Nic D rabbit hole…and 2+ years later, I’m STILL in it lol.

So what exactly can B2B content marketers learn from an independent music artist?

Here’s my 2 cents… 

Content FIRST, Product SECOND

In a recent interview, Nic shared that before he had a massive audience he would think about the content concept FIRST…and write the song AFTER. Once he had a concept that he thought could pop off…he’d start working on his product (the song).

In B2B land, this is a tough thing to wrap our heads around. Our product teams obviously aren’t gonna let a viral LinkedIn post dictate their roadmap.

But as content marketers, we HAVE to start thinking more critically about the premise/angle behind our campaigns.

With algorithms blocking anything remotely un-interesting from our feeds, we’ve got to start asking ourselves if the campaign we’re about to execute can actually reach and resonate with our buyers on the other side of the internet. 

Is this messaging different from what anyone else in our space is already saying?

Is this a problem that our market thinks about multiple times a week?

Is this campaign concept interesting enough? 

If we can focus the bulk of our energy on asking questions like this BEFORE we jump in and start executing…the results will speak for themselves.

Collaborations

When you look at Nic D’s “popular” section on his Spotify profile right now…you’ll see something pretty interesting.

3 of his top 5 songs are collaborations with other artists.

Lots of marketers understand that content collaborations help with reach. Whoever you’re collaborating with is likely going to share the content with their audience…which obviously gives the content exposure to new eyes and ears.

But I don’t think marketers consider another (even more powerful) benefit of content collaborations.

The content gets better when you work through an idea with other smart people. When content gets better…it builds more affinity with your existing audience AND it grows your audience by triggering the algorithm to put it in front of more people.

Don’t mis-hear me on this though. I think most B2B interview-based podcasts SUCK. So when I talk about collaborating with other people…I’m talking about the kind of collaborations that folks like Todd Clouser and Obaid Durrani are doing.

They’re doing collaborations inside of thoughtful and creative content series (like Creator Minds and How Times Change with B2B Ross). They aren’t just doing “raw, unfiltered conversations with industry experts” like everyone else in B2B right now. The creativity of your content premise matters…a LOT.

Plus, creating with other smart people is just more fun. And when something is more fun…you’ll do it more.

Community for Super Fans

A few months back, I started seeing Nic D talk about the community he’s building for his fans: FRDi Fam 

Side note: FRDi stands for “feels right, don’t it?” - He explains the context for it in one of his old merch shops like this: “We want what you wear to mean something to you. To do what feels right. To be a reminder to go with your GUT and not let fear dictate how you choose to LIVE!”

There are lots of B2B folks talking about the power of community, so I don’t need to convince you of that…but I do want to call out a few things Nic is doing to make his community sticky.

• He allows free AND paid access to the community.

• He releases new music every week, exclusive to his premium subscribers.

• He does giveaways every week for both free and premium subscribers.

• He drops behind-the-scenes videos that are super fun to watch.

There’s no reason B2B brands couldn’t do stuff like this with a community of people they want to serve.

Alright…that’s a wrap! 

Reply to this email and tell me a creator who you’re following that we should break down in a future newsletter.

Obliterating commodity content,

James Carbary

Founder, Sweet Fish & Executive Producer, B2B Growth

P.S. I actually got to take Nic to lunch about a year ago when he was visiting family in Central Florida. We’d been talking to him about being a guest on Young Married Christian, and the timing worked out great. Content-Based Networking for the win!