Thought Leadership
Tom Nixon
Content Marketing in the Age of AI, Algorithms ...

Your Content Isn’t Broken. The Way You’re Using It Is.

For a while now, something has felt off.

You’re publishing consistently. You’re showing up on LinkedIn. The blog still gets written. The newsletter still goes out. On paper, everything looks fine.

And yet the returns feel thinner. Engagement feels flatter. Meaningful conversations feel harder to come by.

Most teams respond to this moment the same way: more content, more frequency, more volume. That instinct made sense once. It doesn’t anymore.

Because the problem isn’t that brands stopped publishing. It’s that publishing itself has lost meaning.

Content Marketing in the Age of AI, Algorithms and Attention Deficit
Thought Leadership, Creative Services
Tom Nixon
Why Ask Why?

Model Behavior

In this episode of Bullhorns and Bullseyes, Tom Nixon and Curtis Hays geek out (in the way that only true geeks dare!) on three powerful marketing models that shape how they plan campaigns, create content, and measure success. 

If you’ve ever wondered why some campaigns flop while others convert like magic, this episode is your masterclass in doing it the Bullhorns and Bullseyes  way—from the top of the funnel to the flip at the end.

Why Ask Why?
Creative Services, Thought Leadership
Tom Nixon
The Power of Storytelling

"Show me, don't tell me."

That is the art of effective communication.

What I learned in sixth grade holds true today. If you’re using your marketing content and messaging to TELL people why they should engage with you, nobody will relate.

But if you SHOW them—through storytelling, testimonial, metaphorical allusions, emotional connection—your story will resonate. And be remembered.

Allow me to show you how…

The Power of Storytelling
Thought Leadership, Creative Services
Tom Nixon
Don't Be a Hero

Who Is the Hero In Your Story?

If I told you my life story, would you care?

What if I asked you tell me your life story?

Eugene M. Schwartz’s The Brilliance Breakthrough: How to Talk and Write So That People Will Never Forget You should be (and often is) considered to be the “bible” of effective copywriting and storytelling. One of the many tenets Schwartz embraces is the notion of making the reader (or the customer) the hero of the story you’re trying to tell.

Too often, we put the capes on our own backs. And that’s where the writing falls short.

Don't Be a Hero
Thought Leadership, Podcasting
Tom Nixon
Let Content Be Your Praise Singer

You Don’t Have to Be in the Room to Gain Influence

Adrian Lurssen tells the story of when he went to see Nelson Mandela deliver an address in his home country of South Africa. He still draws upon the experience today, but in the most unusual context.

As Adrian has recounted this tale to Jay Harrington and me on an episode of The Thought Leadership Project podcast, he likens this notion of a praise singer to how we considers thought leadership content to work on behalf of the expert that shares it.

See how…

Let Content Be Your Praise Singer
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Don't Leave Out the Best Part of Your Story

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Don't Leave Out the Best Part of Your Story

Just the Facts, Ma’am?

"A guy falls in love with two women and ends up picking the wrong one."

My daughter hates the way I press her for details whenever she shares things about her day to me.

"Tell me about that," I might press.

"I just did," she'd reply.

No, you didn't, I press on (if I dare). You told me the outcome of what happened. What matters to me is how you got here from there. The storyarch.

Maybe that's just the storyteller in me. Details matter. Overcoming adversity matters. The hero's journey matters. I’m not just interested in the destination.

👉 Something to keep in mind as you formulate messaging and marketing for your business…

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Don't Be a Hero

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Don't Be a Hero

The story you're telling isn't working.

And it's probably because you’ve chosen the wrong hero.

Kristian Alomá just flipped everything we thought we knew about storytelling in marketing. His insight? We don't buy products because of features and data. We buy them because of the stories we get to tell ourselves after we own them.

That's worth unpacking.

Rewiring the PESO Model in a Zero-Click World

Rewiring the PESO Model in a Zero-Click World

Content Strategy Has Shifted. This Time, for Good.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: your content strategy just died. And you probably don't even know it yet.

The symptoms are everywhere. Your blog traffic is flatlining. Social shares are down. Email open rates are stuck. But the real problem runs deeper than vanity metrics.

AI collapsed the marketing funnel.

People don't browse anymore. They don't click through 10 Google results. They don't share your carefully crafted LinkedIn posts. They ask ChatGPT a question and trust the first answer they get.

If you're not in that short list of sources, you don't exist.

People, Not Pixels

People, Not Pixels

I, Not Robot

We’re not writing for Google anymore. We’re not writing for algorithms. We’re writing for people.

Traffic to websites is down organically for most businesses. Gen AI is changing how people search. The old “keyword-first” playbook doesn’t work the way it used to.

So what does work?

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Only the Brave

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Only the Brave

Audacity Is a Survival Skill (Especially in B2B)

Let me start with a confession. Every time I say something clever like “don’t build your brand on rented land,” I’m likely quoting someone smarter that me. Someone like Mark Schaefer, for example..

In our latest Bullhorns and Bullseyes episode, Curtis and I sat down with Mark to talk about his newest book, Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World.

And wow… this wasn’t a “tips and tricks” episode. It was a mindset shift, entirely..

Here’s the big idea:

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Mapping Messaging to Measurement

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Mapping Messaging to Measurement

Model Behavior

In this episode of Bullhorns and Bullseyes, Tom Nixon and Curtis Hays geek out (in the way that only true geeks dare!) on three powerful marketing models that shape how they plan campaigns, create content, and measure success. 

If you’ve ever wondered why some campaigns flop while others convert like magic, this episode is your masterclass in doing it the Bullhorns and Bullseyes  way—from the top of the funnel to the flip at the end.

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Mapping the Hero's Journey

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Mapping the Hero's Journey

Your Customer is the Hero, Not You

How familiar are you with Joseph Campbell's now classic framework, “the hero's journey?” You may not know it intimately, but if you’ve ever seen Star Wars, you’ve seen it in action.

But it’s also central to effective content marketing strategy. Let’s explore…

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Better words, not fewer.

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Better words, not fewer.

I keep seeing people advocate for shorter content.

Tight and concise. Shorter sentences. Less is more. Limited attention spans, and all of that.

Yet movies keep getting longer. Three-hour stage plays have become the norm. People will binge their favorite TV programs for hours on end in single sittings.

We don't crave short. We demand great.

Here’s how you get to great…