Checkbox Marketing vs. Content Systems
Most marketing teams are busy. But not all of them are moving forward.
Hey folks,
I’ve posted a bit sporadically over the past few months, but mostly because I promised to never let a personal brand interfere with my professional work. And I’ve been heads down on some pretty fun stuff!
But today I wanted to talk about content systems. I made the video above, and what you’ll read below is an AI generated, human edited text-based follow along.
Checkbox Marketing Are Motion Without Progress
Checkbox marketing is what happens when activity substitutes for intention.
Posting on LinkedIn because “we should be active.”
Publishing random blogs because “SEO is important.”
Throwing together a webinar because “everyone else is doing it.”
It feels productive. You can point to a checklist and say, “Look, we’re doing stuff.”
But without a clear outcome, it’s just busy work.
I call this “work-around work.” Planning, brainstorming, ideating… but rarely orchestrating toward a common goal with a unified plan.
Checkbox marketing is the treadmill: lots of effort, no forward motion.
Content Systems Are Built With Intent
A content system looks almost identical on the surface (after all, you’re still checking boxes in a system to make sure the system is running smoothly). The difference is those boxes are designed to move you toward a specific outcome.
That’s why I love the Henry Ford vs. Willy Wonka analogy:
Henry Ford’s factory was a system designed to mass-produce affordable cars. Precision, efficiency, repeatability. His goal was clear: make automobiles cheap enough that the average worker could own one.
Willy Wonka’s factory (yes, fictional) was also a system. It just had a different goal: make candy a magical, visceral experience. His pipes, machines, and processes were all engineered for delight.
Two factories. Both efficient. Both intentional. But radically different outputs because they were built around radically different goals.
Different Goals, Different Systems
That’s where marketing teams often miss the mark.
They build content without first asking: What do we want this to achieve?
More organic traffic?
→ You need a repeatable system for top-of-funnel content.
Keyword research → AI-assisted briefs → human editing for search and story → consistent publishing.
More demo sign-ups?
→ You need a system for thought leadership and conversion.
Deep conversations → webinars → repurposed clips → nurture flows leading to demos.
More social reach?
→ You need a system for audience-native content.
Break one strong insight into multiple engaging formats designed for the channels your audience actually hangs out in.
The system changes depending on the outcome.
Checkbox marketing just hopes everything magically comes together. Systems are built to make progress inevitable.
Two Questions to Keep You Honest
Every piece of content should answer two things:
What do they get? What’s the value for the reader, viewer, or listener? An insight? A tool? A perspective?
What do we want? What’s the business outcome? Traffic, sign-ups, demos, pipeline?
If you can’t answer both, you’re checking a box, not building a system.
This Week’s Challenge
Audit your own marketing.
Be brutally honest:
Are you running a system?
Or are you just checking boxes?
Pick one goal for the next quarter and sketch the system you’ll need to reach it.
✍️ Thanks for reading. And if you want more on building content systems that actually drive pipeline, hit subscribe. I’ll keep this Substack forever-free :)