For example, listicles with social media tips are a dime a dozen. When examining your content and the story you’re trying to tell, it’s just as important to stay original and play with your audience’s expectations. It’s important when creating a campaign that I shake it up and play against common conventions,” Patrick says. “Cliches and stereotypes will make players groan. But worse than that, the players feel condescended to as the game starts to feel dumbed down. If Patrick creates a campaign that plays to common tropes like a damsel in distress or small town disappearances, the story becomes predictable. Having created D&D campaigns that ruled and bombed, here are Patricks top five tips for developing content that resonate with your audience. 5 Content Marketing Lessons From the Dungeon

“The best Dungeon Master doesn’t just create a good story, but they also help players reach their goals,” Patrick claims.ĭoes any of this sound familiar? It certainly resonated for me. Certain story elements DMs put together will never see the light of day because every player has a different play style, completes tasks in different orders, and takes different actions. And just like your audience won’t read every piece of content you put in front of them, the same happens in a D&D game. As a result, DMs are challenged to make sure players finish the game.

Like the self-directed buyers of today, D&D players are able to choose their own paths. One thing Dungeon Masters are not responsible for, however, are the players’ actions. According to Patrick, the player experience hinges on a DM’s ability to create meaningful content that’s fun to explore. What Is a Dungeon Master?įor the unfamiliar, a Dungeon Master is the organizer for the wildly popular, 40-year-old tabletop role-playing game, “Dungeons & Dragons.” Not only do DMs organize the game, but they are also responsible for the game rules, details, and challenges. Discover Patrick’s lessons from the dungeon and how you can apply them to your content marketing campaigns and programs down below. Just like content marketers need to help guide people through the buyer journey, the Dungeon Master needs to guide players through a journey of their own.Īfter serving his friends as the go-to Dungeon Master, Patrick has learned a thing or two from creating lengthy campaigns-some successful, some not-that are both engaging and challenging. Responsible for creating meaningful and memorable experiences through content that takes people on a journey, you can see the similarities arise. It might sound a little odd at first, but Dungeon Masters and content marketers are more alike than you think. This puts a lot of pressure on content marketers to elevate their game and provide more worthwhile and valuable content experiences.Īs an adept Dungeon Master (DM) of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) games, TopRank Marketing’s Motion Graphic Designer, Patrick Pineda, can relate. However, it might be surprising to learn that only 9% of those brands rate their content marketing as “sophisticated.” Sophisticated meaning that their content marketing is successful, scales across the organization, and provides accurate measurement to the business. It’s probably not news to you that 91% of B2B brands use content marketing to attract, engage, nurture, and convert their audience.

Dungeon master story tracker