Fill in the Blanks

Earlier this week, the folks over at Junta42 posed a fill-in-the-blanks question on Twitter:

Content is to marketing like ________ is to ________.

I immediately had an image come to mind, so I tweeted it:

Content is to marketing like gas is to a car. It’s a must to turn the vehicle on and to move forward.

I stand by that submission, and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me.

1. Before a marketing plan can even begin to move forward, it has to be fueled with relevant and remarkable content.
2. As content runs low and needs to be refreshed, adding to the tank is necessary. (You should probably keep a good content strategist and writer on speed dial.) And you don’t have to wait until your “low fuel” light comes on. Replenishing the content on an ongoing basis is a must to keep things fresh and dynamic.
3. When you’re driving a car, you can stop at any gas station in town. In simple terms, content curation works kinda the same way: Good content can come from a variety of sources, and it doesn’t hurt to mix things up in the tank.

What do you think? Does that make sense? How would you fill in the blanks?

A couple of dozen folks contributed their ideas for filling in the blanks. Marriage, peanut butter and golf are all mentioned. Take a look at all of the “content is to marketing” entries and even vote on your favorite if you’re so inclined.