How the Adjacent User Theory Applies to Content Marketing

In this episode of the GrowthTLDR, we talk about a great article from Bangaly Kaba called - "The Adjacent User Theory."

We summarize the main takeaways from the article and discuss how they might apply to other areas of marketing.

We talk about the importance of creating content for adjacent content topics, knowing when to pivot to new growth channels, and how to enrich personas with real-world data.

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Time Stamped Notes

[2:50] - We talk about the Adjacent User Theory, written by Bangala Kaba, and summarize the core topic his article addresses. 

[3:45] - In the early days of building a product, you need to be very deliberate about making the product for a specific user. We give an example from Andy Johns of how Wealthfront did this.

[6:10] - M&A deals help companies expand their revenue. We discuss how Microsoft's proposed acquisition of TikTok would cost them nothing and net them $25 billion due to the stock market.

[7:50] - We discuss how apps like TikTok and Instagram keep their users engaged.

[10:00] - The Adjacent User Theory does apply to content. We cover how you can take that framework and apply it to your content marketing framework.

[13:00] - As companies expand, their conversion rates from new cohorts of users decay overtime.

[15:00] - Two of the hardest decisions marketing leaders need to make are prioritizing between investing in the things you can and can't measure - brand activities, and your go-to-market. The other is how do you balance investments between things that impact your current growth, and will help to drive your future growth. 

[17:50] - It's possible to build a saturation model to tell you how much growth you have left in channels like search or paid advertising. It's generally hard to have clear triggers for when you should start investing in new growth channels. A lot of the reasons companies begin investing in those new channels is because they have resources.

[21:30] - It's critical to correctly instrument your data analytics, pick metrics that are important to your go-to-market, and frequently look at them.

[22:30] - We talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using personas to build your business around. 

[24:00] - You can make personas more valuable by adding engagement/product data to them, which applies to both B2B apps and B2C2B products.

– Bangaly on Twitter / LinkedIn
– Kieran on Twitter / LinkedIn / Medium
– Scott on Twitter / Linked / Medium