My father, who had a long career as a financial planner, often used the catchphrase “No lazy money.” It was meant to remind his clients that money shouldn’t be left to sit around, that their assets should be actively managed to generate returns. 

The same philosophy can be adapted to marketing. Too often, businesses rely on lazy content because they’re just trying to keep up with the deluge of social media marketing that’s out there. 

Consider this: Most estimates suggest people are exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 marketing messages on a daily basis, including traditional media such as TV, radio, and print, plus all the digital ads found through websites, social, apps, and product placements, according to Adfuel.

We’re living in a time where social media has become our primary advertising channel—and that means marketing directors must operate in an incredibly noisy environment. 

Knowing that, it’s understandable that some race to create content just to create content. But here’s the thing: The number of ads people notice and remember is significantly lower than how many they see—closer to 100 per day, according to Moburst. 

That means without having a good strategic plan for your content, you won’t cut through the noise. You’ll be creating content that doesn’t stand out, and therefore, simply will be ignored. And all that pointless content creation is taking time, money, and resources away from higher value marketing activities or smarter strategic thinking.

But through smart content planning, creation, and distribution, you can make your content work harder and smarter—just like actively managed money.

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So what makes content lazy? 

‘Lazy content’ is content that is not aligned with your business goals. It doesn’t speak to the target audience’s needs. Or you’re not effectively distributing or repurposing it.

And lastly, lazy content fails to generate measurable results—just like an investment that yields no returns.

If you’re asking the question ‘what is this doing for the business?’ and you can’t answer (outside of some vanity metrics having to do with reach and impressions), then it’s probably time to take a closer look. Is your content truly returning the way you need it to? Or are you just putting content out to keep up with everybody else? 

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Here’s how to cut through the noise

Often, marketing clients will ask how they know what stories to tell, or how to develop a plan for their stories. Or they want to know how to understand if the content is making an impact. They might be dealing with all three issues.

So, how do you create a solid plan for your social marketing content?

Smart content planning is targeting the right audience with the right message. 

Planning really begins with understanding first what your business goals are, what your messaging goals are, and who your audience is. In communications, we tend to start with what we want to say versus what people need to know. And when you flip that, it becomes a better way to approach storytelling and content.

The key here is audience-centric storytelling. We need to understand who we're talking to, where they are in their relationship to you, and what you are hoping to do with your content. 

A for-profit business might hope to generate sales leads. A nonprofit might seek to educate or inspire action. Either might want more followers. All of that starts with creating content that builds awareness for who you are and what you have to offer.

So ask yourself: What are the goals? Start with a really clear understanding of what you're trying to do. 

One of my favorite campaigns, Discover Oshkosh, had a goal of telling the stories that were not being told, showcasing the unexpected things that were happening in Oshkosh. A lot of feedback and reaction on the street I heard was ‘I never knew Oshkosh had all those cool things.’

That means the content was working for us, providing the return we sought.

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Getting into the details

Once you understand those elements, you can develop a plan around the different formats to tell that story.

Smart content creation emphasizes quality, engaging storytelling, and using diverse formats to capture attention.

Consider whether the content should be long format or short format. How does that story translate into a written story, such as a blog, an article, or a newsletter? How does that story translate into a photo or a series of stories or a video? 

Knowing these aspects means you’ll be smart with the time, money, and resources you use in capturing that story, just as you would be smart with investing your money where it’s going to provide the best return.

Then, you can concentrate on what’s working and where you can make changes.

Smart content distribution focuses on strategies to ensure content actually reaches and impacts the intended audience, rather than getting lost in the deluge.

This is where performance measurement and optimization can take you beyond vanity metrics. Use your data in the planning process to help inform your content decisions. Understand keyword research and trending topics. Use analytics to understand how long people are consuming a piece of content—do you need to make it shorter or longer? Do we need to add a stronger hook in the beginning? 

Looking at content that is performing well and understanding why it’s performing well helps you to know if your campaign is working and how to best use your resources in content creation going forward.

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The bottom line

On its own, content doesn't return—just like having cash in your wallet. It’s just there. You never know—you can spend it on a lotto ticket; you can go viral with some crazy dance. But even the fun videos are a dime a dozen and will be forgotten almost as quickly as they attract attention. It's about having really smart, well-designed content, and also having a solid plan for distribution. 

Always ask yourself: Is your content sitting around like 'lazy money' in a low-interest savings account, or is it actively invested in high-growth opportunities?

The bottom line: Start working smarter—not harder. If you're trying to just produce, produce, produce—you won’t see the impact you're looking for. And besides, it’s not sustainable for most businesses. Just as you want to see your money and available resources growing, you want your content to do the same for you.

Stop letting your content sit around and instead make every piece of content earn its keep.

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