Olabisi Adelaja is a content & growth marketer and the host of Web3 Quick Bites, a podcast where she explores the world of Web3, Blockchain, AI, the Internet of Things, DAO, Dapps, and other emerging technologies.
In this interview, she shares her career journey, lessons so far, and how she pivoted from international relations.
How would you explain content marketing to a 5 year old?
Content marketing is telling fun stories to get people excited about a company. It’s like the Disney stories, Barbie, animations, and movies you watch.
My job is telling these fun stories to get people excited about a company, brand, business organization, or whatever it is. I use my imagination to create cool articles, videos, and posts to help the company share its message and not make them boring.
So, it’s like a playtime for grown-ups.
Is content marketing just restricted to articles or other forms of content?
No, it’s not restricted to articles. Content marketing is way beyond articles. When people hear content marketing, they automatically think it’s just articles or blog posts. However, if content is restricted to articles and blog posts in this age of social media, where people have short attention spans, it will be a waste of effort.
So, it’s a mix of articles, blog posts, video content, and podcasts. We also have white papers, ebooks, and infographics.
Infographics are for people who like to read and want a breakdown of what they’ve just read in infographic format, like bar charts, pie charts, and carousels. A mix of all these formats is what makes content marketing fun. There’s no restriction, and it’s not just limited to written content.
What is the difference between Web2 content marketing and Web3 content marketing?
Web3 is different from Web2 because it has different technologies and experiences. However, when you look at it from a marketing angle, even though it’s an entirely different playground, content marketing still works the same magic in both.
In Web3, we have decentralization. Meanwhile, in Web2, everything is centralized, like in a Monopoly game.
Mark is the face of Facebook or Meta, Elon Musk (used to be Jack) is the face of Twitter and Microsoft for LinkedIn. So, there’s a monopoly of power, unlike the decentralized nature of Web3.
Even though the tools and tech are a bit different, there’s one thing that Web2 and Web3 have in common, which is bringing great stories to life.
Regarding the content marketing of Web3, we educate people about innovations they haven’t seen before. If we want to get more people into this space, you start with educating them first.
Meanwhile, in Web2, the audiences are already familiar with the brand’s products — what else can we come up with in Web2 that people haven’t heard before or someone hasn’t come up with before? Or even if someone hasn’t come up with it already, someone has done something similar or close to it.
Hence, the content marketing of Web2 is primarily about building loyalty and growing the user base and community. On the other hand, Web3 companies need to backtrack, go to the drawing board, and start explaining the core concept and value propositions to audiences who might find the innovations confusing or intimidating.
We have many terminologies in Web3 that sound alien, and when people hear it, they’re like, “What does this even mean? You’re telling me your product is going to change the world or is going to transform the world, but what does this fud and other words even mean?”
How can I understand your transformation when I don’t understand all these basic terminologies and concepts? So they might find it confusing or intimidating.
However, the good thing about content marketing in Web3 is that it’s decentralized. And so, the decentralized nature of Web3 allows for more collaborative partnerships in developing a stronger content ecosystem.
Thanks to content formats like NFTs and metaverse experiences, Web3 content is more immersive. The content strategies are focused on the need to provide value and build trust at the core.
What did you study in school as a degree?
I studied international relations.
How did you get into marketing from international relations? What’s the backstory?
It’s a funny story. Growing up, my grandpa always brought storybooks for me while Grandma made sure I read them.
As someone who has been an introvert from a young age, I love being indoors, and I lose myself in the world of fantasy and try to imagine places that are different from my environment. I try to imagine how people in the stories I’ve read act and what is going on in their lives.
Since I loved reading, I also loved creating stories, and when I was in primary school, I was known for creating tall tales. It took me a while to break out of my imagination and reality. I was always creating tall tales based on what I had read.
When I got into secondary school, I was lucky that the first friend I made in secondary school also loved reading. She introduced me to Harry Potter. That was my first foray into more advanced fictional stories.
When it was time for the university, I didn’t want to study mass communication even though it would have been a perfect course for me. But the idea I had was that I would be restricted to working in a radio station, and I didn’t want that. I would have studied mass communication if someone had told me I could also work in an ad agency.
International relations was a second option because I also read nonfiction stories besides fictional ones. I loved reading about history and its terror leaders like Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Idi Amin of Uganda. I also read about Putin and his life in the Secret Service.
I loved studying international relations because I could learn more backstories about the people I had read in books. But when I graduated, and it was so difficult to get an internship, I returned to my first love — writing.
I had a small laptop at the University and used it to start writing short stories. I wasn’t sharing them with anybody. I just wanted to write as well as J.K. Rowling, Chimamanda Adichie, or Nora Roberts. I’ve always loved these women. And so I wrote the stories and read them in my spare time, and I’m like, “Oh, yeah, I think I’m making progress.”
One day, I wrote a story and shared it with a friend I’d just started talking to. I don’t know what spurred me to do so. When I sent it to him, he didn’t reply immediately. I didn’t know that he was doing some underground work.
When he got back to me later, he was like, “don’t be mad at me, but I loved the story you shared with me, so I sent it to an independent filmmaker in the UK, and he wants to talk to you.”
The filmmaker got in touch with me, we got talking, and he said, “How soon can you finish this story? I want to turn it into a short movie.”
At this point, I was still job searching and broke. So, I told my mom, and she asked, “Will they pay you big money or fly you to the UK?”
I completed the story without pressure from the filmmaker, and it was made into a movie. The money came in handy for someone still looking for a job.
What’s the title of the movie?
T-O-R-N. Torn the movie. It’s on YouTube.
The money was enough for me to get a better laptop. It also motivated me to tell people I write in case anything comes up. And by telling people, I got my first copywriting gig with Daily Posts — a content mill agency. It was the first time I started earning in USD.
When the money hit my account, I was like, “Wait, people actually get paid for doing what they love?”
From writing with Daily Posts, I got my first full-time job with a multinational company, Oriflame, and joined their marketing team. Since then, I have worked with other agencies and companies in Web2 and now Web3.
That’s how I got into marketing. I mean, from writing, I started learning about content marketing, and then, I knew that this was what I wanted to do.
Many marketers don’t know how to price themselves when applying for a particular job. From when you submitted your story to be made into a short film to the point where you got your first copywriting gig, how did you go about the pricing? Did you do some research to figure out, or did the company offer it to you?
At first, I had no idea how to price my services or what my worth was. It was my first job. I’d applied to many jobs with my bad CV and semi-good CV. However, I wasn’t getting any response.
So, when the opportunity came, and the filmmaker said he would pay me for my story, I was confused. I didn’t get back to him until after a week.
I sought advice from everyone. My mom said I should charge him seven figures in Naira. My friends said this was the opportunity to make big money. Others were giving me conflicting prices.
I was confused because I would have given him the story for free if he hadn’t offered me money. After all, I loved writing. It felt like a great achievement that someone even considered my short story to want to turn it into a movie.
So I sat down and made a list, starting with my mother’s 1 million Naira. I wrote it down. I’m like, “Okay, what’s the price that I can actually mention?”
When it comes to negotiating, I tend to feel nervous. There’s gymnastics in my head that if I call this price, will they feel like I’m going to do a shitty job. If I call this price, will they think it’s overwhelming and not want to work with me?
After going back and forth with the filmmaker, we agreed on N250,000 because I didn’t want to push it and needed the money.
That is one lesson I learned: if you’re desperate, you tend to lower your negotiation and prices because you don’t want to lose the client.
So now, if I tell you this is what I want to charge, I know my worth. I know the years of experience that come with it, and it’s left for you to take it or leave it.
Even if they say they can find someone who does it less, please go ahead by all means. One thing they tend to forget is that cheap is expensive. If you find someone who does it for you at a cheaper price and it’s terrible, you have to pay twice the amount to get a higher quality.
When it comes to negotiating or when it comes to telling people this is what I want to earn, this is what my rates are, I know what I’m bringing to the table, and it’s going to be reflected in the output of work I give you. You’ll see the value for money because I’ve refined and sharpened my writing style over the years.
For someone just getting into marketing today, how would you advise them to charge and not make the same mistake you made when you started?
I’ve worked as a freelancer and a full-time content marketer. So, what I usually do and what I would advise people who are just beginning is to:
Research the market rate.
Research the market rate for the types of content services you plan to offer. Look at job posts, those who are kind enough to put their salary and remuneration on their job description. Look at it.
Look at freelance platforms and what they are paying people by the hour. Look at competitor rates just to get a sense of price ranges. And when you get all this, you can adjust for your geography and skill level.
Meanwhile, when you are starting, it’s common for beginners to charge less as you build experience and a portfolio. But while you’re ready to do anything just to build a portfolio, don’t undervalue yourself too drastically.
What is your process of creating a content strategy?
First, I listen. When a business owner approaches me and says they want me to create a content strategy for them, I listen closely to what they say.
It’s by listening to them that I get to understand how passionate they are about their business, what they hope to achieve by reaching out, and what they want me to do for them.
When I meet a passionate business owner and listen closely to what they say, I understand the company and what their customers care about most.
After trying to understand what the brand wants from me, I look at their previous content performance to see if they’ve been doing content marketing.
Next, I interview stakeholders and customers to map out audience segments and identify key messaging opportunities.
The fun part I really enjoy is the brainstorming session. This is when I come up with engaging topics, formats, and strategies.
What are the best strategies to map out this story over time?
It’s like a cool TV show with different episodes coming from different angles. I come up with topics for articles, topics for videos, topics for podcasts, and more.
After doing all this, it’s time to craft content frameworks that allow the stories and campaigns to unfold over time. Just like I said before , with TV series and episodes releasing every week, my content frameworks allow my stories and campaigns to develop over time.
Once I have an editorial plan, I apply a promotional strategy across social media, paid ads, influencer marketing (if they have the budget), and other avenues tailored to reach each audience segment I’ve crafted effectively .
When crafting my audience segment, I don’t just lump everybody under blog posts.
Some people have short attention spans. Some people prefer to listen while they do other things. Some prefer to watch, and some prefer to read. So, I don’t lump the audience into one segment.
Lastly, I build a feedback loop to continually assess performance and optimize based on what resonates with the audience.
The feedback loop is basically: was it a podcast that resonated with this audience more? Is that what we should focus on? Is it the video aspect? Is that what we should focus on more? Is it the blog post? Is that what we should focus on more?
It’s an in-depth process. You cannot sit down and do it in a day or two. It takes a while if you want effective results, and it’s also important to maximize your content impact so you don’t waste your resources.
What skills would a person need to become a great content marketer over the years?
Work on your writing skills.
It is very important to work on your writing skills because content marketing is all about storytelling and communication. You need to develop a captivating and conversational writing style.
You can’t be a great content marketer without being an amazing storyteller.
You want people to be able to read your stuff. You want to get people’s attention. Keep your writing simple, easy to read, and understandable because not everyone likes to read big grammar. It’s overwhelming sometimes.
Let your writing style be unique to you. You can’t be a great content marketer without being an amazing storyteller. That’s how it works.
You also need to study “how does compelling writing look like across different formats” because how you write for social media is different from how you write your emails or articles.
Have a great creativity and design sense.
Great content requires an amazing design to accompany it. You don’t necessarily have to be like a professional designer, but learn basic design to know how it works. So that when it comes to a time you need it, you don’t have to start scrambling around in confusion.
Basic design knowledge is important in knowing what kind of visuals will accompany the email content you’re writing and what kind of visuals will go in line with the topic or go in line with your content.
Sharpen your research skills.
Being an excellent researcher will help you to gather insights when interviewing people. Learn research best practices. It will help you know what questions to ask and how to expand on whatever information they give you. You also understand what information and data to gather.
Learn project management
If you sign up to be a content marketer, you will sometimes have a creative block, be frustrated, or lack motivation. That is where project management comes in.
Learn how to ideate, promote, and coordinate your content across different platforms. Your organizational skills are highly crucial.
Most times, you have to think on your feet because of your content marketing strategy. So , you have to align your content efforts with broader marketing strategies and business goals.
Consider your messaging architecture and how you want your campaigns to look. For people who are into email marketing, it’s very important to understand your messaging architecture and how to sequence your campaigns.
Stay up to date.
Social media evolves quickly, and things happen. You can go to bed today knowing that Twitter is free and wake up to see Elon Musk charging for Twitter. Always stay up to date on the tech you use.
Learn to work with others.
Learn how to collaborate with others and how to work across teams. As a content marketer, there will be times you need to work with the sales team since they are the ones who mostly talk to customers directly. You need to also work with the tech bros and with PRs. So, work on your collaborative spirit.
Lastly, be curious like a child.
Ask questions and be curious all the time. When you are always curious, you are interested in learning what your target audience is doing and what they are learning about. Your curiosity informs and directs your content strategy.
What mistakes have you made along your career, and what lessons did you learn from them?
In the past, I sacrificed quality to meet unrealistic deadlines because I didn’t want to anger my clients or make them see me as unserious. That’s a mistake no content marketer should make.
The quality of your work comes before anything because that is what speaks for you.
I now know the value of pushing back on unreasonable expectations. If you hire me for a project, I will tell you when it will be completed, and you will get the best of the best. So it’s up to you to go ahead and find someone who does it for you in a day.
I’ve found that not working under pressure makes the end product so much better.
One thing that I advise people just starting is to learn to say no. I’ve learned to decline projects that are outside my experience level. I do not want to ruin my reputation and name.
As a content marketer, what automation tools assist you and are a part of your workflow?
First of all, shout out to my brain.
Next, Google Docs.
Semrush for SEO. I also use Ahrefs and Google Analytics.
What is your favorite type of wine?
I’m a white wine lover. I used to be a red wine lover, but I had white wine at an event, and I was like, “where have you been my whole life?”
Where can we go to learn more about you?
Olabisi Adelaja on LinkedIn. I’m super active on LinkedIn. So, you can always send a connection request or a DM.
Auntybisi_ on Twitter.
Web3quickbites on Instagram. Here, I chat about Web3 growth marketing.