“3 Rules of Marketing, According to Rick Ross”

Rick Ross. The Boss. UHHHH (In my Rick Ross voice).

When Rick Ross hit the street back in 2006, he came in with a vengeance, delivering street anthems and rapping about controversial topics, like the drug game. Just so you know, I have long been a fan of drug kingpins, not for all the bad they do, but for how well-organized their operations are. In the saturated street life of drugs, these kingpins are marketers to an extent. They have content, which in this case is illegal drugs, that can be broken into various sizes to fit any audience. They have a vast distribution network that gets their product(s) into the hands of the people. And they always care about, or kill for, the bottom line.

In Rick Ross’s debut single “Hustlin‘”, he gives us a glimpse into the world of street life and the drug game. As a lover of hip-hop, I remember watching this video and seeing that white-on-white BMW 745 rolling through the streets of Miami with the chorus blazing’ – “Everyday I’m hustlin’, everyday I’m hustlin’…” . But if you pay attention, beyond the chorus, Ricky Rozay also gives us three solid rules of marketing that every marketer can utilize.

Let me break it down for you:

DEVELOP FLEXIBLE CONTENT. “I cut ’em wide, I cut ’em long, I cut ’em fat (What) / I keep ’em comin’ back (What), we keep ’em comin’ back…” – Rick Ross

Content is king. It has been the underlying mantra of marketers for the past few years. And the key to great content is to make it flexible. Don’t allow your content to be stand-alone. I have a rule, where I start with a more general content topic, and then I break that topic down into four or five sub-topics, and then I break those four or five sub-topics down to fit two or three audiences. The same content topic can be enjoyed in various ways as long as it is tailored to various audiences. You can’t push out an all-inclusive experience and expect people to receive it as an exclusive message. The more tailored your content becomes, the more people will come back.

DISTRIBUTE ACROSS ALL CHANNELS…AND ALL PEOPLE. “I’m in the distribution, I’m like Atlantic / I got them motherf*ckers flyin’ ‘cross the Atlantic / I know Pablo, Noriega, the real Noriega, he owe me a hundred favors…” – Rick Ross

Content is king, and distribution is queen. While it’s important to develop flexible content, it is equally important that your content is distributed across multiple channels. Those channels are traditional media, digital media and human media. It’s not enough for us as marketers to rely on the earned, paid and owned channels, but we have to include people. People who love the brand and don’t mind sharing the message. People and industry partners who may owe you some favors. People trust people, not organizations, so add human media into your media mix.

DRIVE RESULTS. “My roof back, my money rides / I’m on the pedal, show you what I’m runnin’ like…” – Rick Ross

Yes, sometimes you need to sit back, put your feet up and watch the engagements with the content you have created. But you can’t stop there. As a marketer, you need to make a strong commitment to making improvements to your content to achieve positive outcomes for you and your users. Before you produce any content, know what your end-game is, and measure everything accordingly.

Good luck marketers.

Photo courtesy of MTV.com