The Olympics always inspire me because these athletes train years for just one moment at the chance for gold.

These athletes work day after day without seeing a return until many years later.

These athletes are fueled by delayed gratification.

There is a famous saying that says:People overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years.

To be honest, in DTC, the hype is flying around left and right.

It feels like every day I see a new Twitter thread with crazy numbers.

Although those posts get a lot of engagement, it has stunted the expectations and realities of growing a brand through content long-term.

Brands overestimate what they can do in a month and underestimate what they can do in a year.

I mean that the demand for success is high, but the patience for success is not there.

Just because a piece of content doesn't "perform" well, doesn't mean it wasn't successful in your overall brand-building journey.

Every piece of content you put out organically or paid is your opportunity to tell your brand's story to a person.

Sometimes people will like the story.

Other times, people will keep scrolling.

Every time you tell the story, you learn how to tell it better.

You learn what is interesting to your audience.

You learn what isn't interesting to your audience.

And over time, you start to create content that actually sells.

But you can't get there on day one.

I want to build some principles on how to create content that is brand focused over a long period of time.

1. Test creative consistently

You don't get to decide what works - the market does.

If you don't have a system in place to adjust for the content that you are publishing, you will just be fighting against the content.You need to be able to adapt and change your content.

The best way to do this is to have an editor consistently try new variations each week.

This editor is kind of like your insurance on the bets you make with content.

2. Create content for existing customers

People are obsessed with attracting new customers, but let's talk about the customers that have already given you money!These customers already got the fun videos and bought products, they need something that is a little more savory.

This is where you can tap into long-form content like a youtube channel, podcasts, or even live talks online.

This content is harder to "justify" because you might not see the direct attribution right away, but a brand that is building for the long-term understands the power of content and community building.

Those short videos only go so far before people want something that goes deeper with their relationship with your brand. 

Not everyone will follow, but you need to invest in content for your most loyal customers.

This doesn't happen overnight, but you need to invest.

3. Invest in creative consistently

Most people start looking for content creation too late.

We all have been there where the ads are drying up, and you're scratching your head as to what you should post on social.

But when you start looking for content creation, you are highly leveraged because you NEED this new content to work.

It creates bad expectations for the content and as a brand, you might rush the creation because the need is too high.

Maybe you go on the cheaper side because money is tight but again, your expectations are high.

Maybe it works out, but if it doesn't, you might be afraid of investing in content every again.

On the other hand, a brand that consistently creates content is not freaking out about content not working because they already know when the next shoot is happening. They have their editor mixing away testing new content.

Brands that are creating constantly understand how each piece of content is building their visual brand with customers.