Draftniks Assemble!
The 2020 NFL Draft begins Thursday, April 29th at 8:00 PM ET. This will mark the end of the 1st part of the NFL season which yearly starts after the Super Bowl.
For those unaware, there are logistically four (4) NFL seasons every year.
- Pre-Draft
- Post-Draft
- Regular Season
- Playoffs
During Pre-Draft, fans of the 31 teams who did not win the Super Bowl eye hopefully for the next crop of college athletes who will change the future of their team. There is baited anticipation and intrigue around the upcoming “first pick” often ignoring the reality that this player (no matter how good) is poised to go to last year’s worst team. It often turns out to be more like having a Porsche in 16th century England.
On the off chance that there is general consensus about the first pick, all conversation shifts to the “next” pick as pre-draft coverage is predicated on anticipation & prediction. (As evidence, see this year’s coverage where almost all conversation swirls around the 3rd and 4th picks as the first two are assumed “known”. For those teams, their pick is likely to be somewhat anti-climatic.)
During the Post-Draft, those fans pour over the picks that their team made microscopically analyzing them to evaluate them as “good” or “bad”. Largely, much of their conversation is justifying what their team did and assessing how that will improve their performance. (Unfortunately, the reality is that teams rise and fall every year. In a sport where there are statistically 24 “starters” – 11 offense, 11 defense, and 2 kickers – single players, no matter how skilled, don’t usually change a team’s fortunes.)
When the Regular Season starts, this is the culmination of hope and anticipation that gets built up Pre & Post Draft. For many, dreams of ascension sours as fully half of the 32 teams suffer losses in Week 1. While positivity often holds on through the first few weeks, the actual games offer clear evidence of just who the teams are. As former NY Giants & NE Patriots coach Bill Parcells is often quoted as saying: “You are your Record!”
At the end of the Regular Season, the Playoff period begins again with some teams holding out championship hopes while others get started early building their next Pre-Draft period. As teams are eliminated and the path to the Super Bowl leads to a celebration for one team, the other 31 start assessing and anticipating “next year”!
As an aside…
- My Atlanta Falcons are scheduled to pick 4th. Many predictions have them taking what will be the 4th QB. For my best option, they trade down and gather more picks because, while they have some very good skill players, their roster lacks talent and depth beyond their starters.
Editors Note: Lacking an available trading partner (or a trading partner willing to give up their asking price), the Falcons stayed pat at #4 and drafted Kyle Pitts (TE from Florida). In true “Post-Draft” fashion, I fully support the pick and agree with what they did! 🙂
Other Links
Reasons to create your Content Marketing Strategy
Content is a big topic in audience-building and conversions. With the influx of content sources, creating and following a strategy for your content marketing (or content production) is a requirement. Content can expose your voice and communicate your message, but without a plan for sharing it, it is easy to get lost among the “noise”. The keywords you choose and use are an important aspect of your strategy. Here’s another link sharing some strategies (Keywords Strategies for your Content).
Google has a number of tools that content producers and marketers can use. Whether it is their Ads platform that delivers your message or Analytics that helps you learn more about your target audience, there is a lot to learn and manage.
- Google Ads Automated Recommendations – For Google Ads, most of us do well to utilize the automated features in the platform. While your marketing efforts may not be completely optimized, most get strong results for much less effort. Unless you are a power user or spending large sums on your digital marketing efforts, this can be a good starting point for advertisers.
- Similarly, there are basic tools (like Segments) within Google Analytics that offer solid value for most users. We’d all benefit from learning some basics of Using Segments in Google Analytics.
Microsoft Advertising’s New Features
While Google & its platforms get a lion’s share of attention, we can’t ignore Microsoft and its tools in the digital space. You just can’t ignore the continued market share that Windows (and therefore Microsoft’s tools) expose.
More from your Raspberry Pi
I have not yet bought and tinkered with a Raspberry Pi, but it is definitely on the “wish list” when I get the time. There’s a number of interesting diversions that a Pi enables. (For fans of coin-operated arcade games, there are some cool YouTube projects using one to build your very own “tower” game for the basement. So far, I’ve not seen an instructional video justifying it’s declaration as “furniture” to a spouse. #OhWell)
For those checking out the book reviews, I finished The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. My post of notes from the book is complete. You can check it out on my blog at this link.
If you would like to read along, I will be starting Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi soon.
Note: Book links are Amazon affiliate links.
