You know the story about killers and poets, right?

It’s from a section of David Ogilvy’s classic book Ogilvy on Advertising. Even if you’ve heard the saying, you may not realize that Ogilvy made his famous point by first quoting another “Mad Man” of the era.

That would be William Maynard, creative director at Ted Bates & Company, which at the time was the 10th largest advertising agency in the United States. Maynard shared this observation about the writers he had worked with during his career:

Most good copywriters fall into two categories. Poets. And killers. Poets see an ad as an end. Killers as a means to an end.

And then Ogilvy famously added:

If you are both killer and poet, you get rich.

He would know. Ogilvy was responsible for some of the most creative and innovative advertisements of the “golden age” of advertising.

Ads like The Man in the Hathaway Shirt, the classic gin-and-tonic ad for Schweppes, and this brilliant headline (Ogilvy’s personal favorite):

At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in the new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.

And yet, Ogilvy famously didn’t believe in creativity for its own sake, at least not when it came to business. He had no patience for advertising that won awards and praise, but made no sales.

When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.

David Ogilvy was the epitome of a marketer and business person who was both a killer and a poet. And he got very rich indeed -- rich enough to retire to Château de Touffou, his honest to goodness castle in France.

So when we talk about being a poet and a killer, what does that mean? It’s simple -- we’re talking about a person who is both creative and strategic.

This rubs some writers the wrong way. They’re interested in writing as an end to itself.

The clever turn of phrase, the intricate word choice, the literary reference that will certainly impress ... well, other writers. It’s easy to lose sight of the broader objective.

On the other hand, this is what tends to annoy business people about writers. They’re not interested in art, at least not when it comes to marketing. They’re interested in results, which means sales.

They’ve got a plan, and they only deal with writers or content because they know that’s the means to the end they have in mind. After all, what does strategy mean?

According to the trusty dictionary, it’s “a plan of action designed to achieve an overall aim.” It makes sense that when it comes to content marketing, you have a business objective in mind, right?

Let’s cut to the chase -- the objective for any marketing strategy should be to increase sales. Will this approach result in more revenue and profit than some other approach?

It absolutely should. Otherwise, why do it?

In my two decades of experience with digital marketing, content is the key to attracting an audience. And it’s the audience that provides the winning difference that leads to more sales and profits.

Not just any ol’ content, though, or even any ol’ audience. And that’s why creative writers -- the poets -- are indispensable to digital marketing that works.

But you need the strategic element as well. You (or your client) must become a leader in a relevant movement, where the marketer guides the audience to advance shared ideas and aspirations.

Some people call that thought leadership, and whether you like the term or not, it’s definitely an exercise in leading your prospects toward success.

And these days it takes the intersection of creativity, strategy, and technology -- a hybrid of poet, killer, and machine -- to pull it off. Now even more so than in Ogilvy’s day, that’s how you get rich in the realm of digital marketing.

I’ve often said I can’t make a killer into a poet. It’s just not within my control.

The way you become a writer, and eventually a great writer, is to write. If the desire to write isn’t there, you’re going to have to learn to work well with creative writers to execute on your strategic vision.

But I can absolutely help poets become killers. In many ways, that’s what Copyblogger has been doing for the last 15 years.

In my next message to you, I'll let you know what that means in practice. You'll be introduced to the idea of the hybrid marketer, and how this skill set can help you set yourself apart in the world of content and digital marketing.

Keep going-

Brian Clark
Founder - Copyblogger