I watched the Tesla Roadster event this morning, but right after it, YouTube automatically teed up a documentary film about SpaceX called "Critical Path".

I watched the entire thing. A 34-minute documentary-style film that is incredibly well done and, in my view, sells the company better than any pitch piece.

‍

Companies spend a lot of time these days on hype and pitch content, which has its place, but nothing sells like a documentary that goes behind the scenes in an authentic way to show what’s happening behind the curtain.

First off, it’s wildly impressive what SpaceX has built. You have to watch the film. (see, word of mouth as well)

Also, I have to give them credit for investing the time and money into creating content like this. A lot of companies won’t, even though it’s arguably the most valuable marketing piece they could have.

And while you might be thinking, “Right, but we’re not SpaceX, and we didn’t build rockets,” that may be true, but you have a story, and that story can be shown, and you would be amazed at who is willing to watch it and the influence that can have.

I think about many of my customers, and I know they all have stories behind the scenes that can be told.

The other thing I like about this documentary is that it isn’t about Elon... or a founder or CEO, etc. He shows up in a few minutes of the 34 minutes, but the entire film is about what they do and building the rockets. It’s quite impressive.

Thinking about most companies, there’s a story within the company that needs to be told beyond the CEO or founder.

And it doesn’t have to be two minutes. It can be long-form. The SpaceX documentary has 4.4 million views so far, and it was released 3 months ago.

That single documentary could help you sell and influence your customers better than anything else you’re doing.

Let your customer come along for the ride, go behind the scenes, and see the interworking of what you do.

That can build incredible favor and loyalty.

I know it influences and fascinates me.‍

We have clients in oil and gas, manufacturing automation, supply chain, as well as software, and all of them have stories that would lend themselves to an incredible documentary.

The problem is that often companies nickel and dime things like this too much and don’t invest when, in actual fact, this is potentially the greatest marketing spend they could make.

That one documentary piece could be turned into many snippets, social media posts, and shorts to be shared far and wide and drive more impressions, views, and fans than anything else.

Films sell. Simple as that. People have always been fascinated with documentaries and what goes on behind the scenes. I’m one of them.

Invest in film. Invest in your story.

- Robert