Stop Creating; Start Listening

Most founders treat social media like a digital billboard.
Announcements. Feature plugs. A link to the latest drop.

But here’s the problem—nobody’s stopping to read it.

Buyers aren’t hunting for another pitch.
They’re looking for a point of view.
And more than anything, they’re looking for someone worth listening to.

So what if your content wasn’t about promotion at all?

What if the whole goal was to listen?

Because here’s the truth:
Your content isn’t your pitch. It’s your prompt.

A founder asked me this week:
“How should I use content in my marketing?”

Here’s what I told them:

Let’s break it down:

1. Content is your public genius

People don’t buy products—they buy how you think.

So stop hiding your best insights in sales calls.
If a prospect asks you the same question five times a week, that’s not a private answer.
That’s a public post waiting to happen.

Think of every post as a test run for your positioning.
You’re not building trust with polish. You’re building it with clarity.

2. Engagement is your listening tool

Comments. Replies. DMs.

They’re not conversions. They’re research.

You’re not closing a deal—you’re running a temperature check.
What’s resonating? Where’s the confusion? What’s sparking debate?

The feedback loop doesn’t start after the post.
It is the post.

Great content creates a signal.
Smart founders know how to follow it.

3. Your funnel is just a better conversation

At the end of the day, content is a proxy for your voice.

It should feel like you’re in the room.
Not broadcasting. Talking.

And here’s the magic:
If it resonates, your audience keeps the conversation going—with or without you.

All you have to do is keep listening.

4. Zero-click content is the new conversion engine

SparkToro's Rand Fishkin has been ringing the alarm on this for years:

Their research shows that the highest-performing content today doesn't send people somewhere else—it keeps them where they already are.

📊 According to SparkToro and Datos, social posts that avoid external links outperform by up to 3–5x in reach and engagement.

Here’s why this matters:

• People don’t want to be redirected—they want to be respected.

• Algorithms reward posts that keep users on-platform.

• The best content builds trust in the feed, not in the funnel.

So what does this mean for founders?

Stop linking out, even to your blog post.
Start sharing the insight inside the post.
Listen and nurture peers in your replies.

If you're making someone click to get the value, you're already losing.
Give away the good stuff upfront—and watch what comes back.

5. You’re sitting on a content goldmine

Founders always ask, “Where should I look for content ideas?”
You don’t need a swipe file. You need to listen in the right rooms.

Here are two places I mine every week:

→ Live conversations

Customer advisory calls.
Sales calls.
Team meetings.

This is where the real language lives.

How customers describe their problems.
What objections show up (and why).
How your team explains what you do—when the pitch is off and when it lands.

This is where you find the genius in how you do what you do.
If something lights up the room in a meeting, it’s probably content.

The trick: Don’t transcribe. Translate.
Pull the insight out and turn it into a post.

→ Cold outreach

Here’s the one most founders miss.

When I want to pressure test a message, I don’t wait for an inbound lead.
I go outbound.

I test prompts, angles, and questions with people I want to build with—even if we’ve never talked before.

The replies I get back are gold:
Misunderstandings. Friction. Curiosity. Interest.

This is real-time market perception.
Not from fans or followers—but from the people I still need to win over.

So if you're wondering what to post next, start with this:
What did I hear this week that surprised me?

-Grady