Here is a transcript generated by Otter.ai of The Content Mix podcast interview with VeraContent’s Kyler Canastra and Allan Formigoni of Worldpackers and WeTravel, on how to make your content stand out in the travel industry:

Kyler Canastra 0:02
Hi, everyone, I’m Kyler from The Content Mix. And I’m excited to be here with Allan Formigoni , content and email marketing manager at WeTravel. Originally from Brazil, Allan has always been passionate about traveling and marketing. From an almost two-year background backpacking trip to Australia to founding a service-oriented travel company called World Packers, Allen has let his passion shape his career, and not the other way around. Now based in Lisbon, Portugal, Allan has embarked on a new journey in a new market. And we’re excited to learn more about his career today. So let’s get the show started. And I want to start by thanking Allan for joining us. So thank you so much for joining us today on The Content Mix.

Allan Formigoni 0:43
Hey, Kyler, thanks for having me.

Kyler Canastra 0:44
It’s our pleasure. So I kind of just gave you a nice little introduction, but I kind of want you to introduce yourself in your own words. So could you just tell us a bit more about who you are, where you’re from? And what’s your connection to content marketing in Europe?

Allan Formigoni 0:57
Okay, perfect. So yeah, I’m from originally from San Paolo, Brazil. And I’m the content marketing manager at WeTravel, which is basically a payment platform for travel companies. The company is based in Amsterdam, but I’m based in Lisbon right now. So I just arrived to Europe. So glad to have this conversation with you.

Kyler Canastra 1:17
And how’s that transition been coming to Europe after living in South America from your most of your life?

Allan Formigoni 1:24
Yeah, I mean, it’s been busy. Moving to a different country is busy. It’s not like I’m traveling, like a digital nomad or something. I mean, I really want to stay here for a while. So I have all this bureaucracy to carry off. But I mean, it’s been wonderful. So I can’t complain.

Kyler Canastra 1:39
Yeah, I can’t complain. We were just talking before we started the interview recording that I’m also just moved to Lisbon. And we’re both going through very similar processes. It’s not fun, but it’s totally worth it. Now, I kind of want to know, because you didn’t make this shift. You’re working for a company now based in Amsterdam, and you’re now living in Lisbon, originally from Brazil. What’s your typical day at work? Like? And what are your areas of responsibility?

Allan Formigoni 2:01
So I basically oversee our content strategy and also our inbound strategy. And to be honest, because I just started the company, we just started getting our marketing team from the ground, basically. So most of my tasks lately, have been related to like setting up the right tools for the team or setting up the right process for for us, because we basically felt that we were missing the right structure to, to take, let’s say, to take our content efforts to the next level. So we also felt that we were missing some data visibility to help us with like, make the right decisions. So this is basically what I’ve been doing lately, just making sure we have everything we need in order to succeed.

Kyler Canastra 2:45
It’s kind of like not only in your life, are you starting from the ground up in a new country, and you’re job, it’s it’s definitely new things and challenges coming to you. But I also kind of want to learn more about your background in Brazil. So like, obviously, for work reasons, you moved to Europe, but I kind of want to know, like, was this something that you always had in mind? And also kind of what differences have you found so far? Because it seems like you just you know, you’re starting this new role. And you’re kind of building the marketing department at the company itself, so kind of what differences have you found in marketing between the two markets? Maybe like the more shocking things between like South America and then EMEA?

Allan Formigoni 3:22
Yeah, sure. So yeah, I always wanted to come to like to live in Europe for a while. I mean, I have traveled around and I have visited some places, but I don’t know, I just felt that was the right time for me to come and try it. Because I think I don’t know thanks for the pandemic, I felt I was working remotely. And then I just felt like it was the right time and the right opportunity to try out. So that’s, that’s what I did, basically, in terms of market difference. I’m still learning of course, especially now that I’m transitioning between from a b2c background to a b2b one. So my previous company was like a b2b, sorry, a b2c marketplace. And I’m now working for a b2b like, basically like a SaS platform. So I’m still learning how to better understand final customers like Final customers are basically companies. So this is one of my challenges right now. But I would say that South American markets in general are more price sensitive, I guess. Also, I would say there are some important difference between acquisition channels, so they definitely might change from one country to another, but from like a rural region to another one. So by just one example. Right now we have some companies, like for my current company, we have some clients that are based in LatAm, and they use a lot of like Facebook groups to getting to be in touch like with their own community, which might be a little bit different from companies in the US, for example, that might use different tools. So in terms of where you find your customers, or where you find prospects and everything, I realized that this might change from one place to another.

Kyler Canastra 5:13
Exactly, especially because of the cultural differences in the way, just how business is. I was listening to a podcast this morning about like life in Portugal, cuz I’ve been listening to it a lot for the transitioning. And that was one thing, the girl was from Belgium, and she was just saying how much business is so different in Portugal. So I think one thing, too, that people say, in Europe it’s really, I don’t know, challenging, because there’s so many different cultures and like ways of living, in one place, while compared to other places like South America, like Brazil itself. It’s like the size of Europe. So it’s kind of, but it’s kind of a similar culture, although there’s differences within it, same with the US. So it’s definitely exciting to… Definitely listen to other podcast episodes, because you’re not the first Brazilian to come to Europe and to be on the show. And they had a lot of really interesting insight about the differences. But also I kind of wanted to know, like, at WeTravel in your current role, like, Who is your target audience? Like, what markets are you guys working in?

Allan Formigoni 6:04
So yeah, so we support small- and medium-sized travel businesses. And our platform is just made for them, too. So they can like sell more of their tourist trips or whatever, travel product related that they have.

Kyler Canastra 6:19
Yeah, so it’s kind of it’s cool. Like, it’s actually a cool industry to be in too, with travel. And now the next question I have for you is related to your life and kind of your interest in travel. So it’s really cool to see how like your personal interest is also reflected in your job. Now, when I was doing research about you, before the interview, I learned that you kind of did something really cool and interesting post-graduation, which a lot of people at least in like the US, for example, where I’m from, it’s not common to take like a sabbatical or a gap year, it’s very much like you go to school, and you go right to the, you know, into the workforce, the kind of American mindset that we have. But you took time off after graduating from university, and you set off to Australia, and I think you also traveled in that region as well of the world, and you took your backpack, and you had a desire to explore the world. So what did you find most rewarding about that experience? And how has it impacted your career?

Allan Formigoni 7:10
Oh, that was definitely rewarding, especially in terms of getting more self-knowledge. So getting to know myself better, and getting some new life perspectives, because when you are, I don’t know, when you are getting in touch with new cultures and different people from your hometown, you just get a new perspective about life and everything. And it definitely shaped like, my professional life. Because after traveling, I really, I felt that I really wanted to be part of a project with some kind of purpose behind it. So right after traveling, I just started looking for some companies or projects where I could feel some kind of like fulfillment, you know, not just like working for working, but somewhere where I could, I don’t know, just help and like connect my purpose. So that definitely shaped my professional life later on.

Kyler Canastra 8:04
That’s really cool and traveling I always think people kind of like miss… I don’t know, they underestimate like the benefits of traveling I think, whether or not that you’re like you have, like you’re working in the travel industry and something that you’re passionate about. But I think even for those who aren’t, just like going and exploring different cultures can really like open your mind to different perspectives, different like viewpoints, and just Yeah, kind of makes you a better global citizen, which I think nowadays is really, really important. Now, you have your like, initial like background is in Business Administration and Sales & Marketing and you’ve received a Bachelor’s in Administration from Escola Superior de Propoganda e Marketing in Brazil, and work experience as an inside sales representative at SalesTalent Digital, so I work in sales as well. So it’s kind of my realm, but where did your interest in content marketing come from? Because your background is more sales marketing, more traditional, I would say and then it kind of shifted to content marketing.

Allan Formigoni 9:02
Yeah definitely, to be honest, it has nothing to do with my previous experience. Because basically. Yeah, it just kind of happened because I experienced this transition from like, traditional marketing to digital marketing. So when I was like studying, it was more of like traditional marketing and like, trying to prepare you for like working for big corporations and everything. This startup thing was just starting, at least in Brazil. So it was really like not planned. So being part of a startup from like day one was really helpful because basically when you are starting like a company or you are quite an early stage startup, you basically learn a bit of everything, because you have to deal with everything right? And I’m not talking only about marketing, but I was also helping like withcustomer service, even like product, everything, and one of the things that I’m most related to was the content marking part because at some point, we were doing a lot of stuff in our early stage marketing team. So that’s when I started learning about content marketing and SEO and all those related stuff. So again, it was nothing planned, but just felt right when I was learning about it, yes.

Kyler Canastra 10:28
Yeah, I feel like a lot of people that I have on the show always say that it’s kind of like circumstance led them to where they are. And kind of in my, I was a linguist, and I did translations, and I did content creation, then I ended up working in it, and then now I’m selling it. So it’s kind of like this whole, like full circle, but I never, you know, graduated university saying I want to be in content marketing, but it just happens. And I feel like right now, it’s kind of gotten a lot of… the buzz around content marketing is very high. It’s something that people are really interested in. So it’s definitely like a needed skill to have. So definitely exciting that you were able to do that and work on that. Now, in 2014, you started kind of this content marketing career path with a role as head of content and SEO at WorldPackers, a company which you founded. Now for those who are listening who don’t know what WorldHackers is. It’s an online travel and social marketplace for people to find unique exchange opportunities to share their skills and receive accommodation. So through experience, such as teaching English for Thai children, or working on a beautiful beach in the north eastern part of Brazil. So I feel like this also reflects what you were saying before about your sabbatical in Australia, how you kind of learned how you wanted to give back while traveling. So I kind of want to know more though about how did the opportunity come about? Was this like a passion project? Which I’m assuming it was. And was it easy to combine your skills in marketing and business with your passion for travel and giving back?

Allan Formigoni 11:53
Cool, so yeah. Yeah, no, but I mean, what’s really cool, because when I came back, like after traveling two years, I really felt that I went into, like, “give more people this opportunity, especially in Brazil,” because maybe, like, more expensive to travel, especially abroad. So I just felt that I wanted more people to have those same kind of experiences that I did, because it definitely changed my life. And then when when I came back to San Paolo, I was just looking for, again, like for projects or companies that somehow could, like, fulfill that void of trying to help people so so I just found I just met one of the one of WorldPacker’s co-founders, because of a friend, he was like a common friend that we had, like someone we had in common, so I just asked him, okay, do you need some kind of help, and they were just starting the project. I mean, they didn’t have any like structure or employees, or any kind of revenue. So we didn’t have like any salaries or anything. But I just fell in love for the project. And I felt it was a really nice way of just giving back with everything I learned from traveling, trying to help other people to have the same kind of experience. So it was definitely a passion project. I remember back in the days we, I think we’d work I don’t know, for six or seven months before we got our first salary, everyone. Yeah, so everybody was kind of volunteering. And then once the project, it was like, easier to, I don’t know, like, like getting more people to help us and hiring our first employees and everything. But it was definitely rewarding, because everything I learned about content marketing, I learned through WorldPackers. So yeah, I’m definitely grateful.

Kyler Canastra 13:45
That’s awesome. Now I kind of want, it’s really cool. First of all, I wanted to say it’s really cool that you kind of took this risk, it’s something that you’re passionate about, didn’t get paid for six, seven months, like that’s, I feel like that’s the hard part about being an entrepreneur in that sense. But it’s really cool that you kind of went ahead and did it, regardless of it being comfortable or not. I just wanted to know too like, how did it work like WorldPackers, like do you like just like find a destination then you like, kind of pick what you want to do? Like what service you want to do? And then you go or how, how does the process work?

Allan Formigoni 14:15
Yeah, we change like our business model a few times, because we were like testing different stuff. But today, the way it works is basically you pay for an annual subscription, and then you have access to all those different projects and then you can get in touch by yourself. So it’s the easier way to find those like really nice projects. You can see like online reviews from past volunteers from other travelers who helped that specific project and then you can get in touch and agree everything on like how you help or when you’ll be helping, when you’ll be traveling to that specific destination. So it’s a really nice experience in terms of cultural emotion. It’s definitely the best way if you really want to get to know, like a specific culture or place, I would say it’s definitely the best way because you’ll be staying longer, you’ll be living among local people. So yeah, it’s like not a tourist experience at all. So it’s definitely authentic. Yeah.

Kyler Canastra 15:16
Yeah. And I feel like the trips I’ve done that have had that focus have been really rewarding. And like you said, you learn so much, just because you’re in it, you’re not just like seeing it from the outside, you’re actually experiencing the culture and the people with the people. Now, you said you also like got your exposure to content marketing there. But it wasn’t just that. I mean, at this company, you were coordinating content production with local content editors and over 100 writers from all over the world. So with in-house production and outsourced creation and translation. Now this is something that like is a pain point, I can tell from different people in the industry, of how do I manage so many people and kind of coordinate everything and keep everything unified? So I wanted to ask you, how did you manage a team that was so large and working with so many different working parts? And why was localization so important? So like having these people in the local markets writing the content for you, so important for you and for the company’s overall messaging?

Allan Formigoni 16:07
Awesome. Yeah. So basically, most of our writers were like freelancing writers, and they were just traveling around, and most of them were also like, pretty much all of them were traveling with WorldPackers. So they were using our product, which was great. Because they were traveling with WorldPackers, they were volunteering, and they were like, trying to find ways of making some extra money while they were traveling, so they could travel even more. And this really worked out for us because we wanted, like, everything that we were trying to build in terms of content were related to travel. So like destination guides, so travel tips, how can you travel on a budget? or how can you travel more? Like to backpack to one specific destination. And we actually knew the people that were traveling through those destinations, which were our travelers. So it really worked because they were there. So they could write like the best and most authentic content possible about that specific destination, which is definitely something that I would say that made our content really stand out among everything else, because we already have a lot of travel-related content online today. So it really this like this kind of experience really helped us. And what we did as well, because we have a lot of like freelancing writers, I think we were really good at setting up like the right process and the right, let’s say like the like the right quality book guidelines. So we had like a few guidelines that we were using to make sure they were following our instructions. And also, we always try to make sure that every time we onboard, like a new writer, we were like showing them like the way we write or sending like some, like templates, and examples or things that we were looking for. And we were really good to assign the type of like the topic that we were looking for. So they don’t, they didn’t just send us like whatever they wanted to say. Right. So I think it was really like, organization was really a key point for us to be able to write with so many, to work with so many writers. And I also have, like local content managers, for each of the main language that WorldPackers was working with, so English, Spanish and Portuguese. So we have local managers to deal directly with writers in their own native language, which was great to, like, show them what to do and help them writing some pieces. And I think the toughest part was sometimes we would work with writers that, I mean, they didn’t have much experience or they were just getting started. And we really felt that we could like teach them and show them how to become better writers. So we really took some time to share the skills we had built at WorldPackers, working with content to show them like and try to teach them to become better writers or even better, like content editors in general. So it was hard, especially at the beginning, but I think we set the right process in how we could

Kyler Canastra 19:26
In what languages were you writing in? What was the content in, which languages?

Allan Formigoni 19:31
Portuguese, English and Spanish. And related to your second question, I think that was really important. I remember when we first like, WorldPackers was launched in English because it was like a global platform. So it just made sense to launch it in English, but I remember when we translated to Portuguese and then Spanish, we had so many more website visitors and conversions and everything. So it was definitely a huge thing for us. And especially in terms of content, well, I think it was really important for us because our target market is, so it’s way easier to communicate with those markets if you are speaking their own language, especially because we are talking to young people. So let’s say in Portuguese, we could use local slang, because we are our target audience is basically people from 20 to 30. It was basically that. Also because of SEO, of course. So let’s say like if I’m Brazilian, I’ll probably Google something in Portuguese before I search something in English, and a lot of people don’t speak English. So in those countries, so it’s just easier to search for information in your own language.

Kyler Canastra 20:49
language.

Allan Formigoni 20:51
And also, in terms of product education, I would say because our, at least WorldPackers was not like the most simple thing, a simple product to use, because it’s traveling, you need to get like a lot of information. And then you need to research a lot of information. So it’s always better, I would say when you can like to show that information in their own native language and, like, teach how to use your product and everything in their own language, instead of just doing in English. So in our case, it really worked, it really paid off. So.

Kyler Canastra 21:26
Yeah, it’s really important. And I think what your approach to in this role to have like the people who are actually traveling to tell their own stories, it’s really, really exciting. And I think kind of stays true to what the brand was to be an authentic to provide these authentic experiences. So yeah, might as well have the people who are doing these experiences, right and tell their story firsthand. And I think that’s really like a unique aproach. I do think that a lot of companies, right, we need professional writers, and it’s more work, obviously to you know, like you said before, you had to give them assistance with the writing and editing and teaching them kind of different tips and tricks to produce blog posts and stuff like that. But it gave you like a really good authentic, you know, first hand experience that you could share with your audience to like.

Allan Formigoni 22:07
Yeah. I would even add that, I agree that we should like, it depends on like your audience and your niche. You should get like professional writers, but in your case, because we were like a travel company. In matters more like having professional travelers, let’s say like that, yeah, than writers. Because we could edit those pieces. But we could not get like the travel, the authentic and real-life travel experiences they were having. Yeah, of course, we could just Google how to like, my top tips to travel to Brazil, right? But it’s not the same. I mean, we wanted someone like traveling to Brazil, to share their experience. So for us it was more important having someone traveling there, and teaching them how to write than the other way around. But I would say that it really depends on your audience and your like your business model. For us it worked, yeah.

Kyler Canastra 23:04
For sure. Now, we did touch upon a bit about what you do at WeTravel, but um, I kind of was curious to know, like, what kind of content are you guys producing at WeTravel? Is it blog posts or like, what are your like, what’s your goals? I know you’re still starting the department and working on that, too. So kind of what did you have in mind for the content strategy for WeTravel?

Allan Formigoni 23:22
Yeah, so the content strategy is based on one main goal right now, which is basically bringing more inbound leads to our company. Of course, at the same time, we want to make sure we build our authority and our reputation as a leader in our industry. Because again, this like big transition from b2c to b2b. In b2b, you need to care more about like your reputation. Especially because we are a payment platform and a payment solution. Like, our clients really want to make sure that we are like, like serious, and we have like, we are a safe company, and they can trust on us because they can trust their money with us. So this is like building a reputation as a brand is really, really important. And this is what what we are trying to do. Of course, it’s not like a short-term thing. It’s always something that you’re building up. So I would just split between bringing more inbound leads to the company and also building showing WeTravel as a leader in our industry.

Kyler Canastra 24:29
That’s awesome. Now I have to ask you, because you have all this experience, right with content, and we just really dove into your experience before and now at WeTravel. What has been an example of a piece of content or campaign that’s really worked well for you? And why did it work well?

Allan Formigoni 24:46
Like at WeTravel, our webinars have been doing really, really well. I would say that they work really well because our users can get more in-depth information rather than just Like really nice, simple blog posts. And we do make sure that we ask the right questions, to, you know, whatever we are interviewing. And again, I think it’s definitely related to like our business and to our clients, your audience, because they really want to get like in-depth information about some specific topics. So yeah, the webinars for sure. And some of our ebooks have been downloaded like 1000 times, which is great as well. And again, I think it’s related to like really in-depth information. And not only in-depth information, but in our case, for example, some companies, they are looking for information on how to grow their businesses, right. So they want to understand how to, like do better marketing, or how to work with social media, in their own niche. And I think we succeed at building content, like not only broad content about, let’s say, marketing or growth, but content that is really, really specific to travel industry, or just some travel segments, like the ones we, our clients are part of. So like, travel companies and companies or international tour operators. So I think we succeed in building content that is really specific. Like, again, like one example like “how to do marketing for if you are to a tour operator” and not just like how to do marketing in general. So I think that was like a really good example.

Kyler Canastra 26:26
Yeah, and that’s a strategy that really adds value to like your audience, target audience, people who are interested in whether or not they want to, you know, work with we travel, they kind of it’s giving people like knowledge and information that’s interesting to them, so it’s kind of nice that you’re doing that as well, as well as building this awareness for WeTravel and the services you all offer. Now, I always ask this question to people, because you’re someone that has plenty of experience in marketing, what do you think are like the most important skills to have as a marketer nowadays, in this crazy globalized world?

Allan Formigoni 27:00
That’s definitely… I mean, we have all these marketing areas and like different stuff that you can do with your, like, they can be really different from one to another. But I wouldn’t say that you need to nail like every marketing skill, but I think I believe it’s definitely helpful when you have like a broad, at least a broad idea of different marketing areas and how they connect. So let’s say like content marketing with branding, or SEO with paid media, or social media with affiliation models. So again, I don’t think an issue like expert, I think it’s impossible to be able to be an expert in each one of it. But I would say that it definitely helps, especially as you grow your career or you, I don’t, if you want you like, become a better marketer, you should have some, like, broad knowledge about each of those specific marketing areas. Also, the ability or yeah, like, the ability to understand, communicate, or even argue with, on a similar level with other teams. So with sales, with your product team with your technology teams, I think that’s definitely important because at least trying to speak the same language, because at some point, you need to deal with those things. And you’ll all be working together towards the same goal, so…

Kyler Canastra 28:29
Yeah, it’s kind of just like figuring out what like, you’re the puzzle piece, where you fit in the puzzle, whether it be like, Okay, if I’m doing SEO, where does this fit in the bigger picture, and if I’m in marketing, doing content marketing, where does that fit in the bigger picture of the company? So it’s kind of that idea of just kind of knowing, being aware of what’s going on around you and how, what role right, that each thing you’re doing plays.

Allan Formigoni 28:49
Yeah, and also, I, I don’t like list, like, all my connections, my network, I see that a lot of content marketers, they have these I know, writing backgrounds, they might be like journalists, or they like writing. That’s why I go through content marketing. But sometimes I feel that, of course, writing is one of the things that you can do as a content marketer, but you should definitely get more like a strategy, strategic mindset, and not just like, knowing how to write so yeah, I feel sometimes people just like stick with like writing good things, whatever they feel like, it can be like a good writing thing, and not learn or get this really deep dive into like, really marketing, strategic concepts. So…

Kyler Canastra 29:35
Yeah, and that can be hard with the writer because, you know, it’s their craft. So you’re trying to tell them you need to write in a certain way to, you know, get more, you know, SEO and do all this stuff. And sometimes it can be hard for them, but it’s all good.

Allan Formigoni 29:47
Yeah, you’re first marketer and then you are a writer.

Kyler Canastra 29:51
Yeah. It’s hard to tell people that sometime but it is true, to have that kind of just to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing and what effect it will have. Now kind of talking more about recommendations, you’re giving us some, you know, ideas about skills that are important to have as a marketer. And I feel like nowadays, everyone’s talking about habits and daily routines. And I’m definitely a person that consumes that information, too. I’m really fascinated to know, like, why successful people do certain things every day, and how it affects their success. So I have to ask you now, as a guest on the show, what daily habits do you have? Or do you do that attribute to your success that you could share with our audience?

Allan Formigoni 30:27
I think your ability to manage your time really well, especially now that a lot of people are working from home is like, crucial, you know, like nowadays. So being able to manage your time with your and now we don’t have like an office, we have like, basically, you’re probably working from your living room or something like that. So I would say like, trying to find some, like ways of really managing your time, I try to keep like my email, close it pretty much all the time. So like this, they’ll keep looking at it, trying to manage in terms of how many times I checked my Slack notifications or message. So you know, like some basic stuff, especially now that we are working from home, working online, at least this is my case right now. And I also love reading about like, content in general, or marketing in general, because to be honest, things are like changing like really, really fast. So the more you can get updated, better. Again, I don’t feel that I can be an expert in everything market related. I think that’s impossible. But I’m at least trying to learn whatever I can, especially in terms of content marketing, and on new trends, and also new trends that are specific to my industry, because again, this might change a lot from industry to industry. So right. Again, nothing like nothing like too much special, like exercise, meditation…

Kyler Canastra 32:01
I think those are really important things. I think the first one, you really touched like, just working from home, I think a lot of people have struggled with like this balance, I feel like there’s some people that overwork and they work themselves too much. And there’s other people that don’t really have struggles paying attention, because they’re not in like in their environment. And I think what you said is knowing how to manage your time and kind of regulate yourself and to make sure you’re being efficient. Now also, I think another good habit is just like staying on top of everything in terms of trends and what’s going on in the world of content marketing. I think that’s a good habit to have. Because as I said before, it’s really hard to navigate sometimes because the world’s… every day there’s something new or something that you have to keep up with. And I was just wondering, like you said, you read a lot about content marketing. Where do you read? Where do you get this information? Do you read books? Do you read websites, blogs?

Allan Formigoni 32:49
Yeah, I usually read some websites and blogs. So I really love animals.com, which they are basically like a content marketing agency, but they have, like their blog is really good. For like more SEO-specific related content, I really like Ahrefs blog, Animalz they have it, they definitely have like some really amazing courses that are really specific to content marketing. So I would definitely recommend them, in terms of, like, what I envision for WeTravel, or what I like some reference to Okay, so let’s say these guys are doing like really good content marketing. I love First Round Review. I mean, they have like this great blog with a lot of resources, and the way they interview their guests. I think it’s amazing. And it’s definitely something that I look up to when I’m like when I’m thinking of our content strategy… Yeah, so any terms of I don’t know, like, if I can give any, like, travel-related tip for a book or something. Because I think it might help, like reading sometimes really like some random stuff. I really love a book called Travels by Michael Crichton, I don’t know, like how to spell his name, but I think it’s Michael Crichton, okay. So it’s a really nice book about like traveling, and like, things that you can learn when you are traveling. So really good, but yeah, yeah, it’s a really cool one. Again, one less like recommendation. I wouldn’t call like a habit. But one thing that I do a lot in definitely helps me is like asking for help and asking people questions for things that I don’t know. And especially to people in my industry, so if I have anything like any like content or inbound marketing related question, I would just ask people that are, I think they are doing like a really good job. So I’m researching or go to LinkedIn, and try to find like content markers or markers that are working for companies that I admire so and usually they are really, really approachable. So just don’t be afraid of asking help or asking people questions or connections.

Kyler Canastra 34:59
I love that.

Allan Formigoni 35:00
It’s really helpful.

Kyler Canastra 35:01
Yeah, and that’s kind of what we want to do with The Content Mext is just like build that community, like a networking place. So you know, we have like a Facebook group and stuff like that.

Allan Formigoni 35:10
Awesome yeah.

Kyler Canastra 35:10
And that really helps to bring people together and share tips. And honestly, like, every person I’ve met so far for this podcast has been so like, open and friendly, and just willing to share advice. And I feel like, like you just said, like, that’s what you need to do is kind of be humble in a way and like, okay, I don’t know how this is, or I need to get help and just ask people, I feel like LinkedIn has become this really cool tool that you can kind of reach out to random people, and they help you, which is really nice. Because usually, sometimes in our world, you know, nowadays people are just like, Don’t talk to me, or you know, that mentality of, I don’t know, not helping each other. And I feel like that’s been the opposite in my experience, and from what you are saying too in yours. So it’s really cool to like, kind of use LinkedIn as a tool to learn more and have knowledge sharing, which I think is great. So we’ve come to the end of our interview, unfortunately, I feel like we could talk a lot more about different things. I was fascinated about your travels and kind of the work you’ve been doing in content marketing, but to kind of wrap everything up nicely. Do you have any, I wanted to ask if you have any, like parting advice for our audience for people listening today? Things like maybe from your career that you wish you knew before. Or things that you think people should know if they’re interested in content marketing.

Allan Formigoni 36:16
Um, good question. Yeah. Yeah, again I mean, just like, don’t be afraid of asking questions like, ask for help from anyone, no matter like, Yeah, I don’t like C-level or whatever. Just go for it. Never forget to communicate with your users, with your audience. I think this is like really, really important because it’s really easy to find, like content and like trying to learn about content marketing, but by end of the day it’s really specific for your, what your audience is looking for, or where they hang out or what type of content they are looking for. So it’s really specific to that. And I would approach content as like with a product mindset, you know, like, we are kind of a product for, what you’re building is kind of a product for your audience. So just make sure that you get in touch with your audience to make sure that they are getting the relevant information they’re looking for, and that you are being really helpful. And not just like blogging, because everybody says you should be blogging.

Kyler Canastra 37:22
Yeah, it’s more than that. Now, you also set yourself up, because you’re talking about how great it is to reach out to other people online. Now I have to ask you, what’s the best way to get in touch with you? So maybe someone might have questions for you now after listening to this interview, so I kind of contacted you, we contacted you from The Content Mix on LinkedIn, I know you’re active on LinkedIn, but are you active on any other platforms? Or is LinkedIn the best way?

Allan Formigoni 37:44
Yeah, I would say LinkedIn is the best way. But anyone, like anyone have any questions or just want to talk about content, or traveling or anything, just if you need any help you have these conversations.

Kyler Canastra 37:57
Awesome. Well, thank you so much, for joining us today and sharing your insights. It was nice to connect to someone else that’s based in Lisbon, and to learn more about your experience coming here and just kind of starting this new role and but also your previous experience traveling the world and starting this really cool company back in Brazil. So thank you so much. I’m sure our audience is going to enjoy it. And as always, thanks everyone for listening in. For more perspectives on the content marketing industry in Europe, check out veracontent.com/mix and keep tuning in to the podcast for more interviews with content experts. We’ll see you next time. Thanks again, Allan.

Allan Formigoni 38:32
Thanks. Thanks, Kyler. Thanks, everyone.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai