The yellow content guidelines 🍋

‘Sup lemon?

Welcome to the not-so-top-secret Zest Content Guidelines. Here, we’ve compiled a list of the factors that make a content suggestion Zesty. If you keep these guidelines in mind as you hunt for your next great Zest suggestion, you can be sure you’ll find the right stuff.

1. Go in-depth

   Zest tribe members are here to learn. While sometimes you can deliver high value in a small package, Zest members love long-form content that is filled with professional insights and details. Content that only touches the surface of a topic without giving Zesters a new perspective or understanding of a process won’t satisfy members’ thirst for knowledge.

   For instance, listicles are not in depth by nature. Hence the chances of a listicle being accepted by the Zest tribe members is low.

2. Check that link

   Every suggested link must take Zest members directly to the content being suggested. A link leading to a website’s homepage instead of a specific content item won’t be accepted. And, of course, broken links aren't a go either.

3. Stay on (the marketing) topic

   Zest is a tribe of professional marketers looking to improve their marketing knowledge and avoid content fluff. So the tribe only approves marketing related content.

4. Tell, don’t sell

   Zest community members aren't looking to be sold. Zest members love actionable advice and tool recommendations. But if your suggested content is overly salesy, CTA-stuffed, and highlights a single brand too much, chances are that the tribe will not approve it.

5. Go beyond the news

   Pieces of content that only announce marketing related news don’t usually get published on Zest. What does serve up value to Zest members are content suggestions that pair the latest marketing news with actionable advice on how to respond to this news.

6. Less fluff, more action

   Zest tribe members aren’t looking to learn the basics of marketing. Successful content suggestions provide members with information that extends their knowledge base and includes actionable takeaways. The best Zests help experienced marketers learn something new or improve their workflow.

7. Keep it quality

   If the suggested content itself is poorly crafted--poor audio quality, bad grammar, difficult to understand--then Zest members aren't going to benefit from it Hence it might not get approved by them.

8. Send the English version

   While Zest has many members from around the world, we are currently only publishing English language content. However, if you’d like to help expand our language capabilities and join our Localization team, contact Yam at yam@zest.is.

9. Avoid over-gating your content

   Zest members love quality content, but not jumping through hoops. So if accessing a piece of content requires our members to pass through several steps or answer a lot of questions, the suggestion probably won’t be approved.
   In most cases, asking for a name and email in exchange for access is 100% enough and legit.

   Also, Zest doesn’t send members to content that is locked behind a paywall.

10. No double dipping

    Sometimes a content suggestion ticks all the boxes and is worthy to be called a Zest but the Zest tribe may still need to say no. This can happen if another member has already suggested the content. (Each piece of content can only be Zested once).

11. Every Zest should be T.A.R.T.

    Zestable content is (T)rustworthy (A)ctionable (R)elevant and (T)imely. So, if the Zest members can't uncover the publish date of your suggestion, we may have to say no. Our Zest members need timely content and without a date, it’s hard to tell if the information shared is still relevant.

The Zest tribe represents a living, breathing (professional) marketing community.
As time goes by, the above guidelines will change to meet the needs of that community.

What won’t ever change is the Zest tribe vision to create a place without:

1. Filter bubbles and echo chambers
2. Biased algorithms which decide what content members should consume
3. Easily manipulated systems that permit unworthy content to gain exposure
4. Centralized products that are controlled by the brand that owns the platform

Times are changing and marketing professionals must keep up.

It’s time to harness our goodwill and make the marketing knowledge world a better, more zesty, place.

And, maybe a little more yellow. 😉

The Zesteam