Jose Cuervo recently released “Have a Story“ with Kiefer Sutherland. After the Jack Bauer fan in me calmed down, the commercial struck me as a near perfect outline for content marketing success.

In the 30 second spot, Kiefer describes five actions all culminating in the instruction to “have a story” (a key to marketing success).

Here’s the breakdown.

Step #1: Have an audience

Before you can do anything, you need a platform with people to talk to. You can either build your own platform such as a website or newsletter, or you the social web has built many already such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ (not to mention all of the niche sites).

If you don’t have a platform and an audience, get one.

Step #2: Have a souvenir

A souvenir is a reminder of somewhere you’ve been and a discussion starter.

One of the most successful forms of content marketing is creating reports, white papers, infographics, slide shows, etc. that visitors can download or embed on their sites. This virtual souvenir spreads your story and is a discussion starter.

To be successful in content marketing, create souvenirs.

Step #3: Have a sensitive side

Authenticity.

If you try to fake your way online (or offline), buyers will see right through it. People want to connect with people, not corporations.

Be authentic. Be real. 

Step #4: Have a second thought

Don’t take on more than you can handle. Consider your internal resources and capabilities, identify what you can handle, and hire experts for everything else.

There are a lot of social networks and opportunities and you can’t pursue them all. Have a process in place to determine what is right for your brand and customers.

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Don’t chase every social strategy. Be methodical.

Step #5: Have a story

One of the most powerful assets that you have is your story.

You have one. And I bet it’s worth telling. You just may not realize it. Marketing genius Seth Godin has written extensively on this topic. The secret is to figure out what is the unique, share-worthy thing about your company and then tell it in a consistent, concise way (e.g. TOMS shoes).

Tell your story and tell it often.