@hannah_bo_banna

right in the feels

right

in the

feels

(or, how to create content that gets shared)

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

hello there!

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

my team’s job is to make things that journalists want to write about

& people want to share

@hannah_bo_banna

sometimes we nail it

@hannah_bo_banna

(nbed example & results)

@hannah_bo_banna

450k visits

@hannah_bo_banna

but it doesn’t always go down like that…

@hannah_bo_banna

it’s incredibly difficult

@hannah_bo_banna

so why do we do it?

@hannah_bo_banna

from an SEO perspective we do it to gain links, coverage

& social shares

@hannah_bo_banna

why?

@hannah_bo_banna

links from highly authoritative sites, increase the authority of our clients’ sites

@hannah_bo_banna

over time this translates into stronger organic rankings

@hannah_bo_banna

stronger organic rankings = more money (for the vast majority of sites)

@hannah_bo_banna

but it’s not just about organic rankings

@hannah_bo_banna

coverage on high authority sites builds trust & credibility,

and, over time increases brand recognition

@hannah_bo_banna

social sharing of the content we create offers similar benefits

@hannah_bo_banna

but it offers even more than that

@hannah_bo_banna

ultimately, I do what I do

to help build meaningful brands

@hannah_bo_banna

we have a tendency to use ‘company’ & ‘brand’ interchangeably

@hannah_bo_banna

but they aren’t the same thing at all

@hannah_bo_banna

what does ‘brand’ actually mean?

@hannah_bo_banna

brand to impress firmly; fix ineradicably; place indelibly

@hannah_bo_banna

therefore…

@hannah_bo_banna

a brand is not a brand unless it leave a lasting impression

@hannah_bo_banna

& it needs to be a favourable impression

@hannah_bo_banna

I believe that companies need to build brands that mean something to people

@hannah_bo_banna

content is a great place to play from that perspective

@hannah_bo_banna

if you create content people love, then by extension,

you’re creating a brand people love

@hannah_bo_banna

I am unapologetically passionate about this

@hannah_bo_banna

I want to do f*cking great work good isn’t good enough

& ok is never ok

@hannah_bo_banna

but unhappily, my work isn’t

always f*cking great

@hannah_bo_banna

it appears I’m not alone, I get a lot of emails like this:

@hannah_bo_banna

Hey Hannah! We made this thinger, and we all think it’s great! We’ve gone to 200 journalists, but no one’s picked it up, and we’ve seen no social shares either. Any idea where we’re going wrong?

@hannah_bo_banna

this next slide may sound mean (but it’s meant with love)

@hannah_bo_banna

when people tell me their piece isn’t working,

& I take a look, I typically feel one (or more)

of these things

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might bleed

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

for the sake of clarity, I feel the same things when I look back on

some of my own pieces

@hannah_bo_banna

my work isn’t always

f*cking great

@hannah_bo_banna

but if we want to get better at this (and I do, desperately)

@hannah_bo_banna

then we really need to look at this stuff

@hannah_bo_banna

who in here has failed like me?

@hannah_bo_banna

who else wants to get better?

@hannah_bo_banna

I heart you

@hannah_bo_banna I heart you

@hannah_bo_banna

ok, let’s start with the basics

@hannah_bo_banna

it can be useful to think about creative pieces in terms of 3 core components:

the content, the execution & the hook

@hannah_bo_banna

content

@hannah_bo_banna

here the content is data from the Forbes billionaires list

@hannah_bo_banna

here the content is a collection of images from the 1900s

@hannah_bo_banna

execution

@hannah_bo_banna

the execution is how we display the content

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

here the execution is a series of graphs

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

here we’ve overlaid the photos from the 1900s on to google street view

@hannah_bo_banna

hook

@hannah_bo_banna

hook something which captivates

@hannah_bo_banna

hooks are tricksy

@hannah_bo_banna

they aren’t immediately apparent

@hannah_bo_banna

which when you think about it, is sort of the point

@hannah_bo_banna

if the fish could see the hook, it wouldn’t bite

@hannah_bo_banna

often the hook isn’t the piece itself, it’s what lies beneath

@hannah_bo_banna

it can be helpful to think of this in terms of the explicit vs the implicit

@hannah_bo_banna

explicit = what the piece is or says

@hannah_bo_banna

implicit = why the piece resonates

@hannah_bo_banna

implicit = why the piece resonates

this is the hook!

@hannah_bo_banna

this is hard to explain in the abstract...

@hannah_bo_banna

explicit = fun facts & stats about billionaires

@hannah_bo_banna

implicit = there’s still time for me to make it

@hannah_bo_banna

explicit = old meets new

@hannah_bo_banna

implicit = the London we’re in danger of losing

@hannah_bo_banna

the three components (content, execution & hook)

are not discrete units, they work together

@hannah_bo_banna

in an ideal world, all 3 components should be strong

@hannah_bo_banna

but interestingly, a strong hook can make for a successful piece,

even if other components are weak

@hannah_bo_banna

(this is not a piece I created)

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

this gained coverage on over 500 sites

@hannah_bo_banna

why?

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

beer isn’t *quite* the reason, here’s what I think is going on

@hannah_bo_banna

explicit = the beers people drink around the world

@hannah_bo_banna

implicit = how this maps to our personal preferences & world view

@hannah_bo_banna

when I first saw this piece…

@hannah_bo_banna

America - land of the free, & the home of the Bud Light drinker

@hannah_bo_banna

stuff like this makes me suspect that

the hook is the most important component

@hannah_bo_banna

my most successful work evoked intense emotional responses

@hannah_bo_banna

the work which failed did not

@hannah_bo_banna

remember this?

@hannah_bo_banna

when people tell me their piece isn’t working,

& I take a look, I typically feel one (or more)

of these things

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might bleed

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

these issues are tough to deconstruct because we don’t see creative pieces as component parts,

we see the whole

@hannah_bo_banna

however, I think that each issue can be tied back to problems with:

the content, the execution, the hook, or a combination of the three

@hannah_bo_banna

issues with content (?)

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might bleed

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

issues with execution (?)

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might bleed

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

issues with the hook (?)

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might bleed

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

you’ll notice I keep coming back to issues with the hook

@hannah_bo_banna

the hook = what the piece suggests or evokes

@hannah_bo_banna

the hook = why a piece resonates

@hannah_bo_banna

if you create something which doesn’t resonate, people won’t feel anything

@hannah_bo_banna

when we don’t feel anything, we don’t share, comment, or do anything,

we simply move on

@hannah_bo_banna

so I believe that finding a compelling hook is paramount

@hannah_bo_banna

duh that’s obvious

@hannah_bo_banna

yes it is

@hannah_bo_banna

no one sets out to create content without a compelling hook

@hannah_bo_banna

so, where are we going wrong?

@hannah_bo_banna

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have identified what I think are 3 of our biggest problems

@hannah_bo_banna

problem one:

we rarely take the time to truly understand our audience

@hannah_bo_banna

I’d like to tell you a story

@hannah_bo_banna my friend @mattbeswick started out making apps on facebook

@hannah_bo_banna

‘snowball throw’ was the most popular app he made

(this was c. 2008)

@hannah_bo_banna

the app let you throw a virtual snowball at a friend on facebook

@hannah_bo_banna

within a week of launch over 800,000 people had thrown snowballs

@hannah_bo_banna

I asked Matt why he thought the app was so popular

@hannah_bo_banna

“ummm, people like doing dumb sh*t on the internet?”

@hannah_bo_banna

throwing virtual snowballs does sound pretty dumb

@hannah_bo_banna

but if that’s the case why did 800,000 people throw them?

@hannah_bo_banna

*why* do people do

(what essentially looks like) dumb sh*t on the internet?

@hannah_bo_banna

what does throwing a virtual snowball mean?

@hannah_bo_banna

it is wickedly ambiguous…

@hannah_bo_banna

it could mean…

hi

@hannah_bo_banna

it could mean…

I’m thinking about you

@hannah_bo_banna

it could mean…

I’m thinking about sleeping with you

@hannah_bo_banna

throwing a virtual snowball at your Dad

means something different to

throwing a virtual snowball at that person you met in a bar

@hannah_bo_banna

but no one can call you on it

@hannah_bo_banna

the way we use facebook feeds into this

@hannah_bo_banna

in some contexts we favour transparency, in others we favour ambiguity

@hannah_bo_banna

most of the things we do on facebook are (to some extent) public

@hannah_bo_banna

but you don’t always want your intentions to be that transparent

@hannah_bo_banna

which makes virtual snowballs a pretty useful way to communicate

@hannah_bo_banna

it’s likely that people were throwing virtual snowballs to:

flirt

or

reconnect (without actually reconnecting) or

just say hi (the list here could go on & on)

@hannah_bo_banna

plus, as throwing a virtual snowball back is low-effort,

the potential for virality is high

@hannah_bo_banna

now all this might sound like “people doing dumb sh*t on the internet”

@hannah_bo_banna

but I suspect we’re getting closer to the truth

@hannah_bo_banna

there’s an important lesson here

@hannah_bo_banna

“people like doing dumb sh*t on the internet”

shows an alarmingly shallow & dismissive understanding of people’s motivations

@hannah_bo_banna

this sort of ‘thinking’ can cause you big problems

@hannah_bo_banna

if you fail to understand your audience,

you are in danger of creating something that leaves them feeling one of these things

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might bleed

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

if you fail to understand the people you’re trying to engage with

you’re likely to fail to elicit the emotional response you desire from them

@hannah_bo_banna

no emotional response = no action

@hannah_bo_banna

ok, let’s move on to problem two

@hannah_bo_banna

problem two:

we never quite got around to finding the hook

@hannah_bo_banna

sometimes you think you have a hook, but what you actually have is a red herring

@hannah_bo_banna

red herring something which is misleading or distracting

@hannah_bo_banna

red herrings might sound vaguely plausible, but don’t bear scrutiny

@hannah_bo_banna

we’ve already encountered a couple of red herrings today…

@hannah_bo_banna

here are a couple more red herrings for your viewing pleasure

@hannah_bo_banna

“games get links, people love games,

people love challenging their friends, social proof,

blah-blah virality… something”

@hannah_bo_banna

a game is a format, not a hook

@hannah_bo_banna

if making a game = guaranteed success then no game would ever fail

@hannah_bo_banna

games fail all the time (as do quizzes & other similar formats)

@hannah_bo_banna

here’s another…

@hannah_bo_banna

people love music, they’ll always share this stuff!

@hannah_bo_banna

music is a topic, not a hook

@hannah_bo_banna

if making a piece about music = guaranteed success

then no piece about music would ever fail

@hannah_bo_banna

again, pieces about music fail all the time (as do pieces about other popular topics)

@hannah_bo_banna

ok, let’s move on to problem three

@hannah_bo_banna

problem three:

we lose sight of the hook

@hannah_bo_banna

does any of this sound familiar?

@hannah_bo_banna

we spend days coming up with ideas

@hannah_bo_banna

the hook is front of mind

@hannah_bo_banna

we pitch the ideas

@hannah_bo_banna

then wait

@hannah_bo_banna

then we wait some more

@hannah_bo_banna

we’ve half-forgotten what we pitched

@hannah_bo_banna

we finally hear back the boss kinda likes this one idea,

but wants it tweaked a little

@hannah_bo_banna

we quickly agree to the tweak because we want to get going

(we don’t fully consider how this might impact the hook)

@hannah_bo_banna

we get an idea signed off

@hannah_bo_banna

we rush headlong into production

@hannah_bo_banna

we spend 5 days pulling together the content

@hannah_bo_banna

the hook’s kinda there… kinda (everything will probably be fine, right?)

@hannah_bo_banna

then 5 days on design

@hannah_bo_banna

ooh it’s looking lovely!

@hannah_bo_banna

then 10 days on build & QA

@hannah_bo_banna

shiny things that move & do stuff!

@hannah_bo_banna

we get the thinger signed off & we’re ready to start promoting it

@hannah_bo_banna

wait, what was the hook again? (someone has to ferret out the pitch because no one can remember what it was)

@hannah_bo_banna

uh oh

@hannah_bo_banna

because hooks aren’t immediately apparent, they are very easy to lose sight of

@hannah_bo_banna

you may get away with it

@hannah_bo_banna

but it’s more likely that you’ll end up back here again:

@hannah_bo_banna

issues with the hook (?)

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might bleed

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

fortunately there is stuff we can do to combat all these problems

@hannah_bo_banna

one

take the time to understand your audience

@hannah_bo_banna

stalk your audience

@hannah_bo_banna

what are they interested in?

@hannah_bo_banna

what are they already sharing?

@hannah_bo_banna

who influences them?

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

talk to your target audience (or people who could be your target audience)

@hannah_bo_banna

got an idea? sound people out

@hannah_bo_banna

you have two ears & one mouth (talk less, listen more)

@hannah_bo_banna

but be careful what you ask

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

we didn’t ask: “should we do a grammar quiz?”

@hannah_bo_banna

we asked: “what are your pet grammar peeves?”

@hannah_bo_banna

it was the longest email thread in the company’s history

@hannah_bo_banna

with a reaction like that, we figured we might be on to something…

@hannah_bo_banna

two

*really* think about the hook

@hannah_bo_banna

beware of red herrings

@hannah_bo_banna

if your hook sounds like this:

@hannah_bo_banna

people love [format]

@hannah_bo_banna

OR

@hannah_bo_banna

people love [topic]

@hannah_bo_banna

then you’re not quite there

@hannah_bo_banna

think like a journalist

@hannah_bo_banna

what does this mean?

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

better still...

@hannah_bo_banna

write the story which you’d like to see accompanying your piece

@hannah_bo_banna

can you write 500 words you’d want to read?

@hannah_bo_banna

if you get as far as

“look a cool thinger”

@hannah_bo_banna

but then get stuck,

@hannah_bo_banna

then journalists might well get stuck too

@hannah_bo_banna

if a journalist can’t write up your piece quickly & easily,

they probably won’t cover it

@hannah_bo_banna

practice taking ideas apart & putting them back together again

@hannah_bo_banna

review successful pieces: try to figure out what worked & why

@hannah_bo_banna

read the coverage!

@hannah_bo_banna

read the comments!

@hannah_bo_banna

read what people said on social media!

@hannah_bo_banna

remember this?

@hannah_bo_banna

when it comes to the hook - ‘beer’ is rarely the answer

@hannah_bo_banna

don’t be lazy

@hannah_bo_banna

those tools we’re all so fond of can tell us *what* was successful,

but not *why*

@hannah_bo_banna

knowing why is infinitely more useful

@hannah_bo_banna

three

keep the hook front of mind

@hannah_bo_banna

when you start working on that next ‘thinger’

@hannah_bo_banna

focus on the hook

@hannah_bo_banna

right in the feels

make them feel something

@hannah_bo_banna

NOT one of these things!

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might be bleeding

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

revisit this throughout the process

@hannah_bo_banna

does this content make people feel any of these

things?

this is shallow

if I shared this it would say nothing good about me

this is so ugly I think my eyes might be bleeding

I don’t think this shows what you’re claiming it shows

this is patronising there’s nothing I can identify

with here

there’s nothing new or different here

I’m confused – I don’t get it

this isn’t something I care about

this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered

you’ve promised me something but haven’t delivered

cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna

if the answer is yes, try to find a way to fix it

@hannah_bo_banna

you may not be able to solve all the issues

@hannah_bo_banna

but do the best that you can

@hannah_bo_banna

launch things!

@hannah_bo_banna

learn things!

@hannah_bo_banna

& seek to continually evolve & improve!

@hannah_bo_banna

good luck out there x

@hannah_bo_banna

Hannah Smith Head of Creative Verve Search send questions and/or pictures of cats to: hannah@vervesearch.com tweet things @hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

Big love to the team at Verve who helped me put this together. Images: feels: http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/531/319/99f.gif nobody likes me: http://www.iheartthestreetart.com/street-2/#lightbox[group-26481]/39/ phone lovers: http://banksy.co.uk beer map: http://vinepair.com/wine-blog/most-popular-beer-every-country-map/

Credits