How to Produce Better Content Ideas

how to produce better content ideas
by
mark johnstone

how do you come up with ideas?

there is a certain mystery to the ‘light bulb moment’

but to say ideas ‘just come to you’ is to overlook everything you do
beforehand that allows you to reach that point

the 4 things you need to know about ideas
10 steps to producing better ideas
this presentation is in 2 parts

but first, a little background…

3 years ago, I was an SEO Consultant at Distilled
https://www.distilled.net/about/people/mark-johnstone/

then I started the Creative team at Distilled

we’ve since grown the team to 10 people (only 9 in shot)

we make digital content to earn attention for our clients online

755 likes 67 LRDs
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755 likes 67 LRDs
LRDs = Linking Root Domains, i.e. the number of other websites
that linked to this piece of content

755 likes 67 LRDs
we track more meaningful metrics than just likes and linking root domains,
but for the purpose of this presentation, I will take these 2 metrics to
indicate whether or not the piece of content was compelling

25,000 likes 201 LRDs
http://www.concerthotels.com/ipod-visualized-as-vinyl

http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/microsites/hungry-tech/

http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/microsites/google-analytics-guide/

https://www.worldpayzinc.com/tech-wealth

http://www.concerthotels.com/100-years-of-rock/

(not provided)
under NDA(non-disclosure agreement)

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and we’ve earned coverage in all of the following publications

How to Produce Better Content Ideas

but it hasn’t all been plain sailing

37 likes
http://www.thomson.co.uk/blog/infographic/superbowl/index.html#2011

37 likes
that’s me plus only 36 other people!!!

37 likes
trial and error is a great way to learn but it also sucks

37 likes
we’ve learned a lot along the way, and this presentation
aims to help give your content the best chance of success

the 4 things you need to know about ideas

an idea is a novel combination of
previously unconnected elements in a way that adds value

what they are and how to find them
what they look like and how to make them
the elements:
the connections:
which means the 4 things you need to know are…

an example from the world of advertising

http://www.bwm.com.au/category/work/bigpond/

Daaad, why’d they
build the Great Wall
of China?
it was to, erm, to keep
the rabbits out... too
many rabbits in China
(teacher – off screen)
now, Daniel’s going to
give his talk on China

the ad agency identified a barrier to their objective
at the time, a lot of people didn’t see why they needed broadband

if your audience doesn’t care about what you have to say,
you need to find something they do care about

customer insight product truth competitor insight

parents want the best for their children and worry about them being
left behind at school

broadband gives you faster access to a wealth of information

competitor messaging at the time was focused on coverage and price

resonant relevant different

here’s an example from our own work

the client provides insurance for small business owners

but nobody wants to talk about insurance

customer insight competitor insight product truth
a lot of small business owners still wanted to know what they
should be doing with social media

the (content) competitors had guides which were too long, so unlikely
to be read, and often left too many decisions up to the reader

insurance supports the interests of small business owners

we produced a series of visually concise guides
for small business owners, which has been a very successful campaign
http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/microsites/guide-to-social-media-success/

the elements: how to find them

the advertising industry uses focus groups to mine for insight
in one focus group, a woman spoke of eating ice cream in
intimate settings with her partner. the rest of the group gave a knowing
giggle. that was the insight that launched an entire brand.

use the internet as your focus group

“love [your brand]”
“hate [your brand]”
“love [your competitor]”
“hate [your competitor]”
“love [category]”
“hate [category]”

“love [your brand]”
“hate [your brand]”
“love [your competitor]”
“hate [your competitor]”
“love [category]”
“hate [category]”
this is just one example. there are loads of ways you can use search and
social media to find out how people feel. think creatively about it.

it’s not about the product
Red Bull does not make content about caffeinated drinks.
the content is about energy, adrenaline and pushing life to the limits.

It’s not about the product
you need to think laterally about your brand

It’s not about the product
but what does that mean?

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
map out associations with your product and brand

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
you should separate creative and analytical mode.
creative mode is fast and intuitive.
analytical mode is slow and deliberate.
if you try to do both at the same time, it can lead to writer’s block.

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
at the time, I had no idea where to go next from ‘simplicity’.
rather than get stuck, I just hopped onto a new thread and kept moving.

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
you don’t want your content tied too closely to your product,
but you don’t want the link to be tenuous.
don’t worry about this while you’re free-associating.
you want to keep creative mode and analytical mode separate, remember.

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
wait, how did we go from soap to hair? isn’t that wrong?
when you’re doing this, don’t think in terms of right and wrong.
you can come back and edit later.

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
possible opportunity?
women in business is a hot topic

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
flying
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
power
tangled
consciously, I wasn’t sure why I made this leap,
but it’s these unexpected connections that could lead somewhere

“of course, I’ve always taken a
lot of notes…
I mean you never know what the
things going to be, do you?
a little detail, somewhere down
the line, makes you say [gasps]…
…cracks the case wide open.”
Rust, True Detective

stories are often misleading about the path actually taken

expand the number of elements you gather
to give yourself the best chance of making a connection

the connections: what they look like

if I asked you to reassemble this car, could you do it?

what if you had taken a car apart before?

what if you had taken 10,20, or 100 cars apart?

what if you had taken 10,20, or 100 cars apart?
it would significantly improve your chances of putting it together, right?
that’s why it’s valuable to understand how great content
(e.g. advertising) is constructed.

we’ve all seen this ad, but what were the insights that led to it?

a lot of customers were actually girls buying for their partner

the leading competitor focused on the unlikely guy getting the girl,
but the customer (the girl) doesn’t want the unlikely guy, she wants A MAN!

Old Spice was something your Dad wore. but what do you associate
with your Dad? he comes from a time when men were men!

wolf in wolf’s clothing
this was the headline on a billboard I saw in London recently

wolf in wolf’s clothing
how would you deconstruct this ad?

competitor insight product truth customer insight
BMW’s main competitor is Mercedes, who make high-performance cars,
typically with an elegant or stately image (a wolf in sheep’s clothing?)

the new BMW M3 is a very muscular high-performance car
(a wolf in wolf’s clothing)

but what do you suppose was the customer insight that led to this idea?

hint: huge billboards of this ad were placed on the main roads
to the financial district in London

they all want to be this guy
(or a lot of them do)

the connections: how to make them

ever wracked your brains trying to remember someone’s name,
only to have it pop into your mind when you’re having a shower?
http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Producing-Ideas-James-Young/dp/1477428690

there is a natural process for making connections
that we can use to our advantage
http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Producing-Ideas-James-Young/dp/1477428690

information
saturation
incubation
illumination
verification

information
we’ve already discussed gathering lots of information

saturation
you need to actively force connections.
doing this physically is faster, and it gets the elements outside your head,
freeing you up to focus on the connections between them.

saturation
you will hit a wall. push through it. you’ll get a second wind.
when you hit another wall, it may be appropriate to stop.

incubation
you need to actively disengage.
go and do something that fully absorbs your attention.

incubation
I experienced this recently when I got absorbed in a conversation in the pub.
it genuinely wasn’t the beer that led to the breakthrough (sadly).

illumination
illumination
we can’t wait around for the light bulb moment,
but we can jump start the process

illumination
illumination
after a period of incubation and preferably a night’s sleep…

illumination
illumination
write the question you’re trying to solve at the top of the page,
and as quickly as you can, write down 20-30 answers

illumination
illumination
first thing in the morning can be a great time to do this

illumination
illumination
writing deliberately bad answers can be a good trick if you get stuck

verification
you need to verify your ideas.
the easiest way to do this is to tell people and watch their reaction.

verification
we were thinking of doing a grammar quiz.
we emailed our colleagues for input. it turned into the longest email
thread in our company’s history. we figured we were onto something.

verification
note: we didn’t say ‘we’re doing a grammar quiz, what do you think?’

verification
if you’re met with confusion or indifference, that means one of 2 things.
you don’t have an idea or you haven’t articulated it in the right way.
you have to judge which it is.

product truth customer insight competitor insight
our client sold a large range of products for going back to school.
when we thought of going back to school, we thought of exams, and different
subjects like English, which led us to grammar.

content about grammatical errors like this piece from the Oatmeal,
can do extremely well online.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

we thought about a quiz, so checked what had been done. the Guardian &
Telegraph both had popular quizzes, but they weren’t brilliantly executed.
http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/quiz/2013/feb/04/grammar-punctuation-quiz-test

46,000 likes
(grammar quiz - not provided)
under NDA(non-disclosure agreement)

but, isn’t it all just luck?

yes, but only in the sense that the more you practise (and prepare),
the luckier you get

and yes, ideas are serendipitous, but you can manufacture serendipity

and, yes, sometimes you just get lucky!
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/25/the-age-of-acquisitions/

we were working on this content when Facebook acquired Whatsapp

we quickly included the new dataset and launched it

we secured a front page exclusive with TechCrunch

remember the grammar quiz we spoke about?
we launched that on national grammar day without even realising!

10 steps to producing better ideas

1. learn about the thinking behind the ads
http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Lies-Advertising-Account-Planning/dp/0471189626

Dove
soap
dove
soap simplicity
Italy song
opera
split ends
flowers
iris
lily
scent
bubbles
lather
bird
hair care
presentation
finish
hair
olive branch
peace
pond
strands
3. think laterally about your brand

4. try to force connections
http://www.amazon.com/Gamestorming-Playbook-Innovators-Rulebreakers-Changemakers/dp/0596804172

7. verify your ideas
http://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/1400064287

information
saturation
incubation
illumination
verification
8. iterate

9. start small
the idea of a grammar quiz is not nearly as profound
as some of the advertising ideas we discussed

10. practise
practise taking ideas apart and putting together your own

10. practise
brainstorming once a month and saying you’re not creative
is like going to the gym once a month
and wondering why you don’t have a six pack

if you practise, practise, practise,
you’ll give yourself a much better chance of success

p.s. you should read these books
@epicgraphic

How to Produce Better Content Ideas

How to Produce Better Content Ideas

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