How to Build a Time Machine - LearnInbound

how to build a
time
machine
(& other stories)
@hannah_bo_banna

I’ve just started working with this lovely lot @VerveSearch

but for most of this year I’ve been on sabbatical

prior to that I worked at distilled

@hannah_bo_banna
I’ve been involved in making stuff
that gets coverage, links & social shares
since 2011

@hannah_bo_banna
there’s some stuff I’m really proud of

this was my first taste of success

@hannah_bo_banna
but it’s been a pretty bumpy ride

@hannah_bo_banna
there have been good days…

@hannah_bo_banna
250 LRDs in 24 hours

@hannah_bo_banna
but it doesn’t always go down like that…

@hannah_bo_banna
who’s failed like me?

@hannah_bo_banna
who wants to fail less often?

@hannah_bo_banna
let’s do this!

@hannah_bo_banna
first, let’s talk a bit about failing…

@hannah_bo_banna
want to know why we fail?

@hannah_bo_banna
I get emails like this fairly frequently:

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
these next slides may sound mean
(but they’re 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

@hannah_bo_banna
this is shallow, or patronising

@hannah_bo_banna
I don’t think this shows what you’re
claiming it shows
or
you’ve promised me something but
haven’t delivered

@hannah_bo_banna
this isn’t something I care about
or
this isn’t something I’ve ever wondered
or
there’s nothing I can identify with here

@hannah_bo_banna
I’m confused – I don’t get it

@hannah_bo_banna
there’s nothing new or
different here

@hannah_bo_banna
cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna
for the sake of clarity,
I feel the same things about
some of my own work

@hannah_bo_banna
but what do all those things mean?

@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, or this is
patronising
if I shared this it would say
nothing good about me
I don’t think this shows what
you’re claiming it shows
there’s nothing I can identify
with here
different here
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
“this piece doesn’t resonate with me”

@hannah_bo_banna
resonance
is *really* important

@hannah_bo_banna
people link to your stuff
or share your stuff
only if it resonates with them

@hannah_bo_banna
if your content makes
them feel something

@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, if we want to succeed
we need to focus
on making people feel something

@hannah_bo_banna
*not*
these things
patronising
with here
different here
about
wondered
delivered
cool, but so what?

@hannah_bo_banna
but what resonates with people?

@hannah_bo_banna
have you ever thought about
*why*
you share what you share
on social media?

@hannah_bo_banna
most of the time I don’t think
before I tweet

@hannah_bo_banna
why did I tweet this?

@hannah_bo_banna
I was on my own & I was bored

@hannah_bo_banna
it worked like a charm

@hannah_bo_banna
but I don’t just tweet stuff like that;
I also tweet stuff like this

@hannah_bo_banna
I also share stuff like this

@hannah_bo_banna
I share things to give people a sense of
who I am &
what I care about

I’m exasperated by marketing doublespeak…

@hannah_bo_banna
on social media we have two modes:
i) cries for attention
&
ii) defining ourselves to others

@hannah_bo_banna
what does
‘defining ourselves to others’
mean?

@hannah_bo_banna
human beings are pack animals,
we need to feel like we belong

@hannah_bo_banna
we feel most comfortable when surrounded by
people who are similar to us

@hannah_bo_banna
how we define ourselves is important
because it allows others to relate to us

@hannah_bo_banna
the very act of self-definition makes us relatable,
it’s how we connect with people

@hannah_bo_banna
this desire to define ourselves to others
is why we share what we share

@hannah_bo_banna
I think that creating content
which allows people
to define themselves to others
is a great place to play

@hannah_bo_banna
but what does that look like in the real world?

@hannah_bo_banna
what follows isn’t an exhaustive list,
but hopefully you’ll find it useful

@hannah_bo_banna
hang on to your hats

@hannah_bo_banna
let’s talk about time travel

@hannah_bo_banna
so, I promised to teach you
how to build a time machine…

@hannah_bo_banna
according to Stephen Hawking,
all you need is…

a rocket that goes really, really fast

@hannah_bo_banna
sadly, my clients
can’t afford any of those things

@hannah_bo_banna
but you can take people
back in time without any of those things

@hannah_bo_banna
248k facebook ‘likes’

@hannah_bo_banna
248k facebook ‘likes’204k facebook ‘likes’

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna
so taking people back in time
clearly resonates

@hannah_bo_banna
we made a time machine of our own

@hannah_bo_banna
it allows you to
relive any major festival from the past 20 years

@hannah_bo_banna
if you’re seeking coverage
I strongly recommend you do more
than create a listicle

@hannah_bo_banna
if you want to create
your own time machine,
it’s not just music that takes people back in time

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna
why do we share
nostalgic content?

@hannah_bo_banna
we share nostalgic content
(or time machines)
because how we grew up shaped
who we are today

@hannah_bo_banna
sharing nostalgic content
allows us to instantly connect with
others who shared similar experiences

@hannah_bo_banna
regardless of whether or not we actually
shared those experiences in real life

@hannah_bo_banna
sharing nostalgic content allows us to
define ourselves to others

@hannah_bo_banna
but we don’t just define ourselves
through nostalgic content

@hannah_bo_banna
polarising content

@hannah_bo_banna
polarise
to divide into two sharply contrasting groups, or sets of opinions,
or beliefs

@hannah_bo_banna
love it?
or hate it?

@hannah_bo_banna
we share polarising content
to let others know where we stand

@hannah_bo_banna
it’s another way of
defining ourselves to others

@hannah_bo_banna
for this sort of content to work you need to
provoke a strong, emotional response

@hannah_bo_banna
but you walk a fine line

@hannah_bo_banna
if you’re doing this sort of thing,
keep it light

@hannah_bo_banna
content that allows
us to see things more clearly

@hannah_bo_banna
there’s a bunch of stuff
we struggle to get our heads around

@hannah_bo_banna
for this sort of content to work,
you need to be talking about something
people care about

@hannah_bo_banna
& if you want coverage you’ll need to support
existing editorial, or be breaking news

@hannah_bo_banna
content that gives us hope

@instachaz reminds me I’m not alone…

@hannah_bo_banna
stuff like that looks easy,
but is *really* hard
to do well

@hannah_bo_banna
so far
I’ve not managed to persuade
anyone to let me make anything like it

@hannah_bo_banna
but I have made some stuff
that gives people hope

@hannah_bo_banna
we love finding out that we’re more like our heroes than we think

we want to know that there’s still time for us to make it

@hannah_bo_banna
for this sort of content to work,
you need to create things
that really speak to people
& they can relate to

@hannah_bo_banna
& if you want coverage
you’ll need to support existing editorial

@hannah_bo_banna
content that allows us to
discover something about ourselves
in a reasonably legitimate way

@hannah_bo_banna
most of the time content like this
takes the form of either a quiz or game

@hannah_bo_banna
however, not all quizzes & games fit
into this category

@hannah_bo_banna
I suspect the popularity of this quiz has more to do with nostalgia

@hannah_bo_banna
let’s look at a game which does
allow you to find something out about yourself

@hannah_bo_banna
we secured coverage at launch

@hannah_bo_banna
then we garnered a 2nd wave of coverage
based on the data we’d gathered from players

@hannah_bo_banna
a couple of warnings…

@hannah_bo_banna
quizzes & games are just formats

@hannah_bo_banna
if making a quiz or a game = guaranteed success
then no quizzes or games would ever fail

@hannah_bo_banna
& they do fail, frequently

@hannah_bo_banna
in my experience,
quizzes or games that allow people
to find out something about themselves
in a reasonably legitimate way
have a better chance of success

@hannah_bo_banna
but it’s worth noting that even quizzes & games
which are widely played & shared
don’t always get much coverage

@hannah_bo_banna
cause-related content

it’s been turned into a fan-made-mod for The Sims

@hannah_bo_banna
people have been calling our office
trying to BUY the posters

@hannah_bo_banna
but again, I’d exercise caution here –
this sort of thing can go very badly wrong

@hannah_bo_banna
so it’s nearly time for me
to wrap this thing up

@hannah_bo_banna
I’d like to leave you with a few thoughts

which will hopefully
help you fail less
often

@hannah_bo_banna
study successful content
& try to figure out why it worked

@hannah_bo_banna
why did it resonate?

does it help you see things more clearly?

@hannah_bo_banna
does it give you hope?

does it allow you to find something out about yourself?

@hannah_bo_banna
something else?
(this is not an exhaustive list)

@hannah_bo_banna
don’t be lazy

@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
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
don’t get distracted by formats

@hannah_bo_banna
a game is a format, not an idea

@hannah_bo_banna
a quiz is a format, not an idea

@hannah_bo_banna
an infographic is a format, not an idea

@hannah_bo_banna
a video is a format, not an idea

@hannah_bo_banna
people don’t share formats,
they share ideas

@hannah_bo_banna
& finally,
when you start working on that
next ‘thinger’

@hannah_bo_banna
focus on making people feel something

@hannah_bo_banna
revisit this throughout the process

@hannah_bo_banna
does this content make
people feel any of these
things?
patronising
with here
different here
about
wondered
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

Big love to the team at Verve who helped me put this together.
Images:
delorean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_time_machine
rat: http://banksy.co.uk
nobody likes me: http://www.iheartthestreetart.com/street-2/#lightbox[group-26481]/39/
phone lovers: http://banksy.co.uk
wormhole: http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/will-wormhole-travel-ever-be-possible
large hadron collider: http://thecomeback.com/tech/weasel-temporarily-shuts-down-the-large-hadron-collider.html
rocket: https://pixabay.com/p-67643/?no_redirect
danbo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadic_lass/6889892777/in/set-72157629144987013
unicorn - http://queenofheartsonthesleeve.tumblr.com/post/58736423727/ok-not-much-but-here-it-is-3
Credits

How to Build a Time Machine - LearnInbound

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