SearchLeeds, Kelvin Newman 'The Trope Factory'

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The Trope Factory
Kelvin Newman @ Search Leeds 2016

Who is this guy?
Kelvin Newman - Founder of BrightonSEO
@kelvinnewman
kelvin@brightonseo.com
http://www.slideshare.net/kelvinnewman

@kelvinnewman
What this presentation isn’t?

@kelvinnewman
You know what, content
marketing is amazing…
You should do some of that stuff
“ “

@kelvinnewman
I’m going to assume your already doing some type of
content marketing and want to do it better

@kelvinnewman
Who produces great content?

@kelvinnewman
The Jar-Jar Binks Hypothesis
But they often do…
Nobody sets out to make something shit

@kelvinnewman
This is IMDB Reviews
http://blog.moertel.com/posts/2006-01-17-mining-gold-from-the-internet-movie-database-part-1.html

@kelvinnewman
This is a normal distribution “bell curve”

@kelvinnewman
Most content is average

@kelvinnewman
But the rewards go to the
excellent not the average.

@kelvinnewman
Three approaches to content
Play in the tail Die in the middle Swing for the fences
High Frequency Low FrequencyMedium Frequency
Low Cost High CostMedium Cost
Low Marginal Return High Marginal ReturnLow Marginal Return
High Aggregate Value Low Aggregate ValueLow Aggregate Value

@kelvinnewman
So what’s this presentation
about?

@kelvinnewman
Cost
Quality
Peanuts Flop
BlockbusterCult Hit

@kelvinnewman
Cost
Quality
Peanuts Flop
BlockbusterCult Hit
ICONOGRAPHY/SIGNAGE 8ICONOGRAPHY/SIGNAGE 8

@kelvinnewman
Tropes are one way of doing
that

@kelvinnewman
So we start here
ICONOGRAPHY/SIGNAGE8

@kelvinnewman
Rather than here,

@kelvinnewman
trope
noun
a signiﬁcant or recurrent theme; a motif.

@kelvinnewman
There are motifs and patterns in all works of art that
appeal to something innate in us all

@kelvinnewman
Understanding these patterns shorten the odds of our content success

@kelvinnewman
but won’t that just make my
content same-y and derivative
Sceptical Audience Member
“ “

@kelvinnewman
Beauty and the Beast
The beast is usually a monster physically, capable of great rage
and destruction.
The beauty is kind, smart, and emotional.
The Beauty sees the good in the Beast and the world;
The Beauty brings out the best in Beast.
This often leads to Love Redeems (Another Trope)

@kelvinnewman
You probably recognise that
one, but some are more subtle.

@kelvinnewman
Twenty Minutes in the Future
The Future, but not so far into it that you'd notice it’d feel alien.
This is often a linear extrapolation of national malaise or existing
crises, so American works of the 1970s have endlessly
skyrocketing crime and inner urban decay.
While the 1980s brought the notion that Mega Corps and Japan
would rule the world.

@kelvinnewman
Bumbling Sidekick
An annoying, incompetent sidekick for another character — who
barely tolerates him.
Some Bumbling Sidekicks are delusional and think they are
appreciated.
Others are just too desperate for friendship and/or money to
leave.

@kelvinnewman
The MacGuffin
A plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other
motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no
narrative explanation.
The speciﬁc nature of a MacGufﬁn is typically unimportant to the
overall plot.

@kelvinnewman
I point these out not to belittle
these films;
but rather to point out the huge
variety films can have with
shared elements.

@kelvinnewman
Think of them as building
blocks for you to construct
things with.

@kelvinnewman
But what has this got to do
with content marketing?

@kelvinnewman
We must
understand
the Tropes in
our sector’s
content

@kelvinnewman
We want to discover subtle
lessons.

@kelvinnewman
Top Ten Kim Kardashian Selfies
with Kittens that will blow your
mind
That’s the Jar-Jar Binks Lesson
“ “

@kelvinnewman
Our audience is risk averse, so
prefer articles about avoiding
disaster than achieving success.
We want things more like

@kelvinnewman
Our readers like to show-off
in front of their friends.
These are insights you can act upon

Things you can do when you
get back to the office…

@kelvinnewman
Cover all the
sensible
suggestions
from
answerthepublic.com

@kelvinnewman
Word-cloud the
most socially
popular pages
and look for the
tropes.

@kelvinnewman
Have a play with my
Google Doc “The
Trope Factory”
http://www.brightonSEO.com/tropes

@kelvinnewman
Use the “Seven Whys” to
examine content success.

@kelvinnewman
Why is Nomad List such as successful
website?

@kelvinnewman
Because it helps people decide
where is a good place to remote
work.

@kelvinnewman
Because it has comprehensive
information about different
places suited to remote working.

@kelvinnewman
Because lots of people want to
work remotely and overseas
but aren’t sure where.

@kelvinnewman
Because although the idea of
remote working is appealing
but reality is daunting.

@kelvinnewman
Because working in a country
where you’ve never visited is
scary.

@kelvinnewman
Because we wouldn’t know
what to expect from those
places.

@kelvinnewman
Because change is appealing
but also scary.

@kelvinnewman
“Because change is appealing but
also scary”
is a much more useful content
prompt than
“information about remote
working is popular”

Also check out
But be prepared to lose a whole evening in the rabbit hole.

Thanks for listening
Kelvin Newman - Founder of BrightonSEO
@kelvinnewman
kelvin@brightonseo.com
http://www.slideshare.net/kelvinnewman

SearchLeeds, Kelvin Newman 'The Trope Factory'

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