brainstorming and designing viral content

Expose the BeamsHow to Brainstorm + Design the Best, Most Viral Content You’ve Ever Made

@katemorris

Exposed Beams?

Unsightly

Modern Beauty & Function

OKC

UPID

http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/dont-be-ugly-by-accident/

Content Ideas

Not Really Creating or Outreach

Not Just INfographics

News Article! Video!

Funny Doesn’t Always Meet Goals

Viral is not AUTOMATIC

Create Great Content and Let it Speak for You

Where do I start?

A Whiteboard and a Dream

#1Who are you talking to?

• Name• Face• Job• Salary

• Problems• Favorite

Restaurant• Hopes• Dreams

Undisclosed Client and

Shelly

• Name: Shelly Tanner

• Age: 38

• Title: Director of Marketing

• Company: Small Spa Chain

• She’s Overworked

• Just Wants Help!

PS: Shelly isn’t real. This lady is probably not named Shelly.

Find real People

Pro TipGo too far. Get to the nitty gritty details and

think about what your person does in their free time. The better you understand them, the better

focused the content will be.

#2What’s the Point?

Goals

•Traffic

•Sales

•Links

•Mentions

•Likes

•+1

•Combination

Goals will change the direction of your content

Links Social

http://mashable.com/2011/07/18/apple-design-infographic/

Specific GoalsMake sure you know

what you want or what your

client/executive wants.

Example Goals

• 20,000 Page Views• 20,401

• 100 new inbound links• Actual is over 200 linking domains

• 5% increase in SOV

Ran

dom

http://infographicworld.com/america-europe-view/

Pro

ve a

Poin

t

http://thenextweb.com/

Sale

s /ed

uca

tion

http://wikibon.org/

Pro Tip

Try outreach beforehand for articles, get the blog’s owner to input on the content. It’ll get it posted faster and give you a better shot at a great link!

1. Who are you talking to?

2. What is the point of the content you are creating?

#3: Brainstorming

Ready for Fun?

No Tools – Brain and Whiteboard

Start with a marker . . . Write everything down . . . Ask your friends and co-workers . . .

doodle . . .

“I tend to jot down everything I think of with no real regard for structure, and then later on I filter it down to only the good stuff.”

Matthew “Oatmeal” Inman

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/smartphone

Applied Example

• Industrial Paper Products

• Commercial Food Equipment

• Printer Ink

• Auto Sales/Parts

• Software for Call Center Tracking

• Window Washing

• Milk Farmer

• Exercise/Training/Nutrition

• Manufacturing

WINNER!

Window Washing

• Heights

• Soap

• Ropes

• Matrix

• Scaffolding

• Falling

• Deaths (sorry)

• Business

• Sky

• Birds

• Windex

• Water

• Summer

• Sun

• Towers

• Donald Trump

• Dust

• Cracks

• Sills

• New York

• Lunch

Great Linkbait

Pro TipStill lost? Like keyword research, check what your

competitors are doing, what others in similar spaces are doing, and play off their ideas. NO COPYING!

“For inspiration I read the usual sources: Digg, Reddit, Mixx, and so forth. I also read a lot of online comic strips, “best of” Craigslist posts, and I spend a lot of time using StumbleUpon.” - Matt Inman

Visual.ly

coolinfographics.com

visualoop.tumblr.com

Not A

lways C

om

petitiv

e

Getting AheadWe are still in planning … don’t go nuts yet!

1. Who are you talking to?

2. What is the point of the content you are creating?

3. Brainstorm any and ALL ideas and associations.

Filtering

“I call it “brain farming.” First, pick a specific idea you want to work around … Pick more nouns and connect them to that idea: bunk beds + raptor. Think about it really hard, then go do something else. A few days later while you’re showering, gardening, shaving, exercising, or whatever, the idea will pop into your head and you’ll have it.”

Matthew Inman

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/minor_differences2

Window Washing

• Heights

• Soap

• Ropes

• Matrix

• Scaffolding

• Falling

• Deaths (sorry)

• Business

• Sky

• Birds

• Windex

• Water

• Summer

• Sun

• Towers

• Donald Trump

• Dust

• Cracks

• Sills

• New York

• Lunch

@katemorris

Saving Neo’s Phone: How to Get to Window Washer’s Scaffolding

Would Your Person Share it?

Make it Something they MUST Share

http://www.break.com/index/this-is-what-detirmination-looks-like-2086438

Disg

ustin

g

http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/education/going-green/eating-insects-the-most-eco-friendly-meat.aspx

Fun

ny

Rele

van

t

http://www.eternalhgh.com/HGH-Infographic-HGH-An-Anti-Anging-Miracle/index.html

Perso

nal

http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/printeffect/

“For me, the best test of whether linkbait is effective is if it genuinely entertains or intrigues me. If I’m not laughing at my own joke I bag it.”

Matthew “Oatmeal” Inmanhttp://theoatmeal.com/comics/smartphone

1. Who are you talking to?

2. What is the point of the content you are creating?

3. Brainstorm any and ALL ideas and associations.

4. Filter to the really interesting things.

Finding Data

You Have to Support the Idea, or Do You?

Best Data = Best Links

Student Interns

Note: They are not there to be slave labor: pay them, teach them.

Internal Data

http://blog.foursquare.com/2011/02/25/pre-oscars-fun-foursquare-at-the-movies/

Anonymize Data

OKC

up

id

MINT

http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/mint-data-shows-where-the-gas-money-goes/

Off

Th

e W

all

Still Need Data;

Even if it’s made

up.http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tyrannosaur_crack

Pro Tip

Find the Source. Don’t trust another infographic or journalist.

Window Washing

• Skyscraper window cleaners in NYC in 1934 made $30 a week for 48 hours of work. http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/05/20/how-a-skyscraper-window-washer-faces-death/

• The most dangerous item for a window washer is a ladder via the IWCA Training Manual.

• Window Cleaner Jan Demczur used a squeegee to free himself and 5 others from an elevator shaft on 9/11.http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/11/us/jan-demczur-he-is-alive-and-what-s-left-of-his-squeegee-is-in-the-smithsonian.html

1. Who are you talking to?2. What is the point of the content

you are creating?3. Brainstorm any and ALL ideas

and associations.4. Filter to the really interesting

things.5. Support the idea(s) with data.

Designing Tips

Rule #1: Trust the Designer/Writer!

Simple

Powerful

Unique

Interesting

1. Who are you talking to?2. What is the point of the content

you are creating?3. Brainstorm any and ALL ideas

and associations.4. Filter to the really interesting

things.5. Support the idea(s) with data.6. Trust your designer and keep it

simple and straightforward.

Now go Back

No really … go back to the start …

1. Who are you talking to?2. What is the point of the content

you are creating?3. Brainstorm any and ALL ideas

and associations.4. Filter to the really interesting

things.5. Support the idea(s) with data.6. Trust your designer and keep it

simple and straightforward.7. …

Undisclosed Client and

Shelly

• Name: Shelly Tanner

• Age: 38

• Title: Director of Marketing

• Company: Small Spa Chain

• She’s Overworked

• Just Wants Help!

PS: Shelly isn’t real. This lady is probably not named Shelly.

Goals

•Traffic

•Sales

•Links

•Mentions

•Likes

•+1

•Combination

1. Who are you talking to?2. What is the point of the content

you are creating?3. Brainstorm any and ALL ideas

and associations.4. Filter to the really interesting

things.5. Support the idea(s) with data.6. Trust your designer and keep it

simple and straightforward.7. Compare the idea(s) to goals

and target.

Thank You

@katemorriskate.morris@distilled.net