When we're creating content-driven PR or link building campaigns we’re often either trying to replicate our own successes, or we’re trying to replicate the successes of others. We often fail, but we don't always know why.
Here Hannah explores some of the reasons why we fail, and shares stories about some of the campaign "hits" and "misses" she's experienced.
Originally presented by Hannah Smith at Drink Digital in March 2021.
15. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
“I actually think [success] is a burden…
because I feel like:
well, now I have to repeat this”
~Christoph Niemann, artist, author, & animator.
More on this here:https://worderist.com/2019/07/03/sunday-sketches-by-christoph-niemann/
33. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
I’ve attempted to argue with it by seeking out
hard evidence to the contrary:
here are a bunch of things I’ve done which prove I am good at this stuff;
they can’t possibly all be flukes
42. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
“You keep on trying to make these things,
and they don’t always work,
and then you feel bad about yourself.
Don’t you think you’d feel better about yourself
if you just stopped doing these things?”
47. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
But now I understand what it’s trying to tell me,
I don’t feel the need to try to argue with it,
or get angry with myself about it
64. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
she was killed by a Mexican death metal singer,
she was the victim of a copycat killing
inspired by the 2005 horror flick Dark Water,
she was involved in an international conspiracy
to spread a new strain of tuberculosis...
86. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
We see a
successful
piece
We conclude
“beer” is the
reason it’s
successful
We see
another
successful
piece
We notice it’s
about beer
too
THERE’S
A PATTERN!
All future successful pieces we
encounter about beer add “evidence”
to support this explanation
92. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
We see a
successful
piece
We conclude
it’s successful
because it’s
a map
We see
another
successful
piece
We notice it’s
a map too
THERE’S
A PATTERN!
All future successful pieces we
encounter which are maps add
“evidence” to support this explanation
98. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
The trouble is I’ve made several pieces
about resonant topics (like beer),
which offered journalists something
they don’t have the time or resource to create themselves...
119. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
Don’t do that...
Look at the stories journalists actually wrote
(For this piece, there were a bunch of different stories - “outrage” at how insipid the winning beers were,
analysis on the 2 major brewers, InBev & SABMiller who own most of these beers, nostalgic travel stories, & more)
128. This is a remake - it’s a mash-up of publicly available data sources
on the most congested roads
129. This what we were remaking - it was created by a vehicle tracking company
http://www.satrakvehicletracking.co.uk/blog/uks-slowest-motorways-revealed-satrak/
131. This is a remix: it explores what these $1bn companies
& their founders have in common
132. This is what we were remixing - it explores what the world’s
billionaires have in common
133. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
Both pieces explore the same thing:
“what traits do this cohort share?”
but one looks at Billionaires & the other looks
at Unicorn companies & their founders
same idea, different topic = remix
139. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
This is best explained with examples, so:
I’m going to take two remakes
& try to determine if they’d still be successful
if we remade them again today
143. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
If you remade this piece with a new dataset
you could reasonably expect to get
similar levels of success even if the
“winners” don’t change*
(*assuming that someone else doesn’t beat you to it)
150. & early coverage came about because the new “winner”
was surprising & controversial
151. Shortly after the piece launched,
Director James Gunn shared
a piece of early coverage,
& then spent 2 hours arguing with
people about it on twitter
“No, Stars Wars does not count”
152. A huge chunk of the coverage the piece subsequently received
was just journalists reporting on James Gunn’s tweets
154. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
If you fail to find a new “winner”
you’ll almost certainly struggle to get coverage;
(I don’t think Gunn’s going to spend another 2 hours on twitter)
& even with a new winner, you still might struggle
172. We remixed it again (remix the remix), & made something for Crufts
(the piece is no longer live)
173. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
But again, I failed to acknowledge
that the way journalists write about Crufts
is not the same as the way they write about
Unicorns & their founders
178. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
Trying to answer these questions might give you a clearer understanding:
- Stories
- What stories did journalists write when they covered this piece?
- Trends & other breaking news
- Did the piece feed into something else which was going on in the newscycle?
- Waves
- Were there waves of coverage? What caused those waves?
- Emotions
- What emotions did the coverage provoke?
- Verticals
- Which verticals or types of publication covered this?
- Countries
- Did the piece get coverage in multiple countries?
179. We see a
successful
piece
We conclude
it’s successful
because it’s
a map
We see
another
successful
piece
We notice it’s
a map too
THERE’S
A PATTERN!
All future successful pieces we
encounter which are maps add
“evidence” to support this explanation
It’s important that we try to do this, because those patterns
we’re so fond of spotting often leave us exposed...
180. Patterns like “beer” & “map” don’t allow us to acknowledge this stuff:
Remakes fail when we’re not
able to recreate the conditions
which lead to the success of
the original piece
Remixes fail when we don’t
understand what journalists are
actually writing about
in the niche we’re working in
“Remake”
same idea &
same topic
“Remix”
same idea,
different topic
181. But changing our approach could reduce our exposure:
Remakes fail when we’re not
able to recreate the conditions
which lead to the success of
the original piece
By gaining a clearer
understanding of those conditions
we’re better able to evaluate our
chances of success
“Remake”
same idea &
same topic
187. Changing our approach might reduce our exposure here too:
Remixes fail when we don’t
understand what journalists are
actually writing about
in the niche we’re working in
By researching what journalists are
writing about in that niche we’re
better able to evaluate our chances of
success
“Remix”
same idea,
different topic
188. When we launched this piece,
lots of journalists were writing about just how big Instagram was getting
189. When we launched this piece, Candy Crush had (arguably) already peaked -
no one was writing much about it’s growth
193. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
28% of us have created a campaign in the last year that
secured no links
Source: https://www.aira.net/state-of-link-building/link-building-process/
195. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
neither have the vast majority -
79% of the respondents surveyed have not seen
this level of success either
Source: https://www.aira.net/state-of-link-building/link-building-process/
197. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
I’ve launched far more “misses” than “hits”
& everyone fails a lot more often
than you probably realise
More on this here: https://worderist.com/2019/09/09/skewing-reality/
203. Are all campaigns either “remakes” or “remixes”?
“Remake”
same idea &
same topic
“Remix”
same idea,
different topic
Probably not, because this is not the only way we come up with ideas.
I suspect however, that many of the ideas we consider to be original,
are actually either remakes or remixes,
we’re just not necessarily aware of the existence of the originals.
204. & are these the only reasons we fail?
Remakes fail when we’re not
able to recreate the conditions
which lead to the success of
the original piece
Remixes fail when we don’t
understand what journalists are
actually writing about
in the niche we’re working in
“Remake”
same idea &
same topic
“Remix”
same idea,
different topic
211. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
thoughts, feelings, questions?
AMA :)
Hannah Smith
Creative Content Consultant
Worderist.com
Wanna hire me?
drop me an email - hannah@worderist.com
If you enjoyed this talk, you might also enjoy my newsletter :
https://worderist.com/newsletter/
212. @hannah_bo_banna
Worderist.com
A massive thank you to the amazing humans who helped me put this talk together:
Areej AbuAli, James Barnes, Alex Cassidy, Will Critchlow, Mark Johnstone, & Gisele Navarro.
Image Credits
Every Country’s Most Popular Beer: https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/most-popular-beer-every-country-map/
Brewery Road Trip: https://flowingdata.com/2015/10/26/top-brewery-road-trip-routed-algorithmically/
Highways to Hell: https://www.gocompare.com/new-interactives-content/highways-to-hell/
Slowest Motorways Revealed: http://www.satrakvehicletracking.co.uk/blog/uks-slowest-motorways-revealed-satrak/
Directors’ Cut: https://www.gocompare.com/life-insurance/directors-cut/
The Deadliest Films: http://www.randalolson.com/2013/12/31/deadliest-films-of-all-time-by-on-screen-death-counts/
Photos on the Web: https://cewe-photoworld.com/photos-on-the-web/