SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015Highlights Relevant to Our Communications

CONTENT MARKETING

HIGH EFFORT CONTENT

Costs the most.

Moves visit traffic to lead

Examples: Blog, paid content, video

MEDIUM EFFORT CONTENT

Performs best for search engine optimization

Higher visit to lead conversion

Example: Q & A

LOW EFFORT CONTENT 9.1% conversion from visit

to lead

13.5% conversion rate from lead to customer

Best for cross-channel distribution

Examples: user-generated content, curated content

HOW MUCH CONTENT DO YOU NEED?

Content Categories

Audience Personas

X Stages in Sale Funnel

# of Content Pieces

WHERE DO YOU FOCUS?

Have communications managers & content creators focused on what type of stuff works best for your goals.

Aggregate content. Its not possible to create it all yourself.

Leverage internal resources.

CONTENT CODE STRATEGY

Three Steps

1. Find an un-saturated niche.

2. Conduct an aggressive strategy based on key words.

3. Nurture an audience to ignite by paying attention. Image credit: amazon.com

Six Elements of the Content Code

1. Brand Development (Build trust by being true to self, consistent and serving the audience.)

2. Audience & Influencers (Identify your top 2% who will share your content.)

3. Distribution, Advertising, Promotion & SEO

4. Authority

5. Social Proof & Social Signals

6. Shareability of the Content

AUDIENCE

MILLENNIALS Want more transparency,

attribution, community

Want a craft, not a job - A job pays the rent. A craft leaves you feeling fulfilled. (See next slide.)

50% of buyers by 2020

Trust friends, not brands

More likely to get news from multiple resources

Image credit: Flickr User Ted Eytan

ZEN DIAGRAM

Image credit: zendiagram.co

BE YOUR AUDIENCE Would you re-share it? If you

wont, they wont either.

Your voice = the sum of all parts (all platforms, all shared content - even if its curated from external sources)

Always be on the lookout for potential brand ambassadors

Image credit: Flickr User Marco Gomes

MESSAGE TIMING

Dont worry about saturation. Twitter traffic is very episodic.

Test, test, test.

Image credit: Flickr User Janos Balazs

ANALYTICS

USING ANALYTICS

Evergreen content - if its trending we can repackage.

Look at trendline data and theme/vertical performance to guide future content.

When testing, have a written hypothesis. Reiterate tests.

Manual analytics are fine. If it works for PBS, it should work for us. It just takes more elbow grease.

TOOLS TO CHECK OUT Google Ripples

Chart Beat

Twitter Search w/ Geolocation

Tabula

Crowd Tangle

Simple ChartsImage credit: Flickr User j

MANAGEMENT

MANAGING YOURCONTENT PRODUCTION

Have a schedule, but be flexible.

Have guidelines and/or an ethics contract.

Provide best practice guidelines to staff.

Image credit: Flickr User VFS Digital Design

HOW TO BE AN INNOVATOR Associational Thinking

Add two things together.

Catalytic Questioning

Choose one challenge.

Brainstorm questions only.

Prioritize questions.

Take action. Image credit: Flickr User James Bowe

CONTENT CREATION TIPS

GENERAL CONTENT TIPS Dont try to shoehorn

content into a format in which it doesnt belong. Not everything should be a video.

Have a standard brand design. Design serves as a proxy for the organization. Sloppy brand = sloppy organization. Image credit: Flickr User Anonymous Collective

FACEBOOK TIPS Decline in organic reach

from brand pages.

Fallen from 26% in 2011 to 6% in 2014.

Could hit 0% by end of this calendar year.

We cant rely on Facebook unless we look at paid ads. Image credit: Flickr User Maria Elena

TWITTER TIPSCHECK LIST FOR WRITING TWEETS

Does the tweet have a singular goal?

Does the tweet have a clear call-to-action?

Did you include relevant hashtags?

Have you leverage text over image?

Does your copy say something different from your rich media?

Did you include relevant @mentions?

Will this tweet stand out from the crowd?

Why would someone engage with us on this tweet?

VIDEO TIPS Upload videos to YouTube

and Facebook natively. Dont just link on Facebook.

Use Adobe Audition to edit out white noise from sound tracks.

Launch day: YouTube & Facebook; blog post w/ embed; teasers on Vine & Instagram Image credit: Flickr User See-ming Lee

TOOLS TO CHECK OUT

Canva - Add text to images for blogs, Pinterest, etc.

Social Flow - Used by large brands to distribute content

Medium - Alternative blog platform (long-form text driven)

Tumblr - Alternative blog platform (image / meme drive)

Storehouse - Described as Medium for photography

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

FOR MORE DETAILS ON SELECT SESSIONS I ATTENDED: Blog post noting key takeaways per session

Storify Recaps & Sketchnotes:

Simple Ways to Massively Increase Content (featuring CBS Sports)

New Media Ethics: Journalism in the Age of GIFS

Failure as a Creative Catalyst

Behind the Social at PBS Largest Content Provider (featuring Masterpiece Theater, Antiques Roadshow, PRIs The World, and American Experience)

The Art of Social Media (featuring Guy Kawasaki)

Social Media: Breaking News or Fixing News? (featuring Marketplace Radio, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Associated Press.)

Data-Driven Newsrooms That Dont Drive Off Writers (featuring Refinery29 & National Public Radio)

Making Social Media POP! with Video (featuring Okay Samurai)

Big Picture Testing: Beyond the One-Off Result

Captivology: The Science of Capturing Attention

Fear and Creativity: Finding Your Craft

Slacktivism: Monster or Myth?

NPR and PBS: Public Media, Reaching New Publics (featuring PBS Digital Studios & NPRs Code Switch)

The Case for Design Thinking in Communications

Telling Stories with Visualization and Interactivity(featuring The New York Times)

Beyond 140 Characters: How to Stretch Your Limits (featuring Twitter, RGA and Big Fuel)

Content is the Starting Line, Not the Finish Line

Wheres Waldos Voice: Social Media for Mascots(featuring AFLAC and Chick-fil-A)

The Innovators DNA: The Five Innovation Skills (featuring Hal Gregersen of the MIT Leadership Center)

Breaking the News in the Age of Snapchat(featuring Dan Rather, Andrew Bleeker, & Former White House Sr. Advisor Dan Pfeiffer)

Infinity and Beyond: Pixar 20 Years Since Toy Story (featuring Pixar executives)