It’s 2012. There’s a dizzying new world of possibilities for creating and distributing content. We have the technology - but we also have some bad habits and emotional baggage getting in the way.
iCrossing’s Content Director Charlie Peverett takes you on an entertaining journey through the evolution of online content to give you a fresh and inspiring perspective on what really matters.
Find out why your first action might be to ban the blog.
3. Definition of ‘blog’ #1
• A contraction of ‘web log’
• A diary-style way to publish content easily to
the web
• Typically displaying the most recent post first
• Usually enabling
readers to add their
comments
4. Definition of ‘blog’ #2
• A revolutionary democratisation of the
process of publishing content that has the
potential to empower people across the globe
to tell their stories and express their opinions
5. Definition of ‘blog’ #3
• Mainly created by "bald, cauliflower-nosed,
young men sitting in their mothers’
basements and ranting”.
– Andrew Marr, Oct 2010
6. Definition of ‘blog’ #4
• …our main website is still too shit to add
anything to it regularly so we'll dump stuff
here instead and hope someone notices.
– @tamsinbishton
7. Claims made for blogging by marketers
• Blogging will increase your visibility
• Blogging will increase your engagement
• Blogging will increase your authority
8. Claims made for blogging by marketers
• Blogging will improve your sex life
• Blogging will do the washing up for you
• [insert your own]
25. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
26. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
27. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!
28. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!
• Pictures of us in the office eating cakes
29. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!
• Pictures of us in the office eating cakes
• Something else, can’t even remember what
30. Blogs with archives that look
something like this
• Here’s an exclusive interview with one of our
designers!
• Here’s our press release about a store opening
in Milton Keynes
• Look! Voucher code!
• Pictures of us in the office eating cakes
• Something else, can’t even remember what
• I posted this to get HR off my back!
31. It’s a place where content goes to
die.
A mishmash of bloggery-pokery
that at iCrossing we like to call:
36. • In early stages of planning, ban the word
‘blog’
37. • In early stages of planning, ban the word
‘blog’
• Take those questionable claims for ‘blogging’
and replace ‘blogging’ with ‘being interesting
and relevant on a frequent basis’
38. • In early stages of planning, ban the word
‘blog’
• Take those questionable claims for ‘blogging’
and replace ‘blogging’ with ‘being interesting
and relevant on a frequent basis’
• See if the conversation goes somewhere
different
44. We need to produce
more content / ‘be
social’
[knee jerk]
45. We need to produce
more content / ‘be
social’
[knee jerk]
I just signed up for
Wordpress!
46. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
[knee jerk] vs
I just signed up for
Wordpress!
47. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
I just signed up for
Wordpress!
48. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
Main
I just signed up for Off-site Email
site
Wordpress!
Twitter Apps Blog
49. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
Main
I just signed up for Off-site Email
site
Wordpress!
Twitter Apps Blog
50. We need to produce We need to
more content / ‘be communicate
social’ smarter!
vs Why? To whom?
[knee jerk] Where? How?
Main
I just signed up for Off-site Email
site
Wordpress!
[maybe] Twitter Apps Blog
51. Three great tips for blogging
being frequently relevant
and interesting online
52. 1) Get some perspective
Get everyone thinking like a real person who
likes real stuff!
[interactive workshop activity was here – but
you can try this at home]
53. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Take a group of people
• Ask one person to talk about something they
love online (doesn’t have to be a blog)
• Bring it up on the screen for everyone to see
54. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Ask that person to specify the positive
qualities of the site they’ve chosen
• Add each quality (e.g. accurate, funny,
surprising, inspiring) to a post-it note
• Put the post-its on a wall
55. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Repeat with as many participants as you can
• When finished, have a look at all the post-its
• Consider which qualities have arisen time and
again (it’s usually the same ones…)
• And finally….
56. Exercise: thinking like a real person
• Consider whether the content you’re planning
is likely to have any of these qualities…
59. Stuff you actually do /
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services
60. Stuff you actually do /
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services
Way out of
comfort zone
61. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services
Way out of
comfort zone
62. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services Less relevant to
what your
Way out of customers want
comfort zone from you
63. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services Less relevant to
what your
Way out of customers want
comfort zone from you
Risk of brand
erosion
64. Increased time,
effort, investment
to establish
Stuff you actually do / credibility
what you know about
A step away from your
products and services Less relevant to
what your
Way out of customers want
comfort zone from you
Risk of brand
erosion
Risk of looking a
bit desperate
65. 3) *Do* something interesting
• 98% of interesting online content involves
something interesting happening offline*
• The cost of *doing* something interesting (a
project / event / campaign) is rarely factored into
the investment in producing content
• The further from your core business your focus
for content is, the greater the need to commit to
*doing* extra stuff to fuel what you have to say
* I totally made this up but I believe it to be true
66. Bonus tip: Tags are not content
Remember, tag clouds are the mullets of the
internet (Zeldman, 2005, still bears repeating)
67. So in summary
• Purpose before content before platform
• Get some perspective
• Keep it relevant
• Doing something interesting
69. Image credits
Images reproduced under Creative Commons licence:
Roses in a bucket image by Flickr user jenny downing licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenny-pics/3079485197/sizes/l/
Colourful stacked buckets image by Flickr user tanakawho licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/670258156/
Buckets on sale in street image by Flickr user nSeika licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nseika/6376364681/
Tennis court image by Flickr user EEPaul licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eepaul/6860515636/
Cat in a bucket image by Flickr user nromagna licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nromagna/5643588854/
Pissed off cat image by Flickr user Mikko Lumtiala licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikko_luntiala/5068157476/
Please note that the ‘blog as perfume’ image is reproduced under copyright from the supplier.
Notas do Editor
Today I’m going to make the case for:Scrapping some bad habits in thinking about content onlineUnderstanding the bigger opportunities when we talk about ‘blogging’Looking at pictures of cats in buckets
Sensible. So much so 2005.
Also true.
So Andrew, I know you’ve moved on since saying this. But, you know.
Oof! Truth in a tweet from Content Malcontent (and former iCrossing head of content) Tamsin Bishton Hemingray.
Some of us will always be more interested in the bucket.But unless you’re a bucket fancier. http://www.flickr.com/photos/eepaul/6860515636/sizes/l/
Some of us will always be more interested in the bucket.http://www.flickr.com/photos/eepaul/6860515636/sizes/l/
Some of us will always be more interested in the bucket.http://www.flickr.com/photos/eepaul/6860515636/sizes/l/
It’s what’s in the bucket that we usually care about.
I think this is worth a few moments. Because it tells us about how digital is developing, and how easy it is to get caught in old language. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nromagna/5643588854/
1. Blogs have been godsends to frustrated web editors of rubbish CMS systems.
2. Not a good enough reason to actually do it.
3) Especially in SEO, and especially post-Penguin, budgets are moving. But the expectations for how you achieve visibility (or engagement, or conversion) through social media need to change too.
If I’m talking to editorial people here I will mention pain first. If I’m talking to non-editorial marketers I’ll probably replace ‘pain’ with ‘money’. Both statements work.
When we could see a blog project becoming a free-for-all, a dumping ground for content that’s doesn’t fit anywhere else, this is how we sometimes describe it. Specifically, we used to sing it to each other to the tune of the Moonpig.com TV adverts. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikko_luntiala/5068157476/
Because blogs are so flexible, and host most kinds of content easily, it’s tempting to put stuff there *simply because you can* rather than because you should. Hence shitpot.com.
Lots of specialist platforms have sprung up – depending on what you have to say and what content you have to share, one or more of these may be a much better alternative to standard blogging.
And you’ll have a strong idea of what should – and shouldn’t – be on it.
Long-term value on-site content Guest spots on established sites Good old email Twitter / Pinterest / Youtube / etcContent curation
Our ability to work closely on something…Can lead to a troublesome loss of perspective
Back to the confusion with media buy
Financial services, for example, tend to have very little to say beyond their product ad service information that many people want to hear. Time and again the approach in producing ‘social’ content is to invest time and energy a step away from what they actually do as a business.Unless it’s done really well, consumers can smell it a mile off.