As part of my job duties, I help clients brainstorm different content ideas for linkbait and viral spread. Oftentimes I’m brainstorming for the same niche, meaning I have to come up with dozens of ideas for one industry. This process can get tricky, as it’s often hard to come up with fresh ideas for one topic week after week. I thought I’d share some things that I do to try and get the creative juices going.
- Check social media sites for inspiration. Sometimes I’ll check Delicious, Digg, Reddit, etc. to see what sort of similar content has been submitted and how well it fared. I think whether I can come up with an idea that’s similar to or inspired by a successful submission, or whether I can improve upon an idea that was good but somehow failed to go viral.
- Tie in current events. I check a lot of news sites to see what’s going on in the world. It doesn’t have to be any sort of monumental news event like the unveiling of Apple’s latest gadget — even local news stories inspire me.
- See what people are talking about. Check your network of friends and colleagues on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. See what they’re talking about and whether you can leverage the discussion. If something slips through the news crack or isn’t on your radar, there’s a good chance your friends will notice and be talking.
- Ask someone else. When I’m temporarily stumped for ideas, I’ll ping a close friend on IM or turn around and throw something at my boyfriend (who also works from home) and ask for their input. It’s always nice to have a fresh perspective, and oftentimes I’ll receive ideas that are great on their own or that inspire me to go down a new brainstorming path and come up with something good.
- Check the website for inspiration. Oftentimes the client’s website has a good deal of information that can be used as the basis for something great, whether that’s a blog post, an interesting picture, an informative study, etc. See if there’s preexisting content that you can polish up and present in a new and interesting way (via a video, list, infographic, etc).
- Do some “point of origin” research. I’ve often looked up general topics in Google or Wikipedia (yeah, yeah, I know) to get an idea of their history and to see if anything in particular stands out. It’s a great way to learn a little bit about the topic I’m brainstorming for and usually helps me come up with ideas based on its history/origins.
All of the above are usually good starting points for me. If you have any other tips on brainstorming content, feel free to share them!
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Last week I wrote about the sting of real-time product feedback and how Domino’s appeared to be filtering out some tweets that were being displayed in a feed on their homepage. Some commenters pointed out to me that a few of the tweets might have been removed for having offensive or questionable content. While I don’t necessarily think that “projectile vomiting” is inappropriate to display (hyperbolic, yes, but still valid feedback), I can make the case for filtering out a user named “cyberphucker” for a family-friendly website. Still, other comments that were safe for work appeared to be removed, but I won’t get into that right now. What I do want to talk about is when you can justify removing user-generated content. Below I’ve outlined different exceptions where deleting comments, reviews or feedback is justified.
- Profanity. Depending on the type of site you have and the type of target audience you strive to attract, you may not want your pages littered with F-bombs or other expletives. If you have a blog, a good course of action would be to have a comment policy outlined that’s easily viewable and accessible for your users. You can opt to edit comments along with a small footnote like “edited for profanity” and let first offenders squeak by. Repeat offenders can have their comments deleted altogether or can be banned for not adhering to your guidelines. With tweets, reviews and other content you may not be able to edit, you can remove the content but, as with the blog guidelines, make sure you have a comment policy or participation guidelines clearly outlined somewhere on your page or site (e.g., displaying your Twitter feed in a sidebar and underneath it saying “Profane or vulgar tweets will be removed”).
- Offensive remarks. As with profanity, depending on the nature of your site you may not tolerate comments that are misogynistic, homophobic, racist, etc. Make sure you state that this type of content won’t be allowed and are grounds for removal/deletion.
- Spam. No-brainer here — spam comments, whether they’re obvious (“Hi buy Viagra here cheap online”) or slightly more subtle (“Great post! I totally agree that [insert somewhat post-related comment here]” left by “BuyViagra”), can and should get removed.
- Trolls. If you see the same user come in and flood your blog, forum, Twitter feed, etc. with useless, negative remarks that are in no way constructive (e.g., “Your company sucks and so does your product”), that person’s probably a troll and you’re getting no value out of his contributions (genuine feedback, constructive criticism, etc).
- Threats and personal attacks. Something like “I’m going to eat your babies and make a suit out of your skin” probably isn’t helpful. Regarding personal attacks, there’s a difference between “You’re an idiot” and “Upon reading your post, I think you’re an idiot because [rebuttal #1, #2, #3, etc), so this could be tricky as sometimes you can interpret a harsh critique as a personal attack.
If you have a personal blog or want to run your company however you see fit, you can obviously make up your own rules about what you approve and what you reject or delete. I’ve personally left critical comments on people’s blogs that weren’t offensive and have been disappointed to see that they never made it out of the moderation queue — some people just don’t like to be painted in a negative light and will adjust user feedback accordingly.
However, if you’re a brand who prides yourself on listening to your customers and taking their feedback seriously, you have to be able to stomach the not-so-nice remarks. Comments like “This necklace is cheap and broke when I tried adjusting it,” “The new car design is ugly as can be,” “The new recipe made me gag,” “You don’t know what you’re talking about…”, etc., while unpleasant to receive, can actually make you and your business better if you can push aside the hurt feelings and think about what you can derive from these critiques in order to improve your product, your customer service, your researching skills, whatever it is you’re marketing.
What do you guys think? When do you think it’s okay to remove user-generated content, and when should you leave it be? Share your thoughts below!
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How to Convince a Client to Approve Your Viral Content Proposal
Dec 14, 2009 by Rebecca Kelley | ContentI’ve come up with a lot of content and link bait ideas for clients in the past few years. Most of the time they’re excited about the ideas, but every once in a while I’ll run into a client who is nervous or doubtful about the content I’m proposing. Most of the time they’re unsure of how appropriate the tone of the piece is, and it can often be difficult to let go of an idea that you know will do well virally. Other times they’re worried that their CMS can’t handle something as substantive as an infographic or other complex piece of content. Below I’ve outlined some suggestions on how to get your client on board with your content suggestions. Trust me, it’s much better to have your client on your side when it comes to content — if you can’t convince your client that a piece will do well, you’ll almost certainly run into roadblocks and failure down the road.
- Talk to your client beforehand to get a grasp of what he/she’s comfortable with. Right off the bat you should be able to eliminate a ton of ideas that aren’t appropriate based on what your client wants to do and what the brand’s all about. If your client sells kid-friendly DVDs, you probably won’t suggest “The 50 Most Epic Nip Slips of All Time.” Get a good idea of your client’s comfort level before wasting his or her time with a batch of good ideas that won’t work for a more conservative brand.
- Ask your client for some sample ideas. Getting a few ideas from your client is a good branching off point. You may not use the ideas, but it’ll give you a good idea of how your client is thinking and what he or she would like to see in the viral sense. Tweak these ideas and improve upon them, or use them as a launching point for a new batch of ideas that are in the same neighborhood of what your client was thinking could work.
- Provide example linkbait that’s done well. If you have a great idea and your client isn’t quite on board, find some successful linkbait that’s similar in tone or different but in the same industry. By providing examples for your client, you’re showing him that other brands have “taken the leap,” so to speak and that they’re still standing at the end of the day. Keep in mind that you may have to assure the client to expect at least a small amount of negative comments to come with any piece of linkbait since it is the Internet, after all. However, for the most part, a well crafted, well researched piece of content that isn’t controversial or intentional trollbait should be positively received.
- Deliver a draft that’s consistent with your initial concept and outline. If you promise an informative, scholarly list about Topic X and deliver a draft about Topic X that’s full of poop jokes and “That’s what she said!”s, your client probably won’t be thrilled. Keep your tone consistent with what your promised to your client. If you miss the mark, you’ll run into a huge cycle of rewrites and will have to work hard to erase the doubts piling up in your client’s head.
- Make sure to get final approval from your client. Have your contact approve every step of the process, and don’t publish or launch something without his or her thumbs up. The more time you spend getting input and running things by your client, the more time you get to get him excited about the idea and look forward to promoting it.
- When all else fails, head back to the drawing board. Ultimately, if you’ve done all you can to convince a client about a piece of linkbait or viral content and he’s still doubtful, I recommend not moving forward. I’ve worked with some clients who never seemed to be fully on board with a concept or idea, and every time that happens, the piece never does nearly as well than if they were excited and fully committed. The “If you believe it, you can achieve it” quote fully applies here — if your client doesn’t believe that something will work, it’s going to be hard to make it work. It’s better to move forward with something he is comfortable with, even if it’s not as stellar an idea.
I have worked with lots of clients who trust my content suggestions and let me go wild with ideas, but not every client is like that. A lot of them need some guidance and assurance in order to be comfortable with an idea. I hope the above process has helped a bit, and I’d love to hear some additional suggestions if you’ve got any to share!
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Need easy ideas for linkbait? Want to get all seasonal on it? Well we have a helpful list to get your pre-winter creative juices flowing! By looking at some of the topics and finding a way to relate to your field, you can harness the momentum of that topic and hopefully get more traction. November is jam-packed with possibilities, including the following:
- Thanksgiving
Pilgrims, Maize and Native Americans – oh my! Everyone loves some good T-giving linkbait so talk about the worst foods, what really happened on that first Thanksgiving, or anything related. Just get this in early as it will be saturated on the week of the 22nd! - Twilight: New Moon
This is some movie that is based on popular books about werewolves or Vvmpires or something. It will be huge – I have no other advice than that - MMA
Strikeforce is going all in on a primetime deal with the world’s best fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, airing on CBS. How will it work? Could it fail, and if so, why? Can MMA be a primetime event? - 2012
Who doesn’t love a good disaster movie? Talk about the flaws, what could be true or any other aspect of the world ending. As long as the world doesn’t actually end, you will have a lot of success. - NBA
The season just opened at the very end of October, and this is one of those rare times where the NBA is relevant. How are the rookies doing? Are Shaq and Kobe ok? There is a lot out there so get some early season jabs in and use professional hoops to give you a hand! - Motorola Droid
The best Andoid phone yet launches this week on Verizon. They use creative ads for promotion and the phone has some cool new features. - Winter
While this sounds dumb, there are a lot of opportunities that you can create around this upcoming season. This can be tied into virtually any niche, from how to prep your house/garden for the cold to winter essentials for the family. The coming cold is a great opportunity for hot content! - V
This is a TV show that is new on ABC and features aliens as “visitors.” Could this really happen? Do aliens exist? If so, would 29 ships hover over major cities? What are the best alien moments in movies/television? This series might be short-lived, but I think it can help you out while it does. - Elections
While voting just wrapped up, the results are a great opportunity for content. Take a look at the closest voting, surprises and the underdogs that won. - Avatar
This is going to be the biggest movie of 2009 and contains a variety of topics from the technology of the special effects to the social and cultural implications of the plot. December will be packed with Avatar stories, so do yourself a favor and get in early. - Christmas
Sound early? It’s not. If you have “best buy lists” or top gifts, the time is NOW. In December those lists get too saturated, so your best option for prime visibility is as soon as possible (and it will have a much longer shelf life).
Have any other hot topics for the month of November? Feel free to share examples below!
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Cashing In with Other People’s Content: The Benefits of UGC
Sep 29, 2009 by Rebecca Kelley | ContentA lot of folks still don’t quite understand the benefit of having user-generated content on your site. It seems logical to have someone else do the work for you, doesn’t it? They create the content and you reap the benefits of indexed pages, better rankings and more sales…or, in growing cases, a book deal. Below I’ve highlighted three sites that have scored book deals thanks to the content others have created for them.
F My Life
F My Life is a site that allows you to send in a message that begins with “Today” and ends with “FML” (f*ck my life). If your submission gets accepted, it’ll get published on the website and users can vote on it with either a sympathetic “I agree, your life sucks” or a “you totally deserved it.” Here’s a sample FML:
It’s a simple concept, and its success lies entirely upon user-generated content. Everything on this site has been contributed by its readers. It even has an Illustrated FML section where users can actually create art based on a previously published FML (FML fan art — can you believe it?). There’s no reward for contributing other than the satisfaction of seeing your sad anecdote showcased on a public forum. F My Life has a book out that I’ve seen gracing the humor section at Barnes and Noble, enabling you to pay for a hard copy of other people’s misery.
This is Why You’re Fat
This is Why You’re Fat is a site that showcases pictures of heinous, calorie-laden food concoctions sent in by users. That’s pretty much all it is — it’s like food porn. Sloppy, unhealthy food porn. Here’s a sample creation:
People are actually spending time and money to make the most shocking and unhealthy combination of food imaginable while the site owner sits back and lets the submissions pour in. In fact, the webmaster’s even set up a separate URL for the book (bad idea from an SEO standpoint), showcasing a quote from Entertainment Weekly magazine. That’s some pretty nice press considering it’s a book “written” by hundreds of free contributors.
Shit My Dad Says
Probably the most egregious (and hilarious) example of UGC leading to a book deal is the Twitter account called Shit My Dad Says. The account was set up by a young guy who lives with his parents. His dad spouts off hilarious non sequiturs and snarky comments that he’s turned them into a Twitter feed. The profile gained a little bit of traction from Follow Friday, and then someone submitted it to Reddit and it pretty much exploded overnight, gaining over 420,000 followers in less than 2 months. Here’s a sample gem from the account:
The LA Times did an article about the Twitter account and revealed that Justin, the “ghost tweeter” and son of a real-life Frank Costanza, has gotten numerous book deal offers. That’s right, a book deal for someone’s Twitter account. It’s the only example in this post where the guy didn’t even create the website — he’s using an existing user generated content platform to showcase another person’s comments and he’s the one reaping the benefits. Basically, it’s UGC within UGC (holy meta — I think my head asploded).
Back in the day it used to be a bit more difficult to land a book deal. You had to submit a manuscript, know the right people, cross your fingers, and often repeat the process many times until you (hopefully) got lucky. Sure, you could self-publish (as you still can today), but nowadays the Internet has made it easier for publishers to come across a well-written blog that’s attracted some buzz and attention. Writing takes skill, imagination, and a serious time commitment, so imagine how much sweeter it is to get a book deal based on content that others have provided for you. And that’s the beauty of user-generated content.
Here are a few other sites that do a great job with UGC:
- Yelp — their whole site is pretty much dependent on user-submitted reviews of restaurants and businesses.
- Cracked — most of their lists that make it on Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon are contributed by their users.
- Urban Outfitters — a clothing store that allows people to review clothes and merchandise online. Users can see review stats of other people, such as their average ratings, how many times their reviews have been voted as “helpful,” etc.
- Bleacher Report — the world’s largest sports network that is powered entirely by fan-generated content.
- Texts from Last Night — a site similar to FML that allows you to submit drunken text messages to be showcased on the website.
- TripAdvisor — one of the best vacation review websites on the web today.
What other sites successfully leverage user-generated content to their advantage? Tweet your responses to @10e20 or drop them in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed.
It seems like it should be a no-brainer. If you are going to take the time to develop content and promote it on social networks, you should take the time to track your efforts so that you can showcase cold hard facts to your boss/client/company. This is where the details come in, and I have listed them out in an easy to consume social media checklist over at Search Engine Land!
This checklist is made for the internet marketer and should help you provide more results than just brand mentions so that you can really try to show bottom-line ROI on promotions that could be easily overlooked. So head on over to Search Engine Land and read the Social Media Checklist for Internet Marketers!
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