5 Content Analytics Hacks to 10x Views and Shares

Brought to you by:

www.wordstream.com/learn#contenthacks

Today’s Presenters

Larry Kim @larrykimFounded WordStream in 2007

Leader of the Quality Score Revolution

Had a kid 8 months ago (#ppckid)

Headshot

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Steve RaysonDirector, BuzzSumo

@steveraysonHeadshot

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Today’s Presenters

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Are You Wasting

Your Time?

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BuzzSumo Experience

Weekly traffic sessions last 12 months

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Study of Social Shares

Analysis of 100m articles

Reviewed images, networks, content formats,

content length, shares by influencers,

day of week published ……

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It is not about writing and hoping.

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1. Content Plan should be Data Driven

• Research so you know:

• what content is resonating with your audience

• what formats and networks are working

• what is working for your competitors

• how content is being amplified

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Quality content is not enough -

People will not find a quality needle in the haystack.

2. Content needs a Promotion Plan

• You need more than distribution, you need amplification

• You need an outreach, promotion and re-promotion plan

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Start with Content Research

What do you know about your market?

What data drives your decisions on the content to create, the formats to adopt, the networks to use, how you will amplify and promote your content….

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What Content is Resonating?

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What Industry Content is Getting Shared?

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Things Change

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What was the most shared content in your area…

last year?

last month?

this week?

yesterday?

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What is working? Can you reuse it?

Example – BuzzFeed Quizzes

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What Works on LinkedIn?

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AmplificationWho is sharing the content?

AmplificationWho linked to the content today?

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We studied over 100 million articles.

Here are some general findings about what works …

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Long Form Content Gets More Shares

Example for articles on SEO

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Posts with images get more shares

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Content Formats Have A Major Impact

Example for articles on Blogging

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Lists Work & 10 is the Magic Number

Example for Moz List posts

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Emotional Content Engages

Over 1m Shares of Budweiser Super Bowl Ad

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Influencers

• Not all sharers are equal

• Just one influencer sharing can result in 30% more shares

• When 5 influencers shared a post it went viral

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Promotion

• Spend as much time on promotion as researching and writing

• If you publish, tweet and forget, everyone else will forget as well

• Have a sustained promotion plan including paid, owned and earned media

• Influencer outreach is an essential part of promotion

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Summary – 5 Content Lessons

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Research what content is resonating with your audience

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Reuse winning

content formats

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Understand how content

is being amplified.

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Have a clear

promotion strategy

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Things change:

monitor & track trends

5 Content Hacks To 10x Views and Shares

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96% of Content Goes Nowhere

On WordStreamBlog, 50 Articles (Top 4% of total) generates: Almost half the Traffic!

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@larrykim

Content Unicorns! (Top 4%)~ 50% of Traffic

~ 70% of Social Shares

~ 80% of Links

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Ad Text Testing

• Same Story – 20% of Ads Generate 92% of Spend

• 20% of Ads Generated 65% of Impressions

• But CPA, CTR, and Conversion Rates vary

@larrykim, @perrymarshall#contenthacks

1. Aligned w/ High Volume Keyword (SEO)

• This Infographic ranks for high volume keywords like “What is AdWords”, “How AdWords Works”, etc.

• Be the best answer!

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2. Leverages Trending Topics

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3. Engineered for Social Media Sharing

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This Article Generated 23.4k Shares!

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• Unexpected Path To Success

• Inspirational

• Group Inclusion Dynamics

• #2 Most Popular Story on Inc.com Last Month!

5 Hacks for Engineering

Content Unicorns

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#5

Content Promotion

Happens *Before*

Writing (Not After!)

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Key Takeaway:

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• If you can’t figure out ahead of time who will promote your content and why, don’t bother creating it!

• Success of content is largely determined in the planning phase before even writing a single word.

#4

Build Out Content

Promotion Networks

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Leverage Other People’s Audiences

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Syndicate Your Content

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#3

Leverage Paid

Promotion

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How does stuff go “Viral”?

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Article Published On Friday at 5PM EST

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Shared Content on my Social Media

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Picked Up in Marketing Land 2 Hours Later…

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Exponential Growth

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Key Takeaway:

You Need Interesting Content

+ Influential People Finding Your Stuff

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People Who Aren’t Journalists Can Make Stuff Go “Viral”, Too.

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Paid Social Promotion of Content to Specific Influencers Increases the Chances of Getting “Noticed”

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WordStream Articles

Paid Social Promotion of Content to Specific Influencers Increases the Chances of Getting “Noticed”

WordStream Articles

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How To Target Super Connectors on

Social Media?

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Targeting Super-Connectors on Facebook

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Targeting Super-Connectors on Twitter

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How To Find Influencers?

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Not All Your Content is Interesting

to Super-Connectors

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Probably Won’t End Up in The Wall St. Journal…

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Target Using Remarketing

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Targeting Fans on Twitter

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#2

Don’t Forget

Mainstream Media!

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TV & Radio Producers Also Need Stories!

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#1

Spend 80% of Time on

Topic Research, 20%

Actually Writing

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Test Your Content Ideas First

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Only Write Up The Best Ideas

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Get Inspired By What Works

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Only Jump on the Top 5% of Stories

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Key Takeaways:

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1. Most Content Goes Nowhere. Less Donkeys, More Unicorns!

• SEO, News & Social Media Focus

2. Content marketing success should not be so random. Make your own luck!

• Focusing on Promotional Angles First

• Building Up Distribution Networks

• Leveraging Paid Promotion

• Spending WAY More Time on Topic Research

Thank You

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