SMX Milan Session Description: Viral online content is capturing more and more attention, rivaling or even surpassing traditional media distribution.
So what’s the recipe for compelling viral content? One part gut feel, a dash of hard-nosed analytics and a deep understanding of the needs of your audience or customers are some of the key ingredients far-sighted marketers are using to amplify the results of their online campaigns.
When to use Machine Learning Models in SEO and Which ones to use - Lazarina S...
The Elements of Viral Worthy Content
1. 1The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
The Elements of Viral-Worthy
Content: Technical Optimization
@PaxtonMGray
@97thFloor
2. 2The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Paxton Gray
Director of Marketing Operations
/in/PaxtonMGray
@PaxtonMGray
4. 4The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“How do I get my content
to go viral?”...
5. 5The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
...is the wrong question to
ask.
6. 6The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Viral Content...
That’s the wrong tree
7. 7The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
If your goal is virality, you’ll probably
miss the things that can help you go viral
8. 8The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
9. 9The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Lack of time (69%)
10. 10The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Lack of time (69%)
Producing Enough Content (55%)
11. 11The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Lack of time (69%)
Producing Enough Content (55%)
Producing Content That Engages (47%)
12. 12The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
The Boss
13. 13The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“Give me viral
content”
14. 14The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“Give me viral
content”
68% of digital marketers feel more
pressured to show an ROI.
(source: Digital Distress, by Adobe
15. 15The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
The Content
Marketer
16. 16The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
*gulp*
17. 17The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
*gulp*
Only 48% of digital marketers feel
highly proficient in their job
18. 18The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
The Content
19. 19The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
The Content
82% of digital marketers state that
“reaching their customers” is a main
concern
(source: Digital Distress, by Adobe
20. 20The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“Dear marketing gods...”
21. 21The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“please let this go viral.”
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23. 23The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
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60% of content marketing goes unused
(source: SiriusDecisions.com)
25. 25The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
26. 26The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Lack of time (69%)
Producing Enough Content (55%)
Producing Content That Engages (47%)
27. 27The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
I will help you
28. 28The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
I will help you
- To produce More Content
29. 29The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
I will help you
- To produce More Content
- To increase Content Engagement
30. 30The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
I will help you
- To produce More Content
- To increase Content Engagement
- To save Time
31. 31The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Viral content isn’t
predictable...
32. 32The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
...consistent, targeted and
well-optimized content
campaigns are.
33. 33The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
So from now on, when I
say “viral,” I mean content
that...
34. 34The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
#1: Reaches A Mass Audience
35. 35The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
#2: Is Promoted By Its Consumer
36. 36The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
#3: Is Inexpensive To Spread
37. 37The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Reaches A Mass
Audience
Is Promoted By Its
Consumer
Is Inexpensive To
Spread
38. 38The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
...basically, consistent, targeted
and well-optimized content
campaigns.
39. 39The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Let’s start at the beginning
40. 40The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Pre-Production Production Distribution
Typical Model
Focus On
Content Ideas
Focus On
Technical
Focus On
Promotion
41. 41The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Pre-Production Production Distribution
Typical Model
Focus On
Content Ideas
Focus On
Technical
Focus On
Promotion
Better Model
Pre-Production Production Distribution
Focus On
Content Ideas
Focus On
Technical
Focus On
Promotion
42. 42The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Step 1, Ideation:
Put your audience first
43. 43The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Good content isn’t about what he
wants
44. 44The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
It’s about what they want
45. 45The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
If you give them what they want, they’ll
do most of the work for you.
46. 46The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Fortunately, you know what they want
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54. 54The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
If you show them something new, something they
care about, you’ll catch their interest.
55. 55The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
220,000 Visits
in 48 hours
95 Links
30 Domains
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57. 57The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Last Month:
Over 200 million
unique visitors
7.8 billion
pageviews
58. 58The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Visit these subreddits to get
some ideas of what’s
trending online:
https://www.reddit.com/hot
https://www.reddit.com/r/all
https://www.reddit.
com/r/all/top/
https://www.reddit.
com/r/AskReddit/
59. 59The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Use redditlist.com or
redditmetrics.com to find
active and trending
subreddits related to your
industry.
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64. 64The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
In Two Years:
2.8 Million Visits
21.3 Million Pageviews
65. 65The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
In Two Years:
2.8 Million Visits
21.3 Million Pageviews
No Promotion
66. 66The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
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Google receives over 1,000,000,000,000 queries/yr.
68. 68The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
And over 15% of them have never been seen before
69. 69The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
The world is telling us what it wants, we just have to
figure out how to use the data.
70. 70The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Josh Moody’s
KW Research For Content
Marketing
71. 71The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
72. 72The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“buffalo wild wings copycat recipes”
“buffalo wild wings sauce recipes”
“DIY buffalo wild wings sauces”
“buffalo wild wing sauces”
“make buffalo wild wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wing copycat sauces”
“how to make chicken wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wings at home”
KW Research
73. 73The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
This is more than just the AdWords keyword planner
74. 74The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
keyword
keyword
keyword
keyword
keyword
keyword
keyword
keyword
keyword
Start with a small list of carefully selected words
82. 82The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“buffalo wild wings copycat recipes”
“buffalo wild wings sauce recipes”
“DIY buffalo wild wings sauces”
“buffalo wild wing sauces”
“make buffalo wild wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wing copycat sauces”
“how to make chicken wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wings at home”
KW Research
Group words with
good volume & low
difficulty
83. 83The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“buffalo wild wings copycat recipes”
“buffalo wild wings sauce recipes”
“DIY buffalo wild wings sauces”
“buffalo wild wing sauces”
“make buffalo wild wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wing copycat sauces”
“how to make chicken wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wings at home”
KW Research
Group words with
good volume & low
difficulty
84. 84The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“buffalo wild wings copycat recipes”
“buffalo wild wings sauce recipes”
“DIY buffalo wild wings sauces”
“buffalo wild wing sauces”
“make buffalo wild wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wing copycat sauces”
“how to make chicken wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wings at home”
KW Research
Ranks 1st for
66 KWs
On 1st page for
253 KWs
Group words with
good volume & low
difficulty
85. 85The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“buffalo wild wings copycat recipes”
“buffalo wild wings sauce recipes”
“DIY buffalo wild wings sauces”
“buffalo wild wing sauces”
“make buffalo wild wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wing copycat sauces”
“how to make chicken wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wings at home”
KW Research
Group words with
good volume & low
difficulty
Ranks 1st for
66 KWs
On 1st page for
253 KWs
Consistently
generates over 30K
pageviews a month
with no promotion.
491,865 pageviews
86. 86The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
“buffalo wild wings copycat recipes”
“buffalo wild wings sauce recipes”
“DIY buffalo wild wings sauces”
“buffalo wild wing sauces”
“make buffalo wild wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wing copycat sauces”
“how to make chicken wing sauces”
“buffalo wild wings at home”
KW Research
Group words with
good volume & low
difficulty
Ranks 1st for
66 KWs
On 1st page for
253 KWs
Consistently
generates over 30K
pageviews a month
with no promotion.
491,865 pageviews
Even though it didn’t go viral initially, it now brings in
significant traffic and shares with no promotion
87. 87The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
It turns out that all the content you thought didn’t go
“viral” is good for something after all.
88. 88The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Step 2, Creation:
Improve Content Shareability
89. 89The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Open graph and Twitter Card Markup
90. 90The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
<meta property="og:title" content="10 Savory Kale Smoothies" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Kale does not taste the best, but it's packed with nutrients that are
so good for you. We wanted to share some kale smoothies for you try; we're sure you'll find one you love!" />
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:url" content="http://www.blendtec.com/blog/10-savory-kale-smoothies/" />
<meta property="og:image" content="http://54.193.67.233/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/10-kale-smoothies-1.
jpg" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Blendtec Official Blog"/>
<meta property="fb:app_id" content="50696200937743"/>
91. 91The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
<meta property="og:title" content="10 Savory Kale Smoothies" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Kale does not taste the best, but it's packed with nutrients that are
so good for you. We wanted to share some kale smoothies for you try; we're sure you'll find one you love!" />
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:url" content="http://www.blendtec.com/blog/10-savory-kale-smoothies/" />
<meta property="og:image" content="http://54.193.67.233/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/10-kale-smoothies-1.
jpg" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Blendtec Official Blog"/>
<meta property="fb:app_id" content="50696200937743"/>
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Provides high levels of control
Maintains a consistent User Experience
Multi-Platform
Improves CTR and conversions
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50%
of the world’s internet users are active Facebook users.
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31%
of the top 1,000,000 sites (by traffic)
use Open Graph markup
Only
Source: Builtwith.com
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Vs.
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Vs.
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Facebook Debugging Tool
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Increase Content Depth and Quality
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by John Doherty On The Moz Blog
Content Length
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0
The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
It doesn’t matter
what they say,
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It doesn’t matter
what they say,
size matters.
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The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
Step 3:
Repurpose and Repromote
Old Content
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And over 15% of them have never been seen before
After 3 days on any social platform, your content is
officially OLD.
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The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
But you can give it new life through repurposing and
re-promotion.
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The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.
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29k Extra Views
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Improve your chances of going viral by
working the following technical elements
into the mix:
- Give the audience what they want
- Use social platforms to understand
what’s popular
- Build content around KW research
- Use and optimizing open graph
- Repurpose and promote content on
other platforms
Summary
112. 112The Elements of Viral-Worthy Content // @PaxtonMGrayDigital. Marketing. Elevated.