agile content: lessons from lean startups

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a presentation by Tim Frick @timfrick Content Jam October 17, 2013 Agile Content Lessons from Lean Startups Monday, October 21, 13

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a presentation by

Tim Frick@timfrick

Content JamOctober 17, 2013

Agile ContentLessons from Lean Startups

Monday, October 21, 13

Mightybytes is a Certified B CorporationB Corps use the power of business to solve social & environmental problems.

Monday, October 21, 13

Earlier this year, Mightybytes tried an experiment: we attempted to become a lean startup, or at least act like one as we developed a content-heavy digital product called Ecograder.

Think Like a Startup

Monday, October 21, 13

EcograderWho it’s for:

• Web designers & developers

• Marketing managers & website owners

• Environmental nonprofits

• Any environmentally conscious person who works on websites

Monday, October 21, 13

Ecograder (www.ecograder.com) is a free tool that measures website sustainability and provides a roadmap for making improvements and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Ecograder

Monday, October 21, 13

How it works:1. Input your URL2. Crawls your website3. Assesses its sustainability level

based on several key factors4. Produces a score and report

for site improvements

Ecograder

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What it grades:

Ecograder

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Handy dandy reports

Ecograder

Monday, October 21, 13

Content and Curation-Heavy

Ecograder

Monday, October 21, 13

“Content marketing must be approached like a scientist. There are no mistakes, just feedback.”

Srinivas Rao, Search Engine JournalApplying Principles of Growth Hacking to Content Marketing

Content Science!

Monday, October 21, 13

Lean Startup vs. Content Marketing

Monday, October 21, 13

Validated Learning

1. Specify a goal2. Specify a metric that represents the goal3. Act to achieve the goal4.Analyze the metric—did you get closer to

the goal?5. Improve and try again

Monday, October 21, 13

Minimum Viable Product

Product version which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least e!ort.

Source: Paul Kortman, paulkortman.com

Monday, October 21, 13

How We Learned

• Hypothesis to prove: will building a website sustainability grader help create awareness about the internet’s carbon footprint?

Monday, October 21, 13

Lean Green Lessons

• Eliminates the need to ‘know it all’.• Testing hypotheses allows for rapid

iteration of ideas.• Involving users throughout the

process speeds up feedback.

Monday, October 21, 13

Mighty Learning Lessons

• Waterfall habits are not easy to break.• Team of 12 not so lean.• Hard to create a ‘comprehensive

resource’ without a lot of content.• Iteration: products don’t end

(unless you pivot).

Monday, October 21, 13

7 Ideas for Growth Hacking Content Strategy

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1. Embrace Limitations

• Start small: use social networks to bounce ideas first before executing them.

• Set realistic goals: keep word count low, one idea per post, etc. etc.

• Create something worth spreading for a small group of people.

Monday, October 21, 13

2. Always Be Testing

• Build/Measure/Learn: create a fast feedback loop.

• Involve customers during process (not after).

• A/B Testing: produce actionable data.

• Custom dashboards: Google Analytics, Moz, etc.

Monday, October 21, 13

3. Measure What Matters

• Find the One Metric That Matters (Lean Analytics)

• Don’t get overwhelmed by metrics; choose wisely.

• Once defined, benchmark often and iterate.

Monday, October 21, 13

4. Consider Curation

• Rapid feedback: share content created by others first to see how it performs.

• Curated post: create a list of other people’s posts about a specific strategic topic; test performance.

Monday, October 21, 13

5. Repurpose Content When Possible

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6. Guest Blog

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7. Build Contacts

Old A/B Test WinnerLabeling counts!10% increase in conversions

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a presentation by

Results!

Monday, October 21, 13

Ecograder Results

• 2571 unique URLs crawled since May.• #4 page on our site in terms of page views.• #3 landing page for audiences coming from

social networks.• Media placements in:

• Fast Company• Chicago Sun-Times• Sustainable Brands• Fucking Homepage and more.

Monday, October 21, 13

Ecograder Results

“I think you are not in a position to give Quebec citizen any lesson about green

electricity.”—Angry person at Domtar

Monday, October 21, 13

Ecograder Results

Monday, October 21, 13

Resources

Monday, October 21, 13

Resources

Monday, October 21, 13

Resources

Monday, October 21, 13

Thank You

a presentation by

Tim Frick@timfrick

Monday, October 21, 13