agile content: lessons from lean startups
TRANSCRIPT
a presentation by
Tim Frick@timfrick
Content JamOctober 17, 2013
Agile ContentLessons from Lean Startups
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Mightybytes is a Certified B CorporationB Corps use the power of business to solve social & environmental problems.
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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
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EcograderWho it’s for:
• Web designers & developers
• Marketing managers & website owners
• Environmental nonprofits
• Any environmentally conscious person who works on websites
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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
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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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“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!
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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
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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
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How We Learned
• Hypothesis to prove: will building a website sustainability grader help create awareness about the internet’s carbon footprint?
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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7. Build Contacts
Old A/B Test WinnerLabeling counts!10% increase in conversions
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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.
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Ecograder Results
“I think you are not in a position to give Quebec citizen any lesson about green
electricity.”—Angry person at Domtar
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