Mental Models for Content + Marketing

@taranicholleTARA-NICHOLLE NELSON

SXSWi 2014

MENTAL MODELS FOR CONTENT + MARKETING#mindmodels

About Me@taranicholle

About You: 3 types of marketers

Big BudgetBrand

Wizards X Growth Hackers

@taranicholle#mindmodels

Type 1: Big Budget Brand Wizards

Type 2: Growth Hackers


Type 3: Mere mortals

Big Budget Brand

Wizards

MEREMORTAL

SGrowth Hackers


Mere mortal marketers face (potentially) mortal enemies.1. Unrealistic expectations2. Decision-makers don’t speak the same language3. Proliferation of new mediums utter. freaking. chaos.4. Fewest resources of any internal team


Mere mortals do have a few advantages.1. Proximity to users2. Can touch people who aren’t even on the app3. Flexible, iterative, relatively resource-light to deploy4. Messages beat out mediums, all day every day


Messages win over Mediums.


Marketing is a transformational superpower.

Marketing | Transformational | Superpower



User Context• unhealthy healthy• in pain painless• out of control

powerful• frustrated inspired• stuck activated• bored entertained• irritating frictionless

Business Context• Engagement• UGC• Revenues/sales• Return visits• Brand metrics, e.g.,

awareness

*User-BusinessRelationship

*



User Context• unhealthy healthy• in pain painless• out of control

powerful• frustrated inspired• stuck activated• bored entertained• irritating frictionless

Business Context• Engagement• UGC• Revenues/sales• Return visits• Brand metrics, e.g.,

awareness

*User-BusinessRelationship

*

User-BusinessRelationship Metrics

• NPS• Organic WOM• Referrals• Shares, likes, loves• Repeat purchases• Upsells


Marketing has

(nearly) no limits.

But it has laws.

Next-Gen Marketing Law #1

Users don’t care about your product.They care about their problem.



Inertia. It’s super lame.



People love the content + companies that help them get unstuck and defy nature.


B3: sisomo lovemark status


M3: habit-forming tech + transformation lovemark status


Mental models unlock your marketing superpowers.

*


Let’s build a mental model.


Step 1Identify the problem your user is trying to solve when they come into contact with your product in terms of before and after.


Step 2Break down your ideal user’s typical path from Point A to Point B into 5-10 steps, tasks and sub-projects (e.g., research, decide, evaluate).


Step 3Go back through your ideal user’s typical path from Point A to Point B, and insert commonly encountered obstacles, sticking points, quit points after each task or step.


Step 4Go back up to the user journey steps list and brainstorm/insert key, frequently encountered Mind Moments: *ORID: what, gut, so-what, now what?*Factual questions, worries, fears, wrong beliefs, sticking points, unsticking points, a-ha moments


Where to find your user’s obstacles + Mind Moments: • Keyword search volume and analysis• Comments – blog, social – don’t have to be your own• Content performance + testing – don’t have to be your own• User-submitted FAQs and Forum Conversations• Offline subject matter experts (e.g., sales team, analog experts)• Interviews


Step 5 Boil down the 5-7 tasks and mental moments that get people stuck/unstuck the most into a sequential diagram or list.


Step 6: Review with your superfriend.


Step 7. Use your model to brainstorm message pillars for content and marketing.The ORID ApproachTransformational Content Equation ApproachStory Spine Approach


The ORID Approach: Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, DecisionalWhatGutSo What?Now What?


Transformational Content Equation ApproachHow-toWhat to ExpectMindset Management


Tara’s Proposal: Build a data program that tells the story of XXXXXX,using this ‘story spine’ structure.Once upon a time, there was a _________________.And every day ______________________________.Until one day _______________________________.And because of that __________________________.And because of that __________________________.And because of that __________________________.Until one day _______________________________.And since the _______________________________.And so ____________________________________.And so ____________________________________.


Once upon a time, there was a man, woman, athlete or desk jockey. (In fact, there were tens of millions of them.) And every day they sat too much and moved too little, slouching on the couch, in the car or at the computer. Until one day they had developed bad posture.

And because of that they had back pain, looked less attractive, became less active and lost confidence. And because of that they took pills, had surgery and made all sorts of (unsuccessful) efforts to fix their posture. And because of that they got depressed, experienced side effects and ultimately lost some of the joy of living.

Until one day they started tracking their posture and setting small movement goals.

And since then they stood up more, sat less, moved more and developed correct posture. And so they looked better/thinner/hotter, their backs were pain free, and they were healthier and more active. They burned more calories. And so they felt alive, more powerful and were able to fulfill their potential in life and at work.

[Moral of the story] And now they also know how to achieve any health goal or change any habit they want.

The story of XXXXXX. (Simple version)


• Each point of the story is a pillar: a message or theme that should recur over and over in XXXXXX’s content and data program and campaigns.

• Each pillar is an umbrella message under which fall a near-infinite set of sub-messages and variations – these can fuel years of data campaigns and stories. That said, we can evolve the story as XXXXXX, its offerings and business objectives evolve.

• Each pillar gives rise to dream headlines, points us to where we should look for the data (e.g., user data, surveys, 3rd party data, etc.) and inspires our decisions about which assets we’ll need to create to deliver the data to the right target media and consumer audiences.

• Many data campaigns, reports and stories will involve multiple pillars.• This story and it’s messages should course-correct us, too. If we find ourselves going in a

data direction that doesn’t further this narrative, we might need to rethink it.

How do message pillars inform marketing strategy?


Message Pillar #1:Once upon a time, there was a man, woman, athlete or desk worker. (In fact, there were tens of millions of them.) And every day they sat too much and moved too little, slouching on the couch, in the car or at the computer.

Related + Sub-Messages:• Sedentary life is creating a massive, mainstream health crisis in America. • We’re sitting our lives away/we’re sitting the prime of our lives away.• Everyone can stand to get a little healthier.• In the evolution of man, the office is the new human habitat. • Sitting is so prevalent we don’t even question how much we’re doing it.

Dream Headlines [might overlap/include other pillars]:• Occupational Hazards: A day in the life of your body at work• The Biomechanics of Working• The Evolution of Man, Revisited• The Devolution of Man: New Survey Reveals Desk Workers Are 300% As Likely to Have Work-

Created Health Problems Than Manual Laborers• Sitting Our Lives Away: Data Report Shows That The Average American Sits Through 6 Years of

Our 20s.


Message Pillar #2:Until one day they had developed bad posture.

Related + Sub-Messages:• Good posture looks weird. (That’s how mainstream bad posture is.)• Posture erodes throughout the day.• XXXXXX visualizes what everyone else can see: your bad posture.• XXXXXX’s vision is to give the body a voice. Our bodies are now part of the “Internet of Things”.

Dream Headlines [might overlap/include other pillars]:• 10 Slouchiest Cities/10 Straightest Cities• Cities that Sleep the Most/Drive the Most • Evolution of Man: New Data Reveals That Posture Deteriorates By 50% Between Ages 15 and 50• The Bad Posture Pandemic: Why Slouching, not just Sitting, is the New Smoking


Message Pillar #3:And because of that they had back pain, looked less attractive, became less active and lost confidence. And because of that they took pills, had surgery and made all sorts of (unsuccessful) efforts to fix their posture. And because of that they got depressed, experienced side effects and ultimately lost some of the joy of living.

Related + Sub-Messages:• Posture is at the center of everything we do.• Life is movement. • Bad posture is the leading cause of back pain, but also impacts breathing, circulation, digestion,

core strength, energy and confidence.• Sitting is the new smoking.

Dream Headlines [might overlap/include other pillars]:• The Hidden Costs of a Hunchback: How a Single, Unconscious Health Habit is Impairing Your

Health and Your Wealth• Silicon Valley Syndrome: New Study Illuminates The Aches and Pains That Ail Heavy Technology

Users


Message Pillar #4:Until one day they started tracking their posture and setting small movement goals. (“. . .with XXXXXX.” sometimes implied – sometimes explicit)

Related + Sub-Messages:• The best posture is your next posture.• You can’t change what you don’t measure/track/know. What gets measured gets done.• The power of real-time, actionable feedback is that it builds awareness and gives your body a

voice.• The smallest movements and changes can make a huge difference.• Biting off more than you can chew inevitably leads to failure at achieving your health goals.• Patting yourself on the back when you make small achievements.

Dream Headlines [might overlap/include other pillars]:• Know Thyself: The Insider Secret to Finally Achieving Those Resolutions You Never Keep• Hack Yourself Healthy: 10 Takeaways from People Who Have Used Technology to Reach Their

Health Goals• Stand-Ups and Seconds: Easy Health Power-Tweaks That Can Extend Your Life


Message Pillar #5:And since then they stood up more, sat less, moved more and developed correct posture. And so they looked better/thinner/hotter, their backs were pain free, and they were healthier and more active. They burned more calories. And so they felt alive, more powerful and were able to fulfill their potential in life and at work.

Related + Sub-Messages:• There is such a thing as a power position. Correct posture boosts power, confidence and career

prospects.• Good posture is the natural cure for back pain. It can eliminate the need for medications and

surgeries – and it has no side effects.• Good posture takes some body re-education.

Dream Headlines [might overlap/include other pillars]:• The Power Position: New Data Reveals That People With Good Posture Earn More, Are Perceived

As “Hotter” Than Slouchers• Get Up, Stand Up (5 Times Every Hour): Desk Workers Who Stand Up 5 Times Every Hour Weigh

Less, Have Healthier Hearts Than Colleagues Who Sit Still• The Habits of The Hot: 10 Easy Habits That Can Double Your Hotness + Your Happiness


Message Pillar #6: [The Moral of the Story]And now they also have the superpower of knowing how to achieve any health goal or change any habit they want.

Related + Sub-Messages:• Small changes make a big difference – no matter what habit you’re trying to make or break.• Real-time, actionable feedback is critical for achieving health goals and retraining your body.• Technology can help us save ourselves from the health hazards of technology.

Dream Headlines [might overlap/include other pillars]:• 10 Habit-Changing Hints of Self-Hackers: 75% of People Who Maintained a 50 lb. Weight Loss

Cite Small Steps, Rewards, Tracking for their Success• Retrain Yourself to Health: The 10 Habits of the Healthiest Americans (and How to Get Them)


*Messages can go under any column.*Messages might not be strictly related to your offering*Marketing/content program execution should be strategically targeted around your offering. *Messages must be aligned with your vision/mission.


[email protected]@taranicholle#mindmodels

Mental Models for Content + Marketing

Marketing

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