SearchLove San Diego 2019 - Vince Nero - Creating Great Content in Boring Industries

@vincethenero | #searchlove
How to Create Content in
Boring Industries
#SearchLove San Diego 2019
Vince Nero, Senior Content Marketing Manager
@vincethenero | siegemedia.com

Can you draw a bicycle
from memory?

Gianluca Gimini 2009 “Velocipedia”  
http://www.gianlucagimini.it/prototypes/velocipedia.html

Why am I talking
about bicycles?

Gianluca Gimini “Velocipedia”  
https://www.behance.net/gallery/35437979/Velocipedia

What do I/we like
about this piece?

How good are we at
remembering
everyday objects?

Signs.com “Branded in Memory” 
https://www.signs.com/branded-in-memory/

You need to take
inspiration from
around you.

7 ways you can get inspired
and create content in
boring industries.

Why is it boring?
Is it too complex?

Simplify Complex
Topics
1

Look for deﬁnitional terms or topics
that are inherently complicated.

Look for deﬁnitional terms or topics
that are inherently complicated.
…and simplify.

BORING INDUSTRY: executive drug testing
Keyword: Non DOT
drug testing

Walls of text.
No images.

https://www.ebiinc.com/resources/blog/non-dot-drug-testing

• Quick Answer Box
• 3.2K monthly
search trafﬁc
• $6K monthly
value

How can YOU do it?

Find places to replace
text with visuals.

Use analogies.
https://www.typeform.com/blog/guides/net-promoter-score/

https://www.typeform.com/blog/guides/net-promoter-score/

Don’t want to
“dumb it down”?

Show Them a Problem That
They Don’t Know They Have
(and You Can Solve)
2

What problem do you solve?

Do your users even know they
even have that problem?

BORING INDUSTRY: insurance
Does your company give
insurance quotes?

Does your company give
insurance quotes.
Show them they need to
check for a quote!

https://www.insurance.com/auto-insurance/vehicle-shopping/cars-that-get-the-most-tickets.html/

• High end news
coverage from
Forbes, MSN,
Lifehacker

They also repurposed it into a blog post.

Use mind maps to ﬁgure out what
problems your product solves.

Use interactivity in your piece.
https://www.geico.com/more/living/home-protection/guide/

https://www.geico.com/more/living/home-protection/guide/

Try infographics.
https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic

https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic

Is your industry too
competitive?

3
Show Them You
Are the Experts

What’s the most difﬁcult
question in your industry?

BORING INDUSTRY: auto maintenance
Topic: how long can a
car travel on empty?

BORING INDUSTRY: auto maintenance
https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-far-can-you-drive-your-vehicle-on-empty-by-brady-klopfer

• Links from the
auto industry
and high end
news

Make them long form guides.
https://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors

Go to where your customers
are asking questions

Answer the Public
https://answerthepublic.com

Buzzsumo’s Question Analyzer
https://app.buzzsumo.com/research/questions

Buzzsumo

Ahrefs Questions
(based on search volume)

Limited resources?
Find experts using H.A.R.O.

Ask a detailed question.

Get an expert response.
https://www.nitrocollege.com/scholarships/disabilities

All of the good
answers taken?

4
Change the Medium

What are the majority of SERPs doing?

BORING INDUSTRY: solar energy provider
Topic: how wind
turbines work

https://www.saveonenergy.com/how-wind-turbines-work/

• Links from
educational sites

• Ranking in top 5
for “how wind
turbines work”

Look at competitive landscape.

Ryan Charles and HireaHelper created videos
to explain “how to pack” in a crowded SERP.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0bSX0hKURnt-DimDZoIRNBS9sUCPRysp

Don’t have the
resources?

5
Leverage Free Data
(and Make the User the Star)

There are tons of free data sources out there.

Take my list of 40!
http://bit.ly/freedatasources

U.S. Department of Transportation

Safest Times to Drive
https://instamotor.com/driving-tips/driving-safety-by-the-numbers-in-the-us

BORING INDUSTRY: lawyers
https://www.gotocourt.com.au/how-criminal-is-your-name/

BORING INDUSTRY: lawyers

• High end news
placements in
Australia

Give them something to share
about themselves.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html

And how they compare to others.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html

People love real time feedback.

Collect your own data.

Not free, but use Google Surveys to
collect your own data.

Even your data  
is boring?

6
Take a Step Out of Your
Immediate Industry

Tangential markets exist right beyond yours.

BORING INDUSTRY: VoIP phones
Tangential market: Business
communication

BORING INDUSTRY: VoIP phones
https://getvoip.com/blog/2016/08/01/business-buzzwords/

• Links from news,
business, HR
sites

Map out your industry and ﬁgure out your
tangential markets.

WARNING: If you are getting links not relevant
to your industry, you’re not a ﬁt.

Don’t want to step
too far out?

7
Port Other Ideas Into
Your Industry

Remember the bicycle?

This idea.

Was ported into this boring industry.

Get to the core of the idea.
https://heathbrothers.com/download/mts-made-to-stick-model.pdf

Force yourself to analyze content
you like (and dislike).

Take inspiration from all
around you.
(Not just your immediate
industry.)

Subscribe to newsletters
Distilled, ColumnFive, Polygraph.cool, FlowingData, Siege Media ;)

Build lists on Twitter

News sites like NYTimes, Wash Post
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/us/2018-year-in-graphics.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/ns/best-graphics/

Reddit r/infographics, r/dataisbeautiful

Set up a Feedly

Check out Sparktoro
https://sparktoro.com/trending

I tweet about why I like content to force
myself to analyze it.

Encourage your team to share.

What do you like about
other content?

You’ll stop seeing your
industry as “boring.”

And start making
great content.

Thanks for listening.
Any questions?
Vince Nero, Senior Content Marketing Manager
@vincethenero | siegemedia.com

SearchLove San Diego 2019 - Vince Nero - Creating Great Content in Boring Industries

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