Hey,

Just one thing from us before we jump into this week’s links.

Before you embark on your next campaign we’d love to talk to you about our Content Audit. It’s proving incredibly valuable for many of our clients. It’s helping them make better use of their budget and giving them a much clearer understanding of how to reach their customers, what they should stop doing, and what kind of content inspires action. Hit the button below to talk to chat.

OK. it’s getting late and I’m about to kick off my bank holiday weekend with a curry. Have a good one?

Hugh

Attention Hooks and the Art of the Start (7-minute read)

What Makes Interesting Things Interesting? (3-minute read)

If You Want to Stand Out in B2B Think Like a Documentary Maker (6-minute read)

I Am Not a Typo - A Smart Campaign to Make Tech More Inclusive (3-minute read)

Why Audio Should Be a Part of Your Marketing Plan (2-minute read)

Scrolling Through Online Video Increase Boredom Study Finds (3-minute read)

The Disciples: A Photo Project About Fans (5-minute watch)

Sam Altman’s Productivity Tips (5-minute read)

Four Frameworks For Shifting to a Content Model (3-minute read)

This is what I’m going to be practicing over this bank holiday weekend (1-minute watch)

How we can help you

Storythings is the content marketing agency of choice for some of the world’s most forward-thinking B2B brands and organisations. Here are 2 reasons to get in touch. 

1. “I don’t know what to do” – You’ve been creating content but it’s not having the impact you need. Talk to us about our Content Audit Workshop.

2. “I need something making” – You know what you want to make, but need an agency to make it. We can help make your podcast, video, publication, animation or newsletter. We do other things too. Get in touch for a FREE 30 minute consultation. 

Attention Hooks and the Art of the Start (7-minute read)
As regular readers will know, we’ve recently developed a SXSW workshop titled Boring 2 Brilliant: B2B Storytelling the Hollywood Way. Every minute your customer spends with your content is a minute not spent on Netflix. So your content market really needs to earn your customer’s attention. Once it has it it then has to hold it. This piece looks at what Hollywood gets right about beginnings and how you can apply it to your videos, podcasts, or thought leadership.

What Makes Interesting Things Interesting? (3-minute read)
I’ve done a lot of reading, thinking, and talking about what creates interestingness. What makes interesting things interesting? It’s a huge subject that I’m not going to tackle in a paragraph. But one thing that comes up time and time again is the juxtaposition between surprise and familiarity. It’s sometimes called the Aesthetic Aha. Derek Thompson wrote a brilliant book about it. This piece frames it as a ‘twisted visual straight line’, which I’m going to add to my ever-growing list of metaphors.

If You Want to Stand Out in B2B Think Like a Documentary Maker (6-minute read)
We work with a lot of B2B clients, particularly in HR and payroll. The work that people in HR and payroll do really matters. This six-part podcast series we made demonstrates how tragic things can get when payroll goes wrong. But there is a blind spot and making people care can be a challenge. If you want to stand our you need to think like a documentary maker. Our very own Matt Locke has some great story-finding tips based on our work in this sector.

I Am Not a Typo - A Smart Campaign to Make Tech More Inclusive (3-minute read)
I really like this campaign. I’m one of the lucky ones. My name is Hugh so I never have a problem with autocorrect over my name. That’s not the case for everyone. I Am Not a Typo is a collective aiming to create social change looking at the link between identity and technology, challenging tech giants to adapt. This campaign challenges tech giants to change their name dictionaries so that all first names are treated equally. Their OOH campaign is excellent.

Why Audio Should Be a Part of Your Marketing Plan (2-minute read)
If audio isn’t a part of your marketing plan take a look at this research on how effective audio is compared to other channels: “The implications of these results are significant for planning and buying, as audio tends to be cheaper. The cost of achieving this high level of attention was more than 40x cheaper for radio, and nearly 7x cheaper for podcasts, when compared to channels like digital display.”

Scrolling Through Online Video Increase Boredom Study Finds (3-minute read)
There is a reason why we have another newsletter called Attention Matters. It’s because we are obsessed with attention, how to get it, and how to hold on to it. We love it when we come across new attention research, particularly when it includes counter intuitive gems. Like this on video length and choice: “Data from a group of 166 undergraduates suggests participants felt more bored when allowed to skip about within a video than when they were not able to, while results from 159 undergraduates revealed they reported higher levels or boredom when given a collection of five-minute videos they could switch between, compared with a single 10-minute video.” (via Ash Mann)

The Disciples: A Photo Project About Fans (5-minute watch)
It’s great to be a part of a fandom. A common misconception is that the most important part of a fandom is the thing around which fans gather. But the reality is that relationships with the rest of the fandom is as important. In this lovely photography project, James Mollinson photographed fans outside different concerts: “As I photographed the project I began to see how the concerts became events for people to come together with surrogate ‘families’, a chance to relive their youth or try and be part of a scene that happened before they were born.”

Sam Altman’s Productivity Tips (5-minute read)
Open AI’s Sam Altman shares his productivity tips. I liked his point about how meeting lengths should be either a lot shorter or a lot longer than they usually are. I also liked his point about why it’s important to do random meetings that have ‘no value.’ (via Neil Perkin)

Four Frameworks For Shifting to a Content Model (3-minute read)
This week, Storythings partnered with the very smart Steve Bryant to develop these frameworks. This deck covers four important considerations for agencies when beginning to incorporate content engagements into their services. Get the deck and make sure you subscribe to Steve’s excellent newsletter while you’re there.

This is what I’m going to be practicing over this bank holiday weekend
Thanks for sharing James Whatley. Fancy going for an Air Walk sometime?

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Thanks for reading. See you next week!

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.