September saw the return of the bi-annual event, BrightonSEO. It’s one of my favourite conferences of the year, mainly because beer so many people from the industry attend and it’s great to see familiar faces.
As well as this, there were some incredible content/Digital PR focused talks that I’d like to quickly highlight, just in case you missed them.
Email Anatomy: How to Get Top Tier Links
Alex’s talk on outreach is packed full of actionable insights, and the inclusion of real responses from journo’s is a great touch. It’s also refreshing to see some examples of bad responses, which everyone inevitably gets, but not everyone talks about. You can follow Alex on Twitter here.
How to create sexy AF outreach emails to land sexy AF links
Carrie’s talk is also on outreach, and again is packed full of juicy tips that you can work into your campaigns right away. She was also recently unmasked as the person behind the DigitalPREx Twitter account (it was all very dramatic) which is another awesome source of inspiration that you should totally follow.
How to Get More From Digital PR
When Laura’s not jumping out of planes, she’s dropping knowledge bombs. Her talk at Brighton highlights how to get more from Digital PR, touching on owned goals, shared goals and more. You should follower her on Twitter here.
How Reactive PR Can Lead to LINKS!
Some of my favourite campaigns over the years have been reactive. Sometimes they don’t work, and that’s often fine because you shouldn’t invest too heavily into them, but when they do work they can be very successful. Will’s talk on reactive PR contains some great tips and examples to learn from. You can find him on Twitter here.
There were many more awesome talks at BrightonSEO, and you can find a full list of slides over on the SiteVisibility blog.
Made something you’re proud of? I’d love to see it! Send it over to markprtr@gmail.com 💌
Now on to the content…
Must-see Content 👀
Drowning In Plastic 🏊♂️
This piece by Reuters has been doing the rounds this month, and rightly so. It’s a simple yet incredibly hard hitting visualisation, that highlights a topical and pressing issue. My favourite element is at the top, that visualises how many bottles have been sold since you’ve had the page open.
The Atlas of Moons 🌙
While you’d expect nothing less from Nat Geo, this is probably the best resource of it’s kind I’ve seen. The narrative, presentation and interactivity result in a compelling and educational experience.
Retro Anime Gadgets 📷
I’m a huge fan of pieces like this. Manchester based illustrator Sheng Lam re-imagined Spotify, YouTube, Instagram and more as retro anime gadgets. It’s a creative and unique idea that looks great.
Discovered via Jack Prouse 🕵️
Every Country’s Best Rated TV Shows 📺
This map on every country’s fav TV show was created based on user ratings on IMDb. The full map is a little tricky to view properly, but each of the individual graphics work really well.
Discovered via Vince Nero 🕵️
How Does Elon Musk’s Tweeting Impact Tesla Stock? 📉
Elon Musk has shared some pretty controversial opinions over the years, with each one potentially impacting Tesla’s stock price. This is a great piece that runs Elon’s tweets and articles that mention him through a sentiment analysis algorithm, plotting the outcome against the share price.
Discovered via Lou Crane 🕵️
Photographer Photoshops Out Smartphones 📷
Photographer Eric Pickersgill put together this amazing series called ‘REMOVED’, that photoshops smartphones out of pictures. It’s simple, but the end product is impactful.
Discovered via Pat Langridge 🕵️
Why EU Regions are Redrawing Their Borders 🏝️
The Pudding are experts at taking tricky topics and turning them into easy to digest and captivating pieces. One of their most recent examples looking at EU Regions is no exception to this.
The Dashboard of 7 Cars Through the Years 🚗
This piece looks at the evolution of dashboards for seven iconic car models. It’s a nostalgic trip through time, with great imagery and clever use of GIFs.
Discovered via Danny Ashton 🕵️
The UK’s Best and Worst Universities for Student Sexual Health 🍆
Indexes can work really well, though it’s important that the data is from reputable sources, and that the methodology is clear and transparent. This index looking at the best and worst universities for sexual health scores institutes across 4 key data points, to create an overall score and ranking.
Discovered via Pat Langridge 🕵️
America’s Quietest Routes ⛰️
The above screenshot doesn’t really do this one any justice. The design of this piece is gorgeous, and looks at the road less travelled, highlighting America’s quietest routes. Great presentation, nifty little features like Google street view and stunning images come together to create a really well-rounded piece.
Discovered via Pat Langridge 🕵️ (again…cheers PL.)
More Great Content…
- The Enigma Machine 👨💻
- The Impact of Smartphones on the Camera Industry 📸
- Big Screen Bloopers 🎞️
- Coloring Paris’ Roads by Designation 🛣️
- TV Tribulations 📺
PR Stunts
The below campaigns may not have been intentional PR stunts, however they did attract substantial attention from the media.
The Antarctic Sabbatical 🧊
A you passionate about the conservation of our planet, and fancy a month-long sabbatical to the Antarctica? If so, Airbnb are looking for volunteers to accompany The Ocean Conservancy on a research trip exploring microplastics. No previous experience is required, though you do have to be over 18 to apply.
School of Magic 🧙♂️
If your little one is Potter mad, they may be interested in the School of Magic by Exam Papers Plus. Private tutors will come dressed in costume, bringing supplies such as wands, capes, spell books and more. It’s a nifty idea, and has all the hallmarks of a classic linkbait piece.
The ‘Bagel That’ Machine 🥯
I love stunts like these. Philadelphia released the ‘Bagel That’ machine, that turns any food into a bagel. Believe it or not, it’s actually available for purchase on Amazon, but is ‘Currently Unavailable’.
Discovered via Laura Hampton 🕵️
Must-read Articles ☕
Below are some articles that are absolutely worthy of a read during your coffee break:
- Skewing Reality by Hannah Smith 🤪
- How Google’s Nofollow, Sponsored, & UGC Links Impact SEO by Cyrus Shepard 🔗
- Best Content Promotion Strategies: Asking Experts by Alexandra Tachalova 📣
Must-follow Marketer 👑
Who: Digital PR Examples
Why: Bit of a different one this month, as I’m not recommending a specific marketer as such. If you don’t follow Digital PR Examples already, I highly recommend you do so, as they regularly share interesting content, stunts and more. The account is run by a very clued up individual, who wanted to remain anonymous but was recently unmasked. I’ll let you do the detective work, you’ll have to dig through their timeline 🕵️ (and…I also revealed who it was earlier in the post).
To Conclude
Thank you to everyone that sent over content pieces, feedback and thoughts over the last month or so. I’m always open to suggestions on how the newsletter can be improved or what parts of it you enjoy most.
In other news, I’m heading over to Las Vegas in a couple of days for Pubcon 🥳. If you’re also attending and want to grab a beer and chat about content, SEO, the Screaming Frog Spider or anything of that nature, then let me know! You can drop me a DM on Twitter.
If you’re not yet subscribed, feel free to do so in order to be notified of future issues,
Cheers,
Mark.