When Nick De Mey, founder of consulting firm Board of Innovation, uploaded one of his first SlideShares and got more than 100,000 views in just a couple of weeks — not to mention requests to give lectures and workshops worldwide — he knew he was on to something.
Indeed, he’s continued that success: The company recently surpassed 2.5 million views on SlideShare.
“At first we used SlideShare as a practical way to embed slides in our blog posts,” De Mey says. “Later on I realized how I could use SlideShare as a part of my content marketing strategy. At that point I decided to makes decks specifically designed for this platform instead of ‘recycling’ content that I used in offline presentations.”
Board of Innovation has uploaded 65 SlideShares since its first deck in 2009. The company is a consultancy that helps large corporations innovate like startups, via bootcamps and “intrapreneurship” programs. Their most viewed SlideShare — 10 Business Models that Rocked — has around more than 880,000 views.
So how does De Mey make it happen?
Among the tips De Mey learned, which he details in a — what else? — SlideShare: Never ever make something quick and dirty; don’t underestimate headlines (DeMey keeps a list of 100 interesting keywords that make compelling headlines, such as “Ways to…” and “Tips to…”); and include a CTA on the first slide, though make sure it’s not over sensational.
When it comes to coming up with ideas for presentations, De Mey, who is largely responsible for creating Board of Innovation’s SlideShares, ditches the editorial calendar many content strategies adhere to. He says they are “artificial.” Instead, he prefers to take advantage of the bi-weekly meetings where his team comes together to talk about everyone’s projects and client cases. Those meetings give him ideas to build a presentation around. For example, his next deck will focus on companies that sell convenience, such as Shyp or Zaarly.
De Mey will also edit and re-upload his presentations — usually about 10 times — switching out cover images, updating titles or incorporating user comments. Although De Mey says he doesn’t see huge spikes in views after re-uploading, he says by re-uploading he stretches the lifetime and relevance of a SlideShare, focusing on long tail traffic.
For example, with his most popular deck, 10 Business Models that Rocked, the original title was: “Business Models that Rocked in 2010.” He took out the year so as to not make the deck seem outdated. Bigger changes De Mey makes include switching out cover images that he thinks are more relevant. In this same deck, the original cover image was of a well-known Grand Theft Auto character. He later kept the image but changed the headline. Eventually he threw out the cover and ended up with a more relevant gaming image with a new headline, De Mey says.
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
De Mey decides whether a cover change was worthwhile depending on how people respond to it through comments and personal messages.
The role of user feedback goes beyond cover slide changes, too. Often users will give him tips on better examples or cases, he says. In fact, he says an additional two to three links to other products/services on another popular deck, 52 Tools for Any Company to Innovate like a Startup, were suggested by his viewers.
After years of experience, De Mey has two main tips to share with those looking to join the prestigious “2.5 million views” club.
1) Find your own visual style
“For me it helps after I created the first 10 presentations,” De Mey says. “I started to see there are some color schemes and some backgrounds that work that fit well together. If you figure out a style, it takes out a lot of the decision-making.”
He adds: “A style should be functional first with big fonts, good contrast, and readable text. Too many people go for thin fonts and cheesy stock photos. That never works. I rather prefer a shaken noisy picture of a real workshop we have done than an emotionless picture. If I really need a specific image I often turn to Stocksy.com. Somehow their pictures fit better with my style.”
2) Show that you’re invested in your decks and incorporate your viewers’ suggestions
“[This shows] that you’ve looked into the details, that you’re listening to people. If people just see that there’s a lot of work in one presentation, they will appreciate it and help you share that material with others.”
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READ MORE: How One Presenter Got 1 Million Views on SlideShare