In this episode, we dive into responses to the evolving digital landscape shaped by AI in search engines and changes in social media.
We explain how Cherryleaf took inspiration from the viral success of the Museum of English Rural Life (Merl) and used AI chatbots to analyse Merl’s approach.
We share the key lessons learned – such as embracing an authentic voice, leveraging unique content, blending education with entertainment, and encouraging engagement – and details how Cherryleaf adapted these for a technical writing services company.
Discover the creative content pieces we’ve launched, including “Technical Writer Superpowers,” “Technical Writing Bingo,” and “Dungeons and Documents,” and hear about the initial results in terms of engagement and reach. We also discuss future plans and how other organisations can adopt similar strategies.
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to the Cherryleaf Podcast.
Hopefully, you’ve seen some new promotional marketing content from us on social media. It’s a little different from the content we’ve done in the past.
I thought it might be useful to explain what that content is and the reasoning behind it.
In recent episodes of the podcast, we’ve talked about how the world is changing due to AI, and how that’s affecting business marketing. Search engines are changing – many now display an AI summary at the top, providing the information people want. That results in fewer visitors to websites, because users no longer need to click through to get the answers.
Over the past 12 to 18 months, social media has also changed. On sites like X (formerly Twitter), there’s been more conflict and outrage to capture attention. Even business-focused sites like LinkedIn have become noisier. At least, that’s been my experience. There’s a flood of content – people selling their wares, lots of posts about writing better CVs or promoting various solutions.
Meanwhile, we’ve also seen the growth of TikTok and YouTube Shorts – highly visual content, limited to 30 or 60 seconds.
That means businesses need to rethink their marketing activities. The old methods might soon be less effective, or even stop working altogether. This doesn’t mean there’s no value in posting to LinkedIn, for instance – but the question becomes: how do you promote your business without adding to the noise?
We also received a newsletter from Matthew Berman, who talked about generating 30–50 pieces of content from a single video using AI to automate the process.
Then there was a new podcast from the Museum of English Rural Life (The MERL) called The Absolute Unit Podcast, which triggered some thoughts. Should we try new things too? Get more active with marketing?
I mentioned The MERL, a small museum in Reading, England, focused on farming and rural life. In 2018, they posted a tweet that went viral. It featured a picture of an absurdly large sheep with the caption: “Look at this absolute unit.” The post went so viral that Elon Musk changed his Twitter profile picture to the sheep. It led to press coverage and a surge in awareness.
The museum followed up with more engaging tweets, which became popular as well. Many people wanted to emulate that success.
So, we asked ourselves: could we learn from The MERL, without directly copying them? For instance, is there an equivalent of a giant sheep that we could post – something interesting, but not too cliché?
To explore this, we asked several chatbots to analyse why The MERL was successful. The prompt was:
“Can you explain why the Museum of English Rural Life has been so successful? Are there lessons other organizations can learn from their approach?”
The chatbots provided similar responses. The best came from tools that could research in real-time. Here are the actionable lessons drawn from The MERL’s approach:
1. Embrace an authentic, platform-appropriate voice
Don’t be afraid to move away from overly formal tones. The MERL succeeded by adopting a playful, human voice on Twitter – using memes and slang that felt natural. The key is authenticity.
Takeaway: Develop a social media persona that’s friendly and relatable—even if it’s less formal—so users feel a human connection.
2. Leverage unique content
Find your “memeable” assets – things that are visually interesting or quirky. The MERL posted a huge sheep, funny doodles like a chicken in trousers, and more. They framed this content in engaging ways, not just dry descriptions.
Takeaway: Audit your content for surprising or amusing items. Use witty captions or questions to draw people in.
3. Join conversations and use timely hooks
The MERL tied posts to trends like National Unicorn Day or Year of the Pig, inserting themselves into broader conversations.
Takeaway: Pay attention to hashtags, memes, and seasonal events. But be sure to understand the context before joining in.
4. Encourage engagement; don’t just broadcast
The MERL engaged in dialogue. They joked, replied, and made users feel part of a community. Polls like “Should we post fact animals?” got people involved.
Takeaway: Devote time to interaction. Ask questions, reply with jokes or extra info, and acknowledge those who share your posts.
5. Blend education with entertainment
They hooked people with humour, then followed up with educational content explaining the artifact or topic.
Takeaway: Fun content can be a gateway. Once you have attention, deliver substance—via short videos, threads, or blog links. Edutainment works.
6. Measure what matters and adapt
The MERL tracked outcomes – engagement, web hits, media mentions – and adjusted strategies accordingly.
Takeaway: Track your campaign metrics. Use the data (and anecdotes) to show impact and improve future strategies.
From these insights, we learned a few key things for Cherryleaf:
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Use an authentic voice appropriate to our brand.
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Mix education with humour.
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Engage with commenters to build relationships.
Having primed the chatbots with that thinking, we asked:
“Can you suggest some topics or posts a technical writing services company could share, using a similar approach to The MERL?”
Here are some of their suggestions:
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Meme variations (e.g., the Drake meme, Distracted Boyfriend).
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Relatable pain points, like:
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Drake unhappy: “Feedback: it’s confusing.”
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Drake happy: “Feedback on page 5, section 2.1: ‘The third sentence needs clarification because of X.’”
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Documentation disasters – share real-world confusing instructions and how to fix them.
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Technical jargon translator – explain terms in plain English with humor.
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Reimagine historical events with good documentation (e.g., Trojan Horse, Death Star).
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Old manual throwbacks – compare past and present.
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Technical writer superpowers – create comics like:
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“See missing content instantly.”
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“Read user minds.”
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Funny graphs on how readers feel.
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Technical writing bingo – invite followers to spot common challenges.
We adopted a few:
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We tried the Drake meme, but others felt too dated.
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We used the “Technical Writer Superpowers” idea: a cape-wearing writer who could see missing context and prevent disasters. That got 4,000+ impressions on LinkedIn in 10 days, with 119 likes, 13 reposts, and 5 comments.
Inspired by “Fake or Fortune” bingo cards, we created a Technical Writing Bingo Card. After some internal feedback and refinement, we posted it.
That post has had:
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13,363 impressions,
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406 likes,
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71 comments,
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67 reposts.
Following The MERL’s strategy, we posted a follow-up explaining what it reveals about technical writers: navigating uncertainty, advocating for users, bridging departments, adapting constantly – all with patience, humour, and persistence.
This inspired other ideas:
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Dungeons & Documents: a fantasy RPG theme. Quests include:
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Defeat the Passive Voice Spectre,
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Track down the Vanishing SME,
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Restore the Lost Alt Text.
Characters include the Style Paladin and the Wandering SME.
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Jargon busting with humour – we’ve written 20+ short, funny explanations for LinkedIn and Bluesky.
Is it working?
The chatbot highlighted the importance of tracking results. In terms of reach and attention, these are our most successful social posts. I’ve received around 60 new LinkedIn connection requests, and we’ve seen a rise in e-learning course subscriptions – though the connection is less certain.
We’ll monitor future posts to see if growth continues. This strategy is a soft sell: show we’re knowledgeable and human, so when someone needs a technical writing company, they think of us.
Next, we’re exploring TikTok and YouTube Shorts – still early days, but we’re aiming to keep them consistent with our values.
What about you?
This approach is adaptable. Whether you’re inside or outside technical writing, you can create your own memes, bingo cards, or humorous content. You can communicate your value through entertainment and education.
Some ideas won’t suit us – but might suit you. Feel free to run with them.
That’s it for this episode. If you haven’t seen our recent posts, check LinkedIn or Bluesky under my name, Ellis Pratt. Future ones may also appear under the Cherryleaf account.
We’ll link to posts in the show notes. If you have comments or ideas, we’d love to hear them on LinkedIn.
We also publish a monthly newsletter with educational content for technical authors. You can subscribe to receive it – mostly informative, not overly promotional.
So for this month and this episode, thank you for listening.
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