Content Strategy Archives Content Strategy

Mar 31 2025

The Role Of E-E-A-T In AI Narratives: Building Brand Authority For Search Success via @sejournal, @cshel

For over a decade, E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) has played a role in search rankings, first introduced in Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines in 2014.

But with the rise of AI-generated content and AI-synthesized answers, E-E-A-T (now including experience) is no longer just a good idea. It has become the defining factor in determining which sources AI-driven search results consider authoritative enough to cite and include in their synthesized narratives and responses.

AI Overviews and other AI-generated search features don’t just favor sites that “align with E-E-A-T principles” – they favor recognized experts.

To be cited in AI-driven answers, a brand needs to demonstrate undeniable expertise and establish itself as the authority in its field.

This means consistently producing original research, providing real-world insights, and gaining industry-wide (or broader) recognition.

In this article, we’ll explore how E-E-A-T determines visibility in AI-driven search and AI-generated answers, what challenges brands face in maintaining credibility, and strategies for ensuring that AI models and search engines rely on your content as a trusted source.

The Intersection Of E-E-A-T And AI-Generated Answers

The rise of AI-generated search results presents both opportunities and challenges for brands.

AI-powered features like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT search integrations, and Perplexity AI are synthesizing answers instead of just returning traditional blue links.

This means that appearing in AI-driven answers requires more than just good SEO – it requires E-E-A-T-backed authority.

Key considerations for ensuring visibility in AI search features:

Experience: AI models favor content backed by first-hand knowledge. Brands that demonstrate real-world expertise through case studies, original research, and hands-on experience have a greater chance of being cited.
Expertise: AI-generated answers prefer sources with clear subject matter expertise. Author bylines, credentials, and expert contributions all signal trustworthiness to AI-driven search.
Authoritativeness: AI Overviews and LLM-generated answers prioritize brands that own their knowledge graph, are widely referenced, and are recognized leaders in their industry.
Trustworthiness: AI-generated content is acceptable to use (in that it is not inherently “bad” or penalized) but must be factually accurate and verifiable. Content backed by reliable sources, citations, and transparent authorship is more likely to surface in AI-generated search features.

AI Overviews And E-E-A-T: What Google’s Latest Research Reveals

Google’s recent post on AI Overviews and AI Mode highlights how AI-generated search experiences are evolving and underscores the importance of E-E-A-T in shaping AI-driven responses.

Here are key takeaways that reinforce the role of E-E-A-T:

Google Integrates E-E-A-T Into AI Overviews

AI Overviews leverage Google’s ranking systems and Knowledge Graph to determine which sources are most authoritative. (Hint: Ensure your Knowledge Graph exists and is accurate!)
E-E-A-T signals directly influence which websites AI Overviews pull from, reinforcing the need for brands to establish themselves as leading authorities.

High-Quality Sources Are A Requirement

AI Overviews corroborate AI-generated summaries with top-ranked content, (theoretically) ensuring the information is reliable.
For Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) queries, the bar for trustworthiness is even higher, emphasizing the importance of expert-driven content. (This is why author biographies with CVs, other credentials, and proof of expertise are necessary.)

AI Overviews Increase Engagement With High-Quality Content

Google reports that users who interact with AI Overviews visit a greater diversity of websites and that click-throughs from AI Overviews are of higher quality.
This presents an opportunity for brands with strong E-E-A-T signals to attract engaged visitors who trust the AI-curated results (but click through to verify).

Manual And Algorithmic Safety Checks Reinforce E-E-A-T’s Importance

Google’s Search Quality Raters, adversarial testing, and fact-checking systems ensure AI Overviews prioritize reliable information.
Brands that lack E-E-A-T credentials (specifically Knowledge Graphs and other key indicators that your brand is considered authoritative) may struggle to appear in AI-generated search experiences.

Future AI Search Innovations Will Reward E-E-A-T Signals

Google’s experimental AI Mode in Search expands AI-generated responses using multimodal data and real-time corroboration with authoritative sources.
Brands with verified expertise, structured citations, and widespread recognition will have an advantage in AI-driven search.

This reinforces the need for brands to proactively establish E-E-A-T authority to maintain visibility in AI-driven search features.

Challenges In Applying E-E-A-T To AI-Generated Search

Despite its benefits, AI-driven search presents several challenges for brands trying to maintain visibility:

1. AI Prioritizes Recognized Authorities: Simply optimizing for E-E-A-T is not enough. Brands must become the trusted source that AI search engines consistently reference.

It’s easy to optimize for or align with E-E-A-T in principle, but much more difficult to achieve in reality because some of the requirements simply aren’t within your control.

2. Potential For Misinformation: AI-generated search results can fabricate statistics, misquote sources, or create misleading narratives. Brands must actively monitor AI-generated mentions for accuracy.

3. Duplicate And Unoriginal Content: AI often pulls from widely cited knowledge bases, meaning brands that don’t produce original insights and research risk being ignored.

4. Algorithmic Bias And Filtering: AI search models prioritize widely referenced sources, which can disadvantage emerging brands. Overcoming this requires strategic partnerships, citations, and broad industry engagement.

AI’s Tendency To Be “Confidently Wrong”

A March 2025 study by the Columbia Journalism Review found that AI-powered search tools frequently provide incorrect answers with “alarming confidence.”

The study tested eight major AI search engines and found that chatbots collectively provided inaccurate answers more than 60% of the time, nearly always without acknowledging uncertainty.

Most interesting finding: Premium AI models were even more prone to confidently incorrect responses than their free counterparts, contradicting the assumption that paid AI services are more reliable.

ChatGPT, in particular, only indicated uncertainty in its wrong answers 7.5% of the time. Which means that 92.5% of the times it was wrong, it was confident it was correct.

If ChatGPT’s success rate at indicating uncertainty were a batting average, it would be .075.

John Vukovich, known for recording the lowest ever MLB batting average (for non-pitchers with more than 500 at bats), had a career BA of .161 – which is still 100% better than ChatGPT’s ability to acknowledge it might not be right.

The findings in this report only underscore the need for careful, attentive human oversight when producing content and active reputation management to ensure accuracy in AI-generated search environments.

Strategies For Strengthening E-E-A-T In AI-Driven Search

To ensure visibility in AI-generated search results, brands must prioritize establishing true authority, not just optimizing content.

1. Own And Optimize Your Knowledge Graph

Ensure Google’s Knowledge Graph accurately represents your brand.
Claim your entity in Google Search and establish schema markup for credibility.

2. Demonstrate Real-World Expertise

Publish original research, case studies, and expert insights.
Engage in media interviews, guest contributions, and speaking engagements.

3. Become The Primary Source Of Industry Insights

4. Monitor And Influence AI Search Results

Actively track how AI-generated answers represent your brand.
Engage with AI search models via feedback loops and corrections.

5. Leverage Thought Leadership Beyond Your Website

Be featured on authoritative platforms, podcasts, and news outlets.
Participate in peer-reviewed research and industry collaborations.

Becoming The Source AI Can’t Ignore

E-E-A-T is the key to visibility in AI-driven search – but it’s not just about optimization.

Brands must become the expert sources AI models trust, reference, and cite.

Those who invest in credibility, expertise, and real-world authority will survive in AI-powered search landscapes, and those who don’t will fade into irrelevance.

More Resources:

Featured Image: insta_photos/Shutterstock

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Mar 13 2025

The Future Of Content Distribution: Leveraging Multi-Channel Strategies For Maximum Reach via @sejournal, @rio_seo

Content is everywhere. Consumers are inundated with it throughout the day – catching up on social media happenings, scanning the news, consuming articles, or listening to podcasts.

Given the staggering breadth of content available across the digital landscape, content marketers’ jobs have become increasingly difficult.

Breaking through the noise is a hefty feat, one that requires substantial amplification to ensure your messages are being seen.

Since consumers quickly shift their attention and are targeted by high-quality content across various platforms, marketers must focus their efforts on distribution strategies.

Simply outlining, drafting, editing, and publishing content is no longer enough.

The opportunity for brands to emerge from the clutter as the top content consumption choice is there, given this disconnect.

Now is the time for content marketing leaders to seize the chance to expand their content’s presence across all the channels your customers frequent.

With only a few businesses taking advantage of expanding their reach, amplifying your brand’s presence through effective content dissemination will help you more effectively target and captivate your audience.

Meet your customers where they’re looking.

By the time you finish reading this article you’ll have a clear-cut framework for how to create a multi-channel content distribution strategy that actually works.

We’ll explore how consumer behavior has shifted over the past several years, the benefits of distributing content across diverse channels, and the next steps to take to elevate your current distribution strategy.

Let’s start by first examining why changes in consumer behavior dynamics necessitate a revised content strategy.

The Shift In Consumer Behavior Driving Multi-Channel Strategies

To say consumer behavior shifts frequently is more than evident for marketers.

As a marketer, you’re well attuned to how often consumer behavior changes and need to adapt to it.

Falling behind consumer behavior trends leads to lost revenue, lower retention, and being overlooked.

Technology is largely to blame for shifts in consumer behavior.

Every year, an abundance of new technology is born, most of which is designed to enhance our lives. In turn, so too has the proliferation of digital touchpoints.

People are no longer turning to only a business’ website for information. They’re scouting the brand’s social media channels, emails, podcasts, and more to gain the information they’re craving.

Consumers expect to be met with a consistent experience across every channel.

Consider you’ve invested ample time and resources in creating a steady stream of written content in the form of blogs, ebooks, and studies. You’ve worked hard to ensure your written content is helpful, clear, and matches user intent.

What if your podcast offered a completely divergent experience? Your audio quality is choppy, your podcast host doesn’t have experience in public speaking, and your podcast topics are disjointed.

This would lead to a negative customer experience and could cause consumers to disengage with your content. It’s imperative every piece of content you write and distribute maintains the same quality across channels.

Increased Use Of Multiple Platforms

Consumers aren’t just visiting your blog. They’re heading to your YouTube for in-depth product tutorials, digesting your monthly newsletter for company updates, and downloading an ebook for long-form content consumption – all in a single browsing session.

The stakes are higher than ever for brands to maintain an active presence across numerous platforms to stay top of mind.

For example, a gym might share weight loss success inspiration on its Instagram stories and offer personalized personal training via email communication.

People-First Personalization

Personalization is the current rage right now, and for good reason. Personalization isn’t a nice to have – it’s a must.

Consider that a whopping 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when it doesn’t happen.

Technology like artificial intelligence can assist businesses in hyper-personalization, ensuring messages are sent to the right audience at the right time.

For example, AI and retargeting can showcase content that’s relevant to end users based on previous browsing behavior.

Consider a consumer who’s interested in snowboarding and has been shopping around for new ski pants.

If the consumer has signed up for a company newsletter to become aware of promotions or savings, the business could send a 15% off new customer promotion or a promotion for the specific ski pant they’ve been eyeing.

Mobile Continues To Dominate

Gone are the days of optimizing solely for desktops. Mobile has made a significant splash over the past decade and shows no signs of slowing down.

In January 2025, for example, mobile devices accounted for the largest share of ecommerce site visits at 76% compared to 23% from desktop.

For most consumers, mobile is their device of choice for consuming content, which is why businesses must maintain a mobile-friendly experience.

This includes ensuring your website is optimized for mobile users, vertical video content is created, and emails render correctly for mobile devices.

Benefits Of A Multi-Channel Content Distribution Strategy

Knowing consumers are navigating multiple channels, seeking personalization, and consuming content largely on mobile devices, it’s clear a one-size-fits-all solution will suffice any longer when it comes to content distribution.

A comprehensive, cross-channel strategy is the quickest way to succeed and ensure your brand is as visible as possible. Other benefits of a multi-channel content distribution strategy include:

Foster Trust

When customer experiences are consistently pleasant across every channel a customer can find you, they’re more likely to have faith in your business.

Building trust is one of the foundational steps to building long-lasting customer relationships.

Improve Visibility

Being found wherever customers look requires ample effort and SEO.

The first step toward increasing your reach is to ensure you have an accurate presence across multiple platforms, especially the platforms your target audience uses most frequently.

It’s crucial to understand your audience. What motivates them? What frustrates them? How can you solve their needs? And where do they spend their time online?

Diversify Content Formats

Written content remains a preferred consumption method, but customers are also interested in other formats.

Video content has been on a steady upward trajectory and is often surfaced as the top search result for certain queries.

Additionally, podcasting has been on the rise as well. Diversifying your content formats ensures you’re meeting the needs of all consumers, including those that prefer audio and visual content.

Mitigate Risk

The saying, “Don’t put your eggs in one basket,” holds true for content distribution.

If you’re relying on a single platform to drive revenue and traffic, you risk losing potential sales.

For example, an apparel company that targets a Gen Z demographic may risk missing potential customers if they don’t have an established TikTok presence.

Conversely, a business that sells medical supplies may also miss the mark on reaching its target demographic if it maintains a social media presence on TikTok but doesn’t post content on YouTube or Facebook.

More Opportunity

Multi-channel marketing strategies are gaining traction. In 2024, 30% of brands consider their multi-channel approach very successful – up from just 17% in 2023. Meanwhile, 65% rate their strategy as somewhat successful, showing steady progress in reaching customers across multiple touchpoints.

There are more opportunities than ever to guide a consumer down the sales funnel.

Additionally, with the rise of social commerce, it’s now easier than ever for consumers to purchase without even having to visit a company’s website.

A simple one-click is all it takes to make a purchase. Businesses should tap into all the emerging revenue opportunities to ensure they never miss out on a sale and to further streamline their sales process.

A Framework For Multi-Channel Distribution Strategy

Developing an effective multi-channel strategy requires careful planning and thoughtful execution. It’s not just about being present on every platform – it’s about doing it well and with the resources you have.

For example, if a marketing team is tight on resources, initiating resource-intensive efforts like podcasting may not make sense.

On a similar note, if your target demographic likely doesn’t spend time on Facebook, it wouldn’t be worth your effort to allocate resources there.

To get the most of your multi-channel content strategy and focus your efforts on what will work for your business, the following step-by-step guide can help you get your content distribution efforts off the ground and on the path towards tangible results.

Know Your Audience

Marketers must have an in-depth understanding of their target audience.

When you know your audience, you understand how they behave, what types of content they prefer, the devices they use most frequently, and more.

Use tools such as Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, social media insights, and customer feedback to gain a deeper understanding of your target audience.

For example, a software company might find that its audience browses LinkedIn more often than any other social media platform.

Focus on the platforms that align with your audience’s preferences and invest resources there.

Repurpose Your Content

Creating content can be a cumbersome task, let alone creating content for different platforms and in different formats.

Get the most out of your current content by repurposing your existing content into formats for different channels.

For example, you may want to break out a long-form ebook into multiple blog posts or create a series of LinkedIn posts to encourage consumers to watch your recent webinar.

Ensure your message is consistent across every platform and adheres to your brand’s voice and tone.

Integrate Technology

Technology has undoubtedly revolutionized the marketing industry. It has offered significant time savings with the use of AI-powered tools and automation in general.

AI can help you create comprehensive content outlines for writers, spark ideas for ebook topics, maximize your on-page SEO, suggest optimal dates and times for publishing, and so much more.

If you’re not already capitalizing on the AI wave, now is the time to start.

Analytics have also come a long way, offering more insights than ever before into consumer behavior.

Technology, like Marketo and HubSpot, enables businesses to seamlessly manage email campaigns, social media posts, and analytics in one centralized platform.

Google Business Profile insights for multiple locations become more transparent and simplified with local experience platforms.

Investing in technology simplifies mundane, data-heavy tasks and allows marketers to focus on what matters most – motivating consumers to act.

Allocate Resources Effectively

Many businesses experience resource limitations.

As earnest as your efforts are, it can be daunting to accomplish everything you wish you could with limited resources. That’s why it’s essential to determine which channels to prioritize and which deserve your attention.

Invest your resources wisely to ensure that employees don’t feel overwhelmed and burdened with their job responsibilities.

Burnout leads to churn and, inevitably, the loss of good employees. When it comes to content distribution, it’s better to be a master of some than all.

A/B Testing

It’s unlikely that your content distribution strategy will be perfect from the start. As with any marketing effort, it takes time and experimentation to get it right.

Use A/B testing to identify what works best. Test different messaging, posting schedules, content types, and visuals to gauge what captures the most attention.

Refine your strategy based on tangible evidence of what’s working and what isn’t.

Practice Ethical Marketing

Consumer privacy is a growing concern for many. Consumers are wary of giving their information to businesses they don’t trust.

Be transparent about how customer data is stored and how it will be used. Adhering to ethical business practices will establish you as a trusted resource with socially responsible values and give you a competitive edge over less ethical competitors.

Next Steps For Content Distribution

The future of content distribution is straightforward: Track consumer behavior, create effective content in different content types, and distribute your content where it makes sense.

It’s likely that even a year from now, a new social media channel or content type will pop up, disrupting your existing content distribution strategy and redirecting your attention elsewhere.

As marketers, staying agile and being ready to meet audiences where they are is what wins the game.

Being a late adopter won’t suffice; customers are digitally savvy and have become accustomed to following the masses when a new content consumption opportunity pops up.

They’re also shifting away from consuming written content and moving towards visual, video, and audio content.

Now is the time to audit your current approach, experiment with new channels, and embrace emerging technologies.

Dig into your analytics to gain a true understanding of your client base and what causes them to convert.

The future is multi-channel – are you ready for it?

More Resources:

Featured Image: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

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Mar 7 2025

10 Top Converting Landing Pages That Boost Your ROI [With Examples] via @sejournal, @unbounce

This post was sponsored by Unbounce. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Want to increase sign-ups, sales, or demo requests from your landing page?

How can you ensure your landing page is optimized for conversions?

Landing pages can make or break your conversions.

A well-designed landing page doesn’t just look good; it also seamlessly guides visitors toward action, such as signing up, purchasing, or booking a demo.

A high-performing landing page should align with your goals:

Capturing leads.
Driving sales.
Promoting an event.

The best landing page templates are designed with conversion in mind, featuring strategic layouts, persuasive copy, and clear calls to action.

So, let’s look at a few top-performing landing page examples to learn about why they work and how you should implement them.

1 & 2. FreshGoods & Radiant Yoga Studio: Great For A Clear & Compelling Unique Selling Point

The secret to beating the competition is positioning your brand so you’re the only one in your specific space.

How? By honing in on your Unique Value Proposition (UVP):

What is the one reason to choose you, your products, or services?
Where does your competition fall short?
How do you make your UVP stand out?

FreshGoods Landing Page

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Radiant Yoga Landing Page

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Why They Work

These conversion-optimized landing page templates effectively highlight a USP throughout the design.

A clear and bold headline that immediately communicates the core benefit.
The supporting subheadline allows brands to reinforce the core USP message by expanding on the offer in a way that adds clarity without overwhelming visitors.
The strategic use of whitespace and strong typography ensures that the USP remains the focal point, making it easy for visitors to grasp the value of the offer at a glance.

How To Recreate These Landing Pages

Step 1: Define Your Unique Selling Proposition

A strong USP makes visitors feel like they’ve found exactly what they need. Instead of blending in with competitors, it positions your brand as the only choice.

Ask yourself: What is the one reason customers should choose you over others?
Example: FreshGoods & Radiant Yoga Studio’s landing pages showcase a crystal-clear UVP in their messaging and design.

Step 2: Craft a Compelling Headline & Supporting Headline

Your headline is your first impression, so you have to make it count. The supporting headline expands on that core message.

Best Practices:
- Be specific: Instead of “The Best Marketing Tool,” try “Turn Clicks into Customers with AI-Powered Marketing in Minutes.”
- Reinforce value: “No coding, no guesswork. Just smarter campaigns that drive real revenue.”

Step 3: Address Concerns with Reinforcing & Closing Statements

A reinforcing statement builds trust (“Trusted by over 10,000 businesses…”).
A closing statement eliminates hesitation (“Every second you wait is a sale you’re losing. Start your free trial now.”)

3 & 4. Vita Health & Orbit SaaS: Great For Hero Images & Visual Storytelling

Before visitors read a single word, visuals will capture their attention and convey meaning.

A strong hero image isn’t just decoration, it sets the tone, builds trust, and instantly reinforces your message. The right imagery makes your offer feel more tangible, relatable, and desirable.

Vita Health Landing Page

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Orbit Flow Landing Page

SaaS landing page example and inspiration

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Why They Work

A landing page’s imagery is a strategic tool that helps communicate your offer, build trust, and nudge visitors toward conversion. Choose visuals that don’t just look good but work hard to sell.

A well-chosen visual:

Supports the UVP.
Evokes an emotion that drives action
Showcases the product, service, or outcome in action
Makes the page feel polished, professional, and credible

In addition to the visual, the full landing page benefits from:

Strong hero image placement
An opportunity to reinforce the messaging conveyed with the hero image throughout the page
White space highlights supporting visuals
Visual hierarchy guides site visitors down the page to the parts that matter.

How To Recreate These Landing Pages

Step 1: Choose the Right Hero Image

Before visitors read a word, visuals capture attention. A great hero image should:

Support the USP
Evoke emotion & drive action
Showcase the product, service, or outcome

Step 2: Guide the Visitor’s Eye

Strategic use of visuals can nudge visitors toward your CTA:

Eye gaze: People follow where others are looking in an image.
Angles & positioning: Lines or arrows subtly direct attention to the CTA.
Contrast & color: Key elements should stand out.

Step 3: Reinforce Messaging with Supporting Imagery

Don’t rely on just one image. Use:

Icons & illustrations
Graphs & charts
Customer photos & testimonials
Short videos or GIFs

Bonus Tip:

Use A/B testing to find the ingredients for maximum impact.

The right image can make or break conversions, so test different options. Some images resonate better with your audience, drive more engagement, or feel more aligned with your brand.

Some elements to test include:

People vs. product-focused visuals.
Static images vs. motion (GIFs or videos).
Close-ups vs. wider perspective shots.
Different background colors or lighting.

5 & 6. Serene Vista & Digital Foundry: Great For Clearly Conveying Benefits

Visitors specifically care about what it does for them.

That’s why benefits should take center stage on a conversion-optimized landing page, not just a list of features.

Serene Vista

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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The Digital Foundry Landing Page

Marketing agency landing page inspiration

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Why They Work

The benefits are concise and audience-focused
Each feature section is well-spaced to garner attention
Benefits are integrated well into the page structure with the subheadings and images to help visitors scan

How To Recreate These Landing Pages

Step 1: Translate Features into Benefits

Feature: “AI-powered keyword research tool”
Benefit: “Find high-converting keywords in seconds—no guesswork needed.”

Step 2: Address Pressing Concerns

What pain points does your audience face?
How does your product solve them better than competitors?

Step 3: Qualify Your Audience

Use benefit-driven copy that attracts the right people:
Example: “Perfect for fast-growing teams who need to scale without the chaos.”

7 & 8. Revive Aesthetics & Smile Dental: Great For Social Proof That Builds Trust

Not all social proof is created equal.

The best reinforces your UVP, addresses concerns, and speaks directly to your audience.

See what we mean here.

Revive Landing Page

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Smile Kids Landing Page

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Why These Landing Page Templates Work

The headshots paired with the social proof enhance trustworthiness and make a connection with site visitors because they can see themselves in the experiences being described.
The rounded shape and contrasting colors make the social proof stand out.
Located near the point of conversion.

How To Create This Landing Page

Step 1: Choose the Right Type of Social Proof

Customer testimonials & reviews
Case studies & success stories
Logos of recognizable brands
Ratings & review scores
Media mentions & awards

Step 2: Strategically Place Social Proof

Near the CTA: Reinforces trust before action.
Midway down the page: Nudges hesitant visitors.
In the hero section: Puts endorsements front and center.

9 & 10. Livewell Lifestyle & Inner Handyman: Great For Turning Interest Into Conversions With Calls To Action

A landing page without a strong CTA is like a roadmap without a destination.

Your CTA is the single most important element that tells visitors what to do next.

And if it’s unclear, compelling, and easy to find, you’ll lose conversions.

A compelling CTA is a combination of copy, design, and placement that removes hesitation and drives action.

Livewell Landing Page

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Inner Handyman Landing Page

Local business landing page and website inspiration

Image by Unbounce, 2025

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Why They Work

CTAs can be customized to stand out and get attention
CTA sizing and positioning make them clear focal points despite having multiple elements on the page. It ensures you get the most conversion power in every pixel
The CTA buttons are placed where it matters throughout the page, making sure the page attempts the conversion when and where it matters most

How To Recreate These Landing Pages

Step 1: Craft a Clear, Compelling CTA

A high-converting CTA should be:

Action-oriented: “Start Growing Today” vs. “Submit”
Benefit-driven: “Unlock Exclusive Access” vs. “Sign Up”
Urgent (if appropriate): “Claim Your Spot Today”

Step 2: CTA Placement for Maximum Impact

Above the fold: First CTA visible immediately.
After key information: CTA follows value explanation.
Near social proof or benefits: Reinforces trust.
At the end of the page: Captures hesitant visitors.

Step 3: CTA Design That Stands Out

Color contrast: The CTA should pop from the background.
Size & positioning: Large enough to be noticeable but not overwhelming.
Whitespace & directional cues: Ensures the CTA is the focal point.

Bonus Tip:

A/B test your CTAs for better conversions.

CTAs aren’t one-size-fits-all. Even small tweaks can make a huge impact on conversions, so A/B testing different variations is essential:

Wording – Try “Get Started” vs. “Try It Free”
Color – A bold button color vs. a softer, branded one
Placement – Above the fold vs. midway down the page
Size and shape – Larger buttons vs. compact ones
Personalization – “Start My Free Trial” vs. “Start Your Free Trial”

Build High-Converting Landing Pages Faster

A great landing page isn’t just about design.

It’s about strategy.

Every element, from your USP and hero images to your social proof and CTAs, is critical in guiding visitors toward conversion. When these elements work together, your landing page drives action.

But building a high-converting landing page from scratch can be time-consuming and complex. That’s why using proven, conversion-optimized templates can give you a head start.

With Unbounce, you get access to 100+ professionally designed landing page templates built for maximum conversions. Whether capturing leads, promoting a product, or running a campaign, these templates help you launch faster, test smarter, and convert better—without needing a developer.

Ready to build an optimized landing page that converts?

Explore Unbounce’s best-performing templates and start optimizing today!

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Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Shutterstock. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments

Jan 15 2025

How To Write Content For Each Stage Of Your Sales Funnel via @sejournal, @krisjonescom

Creating content for your audience involves much more than sprinkling the right keywords throughout your website.

To truly resonate with potential customers and drive conversions, you need to understand your audience’s journey and tailor your content to align with each stage of your sales funnel.

By developing an editorial calendar that not only meets business objectives but also addresses your audience’s specific needs and questions at every stage, you can enhance conversions and boost your lifetime customer value (LCV).

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore and highlight the types of content that are most effective at each stage of the sales funnel.

We’ll provide practical examples and back up our recommendations with data to help you craft a content strategy that not only attracts but also retains customers.

Understanding The Buyer’s Journey

Before we dive into the specifics, it’s essential to understand the buyer’s journey – a framework that outlines the stages a customer goes through before making a purchase.

The typical stages are:

Awareness: The customer realizes they have a problem or need.
Consideration: They research and consider possible solutions.
Decision: They decide on a solution and make a purchase.
Retention: Post-purchase, the focus shifts to maintaining and enhancing the customer relationship.

Each stage requires a different content approach to effectively move the customer closer to a purchase and encourage repeat business.

Sparking Interest (Top Of Funnel)

The Awareness Stage

At the top of the funnel, your goal is to attract potential customers by addressing their needs and pain points.

This is often the first interaction they have with your brand, so making a strong, positive impression is crucial.

What Users Are Looking For

Informative Content: Users are seeking answers to their questions.
Authoritative Resources: Content that establishes your brand as a trusted expert.
Engaging Formats: Content that is easy to consume and share.

Effective Content Types

Blog Posts and Articles: Provide valuable insights on industry topics. For example, a company like HubSpot offers extensive resources on marketing strategies.
Ebooks and Whitepapers: In-depth guides that users can download. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 43% of marketers said ebooks produced the best results for their content marketing.
Videos and Webinars: Engaging visual content can increase information retention by 65%, as per Brain Rules.
Infographics: Visually appealing and shareable content. According to Venngage, 43% of marketers found infographics to be the best performing type of visual content.

Promotion Channels

Social Media: Utilize platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to share content. Paid promotions can amplify reach; for instance, Facebook Ads can reach over 3 billion users.
SEO and Organic Search: Optimize content for search engines to appear in relevant searches. According to BrightEdge, organic search drives 53% of website traffic.
Guest Posting and PR: Publish content on reputable external sites to tap into new audiences.

Keyword Optimization

Focus on keywords that reflect informational intent:

“How to improve email open rates.”
“What is content marketing?”
“Guide to SEO best practices.”

Example

A company offering project management software could create a blog post titled “10 Tips for Streamlining Your Team’s Workflow,” targeting managers looking for efficiency solutions.

Nurturing Leads (Middle Of Funnel)

The Consideration Stage

In the middle of the funnel, users are evaluating their options. They are aware of their problem and are now looking for the best solution.

What Users Are Looking For

Detailed Information: Specifics about how your product or service solves their problem.
Credibility: Proof that your solution works.
Comparisons: How you stack up against competitors.

Effective Content Types

Case Studies: Showcase real-life success stories. For example, Salesforce shares detailed case studies highlighting customer successes.
Testimonials: User reviews can significantly impact decisions; 72% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Webinars and Live Demos: Interactive sessions where potential customers can see your product in action and ask questions.
Product Guides and Datasheets: Detailed documents that provide in-depth information about features and benefits.

Building Trust

Social Proof: Display the number of users, positive reviews, or endorsements from influencers.
Certifications and Awards: Highlight any industry recognition your company or product has received.

Example

A cybersecurity firm might offer a webinar titled “Protecting Your Business from Ransomware: A Live Demo,” providing valuable insights while demonstrating their software’s capabilities.

Getting The Sale (Bottom Of Funnel)

The Decision Stage

At this stage, the customer is ready to make a purchase decision. Your content should facilitate an easy and compelling transition from consideration to action.

What Users Are Looking For

Clear Value Proposition: Why should they choose you over competitors?
Incentives: Promotions, discounts, or free trials that sweeten the deal.
Ease of Purchase: A seamless buying process.

Effective Content Types

Product Pages: Optimized with compelling copy, high-quality images, and clear CTAs.
Customer Testimonials: Reiterate positive experiences from satisfied customers.
Limited-Time Offers: Create a sense of urgency. The principle of scarcity can increase sales by up to 332%.

Calls To Action (CTAs)

Use strong, action-oriented language that encourages immediate action:

“Start Your Free Trial Now.”
“Get 50% Off Today Only.”
“Schedule Your Free Consultation.”

Example

An online course provider might offer a limited-time discount: “Enroll in our Digital Marketing Mastery Course today and save 30%! Offer ends at midnight.”

Creating & Measuring Content KPIs

Importance Of Metrics

Measuring the performance of your content is essential to understand what’s working and where improvements are needed.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 53% of marketers attribute their content marketing success to measuring and demonstrating content performance effectively.

Top-Level Funnel KPIs

Brand Reach: Track impressions and overall visibility.
Website Traffic: Monitor the number of visitors and page views.
Bounce Rate: A high bounce rate may indicate irrelevant content.
Engagement Metrics: Shares, likes, and comments on social media.

Mid-Level Funnel KPIs

Time on Page: Indicates how engaging your content is.
Lead Generation: Number of sign-ups for newsletters, webinars, etc.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): From emails or CTAs within content.

Bottom-Level Funnel KPIs

Conversion Rate: Percentage of visitors who complete a desired action.
Average Order Value: Helps assess the profitability of conversions.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Total cost divided by the number of new customers.

Tools For Measurement

Google Analytics: For website traffic and behavior analysis.
CRM Systems: Like Salesforce for tracking leads and sales.
Marketing Automation Platforms: Such as HubSpot for comprehensive analytics.

Regular Audits and Adjustments

Conduct quarterly content audits to:

Identify content gaps.
Refresh outdated information.
Optimize high-performing content further.
Adjust strategies based on changing trends and data insights.

Focus On Retention & Loyalty

The Retention Stage

A 2022 study by SimplicityDX reported a 222% increase in customer acquisition costs. Therefore, nurturing existing customers is crucial for sustained business growth.

Strategies For Retention

Personalized Follow-Ups: Send emails thanking them for their purchase and suggesting related products.
Exclusive Content: Offer access to premium content, such as advanced tutorials or insider tips.
Loyalty Programs: Reward repeat purchases with discounts or points redeemable for products.
Feedback Mechanisms: Use surveys to gather customer insights and show that you value their opinions.

Remarketing Campaigns

Utilize targeted ads to re-engage customers who have interacted with your brand but haven’t made a recent purchase.

According to SharpSpring Ads, website visitors who are retargeted are 70% more likely to convert.

Example

An ecommerce retailer might implement a loyalty program where customers earn points for every purchase, which can be redeemed for discounts on future orders.

Drive Conversions With Strategic Content

By aligning your content strategy with each stage of the sales funnel, you create a cohesive journey that guides potential customers from initial awareness to brand loyalty.

Regularly measuring performance and being willing to adjust your approach based on data ensures that your content remains effective and relevant.

Remember, the goal isn’t just to make a sale – it’s about creating connections with your customers.

By providing value at every stage and continually optimizing your strategy, you’ll improve your ROI and foster a loyal customer base that plays a big role in your business’s long-term success.

More resources:

Featured Image: fizkes/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments

Sep 18 2024

Content Decay And Refresh Strategies To Maintain Site Relevancy via @sejournal, @ronlieback

Before I launched my agency, I worked for several others and noticed a troubling trend.

Many focused solely on creating new on-site content for their clients, often neglecting older posts and pages. This was especially common with blogs at a time when the trend was to prioritize quantity over quality.

The situation always reminded me of the “pump-and-dump” strategies in the stock market – short-term mindsets that result sometimes in wins and sometimes in massive losses.

I knew this approach was flawed and ended in what I call “content decay.” When I launched my agency in 2017, I focused on refreshing older content as much as creating new content.

The results immediately impressed – and continued to impress.

For example, earlier this year, one of our commercial pest control clients had an underperforming blog post that was created by a previous agency. The content was decent but lacked many on-page SEO elements, especially header tags and internal links (two were actually dead!).

We updated internal links and all other on-page SEO elements and rewrote around 30% of the content. That single blog post jumped to the top position for target keywords in the target location within six weeks.

After amplifying it on social media, which naturally attracted other shares, quality links, and a Google Business Profile, we were able to attribute nearly $100,000 in new revenue to that one piece of content.

This experience convinced me that content decay is a serious problem for many businesses and needs to be addressed ASAP. This issue also inspired me to restructure our service offerings, making content refresh a core service for our clients.

What Is Content Decay?

Content decay happens when a webpage experiences a gradual decline in traffic over time. This can be due to several factors.

Search engine algorithms are constantly updating, and what worked a year ago may not work today.

New competitors are constantly popping up, creating newer content that may be more aligned with current audience preferences. Additionally, your content may simply become stale.

This problem has worsened with the rise of AI-generated content. Many brands use AI to churn out as much content as possible without a content strategy to keep it fresh and relevant.

With the right content decay strategies, you can combat content decay and ensure your content remains relevant long after you hit “publish.”

Recognizing The Signs Of Content Decay

First, you need to be able to identify content decay before you can fix it.

Pay attention to your engagement metrics and watch for these signs of decaying content:

Decrease in organic traffic to that page/post.
Lower overall search engine rankings.
Outdated information.
High bounce rate.
Low average time on page.
Fewer social shares.
Negative user feedback.

Content Decay Strategies That Will Revitalize Your Content

So how do you combat content decay and improve user experience?

Here are a few content decay strategies to revitalize your content and keep it performing well.

Conduct Regular Content Audits

Periodic content audits help you identify underperforming pages or those needing an update.

Tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Semrush, and Ahrefs track page performance and pinpoint content that would benefit from refreshing.

This will improve your content marketing strategy and boost your online presence. When conducting a content audit, I recommend focusing on key metrics like:

Organic traffic.
Bounce rate.
Conversion rate.
Time on page.

Update And Refresh Your Existing Content

Remember, you don’t just have to create new content. Sometimes, refreshing older content is a better use of your time and resources. And when combined with new content on a consistent basis, you’ve maximized your potential results.

If you have content that is performing well but could use some tuning, simply update it slightly and republish it with a new date. Content updating doesn’t have to be a daunting task.

Focus on making a few key changes that will make a big difference.

Content updating can be as simple as adding a few sentences or as complex as rewriting entire sections or refreshing internal links that point to better-performing pages (and making sure those better-performing pages also point back!).

No matter the approach, be sure to let Google and other search engines know that you’ve updated your content.

This will help them crawl and index your content more quickly. Here are a few specific content update ideas that reinforce why you or your agency must stay educated on all the latest – I argue weekly because of how fast industries change nowadays.

Update outdated statistics.
Add new information based on the latest research and developments in your field.
Cut the fluff and use shorter sentences and paragraphs to improve the content’s readability and open up “psychological space” that readers can digest more easily.
Add more visuals to your content, like images, videos, and infographics. Regarding videos, we constantly try to get company leaders to produce a short video discussing the focus of a blog or service page. The goal is to upload that to YouTube and link back to the article, then embed the video in the actual article itself. This helps in numerous ways, keeping people engaged and helping them become brand loyalists quickly.
Ensure your content is optimized for current SEO best practices. This includes using relevant keywords throughout your content and ensuring your website is mobile-friendly.
Check for and fix broken links. Broken links can frustrate users and hurt your search engine rankings.
Make sure your content is still relevant to your target audience. Your target audience may change over time, and your content needs to reflect that.

Repurpose Outdated Content

Instead of letting older pieces of content gather dust in your archives, give them new life by repurposing them into other formats. This is a great content strategy for getting more mileage from your existing content.

For example, you could turn a blog post into a video, infographic, or even a podcast episode.

When you repurpose content, you make the most of your existing content while also reaching a wider audience. Repurposing content is an effective way to breathe new life into your content and reach a wider audience.

Content Format	Repurposing Ideas
Blog post	Create an infographic, video, or social media post based on the information. Turn it into a downloadable checklist, template, or worksheet.
Infographic	Break it down into smaller, individual visuals for social media. Expand on each point in a series of blog posts or email newsletters.
Video	Transcribe the video into a blog post or create short, shareable clips for social media. Extract the audio and create a podcast episode.
Podcast Episode	Transcribe the episode and turn it into a blog post or create short, shareable audiograms for social media. Pull out key quotes and create social media graphics.

Sunset Content That’s Past Its Prime

It’s a good rule of thumb to keep high-performing content for as long as possible. However, not all content is worth saving. Content sunsetting is the practice of removing outdated or irrelevant content from your website.

Not all content needs to be updated. If you have a piece of content that’s factually incorrect or no longer relevant to your target audience, it’s usually best to remove it entirely.

However, you can also choose to redirect that URL to a more relevant page on your site rather than deleting it completely.

Make Use Of User Feedback

User feedback can be incredibly valuable when it comes to identifying content decay.

You can gain valuable insights by using tools like Google Analytics and your Search Console, but don’t stop there. Use comments and social media to your advantage, too.

See what people are saying (or not saying) about your content. What resonates with them? What falls flat? This feedback is like gold when figuring out what content to update and refresh.

Consider sending out surveys to your audience, asking what topics they’d like to see covered or what content they find most helpful.

Create A Content Review Schedule

The best way to stay on top of your content refresh efforts is to create a content review schedule and stick to it. Life gets busy, and a schedule will ensure that your content remains relevant and engaging and doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

For example, you could review all of your website content every quarter and flag any that needs updating. This ensures that you never let a piece of content go stale.

My agency monitors individual pages/posts weekly. Depending on the size of the website, from those producing 25 new pieces of content monthly to three pieces monthly, we overhaul older pieces on different timelines.

For example, for our large website campaign clients with 200+ pages/posts, we overhaul them monthly, say 5 or so. For a smaller website, the pages/posts will be overhauled quarterly.

Regularly Review Your Content, And Make It A Priority

Content decay is a real problem for websites of all sizes.

By implementing these content decay strategies, you can breathe new life into your old content. You’ll make it more relevant to your audience.

Not only that, but you will also improve your search engine rankings and boost traffic to your site. Regularly review your content, and make it a priority to keep things fresh, updated, and engaging.

More resources:

Featured Image: Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments

Sep 16 2024

Why Content Is Important For SEO via @sejournal, @lorenbaker

Content is SEO. More specifically, it’s one side of the SEO relationship. One core function of search engines is to connect users with the information they’re looking for. That information might be a product listing, a review, a news story, an image, or a video.

The other core function of search engines is to retain users.

Search engines retain users by ensuring their confidence and trust in the displayed results. Over time, they build expectations that using their platform is a safe, streamlined experience that quickly leads users to what they want.

SEO success depends on being found by your target audience for what they are looking for and consistently providing a satisfying user experience based on the context of the queries they type into search engines.

Search Is Built On Content

The core function of search engines is to help users find information. Search engines first discover webpages, they parse and render and they then add them to an index. When a user inputs a query, search engines retrieve relevant webpages in the index and then “rank” them.

Search engines need to know what pages are about and what they contain in order to serve them to the right users. In concept, they do this quite simply: They examine the content. The real process behind this is complicated, executed by automated algorithms and evaluated with human feedback.

Google constantly adjusts and updates it algorithms with the goal of ensuring the most relevant content is served to searchers.

This relationship between searchers, search engines, and websites, has come to define the internet experience for most users. Unless you know the exact URL of the website you intend to visit, you need must find it via a third party. That could be social media, a search engine, or even discovering the website offline and then typing it in. This is called a “referral,” and Google sends 64% of all website referrals in the U.S. Microsoft and Bing send the next largest amount of referrals, followed by YouTube.

Getting discovered by people who don’t already know you depends on search engines, and search engines depend on content.

The SEO Value Of Content

Google has said it prioritizes user satisfaction.

It’s confirmed that user behavior signals impact ranking.

At this point, whether this relationship is causal or correlative doesn’t matter. You must prioritize user experience and satisfaction because it’s a key indicator of SEO success.

Written language is still the primary way users interact with search engines and how algorithms understand websites. Google algorithms can interpret audio and videos, but written text is core to SEO functionality.

Enticing clicks and engaging users through content that satisfies their queries is the baseline of SEO. If your pages can’t do that, you won’t have success.

High-quality content and user experiences aren’t just important for SEO; they’re prerequisites.

This is true for all advertising and branding. Entire industries and careers are built on the skills to refine the right messaging and put it in front of the right people.

Evidence For The SEO Value Of Content

Google highlights the importance of content in its “SEO fundamentals” documentation. It advises that Google’s algorithms look for “helpful, reliable information that’s primarily created to benefit people,” and provides details about how to self-assess high-quality content.

Content, and how well it matches a user’s needs, is one of the core positive and negative factors in Google’s ranking systems. It updates systems to reduce content it deems to be unhelpful and prioritize content it deems to be helpful.
In fact, Google’s analysis of the content may determine whether a page enters the index at all to become eligible to rank. If you work hard to provide a good experience and serve the needs of your users, search engines have more reason to surface your content and may do so more often.
A 2024 study in partnership between WLDM, ClickStream, and SurferSEO suggests that the quality of your coverage on a topic is highly correlated with rankings.

Content And User Behavior

Recent developments in the SEO industry, such as the Google leak, continue to highlight the value of both content and user experience.

Google values user satisfaction to determine the effectiveness and quality of webpages and does seem to use behavioral analysis in ranking websites. It also focuses on the user intent of queries and whether a specific intent is served by a particular resource.

The satisfaction of your users is, if not directly responsible for SEO performance, highly correlated with it.

Many factors affect user experience and satisfaction. Website loading speed and other performance metrics are part of it. Intrusive elements of the page on the experience are another.

Content, however, is one of the primary determiners of a “good” or “bad” experience.

Does the user find what they’re looking for? How long does it take?
Is the content accurate and complete?
Is the content trustworthy and authoritative?

The answers to these questions reflect whether the user has a good or bad experience with your content, and this determines their behavior. Bad experiences tend to result in the user leaving without engaging with your website, while good experiences tend to result in the user spending more time on the page or taking action.

This makes content critical not only to your SEO efforts on search engines but also to your website’s performance metrics. Serving the right content to the right users in the right way impacts whether they become leads, convert, or come back later.

Leaning into quality and experience is a win all around. Good experiences lead to desirable behaviors. These behaviors are strong indications of the quality of your website and content. They lead to positive outcomes for your business and are correlated with successful SEO.

What Kinds Of Content Do You Need?

Successful content looks different for each goal you have and the different specific queries you’re targeting.

Text is still the basis of online content when it comes to search. Videos are massively popular. YouTube is the second-most popular search engine in the world. However, in terms of referrals, it only sends 3.5% of referral traffic to the web in the U.S. In addition, videos have titles, and these days, most have automated transcripts. These text elements are critical for discovery.

That isn’t to say videos and images aren’t popular. Video, especially “shorts” style videos, is an increasingly popular medium. Cisco reported that video made up 82% of all internet traffic in 2022. So you absolutely shoulder consider images and video as part of your content strategy to best serve your audiences and customers.

Both can enhance text-based webpages and stand on their own on social platforms.

But for SEO, it’s critical to remember that Google search sends the most referral traffic to other websites. Text content is still the core of a good SEO strategy. Multi-modal AI algorithms are getting very good at translating information between various forms of media, but text content remains critical for several reasons:

Plain text has high accessibility. Screen readers can access it, and it can be resized easily.
Text is the easiest way for both people and algorithms to analyze semantic connections between ideas and entities.
Text doesn’t depend on device performance like videos and images might.
Text hyperlinks are very powerful SEO tools because they convey direct meaning along with the link.
It’s easier to skim through text than video.

Text content is still dominant for SEO. But you should not ignore other content. Images, for example, make for strong link building assets because they’re attractive and easily sharable. Accompanying text with images and video accommodates a variety of user preferences and can help capture attention when plain text might not.

Like everything else, it’s down to what best serves users in any given situation.

SEO Content: Serving Users Since Search Was A Thing

Search engines match content to the needs of users.

Content is one-third of this relationship: user – search engine – information.

You need content to perform SEO, and any digital marketing activity successfully.

The difficulty comes from serving that perfect content for the perfect situation.

So read “How To Create High-Quality Content” next.

Read More:

Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments

Aug 29 2024

11 Ways To Do SEO Content Research Beyond Competitor Analysis via @sejournal, @himani_kankaria

Early SEO milestones might be easy, but scaling the results needs an upgraded approach.

What could that look like?

Like startups that come up with a solid niche idea and compete significantly with larger companies, we SEO pros and content strategists need to work harder to develop unique, fresh, niche strategies.

However, whenever we think of creating strategies, we start looking at what competitors are doing. We start feeling that we can win this game by outperforming our competitors.

Remember: we win when our focus is on winning the game and not on how to make our competitors lose.

So, here comes an upgraded approach to our SEO strategy – going beyond competitor analysis.

However, since our SEO strategies heavily rely on content, we’ll discuss content research beyond competitor analysis in this blog.

Now, What Is Content Research Beyond Competitor Analysis?

Most of us analyze our competitors to develop content ideas. It’s easy and quick.

But…

What if your competitors are ranking in the top positions but are not serving users’ intent?

What if your competitors might not be yielding enough traffic despite better rankings?

What if your competitors are driving massive organic traffic but not enough conversions?

Also, there may be some competitors that are doing extremely well regarding content KPIs serving SEO growth.

You may feel that if the competitors can achieve such results in one year, you can achieve them in six months by copying their strategies.

But that’s where you limit yourself in growth. Your competitors’ SEO and content teams might also be struggling; who knows?

This is why your content research must go beyond competitor analysis.

In this approach, we don’t look at what content competitors have written.

We don’t want to copy them or repeat their mistakes. We want to work in ways that truly resonate with our target audiences, geographies, business models, and industries.

So, the “content research beyond competitor analysis” approach helps us bring unique and fresh perspectives to our content research, creating incredible value for our audience and clients and scaling our SEO results extensively.

11 Ways Of Content Research Beyond Competitor Analysis To Scale SEO ROI

We have 11 ways to use this approach. Let’s uncover them one by one with step-by-step processes and examples.

1. Use Semrush

This is our basic step of content research since most of our initial goal is driving organic traffic.

And because Semrush is handy for most of our team members at Missive Digital, we log in immediately to start our content research instead of looking at competitors.

We put seed, actual, long-tail, and more keywords to do our content research, depending on the search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent.

For example, we have put “diamond jewelry” into Semrush and will add the filters according to our SEO strategy.

Screenshot from Semrush, August 2024

Another content research feature of Semrush that we use extensively is Topic Research. We choose the content topics based on which ones relate directly or indirectly to our website.

Screenshot from Semrush, August 2024

2. Use Ahrefs

To do the content research on Ahrefs, we follow the same steps as Semrush, but here, we also use Content Explorer.

We filter based on the Page Traffic and reference domains to identify queries that can bring us traffic and conversions.

Screenshot from Ahrefs, August 2024

Then, we also examine the frequency of republishing, which gives our team an idea of when to schedule it next for content optimization, considering the performance.

Screenshot from Ahrefs, August 2024

3. Use Google News

While auditing the content, if we realize that the client is already writing a lot of content, we try researching content ideas through Google News.

Also, for some D2C industries like jewelry, the trend also comes from celebrities wearing them – so we keep a close eye on Google News.

Screenshot from search for [diamond necklace], Google, August 2024

Sometimes, we prefer covering the news depending on the topics, while other times, we’ll check if these topics have any search volume and can be evergreen to continue driving us some value throughout.

For example, the screenshot below shows a ‘B’ necklace worn by Selena Gomez in reference to her boyfriend.

Screenshot from search for [diamond necklace], Google, August 2024

We immediately check if there’s any search volume for “b necklace” on an SEO tool and see the screenshot below:

Screenshot by author, August 2024

Bingo! Now, we have to discuss with the client’s team for our next content piece.

4. Use People Also Ask, AlsoAsked

Since most B2B IT and SaaS clients are highly technical, we sometimes struggle to understand the topic and create a content strategy.

People Also Ask on Google Search and AlsoAsked.com by Mark Williams-Cook works like a savior during our content research.

Screenshot from search for [kubernetes architecture], Google, August 2024

The only limitation we have with People Also Ask is that it provides a few Q&As for a topic until you click on one, while AlsoAsked provides an entire list in one go, which saves you time.

Screenshot from search for [kubernetes architecture], Google, August 2024

We now have too much to learn about a topic and create content on, right?

5. Check Google Trends

No matter what industry you are in, you’ve got something or the other trending.

In our SEO industry, SearchGPT is trending.

Screenshot from Google Trends, August 2024

So it’s worth writing about it to take the early advantage and grab the traffic share.

See, a lot of people are writing about it:

Screenshot from search for [searchgpt], Google, August 2024

It’s not just about writing; people are sharing it on social media, too.

So, it’s worth constantly watching what’s trending via Google Trends.

6. Hop On ChatGPT Or Gemini

Remember, we are here to do content research on ChatGPT or Gemini, not to choose the titles they suggest.

Here is a sample content research prompt that we have put for a contact center software company on ChatGPT:

Screenshot from ChatGPT, August 2024

And here are the responses below:

Screenshot from ChatGPT, results for blog posts

Screenshot from ChatGPT, August 2024

Since the topics are not up to the mark considering the audience (“BPO” in this case), based on the above content ideas, we’ll pick up the seed keywords or topics such as:

Lessons from a Legacy Contact Center Software Company.
The Contact Center Software Market In The BPO Segment.
Optimizing Your Contact Center Operations.
How to Drive Innovation in Your Customer Support Department?
And more.

7. Monitor Social Media

Yes, we are all active on social media, so we can use it for our content research. Still, we are not considering competitors on social media at the moment.

This viral X thread inspired us to write a blog:

Screenshot from X, August 2024

Similarly, this article on content research was inspired by my recent post on LinkedIn:

Screenshot from LinkedIn, August 2024

These are examples of self-created social media content that can be turned into blogs.

However, you can keep monitoring the types of content that get the most visibility and engagement on social media – be it LinkedIn, Instagram, X, or any other platform.

Turn them into your blogs or webinars, but don’t forget to mention them since it’s their original content idea.

8. Dive Into Industry-specific Research Studies

The most unique way to research content ideas is to read your industry-specific research studies extensively. And there’s no one way to do it.

For example, for one of the ecommerce consulting companies, we can get various content ideas from HBR’s eCommerce pricing test:

Why Should Ecommerce Brands Stop Offering Free Shipping?
X Benefits of No Free Shipping or Conditional Shipping.
Free Shipping vs. Conditional Shipping.

Don't just give away free shipping: infographic from HBR

Image from HBR, August 2024

In the below study by Broadridge on Digital Transformation, the below can become the topic clusters, and each can have its own spoke-like content topics.

Image from study by Broadridge on Digital Transformation, August 2024

For example, if we take Unleashing Artificial Intelligence, we can pick up so many topics out of just one graphic:

Image from study by Broadridge on Digital Transformation, August 2024

9. Check Industry-Specific Forums/Communities

Most of our clientele includes IT companies, and we have used IT forums and communities like StackOverflow for content research.

For example, we can come up with the below topic clusters when covering Flutter for the non-technical and technical target audiences:

Flutter animation widgets.
Flutter dependency management.
Why add Firebase to your Flutter app?
And more.

Screenshot from Stack Overflow, August 2024

Similarly, there will be many such forums or communities of your client or employers available to peek into for such content ideas, except for competitive analysis.

10. Google site:reddit.com “my topic”

One such unique idea by Kunjal Chawhan is to Google site:reddit.com “my topic,” and let’s see what content ideas look like for a couple of topics:

Looking at the above screenshot, below are the topics that we can definitely create:

X Most Popular Social Media Platforms for Ecommerce.
How to Use Video Podcasts to Drive Ecommerce Sales?
How to Boost Ecommerce Sales When Digital Marketing Seems Expensive?
And more.

So yes, Kunjal’s way of content research is amazing, and from that, you can similarly Google:

site:“your industry’s leading site” “topic”

For example:

site:searchenginejournal.com “ai content”
site:quora.com “ai content”
site:practicalecommerce.com “sales”

Let’s move on to the last but not the least method of content research, except for looking at competitors.

11. See What Competing Sites Have NOT Covered

Now you might wonder, “Weren’t the above content research ways except for competitors analysis?”

Yes, they are the ways to research content ideas except for what competitors have written.

But here, I’m trying to make a point where you have to see exactly what indirect competing sites are NOT writing about despite targeting the same industry, keyword clusters, and audience.

What is an indirect competing site?

An indirect competing site is a website that ranks for the industry and search queries of your target audience but is not exactly your product/service competitor. This can be a marketplace, publishing site, or product review site.

Let’s take a website, “leadsquared.com,” for indirect competitive analysis and pick the queries that rank after 50th positions and have a keyword difficulty of less than 29.

Screenshot by author, August 2024

Pick those queries and search on Google: site:leadsquared.com “sales funnel vs sales pipeline”.

Screenshot from search for [site:leadsquared.com “sales funnel vs”, August 2024

Now, you’ll see that the website has no content on that topic; you can create that if that falls under your product/service offering and can target your audience and industry.

In short, you can cover the below topics:

Sales funnel vs. sales pipeline.
Sales funnel vs. marketing funnel.
Sales funnel vs. flywheel.
And more.

Just ensure these content topics align with your offerings to bring maximum ROI.

How Will Content Research Beyond Competitor Analysis Contribute To SEO Efforts?

When you go beyond competitor analysis for content research, you discover a few benefits:

You innovate – With innovative content ideas, you can experiment and build better strategies that can bring unbelievable results. Also, with AI taking the space predominantly, businesses are looking for innovation in their business and marketing. So when you innovate, you may get better attention and even resources.
You get niche opportunities – Instead of just focusing on what competitors are doing, you go deeper into understanding your target audience and explore new content ideas that your competitors might have missed. In such scenarios, you get better results since competition is reduced.
You create unique, audience-specific content – My LinkedIn post saw great engagement because it resonated with its audience. This opened us to something unique and specific to the pain point of SEOs and content strategists: content ideation to scale SEO results with a not-so-usual approach. Such content helps us build authority in the market, which is essential today to becoming market leaders.
You capitalize on emerging trends – Being an early adopter of something has huge potential for success. When you create your content strategy focused on what’s new or trending in your industry before it becomes mainstream, you get the most eyes right from the beginning and even repeat eyes going forward.
You build better engagement and loyalty – You can extend beyond blogs, a traditional way of driving SEO results. Videos, whitepapers, case studies, user-generated content, and many more content formats can take the lead in building user engagement and brand loyalty through SEO.
You earn backlinks – Yes, such unique content may require less effort to build backlinks since it can earn them.

Stop looking at competitors for content research; try using these fresh and unique ways to drive better content ROI.

Just remember two things: Competitors are not always right, and you are not necessarily required to look upon them when developing your SEO content strategies.

You can copy and paste your competitors’ strategies to achieve certain SEO milestones, but creating history requires an upgraded approach. What say?

More resources:

Featured Image: Natalya Kosarevich/Shutterstock

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Aug 12 2024

AI Agnostic Optimization: Content For Topical Authority And Citations

The search and AI ecosystem is full of promise, options, and new ways for literally every type of marketer to evolve and grow.

Yes, there is lots of complexity, but there is also commonality: the need for marketers to focus on topical approaches to content creation, build their brand authority for AI citations, and become more predictive in their approach to how consumers interact online.

The introduction of Google AI Overviews and new AI-first platforms like Perplexity AI are making how consumers find answers to their needs a lot more complex.

The advancement of LLMs such as Claude and Google Gemini are also revolutionizing content outputs in visual and video formats. Just recently, Bing introduced GSE and OpenAI SearchGPT.

One thing they all have in common is that they are all fighting for the best authoritative sources for information and citations.

Screenshot from author, July 2024

Today, I will mainly use Google AI Overviews in Search as an example, as they currently offer the most rich insights and best practices that are applicable to future and upcoming engines.

AI And Search Citations, Authority, And Your Brand

Being the cited source is quickly becoming the new form of ranking.

As AI looks to cite trustworthy and relevant content, brands need to be the source. While every engine has a different approach, the reality is that success relies on sources and quality.

They look to answer questions in many ways, and citations are common across the board. They look at authoritative sources to see whether that source answers that question, and then they seem to know whether it’s quotable.

Google wants quotable content that is above the fold, not buried. It also likes the question to be directly answered.
Perplexity, which has steadily increased traffic referrals (31% in June), focuses on academic and research citations but has had issues with attribution and sources.
Bing GSE is engineering its search results to satisfy users in a way that encourages discovery on the websites that originate the content.
ChatGPT/search does not need direct answers; it will digest them and express them in its own language. At first glance, it mainly cites and links to sources developed with input from major publishers like the Atlantic and NewsCorp.

So, as marketers, it is the simplest way to start focusing on the commonality and best practices that prepare you for what is ahead. Then, you can pivot and adapt as we learn more about how citations are shown and treated as each AI engine evolves.

For example, Google AI Overviews is beginning to cite more authoritative review publications to help users shop. The removal of user-generated content (UGC) and reviews from Reddit and Quora dropped to near zero in AI Overviews.

Reddit citations: 85.71% decrease.
Quora citations: 99.69% decrease.

User-generated reviews may not be designed for a broader audience and lack the objectivity that a publication would. BrightEdge Generative Parser™ has recently found:

49% increase in presence from PC Mag.
39% in Forbes increase in presence from Forbes.

Screenshot from BrightEdge, July 2024

Sites like Forbes are becoming key players in AI overviews. As well as thought leadership and instructive information, their comparative product reviews define where a product shines and where it falls short against competitors.

Here are three things that marketers can master now to stay ahead in AI and search.

1. Ensure AI Engines Find You: Become The Cited Source

Start by identifying core – and broader, see later in the article – topics relevant to your audience and aligning with your business objectives. These topics should serve as the foundation for a thematic content strategy.

Schema+: Diversify And Mark-Up Your Content As Much As Possible

The importance of diverse content formats cannot be overstated. To adapt to answer engine models, content must be comprehensive and encompass multiple modalities, including text, video, infographics, and interactive elements.

This approach ensures that content caters to diverse user preferences and provides information in formats that are most accessible and engaging.

Core technical SEO approaches like Schema Markup are essential for content marketers aiming to enhance their visibility and relevance in search results, as they help search engines better understand the content.

This improves the likelihood of content being featured as a direct answer and enhances its overall discoverability.

Provide AI engines with hints on who you are.
Ensure your teams look at things like Schema so AI entities can see your content.
Little formats like these can tell the AI models how to use your content.
It ensures that you are more frequently cited as the source in topics where you already have the right to win.

Develop content clusters around these core topics, covering different aspects, subtopics, and related themes. Each piece of content within a cluster should complement and support others, creating a cohesive narrative for multiple users.

Image from BrightEdge, July 2024

2. Anticipate Customers’ Next Questions: Focus On The Follow-Up

Build Thematic Content & Focus On Content Clustering

AI-powered search engines like AI Overviews (as explained in The Ultimate Guide to AI Overviews, free, ungated, and updated monthly by my company, BrightEdge) are redefining the criteria for visibility by prioritizing thematically connected content.

This applies even where the content doesn’t rank highly in traditional search results, making intelligent content clustering and thematic coherence essential.

Adopting a strategic approach to thematic content and content clustering means that instead of creating isolated pieces of content, you focus on developing interconnected content clusters that comprehensively explore various aspects of a topic.

AI search aims to do more than display a list of products for the keywords.
They want to anticipate the following questions that the demographic will likely have: how, what, where, and more.
AI models will cite trusted sources to generate these answers before the user even thinks about asking them.
Marketers need to create content for all these types of follow-ups in different formats.

Ensure that content within the same cluster is interlinked using relevant anchor text. This helps search engines understand the thematic relationship between different pieces of content and strengthens your website’s authority on the topic.

Understanding what triggers things in AI Overviews will become essential.

For example, in June, there was a 20% increase in “What is” queries showing an AI Overview. For brand-specific queries, there was a 20% decrease.

This could show that Google uses AI for more complex, knowledge-intensive topics while playing it safe with brand queries.

However, expect this to change monthly, as SEJ states and shares more below:

3. Prove Your Expertise: Become The Authority In Your Field Domain

Baking User and Topical Intent Into Every Piece of Content

Traditional SEO focuses on keyword rankings and visibility, but AI-driven search engines prioritize delivering precise, relevant answers based on user queries. This shift means simply ranking highly is no longer enough; you must ensure your content aligns closely with users’ needs and topics of interest.

AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Google’s SGE, Perplexity, and now SearchGPT are designed to comprehend the context and nuance behind a user’s query. They aim to provide direct answers and anticipate follow-up questions, creating a more dynamic and personalized search experience.

*A Note of Serving Multiple Intents*

AI-powered search results are evolving to coexist with traditional search. Google is experimenting with blending conventional and AI-enhanced search results. For example, searching for [outdoor lighting solutions].

The traditional search component assumes the user intends to purchase such products and ranks relevant ecommerce sites accordingly. This serves users who know exactly what they’re looking for and need quick access to buy options.

Image from BrightEdge, July 2024

In contrast, the AI-generated overview caters to users seeking a broader understanding of outdoor lighting. It might provide a conversational explanation covering various aspects, such as:

Key considerations when choosing outdoor lights.
Various types of outdoor lighting and their characteristics.
Available power options for outdoor illumination.
Understanding brightness levels and their significance.
Best practices for installation and placement.
Tips for maintaining outdoor lighting systems.

Anticipating and addressing related queries helps build the site’s credibility and improves the chances of being featured in AI-generated answers.

Since AI-first engines, LLMs, and traditional search engines are designed to recognize and prioritize unique, high-quality content over generic or duplicated material, this increases the chances that your content will surface in response to user queries.

Prove your expertise and make it easy for AI models to trust what you say.
AI engines need to see that your content is approved (validated) by other experts, as well as user-generated content and reviews.
Ensure your content reaches expert influencers and connects to related sources and websites.
Gain as much 3rd party validation that your content is trustworthy.
Ensure your content workflows consider traditional ranking factors and AI citations, as they rely on some standard but separate signals.

Video And YouTube

We are now seeing (pros and cons) YouTube videos cited in AI Overviews in ways that benefit marketers at the top of the funnel.

If YouTube were not part of Google, it would be the sixth biggest digital platform in the USA. It commands a lot of reach!

Image from BrightEdge, July 2024

As you can see above, this offers new advantages to marketers targeting early-stage prospects. Visual content can effectively showcase specific offerings and provide tangible reviews, potentially swaying purchasing choices such as buying a washing machine.

They are being shown to help simplify complex topics for users. For example, abstract technological concepts like “blockchain fundamentals” often become clearer through visual demonstrations, accelerating audience understanding.

Ensure that when you identify high-potential topical themes, you pair them with AI’s video citation preferences. Video is on an explosive growth trajectory, so start to build and get creative as part of your more comprehensive marketing strategy and for maximum AI Overview visibility.

This helps offer multiple reference possibilities. A single piece of video content could be cited numerous times, expanding your topical reach, which I mentioned earlier.

Key Takeaways

In an era where AI-driven search and AI-first answer engines or assistants reshape how markers operate, marketers, SEO pros, content creators, and brand marketers must adapt their strategies to optimize for AI answers and multiple types of search engines.

Below are a few end notes and outliers for your consideration also:

The core basics of SEO and classic search still matter.
AI Overviews are reduced in size to give more concise answers.
AI answers more complex questions, but more common questions and queries are also answered in better-served universal or classic formats – balance will be essential.
Monitor with cadence new engines; many are so new it will take an informed data-led opinion to form.
Going forward, different types of consumers will use engines for various use cases, and each engine will cite some common sources and other specific ones like news academics and publishers. Let’s see how it develops; it is something I am looking into myself now.
Always remember that everything varies depending on your vertical and type of business. Experimentation is still very heavy everywhere, including at Google!
With new entrants emerging, the news and live experiments every day expect change.
What happens in one month can differ from another while engines find equilibrium.

Essential best practices such as focusing on user intent, leveraging structured data markup, and embracing multimedia content aren’t going anywhere. Classic search is here to stay; many skills are transferable to AI.

The future lies in a balance of classic online marketing, adapting to AI, and uncovering new AI engines’ nuances as they grow and establish more of a foothold. It is an exciting time, and I think exercising a little patience will help us all prevail.

As for SearchGPT, I believe its evolution does not diminish SEO; on the contrary, it makes it even more critical!

For now, monitor and use time-based data as your compass, and don’t react to opinions without some substance behind them.

More resources:

Featured Image from author

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Jun 25 2024

Data-Driven Content Strategy: Boost Google Rankings With Real Audience Insights via @sejournal, @CallRail

Now, what about the content of the actual calls? Well, you can use that, too.

Let dive into how you can use call analysis to further inform your strategy.

How To Analyze Your Call Data

The insights you collect from customer phone interactions can have a game-changing impact on your business.

But you want to make sure the effort required to dig into those calls is worth it for your team.

This is where AI and machine learning technology can be utilized effectively to streamline your process and save time.

For example, Conversation Intelligence is an AI-powered tool by CallRail that constantly records, transcribes, and analyzes each inbound and outbound call.

With transcriptions that have near-human level accuracy, Conversation Intelligence goes a step further by spotting keywords, tagging calls automatically, and qualifying leads with powerful automation rules.

Plus, with multi-conversation insights, you can easily transform countless conversations into actionable insights at scale.

Not only does this analysis unlock deeper insights to help you catch customer trends and spot long-term shifts, but it also tells you what you should focus on in your content.

2. Website Form Submissions

Another effective way to gather essential audience insights is through website form tracking.

Online forms allow you to collect valuable data directly from users, such as their contact information, preferences, and interests.

When this data is paired with deeper analytics, you can gain a clear understanding of what drives the most qualified leads for your business.

With Form Tracking, you can find out exactly which ad or keyword made someone click “submit” on your form.

Launched last year by CallRail, this tool allows you to build custom forms or integrate existing ones, pairing the data with inbound call conversions for a holistic view of your marketing efforts.

Combining Call Tracking And Form Tracking

Leads often connect with businesses through multiple channels, so focusing on just one source isn’t really enough.

By using Call Tracking and Form Tracking together, you get a comprehensive overview of your leads’ entire customer journey.

Both of these tools essentially work by installing a single line of JavaScript code on your site, which captures and relays information about each of your leads back to CallRail.

You can easily evaluate the various campaigns that you’re running, like paid ads, social media posts, email nurture campaigns, etc. – all of which could be opportunities to incorporate tracking numbers and links to your forms.

Using both a tracking number and a form tracking link gives your leads the option to choose how they prefer to contact your business.

And as they reach out, you’ll be able to measure which campaigns and which conversion type – calls or forms – is getting the best results.

3. Customer Feedback & Surveys

If you really want a deep dive into the minds of your customers, surveys are an incredibly effective way to get feedback directly from the source.

Surveys allow you to ask your users targeted questions and receive precise answers about their preferences, pain points, and expectations.

You can then leverage this comprehensive data to guide your marketing strategy and fill any content gaps you may have.

Discover the type of content your customers prefer, the topics they are most interested in, and how they like to consume information.

Once they point out areas where they feel your content is lacking or what they would like to see more of, you can then fill the gaps in your strategy to give them what they want.

Integrating Customer Feedback Into Your Content

Understanding your audience can help you tailor your content to better meet their needs and preferences.

Here are some tips for how you can effectively integrate customer feedback into your content creation process:

Create a Feedback Loop: Ask your audience to rate the usefulness, quality, and relevance of your content to gain a clear picture of where you can improve. Then establish a system where their feedback continuously informs your content. Regularly conduct surveys and update your strategy based on the latest insights.
Prioritize High-Impact Content: Identify the topics and formats that resonate most with your audience and prioritize them in your content calendar. For example, if customers indicate a preference for video tutorials over written guides, focus more on creating video content. This ensures that you’re always aligned with what your audience finds most valuable.
Test and Iterate: After publishing content based on customer feedback, monitor its performance to see if it meets the intended goals. Use analytics to track engagement, shares, and other metrics. Be prepared to refine your content based on ongoing feedback and performance data.
Communicate Changes: Let your audience know that their feedback has been heard and implemented. This not only builds trust but also encourages more customers to participate in future surveys.

Unlock Higher Search Rankings With CallRail’s Data Solutions

Google is constantly changing its algorithms to produce higher quality search results for users, which presents numerous challenges for marketers and website owners.

Between the upcoming phase-out of third-party cookies and the recent core update, the search engine is cracking down heavily on content it deems as unhelpful.

That’s why it’s time to take a user-first approach to your content strategy.

By leveraging first- and zero-party data through methods like call tracking, form submissions, and customer surveys, you can create high-quality, relevant content that meets your audience’s needs and boosts your Google rankings.

CallRail’s suite of tools makes it easier to gather and analyze this data, helping you refine your marketing strategy and drive sustainable growth.

Ready to see the impact for yourself?

Try CallRail free for 14 days and start transforming your data into actionable strategies for higher ranking content.

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Jun 10 2024

3 Steps To Futureproof Demand Generation And Achieve First-Party Data Maturity via @sejournal, @alexanderkesler

When Google launched its Privacy Sandbox, the news rang alarm bells for B2B marketers and advertisers. This signaled an end to third-party cookies on Google Chrome, which has over 65% of the browser market share.

The Privacy Sandbox, however, was only the final nail in the coffin for evolving legislation across the world to improve privacy compliance – particularly the GDPR in the European Union and the CCPA in the U.S. (and various other state regulations since following).

Despite setbacks announced by Google to eliminate third-party cookies (three times now in June 2024, with the last delay announced in April of the same year), preemptively building your first-party database is paramount for being prepared when these cookies are truly phased out.

Investing in this now presents a competitive advantage as many organizations have deprioritized their strategies to navigate the phase-out, which will likely lead to significant disruption when the Privacy Sandbox comes into effect.

Indeed, 75% of marketing and client experience users relied heavily on third-party cookies in 2023, and 45% of leaders are spending over half of their marketing budgets on cookie-based activations.

In this guide, I present a simple, three-step process to futureproof your data strategy.

The idea is to start with a demand generation program to collect your initial batch of first-party data and continue to enhance it in future iterations while phasing out third-party sources.

1. Survey Clients To Build Up Your First-Party Data

Surveying clients is the first step to building up your first-party database because they can comment on your buyer experience, as well as the quality of service.

The focus of this survey is to gain rich first-party data to inform updates to your buyer personas and Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) in line with your loyal clients to guide your demand generation strategy.

Therefore, determining precise questions that enable you to field actionable insights is key for this survey.

Below are four examples of questions to encourage clients to share valuable, first-party data:

Net Promoter Score (NPS): From 0 to 10, how likely is it that you would refer [Organization X] to your colleagues?
Pain points: What challenges made you consider purchasing a solution from [Organization X]?
Unique Value Proposition (UVP): What 3 unique features of [Organization X] do you like the most?
Market positioning: On a scale from 0 to 10, how much do you prefer [Organization X] over [Competitor Y]?

These are just a few of the many questions we ask loyal clients at INFUSE. Since buyer personas and ICPs are fictional representations, it is key to continuously inform them with rich first-party data to maintain their accuracy and relevance.

Recommendations

2. Conduct A Demand Program To Gain Audience First-Party Data

Once you have first-party data from surveys, you should develop and launch a trial demand generation program to refine your data.

The idea is to gain insights from key buyers to enrich your buyer personas and bolster overall go-to-market (GTM) and demand strategies.

Below is a process to launch your first trial demand generation program and refine your first-party database:

Start With Owned Media And Social Selling

Kickstarting your trial demand program by activating your owned media with your sales teams is a great first step that allows you to fully control your approach to engaging your audience and fielding first-party data.

Leveraging a content marketing strategy is an effective way to collect first-party data. Start small, but think of a high-value gated asset for this trial that will generate demand and encourage contact form fills (lead generation), such as a whitepaper, report, or learning course.

Then, you must build a demand strategy around this high-value asset to establish rapport with your audience and encourage continued engagement.

For example, if you opt for a whitepaper, support this with initiatives across your other channels, such as publishing curated insights on social media and crafting slides for your sales team to share with prospects.

The idea is to build a content marketing suite to support your demand program across the channels your audience frequents, creating a stronger basis of brand-to-demand and richer data insights as a result.

Recommendations

Nurture prospects with personalized email cadences to keep your brand top of mind and collect further first-party data (such as engagement with certain topics).
Develop materials to enable your sales team to share high-value assets and build interest.
Create snackable content, such as 30-second social media videos, that highlight the value of your content and encourage conversions.

Find A Content Distribution Partner

The right content distribution partner can greatly increase the reach of your demand program and engage audiences beyond your owned channels.

However, data quality is key when seeking partners. Since the goal is to obtain first-party data and select partners based on their ability to provide this data, as well as its quality – it should complement your existing dataset rather than offer redundant insights.

Focus on content distribution partners with an opt-in audience and managed ecosystems that certify that prospects have engaged with the right content.

This allows prospects to be identified and matched with your buyer personas and then routed to your organization for further engagement.

Content distribution partners commonly have databases with prospects and their market segmentation criteria. This ensures high-value assets are distributed to prospective buyers who are a good fit for your organization and its offerings.

Recommendations

Audit the content distribution partner and ask questions about how they segment their audience and ensure data privacy compliance.
Create a follow-up structure at your organization for receiving prospects from the partner, such as an email cadence that provides more context to the high-value asset.
Refine your outreach targeting with market segmentation information collected by the partner.

Combining first-party data from your owned media and content distribution partner, you are ready to conduct the demand program until its completion. This should ideally take at least a quarter to glean substantial insights and a broader overview of prospect interactions (and may need to be longer, depending on your sales cycle).

3. Analyze And Optimize First-Party Data Acquired From Your Demand Program

Once the demand program has been finalized, it is now time to analyze and optimize your first-party database.

This is the start of a continuous cycle of improvement and data enrichment, which will be enabled by actioning optimizations to your owned media and partner content distribution.

Below are four questions to guide your analysis when reviewing program results and the quality of your first-party database.

Are The Datasets Relevant And Actionable?

Since the principal goal of first-party data is to inform future strategies and target prospects with precision, its accuracy and role in achieving this should be the primary assessment criteria.

Recommendations

A/B test different contact form fields to glean relevant information (such as technographic data).
Train sales teams to qualify prospects by leveraging your high-value content assets.
Utilize lead nurturing cadences to clarify specific information, such as key buyer challenges, available budgets, and members of the prospect’s buying committee.
Interactive touchpoints, such as quizzes, can glean this information in a user-friendly manner.

Are Your Buyer Personas And ICPs Still Relevant?

It is quite common for trial programs to highlight misalignments between the audience that engaged with your assets and your buyer personas and ICPs.

Trials can also identify how the key pain points of your personas have evolved or become outdated, indicating necessary updates needed to ensure the relevancy of your messaging across all channels.

Independent of the findings you acquired, regularly examining and updating these profiles is beneficial.

Recommendations

Analyze the prospects from the trial with an “open mind,” ensuring that your new profiles truly reflect their pain points and aspirations – rather than fit them into an existing model.
Discuss your findings with client-facing teams, particularly sales, to determine their relevance and enrich them with further personal insights.

Is Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) Still Relevant?

Similarly to your ICPs and personas, your UVP might require a refresh to ensure its relevance.

Due to its strategic nature, ensuring that your UVP is relevant informs all your organizational processes and communications, as well as steering how your brand is perceived by your audience.

The importance of your UVP also means that trialing new versions is key to ensuring its effectiveness before cementing it in the market.

Recommendations

A/B test your new UVP and complement this test with other methods (if available), such as focus groups, email nurturing, and surveys.
Identify common keywords and expressions used by prospects when discussing their pain points.
Analyze the benefits of your products and how well they align with the objectives of the prospects that were identified during your demand program.

Are Your Client-Facing Teams Following Outdated Playbooks?

Client-facing teams often have style guides, GTM playbooks, cheat sheets, and other materials to inform their daily activities. These assets can become rapidly outdated if they are not routinely audited.

Therefore, it is essential to revisit these assets, leveraging findings from your first-party database to ensure their relevance, considering the changes to your buyer personas, ICPs, and UVP.

Recommendations

Prioritize strategic assets used daily by teams, such as process documents and style guides.
Analyze marketing and sales outreach to assess if their approach regarding pain points is still relevant.
Book a session sharing tactics and key takeaways from the new first-party database to inform playbook optimizations.

These are only a few of the many optimizations you can perform after analyzing first-party data from your demand program.

When determining where to start your optimizations, look for low-effort, high-reward projects, specifically client-facing activities. The key is prioritizing the highest value for your organization and ensuring your first-party database empowers you to achieve your goals.

The demand program showcased in this article can serve as a foundation for future iterations to continuously enrich your first-party database.

Key Takeaways

When launching your demand programs and building your first-party database, keep these considerations top of mind to ensure the longevity of your strategies:

Begin with owned media: It is essential to optimize and enrich your owned media channels to start collecting first-party data. Kick-off this strategy with one gated asset in a trial demand program to gain insights.
Find a content distribution partner: Broaden your scope and engage pre-qualified prospects via a trustworthy partner that can enrich your first-party database with insights from new or expanded audiences.
Analyze results and optimize: Scrutinize the findings, summarize them, and determine priority updates to strategic areas and assets, such as your UVP, personas, and playbooks.

More resources:

Featured Image: ArtemisDiana/Shutterstock

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