I normally open with some personal news or some thing that happened during the last 7 days in my digital marketing role. This week was when several personal decisions came due and I feel like I can finally breathe after holding it for the last 90 days or so. I feel like a huge boulder of stress has been lifted off my back and a new, larger boulder of opportunity has been attached.
I have a lot of work ahead of me. I’m both excited and nervous, but there is opportunity in everything. I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote:
“Your problem may not be that you’re not trying hard enough, it might be you’re seeing the opportunity the wrong way.”
Here’s to perspective and opportunity!
In this weeks newsletter:
– Reconsidering how to track SERP ranking
– The balancing act of gated content
– The most under-rated SEO tactic
– 20 years ago, advice for life
In Google we trust
This is a really interesting piece from Mike King, someone who has been deeply involved in SEO and is a real professional.
I think its time we, as marketers, consider that our tactics and tools are as good as they’re gonna get. If you speak with a marketer they will undoubtedly say they need to get better, that changes in this industry happen so fast that we always need to accelerate our education. How about instead of placing the blame on ourselves, we admit that these platforms are actively working against us. Google’s ad business has plateaued and Google doesn’t have a solution in the back channels to replace the income it generates.
The recent moves in layout changes aren’t better for user intent, they’re better for its business. Our biggest competitor in search isn’t each other, but Google itself.
It’s Time to Reconsider Rank Tracking | iPullRank
Where are we leading them?
Gated content is tricky. The user is fully aware of what will happen when they turn over their contact info for a piece of content. Increasingly, the volume of sales that happens after is so aggressive, it hardly makes the content worth it. Spam email, phone calls, and LinkedIn stalkers are ruining gated content.
You have to work with your sales (inside and outside) thoroughly before launching a gated content push. If your content says one thing (value) and your sales team says another (stalker) you are setting yourself up for failure.
Just capturing leads isn’t good enough. I know that feels like the end of the line for marketing, but we should feel a responsibility to care for that lead in the sales process. Its not okay to hand off leads to a shark tank just because that’s what a Sales Executive is requesting.
How Intercom Used Gated Content To Generate 100,000+ Leads – ConvertFlow – Blog
Hot links
- Russ Jones on Twitter: “What do you think is the most under-rated SEO tactic? #seo cc: @moz” / Twitter](https://twitter.com/rjonesx/status/1232807654805921797)
- This is the type of stuff that makes Twitter great. Personally, I think the most underrated SEO tactic is content auditing.
- Spoiler: A lot of people say its internal links
- We Analyzed 912 Million Blog Posts. Here’s What We Learned About Content Marketing
- Old, but still good. Go deep, go long, answer questions. Cadence and sharable content doesn’t mean much.
- Company loyalty: You don’t owe your employer a lifelong commitment.
- This was a good read and a reminder to anyone thinking about leaving, but feel obligated to see “this one thing through”.
- For example, if you leave a company its common courtesy to give a two week notice. However, they’ll fire your ass, without notice or compensation, at the end of the day on a random Friday.
Most obviously, families don’t (usually) fire their members. More insidiously, though, “we’re like family here” often means employees will be expected to prioritize the company above their own interests by doing things like working long hours, accepting lower pay, and, you know, not unionizing, and will be expected to be loyal to the company in ways that won’t be returned.
20 Years Ago
What would you say to yourself 20 years ago? I posted this question in this newsletter and on LinkedIn last week. I’ve been thinking a lot about this as I’ve gone through a very stressful personal decision for the last few months that culminated in the last few days (don’t worry, details coming soon).
The reality is that is advice isn’t for me 20 years ago, but is advice to myself today. Looking retrospectively for what I should be doing for the next 20 years. For me, those three things are: 1. Talent doesn’t exist. 2. It’s okay to ask for help. 3. People are proud of you, even if they don’t say it.
That last one is critical. I wish we would say this more often to each other, especially if you’re a leader of a team. When you recognize progress and hard work, make sure to tell that person. As a middle manager, we often don’t hear this from our own leadership. But, you can’t let that stop you from telling other people. Just because you don’t get something, doesn’t mean you can’t give it.
If you haven’t told anyone you’re proud of them in a while, maybe a long while, shoot a text or an email to at least one person today and let me know how it goes. I WANT to hear from you, whether you give or receive some praise in the next week, how did if feel? Why did you give/receive that note? How did it make the other person feel?
Be the person you wish how people were with you.
20-Years Ago Today – Advice to My Younger Self | Leadership & Coaching
Listen now, no subscription required: RSS | Spotify | iTunes | Google | Pocket Casts | YouTube | TuneIn