Domain7

The Picking Problem

People have a picking problem.

Publishing is so easy we don’t see a need to prioritize. With temptingly simple web tools, we’re now equipped to post any and all content, aiming for any and all people. Instead of choosing to say what matters, we choose to say anything we please.

Meanwhile, our websites balloon into blimp-like monstrosities—filled with hot air and floating aimlessly through the webosphere, blown about by willy-nilly whims. (Full disclosure: I just wanted to write the phrase “willy-nilly whims.” See, I’m doing it too—publishing for the sake of publishing.)

As Richard Rumelt writes in his book Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, “Strategy involves focus, and therefore, choice. And choice means setting aside some goals in favour of others.”

If we aim to be truly effective in what we do—in business, as individuals, and on the web—we need to pick what to do well.

This starts with:

• Knowing what you do best
• Knowing what your users need most
• Giving very special attention to the places where those two areas meet
• Reducing the priority on everything else

Above, I drew a terrible little notebook sketch of this idea.

A website can, of course, deliver any message, to any audience. But the best ones are those that deliver what users actually need, and what you’re actually good at delivering.

How do we get there?

In our strategy process, we start with listening. We want to discover the truth of who you are as a company; to know you as well as you know yourself.

We also want to know, embrace, and love your audience. We want to get to know them so well we can both speak on their behalf.

The whole point of this is to discover your area of true, real, actual, mandated, unwavering focus: where your services meet user-thirst. Right there, your business becomes a salve, not a sell.

That’s what content strategy aims to accomplish—help you know yourself, prioritize your content around your audience’s needs, and find true focus.

Does content strategy solve the picking problem? Does it prevent websites from bloating into oversized, directionless blimps?

Not always, but it’s a start. Carrying it out still requires ongoing discipline and hard work.

In his book Rumelt concludes a case study about a client who was unwilling to make the hard choices of where their business would focus, by saying: “…they avoided the hard work of choice, set nothing aside, hurt no interest groups or individual egos, but crippled the whole.”

Saying no is sometimes hard. But it has further-reaching ramifications when we’re unwilling to do the hard work of picking.

SEO, meet Content Marketing—your new boss.

Much has been said lately about the idea that SEO (search engine optimization) is no longer relevant. Some industry pundits have even gone so far as to succinctly state provocatively that ‘SEO is Dead’. The proponents of this school of thought will often point to comments like this one Matt Cutts, the Head of the anti-spam team at Google, recently made at SXSW:

“ All those people are doing (for lack of a better word) over-optimization, versus making great content and a great site. We are trying to make GoogleBot smarter, make our relevance better, and we are also looking for those who abuse it—like too many keywords on a page—or exchange way too many links, or go well beyond what you normally expect. “

In recent years, experts from the search engine world have strongly downplayed the traditional tactical mix we know collectively as “SEO”: link-building, keyword-stuffing, an unnatural fascination with PageRank, etc. All of this is now considered passé in 2012.

Today, we are to expect, you just need to make great content. Period.

So making great content trumps SEO… sort of. This is the understanding that drives the phenomenal growth of Content Marketing—the recognition that your content lives across many digital channels beyond your website, like email newsletters, whitepapers and podcasts, or shared in thriving social media spaces. But great content should also be found, or it’s like that proverbial tree falling in the empty forest.

Is SEO still relevant? Of course. But now it’s more about deconstructing what the “great” in great content actually means. Great content should be informed by research and a solid understanding of your target audience. For this, we can turn to (among many sources) keyword research tools (like Google’s own version). Keyword Research, which used to provide information for SEO, now helps us understand exactly what content we need to produce if we want to find our people where they are. If people are searching for this content, we need to take the steps to make sure our new content will be found by search engines, and the people using them.

We use keyword research to discover keyword phrases. We try to ensure they are relevant, understand their frequency (how often are they searched), and balance this with an understanding of the competitive landscape (or pressure). We write meaningful and relevant content which takes the form of copy in body sections and headings. We craft descriptive page titles and make sure our links and navigational structure support the content. This is all starting to sound an awful lot like SEO.

So is Content Marketing just the new name for SEO?

No. Content marketing is more than SEO because it is concerned with all of our digital channels. Content marketing is the bigger idea, if you will. It is about delivering content that makes your target audience smarter and builds up your credibility and brand.

SEO is not dead, it just found a new job … working for Content Marketing.

If you would like learn more here are some interesting links:

• Watch the webinar, SEO is Dead. Long Live Content on YouTube (courtesy of Compendium)
• Track Google’s Algorithm Changes (infographic)
• Read some easy and practical tips for creating great content (courtesy of SearchEngineWatch)

A slice of Facebook strategy

There’s a reason you don’t serve guests leftover pizza. When reheated in the microwave, the crust is soggy and the tomato sauce is lava, while the pineapples feel like they’re still in the refrigerator. Conversely, everyone loves pizza fresh from your oven or even from the local pizza shop. The same goes for your social media strategy. People don’t want to see the same rehashed content again and again. They want to feel special.

Crafting a Facebook status update is different from a Tweet—it’s meant to spur conversation rather than simply make a statement. When you recycle your one-sided Tweet on Facebook, people can spot your leftover pizza right away.

Here at Domain7 we’ve made a conscious decision to bake content for each social media platform individually, and because we know it’s where EVERYONE hangs out, we give special attention to Facebook. While we may serve the same information on all our channels, it’s intentionally prepared in a way that suits each setting.

Admittedly, this is a recent change for us. I’ve only been brought into the kitchen here at Domain7 in the last couple months, and since I have been entrusted with the keys to our Facebook Insights, our average number of ‘People Reached’ increased by about 200% per post—just by being intentional about the platform and turning off the RSS Feeders.

While managing your social media channels is a very important task, the person best-suited for the role could be your junior employees, because they’ve been raised on the stuff, and already know what works and doesn’t.

Why don’t you try it yourself?

Start with photos—just fun photos from around your workspace or recent events, and toss in a few new projects or products you’re proud of. They’re unobtrusive, and allow your fans to get back to their regular Facebook creeping.

This engagement with your followers or “likes” is extremely valuable. If your social media strategy is executed correctly, your fans will be engaged with interesting, original content, which leads to brand loyalty. When it comes time to release intentional action-spurring messaging, you already have a faithful audience, ready to act.

That’s a delicious leap in engagement, with minimal effort.