Contentless Marketing

Almost everybody relies to some degree on some form of content marketing. We do market and keyword research, and we try to spot opportunities. We build landing pages and write articles to try and boost our rankings, optimize our ads, get traffic, and convert visitors.

What happens when that stops working? When the internet is drowning in generic, AI-generated content, when search is 'ambient' and keyword-less, and when Google has no incentive to crawl, index or rank our websites? How can brands use content to compete for attention in 'solved query spaces', when search engines can just synthesize information for their users?

If we want to be able to access an audience, we need to stop thinking of 'content' as something we put on pages and ads to attract or convert visits, and instead start to think about how to use content to solve user problems.

Transcript

1. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Contentless Marketing Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant
2. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK I look at a lot of websites
3. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK I see a storm on the horizon
4. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Almost everybody does some form of ‘content marketing’
5. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Content must be your differentiator
6. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Yet most ‘content marketing’ is done (solely) for SEO
7. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You probably have a blog for this reason
8. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Most of this is bad …Or just confused
9. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Content is often an afterthought
10. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson https://www.duncandental.co.nz/post/10-reasons-you-should-consider-teeth-whitening
11. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson https://mycarneedsa.com/blog/what-is-a-car-air-filter
12. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson The process is lazy and broken
13. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You perform keyword or market research
14. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You inadvertently copy your competitors
15. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You get stuck when it comes to production
16. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You outsource or delegate
17. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You use AI for scaling content production
18. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You’re just making more word soup
19. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK …Or maybe you’re just not creating value
20. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson This no longer works
21. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson This no longer works
22. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson This will no longer work
23. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK The internet is full
24. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Storage and processing is finite and expensive
25. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Why would they index your page(s)?
26. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Search engines are evolving
27. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK
28. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Now they can synthesize results
29. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson
30. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Now they can create
31. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK They can solve complex problems Stolen from Tom Anthony [@TomAnthonySEO], Search Pilot
32. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK They don’t need your content
33. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK And your content is a risk to theirs
34. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/09/can-you-melt-eggs-quoras-ai-says -yes-and-google-is-sharing-the-result/ futurism.com/google-search-ai-melt-eggs
35. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK This shift is already happening
36. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson twitter.com/realchasecurtis/status/1714694293233779176 twitter.com/NicheAlchemist/status/1694439346210811954
37. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson All of this changes how people search
38. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You’re now blind
39. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK This has huge implications for paid search
40. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK This has huge implications for a liates
41. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson So what do we do?
42. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson 1. Solve your audience’s problems
43. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Talk to your audience
44. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK alsoasked.com keywordinsights.ai
45. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Make your website a problem-solving platform
46. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Influence what happens next
47. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Remove your audience from competitor ad ecosystems
48. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson
49. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK They were doing it right
50. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson 2. Become a publisher
51. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Perform original research & create new value
52. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson twitter.com/blairmacgregor/status/1692870627902787914 “If you don't have unique value to bring to the conversation… …be it market positioning, a truly distinct editorial perspective, a more visually-oriented approach etc… …you ain't ranking.”
53. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson twitter.com/DarrenShaw_/status/1714302971276898804 “Does your content look like everyone else’s?” “Are you mainly summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?”
54. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson twitter.com/NicheSiteLady/status/1696855643263471786 “I should have been visiting places in person, emailing the companies, digging deep into forums… ” “I should have added sections with my own experiences, analysed the data and drawn my own conclusions, and added my own personal touch” “I should have also added real photos and data visualisations like charts”
55. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson 3. Compete elsewhere
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66. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK You have to build ‘outposts’ for discovery & preference
67. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson 3. Compete elsewhere everywhere
68. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson In summary
69. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Stop producing content that doesn’t create value & solve user problems
70. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Start thinking about the role of content on your website, (and beyond)
71. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK If you have a blog, understand what a blog is/isn’t
72. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Use content to build trust, preference, and recall
73. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Be a brand that users would expect to see in the search results.
74. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Be the last click
75. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Image source: LINK Be the last click Be the first click
76. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Contentless Marketing Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant
77. MARKETING FESTIVAL @jonoalderson Set your content playbook on fire Jono Alderson Independent technical SEO consultant