This post is adapted from a podcast episode Tom recorded on a rainy October day in October of 2017.
It’s rainy as hell in Orlando. It’s dreary. It’s dismal. I wish it was cold, but it’s still humid as crap. In Florida, we sit here and wait (and wait and wait) for fall to come, and the best day is when you get out of your car in the morning and your glasses don’t instantly fog up from the humidity — that’s when you know that there’s a hint of coolness in the air. It’s not going to be dipping below, you know, 70 degrees anytime soon. But regardless, it being so dreary out today makes it a perfect day to do some writing.
It’s Always Been About Content
When it comes down to digital marketing, you all know it and it’s cliche as hell, but content is frickin KING. Since day one, when I opened On Target and got into this business many moons ago, it’s always been about content. Think about a search engine — why do they exist? They exist to digest all of this brilliance (and bullshit) that’s being added to the internet, at a rapid pace. So at the core of all things digital, it starts with words: the words that the humans want to read. It starts with those characters that search engines want to digest, to elevate you and your SEO.
A lot of companies come to me and they tell me “we don’t have any time to blog.” “That’s just ridiculous. The thought that you think that we can sit here and crank out content is absurd.” So, luckily, I built a system and a company that sets us up, scalability-wise, to have hundreds of writers with all different walks of life, all different specialties.
I really want to drive home the point about how important it is that you add a steady stream of good stuff to your website, to your social channels, to microblogging places like Medium, to a private Facebook group that you’re creating. It’s critical that you continue to do it. I think a lot of us have started where you’re balls to the wall, cranking out content, and you’re excited, so you get going…you get going….you get going…you hit a wall. Then you don’t get leads, you don’t get reaction, and you don’t get the desired result you’re looking for as a company. But you have to keep doing it, because this is a nonstop thing.
This Does Work – You Have To Do It
A while ago, I wrote an article about I.T. and how the I.T. tech space really needs to embrace social media. It was nothing special. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t like “Wow! This is a friggin’ masterpiece that I’ve created!” So it wasn’t five days after that post was released that we get a lead from Jamaica. Really cool, but kind of foreign to us because we’d never had a client in Jamaica. We asked them how they’d heard about us, and they replied, “The article you wrote about five reasons I.T. companies need to invest in social media (or whatever the title was).” That was fascinating to me.
It wasn’t just that customer; I won two or three clients. We’re talking like a hundred thousand dollars worth of annual business because of one blog post that I was able to generate on a cloudy, dreary day like it is today. The power of that content that was very specific to that industry, and filled a void, a need, that that particular company had at the time. That is an awesome power. So I encourage you – this does work. You have to do it and you have to do it methodically.
I tell all our clients, one of the first things we do at On Target is create an editorial calendar to help you succeed. It gives us a roadmap to get your blogging on target (pardon the pun); to get it tweaked out to reach the right audience; to maximize sales potential (meaning you may sell more widgets in quarter one than you do in quarter two, and maybe quarter two sells more wing-nuts). So you adjust the blogging strategy accordingly. The point is that you want to reach those people that obviously have a need at that time, and you need to be methodical and strategic about it.
The Story Is The Good Stuff
I can’t stress to you enough how very important it is that you keep creating good stuff. I’m not talking 200 words. Content needs to be longer and more in-depth in order to appease the Google gods. This isn’t permission to go out and create 14 sentences and just be done with it, because truthfully, I’d rather you do quality over quantity. But at this point you need to have a solid blogging program in place.
Here’s another key: don’t tell the world about what your product brings to the table and how it works. What people would much rather hear is a story. They want to hear personality and some human elements to everything you’re talking about. So, cheesy as it sounds, always talk about your why. How and why did you get in this business? Why does your product exist? Why do you exist as a company? That’s the good stuff.
To listen to our original SmartAss Marketer podcast by Tom Jelneck, please click below.
On Target is an Orlando based Digital Marketing Agency that helps brands stand out and rise above the noise. Through great storytelling, On Target turns companies into thought leaders. Founded in 2005 as a search engine marketing (SEO) firm, we’ve evolved into Orlando’s only agency that specializes in creating remarkable online content. If you’re looking to refresh your marketing strategy, contact us today.