3 Content Strategies for the Age of AI

Last week I gave a presentation to the Rocky River, Ohio Chamber of Commerce. There were about 75-100 small business owners there and the initial plan was to go over my Content Inc. audience-building model.

Well, the day before I scrapped that idea and decided just to talk about some things that were on my mind.

First, I discussed how social media algorithms are not our friends. More and more, it doesn’t matter if we have followers or not. The algo is going to look at the user’s behavior and send them the content that will provide the best user experience. When I say “best user experience” it means keeping on the platform as long as possible, so they see the greatest number of advertisements.

So anymore, your followers may or may not see your stuff, regardless of if they follow you or not. I’m leaning more on the may not part.

Second, I talked about the change in search engine optimization. More and more businesses are getting less traffic from Google. Why you ask? Google is leaning on more sponsored links (many more) as well as the rise of no-click searches. A no-click search is when Google gives the answer to the question without the searcher clicking on a link. According to Conductor, this happens more than half the time.

At the same time, Google is competing with the “one answer” philosophy of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

When I was at Social Media Marketing World a few months back, over half the audience admitted to using ChatGPT in place of Google search. If you’re wondering why Google is rushing out their AI product with so many errors, that’s the reason. Google did $175 billion in revenue through search last year, so there is A LOT at risk for them.

Regardless, the “one answer” for search is our future. This is incredibly scary to me personally, but I think it’s inevitable.

So, considering what social media platforms are doing and what the future of search looks like, what should you do?

Here’s what I think is the answer…

My friend Marcus Sheridan posted in his newsletter last week about creating signals to be found in tomorrow’s AI search.

Marcus says:

“You have to stop thinking so much about “SEO” and much more about “signals” and “brand.”

In other words, you need to do everything you can to create “signals” online that force AI platforms to not only recognize you but RECOMMEND you as well.

The more (quality) signals you put out to the world, the more opportunity your brand has to grow, evolve, and stand out.”

Marcus is right. And we all have limited time and resources, so let’s do this…

Build One Show

Focus on one channel where you can create a show that truly solves your customer’s problems. This could be a podcast, an email newsletter, a YouTube channel, a book series…even daily Instagram posts. This is where you’ll deliver something valuable consistently over time. You can’t be great at all the things, but you can be great at one thing.

Create on OPP

What are the websites where your customers are hanging out? Well, find out and contribute articles to those sites (OPP – Other People’s Property). As these large-language models scour the web for expertise, they’ll see YOU as the expert if you keep showing up.

For example, if you type in "who are the experts in content marketing?" into ChatGPT 4o, I come up first. Why? Because I have content marketing articles, guest podcasts, webinar archives, YouTube presentations in hundreds, maybe thousands of places around the web. I’ve done this for over 17 years…so it doesn’t happen overnight.

I used this strategy starting in 2010 because I had a goal to be found in multiple results on content marketing queries – from my personal site and maybe a few other sites for each one. That was an SEO strategy. Today it works as an AI content strategy. Go figure.

THE Enewsletter for Your Industry

I know. Email? Are you kidding me?

Yes. It’s more important than ever.

All your calls-to-action (CTAs) can go to this opt-in, data gathering newsletter where you can connect directly with customers. And the only thing standing in your way of delivery in making sure it’s valuable and getting around spam filters.

Since the rise of ChatGPT starting in November of 2022, I’ve realized that the most important things I do are write this newsletter and continue to create a pillar piece of content in book format on a consistent basis.

I think any individual and any small business can do these three things with minimal resources.

So…

Create your amazing show. Do it consistently and be patient. It may take more than a year to get traction but stick with it.

Create content for other people on reputable sites. Do this as often as possible. Create those signals for AI to find.

Create that incredible newsletter for your customers and your industry.

And yes, you can sprinkle this content in social media and make comments on social posts. I just don’t believe that’s a long-term strategy that will work for most small businesses and content entrepreneurs.

Top 10 Places to Visit

Whether I’m blessed or spoiled (probably both), I’ve been able to travel to more places than most. We especially made it a point to travel with our two kids. We started when they were small (I remember an early luggage catastrophe at Disney) to recently (a family vacation to roller coaster parks in California). When we completed each family trip, we put the location on the kitchen wall (see below).

It’s funny…I took my first trip overseas when I was 36 years old (a trip to Brussels, Belgium). My children are now 22 and 21 years old and they’ve been to Spain, Italy, Mexico, Great Britain, Canada and more. Hopefully it’s helped open their eyes to how other people live.

Once the kids graduated high school, my wife and I started another wall of places where the two of us have traveled. This has been so much fun. Definitely an 11 on a scale of one to 10.

All told, we’ve been to well over 100 locations around the world. Here’s my top 10 (in no particular order).

Hamburg, Germany

Did you know that Hamburg has 2,496 bridges? More than any other city in Europe. It’s hard to list another city that is more walkable. Because of the damage sustained during World War II, you get an incredible mix of new and old architecture.

Sydney, Australia

Oh Sydney. It’s hard to express how much I love thee. Running Bondi Beach (multiple times) and climbing the Harbour Bridge are special life moments.

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Simply breathtaking. It’s on our list to go back. The Postonja Cave is a must visit while you are there.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Dunn’s River Falls. Put it on your bucket list.

Willemstad, Curacao

I often dream about drinking coffee on St. Anna Bay.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

We often talk about buying land there so we can get UK citizenship. :)

London, Great Britain

Might be the greatest city in the world. We visit once a year.

Venice, Italy

Ah, Venice. You haven’t lived until you walk it in its entirety.

Bar Harbor, Maine

There’s just something about seeing land and then watching the land disappear when the tide rolls in. Plus, the clam strips. Yum!

Key West, Florida

I have to be honest. We spent a week in Key West this year and I fell in love with the entire vibe of the island. We plan on going back next year.

What are your favorite spots? Post them in the comments so I can include them in a future issue of the Orangeletter.

If you would like me to talk about something specific for next issue or ask me a question, just reply to this email.