Website Content’s New Role in the Age of AI-powered Search

Hi there.

This past week was a big milestone for me—I launched the first significant overhaul of our consultancy’s website since our 2016 launch! It was a much-needed update since our services have evolved, and so has the way people find information online, thanks to AI.

Our old site was brief, with little detail about our services. We put our content creation energy into the blog posts. Our Twitter community was front and center.

In contrast, I wrote our new site’s copy with an understanding that you have to train the robots and the algorithms so the right people find you and even see your website at all. If your website has the same neutral yet informative business-y content that describes what you do and who you do it for, the AI won’t be able to tell anyone that you are the perfect partner for your ideal customer.

And the thing is, you want AI to work for you, not against your goals. And that means you've got to get specific.

That’s why I leaned into what makes me—and our consultancy—the right fit for some clients and not for others:

• My approach to content marketing is a lot like my approach to gardening, so you see lots of flowers across the pages (most of them mine, in fact)
• If you’ve seen my #ContentChat LinkedIn livestream, you already know I’m a kawaii-Hello Kitty-perky goth in a MidCentury ranch, and the branding—from the colors to the overall aesthetic—reflects that.
• Our services pages talk about our approach, including that we are on a mission to stamp out random acts of content.

That last bullet is an especially important one for us. It’s the primary reason we turn down business, too.

If a prospective customer comes to us with a content creation project or retainer in mind, and doesn’t have a content strategy (or isn’t looking to have us collaborate with them to craft theirs), we refer them somewhere else. It simply doesn’t bring me joy to add to the noise in the marketplace, or to create content without purpose.

I’m sure our website will turn off some visitors—and that’s a Good Thing! Because if our website is too much, I can’t imagine what having me and my direct approach on a call would be like for you. So consider this your call this week to show off what makes you uniquely you.

Cheers, Erika

P.S. We’re taking on new clients in the following areas:

• AI for Marketing
• B2B Brand Influencer Collaborations (a.k.a. content by me)
• Content Development and Planning
• Content Governance
• Content Strategy
• Fractional Head of Content
• Marketing Training & Facilitation
• Thought Leadership
• Web Content Creation

P.P.S. If you refer someone who becomes a client, I’ll send you a package of my homemade gluten-free cookies. Don't worry; I give them as client gifts, too, so you can refer yourself! ;)

Coming Up on #ContentChat

Content Chat is my weekly LinkedIn live video chat focused on sharing expertise and ideas amongst the content marketing community. Join the conversation on Mondays at noon Pacific / 3 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to mark your calendar to join the #ContentChat community and me for these upcoming guests:

Get Involved with #ContentChat

Want #ContentChat on your calendar? Use this link to follow our calendar so you never miss a chat.

We are booking guests for 2024—send us your pitch! Are you a content marketing practitioner, author, or consultant who is interested in being a guest for an upcoming edition of #ContentChat? We’d love to see your topic pitch via our Content Chat guest submission form.

RSVP to Get Free Content Marketing Consulting with Me

The MarketingProfs "Ask An Expert" sessions are a fabulous benefit for PRO members to receive 1:1 time to discuss any B2B marketing challenge they need help with... and I'm the expert on Feb. 20!

I'm so grateful for this opportunity and can't wait to help you by providing feedback on your content strategy, inspiring your career development plan, kickstarting your personal brand with thought leadership, or anything else I can help with (Yes—including gluten-free baking and restaurant recommendations).

Spots are limited, so schedule your session today. Not a Pro member yet? This is a GREAT reason to take the leap!

Content Marketing + Related Jobs

Technically Media is a digital media company known for its local tech economy news site Technical.ly. The team is hiring a lead DC reporter to lead the production of a high-quality, must-read newsletter covering all things related to the DC tech community. The role includes developing ideas for and reporting a set number of stories each week and taking photos to accompany stories.

Close is a 100% remote company that provides a CRM designed to double the productivity of every sales rep. The company is seeking a head of content based in the U.S. to own and define the company’s content strategy to drive brand awareness and conversion. This includes creating ebooks, blog posts, emails, social posts, webinars, and more and leading and mentoring a team of writers and SEO specialists.

Mavenoid provides an “Intelligent Support Platform” that delivers troubleshooting and personalized remote support for customer service. Its team is hiring a content marketing manager to build the company’s reputation by creating ghostwritten content for its executives, producing short-form videos, and managing its online community (to name just a few tasks). This is a remote-eligible role.

Heartbeat, a Publicis Groupe company, is a healthcare marketing and creative agency headquartered in NYC. Its clients have included Genentech, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and more. The agency is seeking a copywriter who is eager to write consumer-focused content for pharmaceutical and healthcare clients.

Pinpoint is a bootstrapped HR-tech startup that provides software to help in-house recruitment teams attract, hire, and onboard talent. The brand is hiring a senior content marketing manager to collaborate with every part of the business, conduct first-hand research with customers, and produce 1-2 articles weekly. The role is remote but requires occasional in-person meetups in the U.K.

SPOTIO is a private SaaS company that offers a field sales engagement platform used by thousands of sales professionals. The SPOTIO team is looking for a content marketing manager to drive brand awareness, engage its target audience, and support its marketing initiatives, spanning blog, email, website, and social media content. This is a hybrid role based out of Addison, TX.

Moveworks provides a platform powered by its proprietary LLM that enables users to search for information, automate tasks, and create content with generative AI. The company is hiring a content marketing director based in Mountain View, CA, to lead its content and social strategy and creation, including brand voice and messaging governance and performance monitoring.

Autodesk is a global leader in “design and make” technology, with expertise across architecture, construction, design, and manufacturing. Its team is seeking an insights content manager to help build original research content to inform and engage executive audiences. This role is remote or hybrid eligible based in the U.S.

Are you hiring? We can help!

If you have a content marketing contract position, full-time job, or freelancer opportunity, reply to this email and let us know. We are always happy to share jobs with the community at no cost.

Content Marketing Templates and Resources

Our new website has a dedicated resource center with its own templates tab. To celebrate, we'll be sharing new templates in each issue of the newsletter. Here's a whole bunch in one package to kick things off:

Your Marketing Toolbox: 74 Templates and Tools to Boost Your Marketing Value.

Something I love about the #ContentChat community is how often we share templates and tool recommendations to streamline our workflows and improve our results. In this new post, we share 74 templates and tools for everything from content curation and content marketing planning to executive thought leadership and SEO. If you have a tool you’d like us to consider, reply to this email, and we can check it out for our next update to the post.

ICYMI

The B2B buyer’s journey is notoriously long and spans hundreds of touchpoints—so how can marketers identify the best content opportunities to move buyers down the funnel? Story mapping is a valuable exercise to help you address different buyer needs and effectively align your campaigns. Check out this #ContentChat recap with Carmen Hill to learn how to approach story mapping, including insights and expert strategies from her 2023 CMworld session.

What do you want 2024 to be YOUR year of? It’s critical to take time to think about your career goals and put a plan in action to meet them. In this free webinar replay, Bernie Borges from Midlife Fulfilled Podcast and I share our tips, workbooks, and templates to guide you through your career development planning. Reply to this email and let me know what your 2024 intention is—I’m here to help!

Not sure how GenAI can help you reach your content marketing goals? Forrester Analyst Lisa (Berkley) Gately joined us in this #ContentChat recap to explore the benefits (and pitfalls!) of GenAI, how teams are currently using it, and ways to create guidelines for your team. The TL;DR: You need to start experimenting with GenAI to stay competitive.

Having worked with several B2B companies for website optimization, there are so many SEO opportunities that, when overlooked, can significantly hurt your chances of ranking. This MarketingProfs article covers seven mistakes I see frequently. Read through the list, and add an SEO scrub to your to-do’s this month (and every quarter).

Our friend—and trusted expert on all things public relations—Michelle Garrett is writing a book, and it comes out THIS QUARTER. Check out all the details through the above link and sign up to get notified when it launches. Her book will provide no-nonsense strategies to drive PR results and elevate your thought leadership.

P.S. If you are reading this on the web or through a forwarded email, subscribe to get this newsletter in your inbox every other Monday morning.

Until next time, stay safe and be well!

Cheers,

Erika