Don’t take a hit by chasing traffic

mlns='> Optimize your strategy, not your search results [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 11.4.22 Connect With CMI [4 Ways To Win With Video – the ‘It’ Content Format for 2023 [Research and Examples]]( Standing out in the crowded video space will take more creativity in 2023. Discover what CMI’s newly released research says and get inspired by six award-winning examples. [Read more]( By Jodi Harris More of the week's best stuff: - [CMI News | Is Google Getting It Wrong or Is It Smarter Than We Think?]( by Robert Rose - [Content Marketers: Here's How To Ask for (and Get) the Salary You Want]( by Ann Gynn - [How Reading Great Fiction Makes Your Content Better (and What To Read)]( Carina Rampelt - [5 Ways To Balance SEO and Content Synergy in 2023]( by Jim Yu - [Don't Make SEO the Reason for Your Content Marketing Strategy [Rose-Colored Glasses]]( Robert Rose  Don’t take a hit by chasing traffic Historically, many businesses started their content marketing programs because they believed it would help them rank higher for organic search results. When their target audiences would search for potential solutions to their needs and wants, they would find the brand’s vast array of content and believe that brand is the one that provides the most value. Unfortunately, what many businesses discovered was that a foundation built on being “found” in search meant they had to focus on content that chased traffic. That created an inherent pressure to create content designed to rank rather than content intended to lead, entertain, or inform. Successfully organizing content to optimize organic search has become more difficult over the last decade. The quality of competition, the sheer quantity of content, and the growth of paid search advertising have made digital real estate on the [first page of Google]( more expensive and more challenging to maintain. And appearing on anything but the first page is not just second place; it is tantamount to failure. As my good friend and SEO expert fArnie Kuenn used to jokingly say, “The best place to hide a dead body is the second page of Google results.” However, the classic SEO-first mentality still exists in building a case for a content marketing platform. In two recent conversations, clients expressed frustration about where they were in launching their new content marketing program. Each had asked their digital agency to help them identify the best way to bring their content marketing program to life. In each case, the consultants came back with a 30-slide deck, making the business case for content marketing by saying: - Your audience searches Google X times. - Here are the most popular search terms. - Here’s what they are finding. - Here are the terms they search that you care most about. - Here is the gap (in other words – what they are not finding). - Conclusion A: The number of searches you care about is limited. - Conclusion B: The number of answers for the terms you care about and your audience isn’t finding is low (it’s going to be hard to compete). - Recommendation: Focus short-term on creating content about the terms you care about but for which your audience isn’t finding answers. Focus long-term on competing for the highly sought keywords. Put simply: Game on – let’s start creating a lot of content. - Last slide: We can help you with creating that high-quality content that will compete for that precious real estate on the front page of Google search results. Now, if it sounds like I’m denigrating the fine work that good SEO firms do, let me be clear that I’m not. I absolutely understand good firms do amazing work in this space that goes well beyond my pay grade. But that slide deck illustrates an all-too-common argument for launching a modern content marketing program. It presents two problems. First, SEO has arguably never been a good foundation for a content marketing platform. Second, and more importantly, is that web search itself changes in a way that fundamentally changes the content marketing equation. In this week’s [Rose-Colored Glasses]( I explain why all content marketers need to take these two lessons to heart – and what they reveal about Google’s true intentions. Here’s a hint: It’s not to help your brand or to help your audience discover your content. But understanding what Google’s goals really are might help you find more effective strategies to achieve yours. If you’re looking to launch a new content marketing platform, I recommend looking at something other than search optimization as the core benefit. But if you disagree or have a different perspective on the evolving role of search, I’d love to hear it. Send me [an email](mailto:cmi_info@informa.com?subject=Rose-Colored%20Glasses) or leave a comment on [the article page](. Until then, remember: It's your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Do you have colleagues or friends who would benefit from Robert's weekly updates? If so, please invite them to [subscribe]( here.   Sponsored Content  Did you know it takes less than 15 mins to build an online store? In 15 minutes or less, Jason Falls (Entrepreneur, Podcaster, Influencer, Digital Marketing Expert) can walk you through every step of setting up your online business website on Squarespace/Wix. Watch the easiest site-building tutorial on Youtube [Go to video »](   Your Biggest Branding Headaches Solved Learn how to solve six common branding headaches, so you can build a successful, recognizable brand that stands out in the marketplace. [Download your free guide »](  Navigating Social Video in 2023: What you need to thrive Social video fluency is no longer a “nice to have” — it’s a necessity that directly correlates to business performance. Unlock Tubular’s trend forecast to be a leader in 2023. [Download the report »](   More from CMI Join Us at the Marketing Analytics & Data Science (MADS) Conference Collecting and analyzing customer data is important, but winning organizations do more – they seamlessly embed data, analytics, and insights into the fabric of the organization's decision-making process. MADS, organized by CMI's parent company, exists to help marketers and data scientists do this. You won’t want to miss the sessions on AI and personalization – or the keynote from NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith. Interested in attending? Use VIP code CMI20 to save 20% on your conference pass. [Browse the agenda and register today »](   Why Aren’t Content Marketers Using Video Effectively? Video is a critical piece of many successful content marketing strategies, but is it being used to its full potential? In this week’s special Halloween-edition of our Ask the #CMWorld Community livestream, we sat down with Tyler Lessard, VP marketing and chief video strategist at Vidyard, to chat about the newly released 2023 Video & Visual Storytelling Survey – and why he lost his head about where we’re at with video. If you missed the live interview, catch up now! [Watch video »]( [Read the research »](   [PERSONALIZATION AND ABM RESOURCES]( Events [Content Marketing World]( [ContentTECH Summit]( [Content Marketing Awards]( Resources [Research]( [White Paper/eBook Library]( [Content VIPs]( [CMI Business Directory]( Education [Content Marketing University]( [Chief Content Officer]( [Webinars]( [Job Listings]( Interested in advertising with CMI? [Learn more.]( To stop receiving future Content Marketing Institute update emails, please respond [here](. 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