You’ve been watching traffic slide for months. Competitors suddenly show up in AI Overviews, while your brand barely appears. Reports keep pointing to “algorithm changes,” but no one on your team can explain why conversions are down.
With how quickly algorithms and AI features can change, it’s no wonder businesses are struggling to keep up. But this is exactly where an AI SEO agency proves its worth. They combine machine learning, automation, and a strong dose of human expertise, all to help brands surface to the top of a sea of generative results.
Here, we’ll show you what makes an AI SEO agency stand out and explore the benefits of partnering with the right agency.
An AI SEO agency is built for the way search works now, not the way it worked five years ago. Instead of relying only on manual keyword research and historical data, these agencies use artificial intelligence to uncover opportunities faster and adapt to changes in your industry.
The big shift is focus. Traditional SEO looks backward — analyzing what drove results in the past. AI SEO agencies look forward. With predictive analytics and natural language processing, they anticipate where demand is moving and position your brand to show up at the right time.
AI also takes over the repetitive work: technical audits, clustering topics, generating schema, or tracking where your brand appears in AI Overviews and chat results. That gives strategists more space to do what matters most — build campaigns, craft content, and connect your message with real people. The tech handles the scale and speed; the people make sure the strategy is thoughtful, creative, and aligned with business goals.
The big question for a lot of marketers or small business owners is: what is an AI SEO agency going to do that I can’t do myself? The right agency isn’t trying to sell you shiny new tools, but they are trying to make your job easier.
In short, the biggest benefit is peace of mind. You don’t have to second-guess whether your SEO strategy can keep up with how search is changing.
Not every agency that talks about AI is actually using it in a meaningful way. Some lean too heavily on automation, others promise results they can’t deliver. When you’re shopping for a professional partner, it pays to know both the green flags and the red ones so you can avoid trouble in the first place.
There’s no shortage of agencies talking about AI, but only a handful have proven they can use it to drive real results. Here are 7 different agencies that are taking AI SEO marketing by the reins and forging a path forward.
97th Floor has built a reputation for staying ahead of how search evolves, including with AI SEO. We blend that technical expertise with creative execution. Our experience has shown that it’s not enough to help clients simply rank, but to build lasting authority.
The approach centers on entity-led content, structured data, and technical optimization — all critical for visibility in AI-driven results. But what sets 97th Floor apart is how we tie these tactics back to measurable outcomes. Campaigns aren’t judged only by traffic; they’re evaluated on real business impact like qualified leads, revenue growth, and brand recognition.
As a full-service AI SEO agency, 97th Floor brings together strategists, analysts, writers, and developers under one roof. That integration makes it easier to adapt to search shifts and deliver cohesive campaigns. For brands that want both innovation and accountability, 97th Floor is a partner that delivers both.
Siege Media is known for combining SEO with content marketing, and they’ve quickly adapted those strengths for the AI era. Their focus is on creating high-value content that performs in both traditional search results and AI Overviews.
One of their core advantages is a data-driven approach to identifying opportunities competitors miss. Instead of chasing broad keywords, Siege Media zeroes in on topics where brands can earn visibility, citations, and long-term traffic value. Their emphasis on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) positions clients to surface in emerging search formats like Google’s AI-driven results.
Directive Consulting specializes in SEO for B2B brands, and they’ve built their reputation on tying search efforts directly to revenue. Their approach to AI SEO reflects that same focus: less about vanity metrics, more about connecting demand generation to long-term business growth.
Where Directive stands out is in GEO. They design strategies that anticipate how AI will surface information and make sure that clients show up in the conversations and citations that influence buying decisions. Combined with their full-funnel approach, this helps brands capture visibility at every stage of the customer journey.
For B2B companies that want search strategies aligned with sales outcomes, Directive is a solid choice. Their emphasis on revenue impact makes them a strong choice for teams under pressure to prove ROI from SEO investments.
Spicy Margarita is a boutique agency that’s carved out a name in B2B by building content designed for AI visibility. Instead of focusing on keyword volume alone, their strategies emphasize answer-ready content — the kind of material that AI systems parse, cite, and elevate in Overviews.
Their specialty is blending content-led SEO with GEO. That means they are focused on crafting resources that address buyer questions directly and position brands as credible sources in emerging AI-driven results. Conversion is always at the center — rankings matter, but only if they lead to qualified leads and revenue.
uSERP is known for its focus on authority building in the age of AI search. Their approach combines technical SEO, advanced link building, and their proprietary Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) framework, which helps brands surface in AI-generated results and conversational queries.
Unlike agencies that chase short-term visibility, uSERP invests in strategies that strengthen a site’s credibility across multiple signals. That means better rankings in traditional SERPs and more frequent appearances when AI systems pull answers from trusted sources. Their track record includes hundreds of clients across industries.
iPullRank has earned respect in the SEO world for tackling enterprise challenges at scale. Their approach, called “Relevance Engineering,” blends semantic modeling with technical SEO to deliver strategies that line up with how search engines — and increasingly, AI systems — interpret meaning.
This focus on depth has led to billions in organic search value generated for clients. iPullRank’s strength lies in taking complex enterprise sites and making them more discoverable, structured, and ready for AI-driven interpretation. Their emphasis on technical precision and semantic relevance sets them apart from agencies that rely too heavily on surface-level tactics.
First Page Sage is known for its thought leadership approach to SEO. They specialize in creating research-driven content that builds authority, particularly for B2B SaaS and other industries where credibility is a key differentiator.
Their team has integrated generative AI optimization into this model, focusing on content that not only ranks but also earns trust in AI-driven environments. By combining long-form, authoritative resources with demand generation strategies, they position clients as the go-to source in their field.
There’s a point where DIY SEO or even a capable in-house team starts to hit a ceiling. You may be seeing:
Because AI is quickly becoming the foundation of how search works, our generative systems are rewriting the rules. Brands can optimize for blue links, but they also need to prepare content that is even more obviously structured, credible, and, most importantly, ready to be cited by AI. What we’re seeing from top SEO companies that are seeing results are things like:
Agencies that understand what SEOs need to know are already positioning clients to succeed. The pace of change is fast, but it’s not unpredictable. Strong AI SEOs already build for this future by focusing on clarity, authority, and adaptability — qualities that matter no matter how search evolves.
The right SEO agency isn’t a plug-and-play type of resource. Again, you have to balance the technical and creative sides of SEO to finally start seeing results. Consider these core services that the pros are offering:
Plenty of agencies are experimenting with AI, but 97th Floor has already built a track record of driving results with it. Our team combines technical SEO, content strategy, and analytics to help brands show up where it counts. We’ve got the traditional search results mastered, but we’re also paving the way forward for brands like yours. Entity-led optimization, structured data, and performance tracking are core to how we work.
What makes 97th Floor different is the integration of people and process. Analysts, strategists, and developers work side by side, which means campaigns are cohesive and built to scale. That’s how we turn AI SEO from a buzzword into growth you can measure.
Learn more about our AI SEO services or start with a free audit. Let’s Talk // Get an AI Audit.
You’re busy running a business, and you shouldn’t have to spend so much effort figuring out the ins and outs of the marketing industry. When you partner with a marketing agency, they can handle understanding complex buying cycles, nurturing leads, SEO, content marketing, and ultimately delivering measurable results. A B2B marketing agency can specifically help companies that make products for other companies, instead of for the general public.
Whether your goal is to accelerate pipeline growth, expand into new markets, or enhance customer engagement, partnering with the right B2B marketing agency can turn your marketing investment into tangible, revenue-generating outcomes. Read on to learn more about working with a B2B marketing agency and how to find the right one.
A B2B marketing agency is a specialized firm focused on helping businesses market their products and services to other businesses rather than individual consumers. Unlike B2C agencies, which often prioritize mass reach and broad engagement to help you find customers, B2B agencies are designed to reach companies and target top decision-makers in order to draw clients to your company. The agency will work on generating high-quality leads and strengthening your brand in the spaces where your potential clients are.
A B2B marketing agency usually covers a wide spectrum of services, including content marketing, digital campaigns, marketing automation, analytics, and account-based marketing (ABM). At the core of their work is brand positioning—helping companies articulate their value proposition, differentiate from competitors, and establish authority in their markets.
Below are industry-recognized agencies, each with a unique strength to help you compare and choose.
Best for Full-Funnel Strategy & ROI-Driven Growth
97th Floor specializes in full-funnel marketing strategies, combining SEO, paid media, content marketing, and design services. We generate sustainable growth for B2B companies from startups up to the Fortune 500 list—including Salesforce, AT&T, LG, Google, and Celebrity Cruises. Our in-house proprietary tool, Palomar, also helps inform strategy with real-time market intelligence and competitive insights.
Best for SEO + Content Marketing
Siege Media is known for high-quality, keyword-driven content that improves rankings and conversions in SaaS, fintech, and e-commerce sectors. They focus on creating content that drives organic traffic and builds brand authority.
Best for Performance Marketing
Directive Consulting is an expert in paid media, SEO, lifecycle marketing, and demand generation within complex SaaS and enterprise markets. They elevate the focus of B2B marketers from MQLs to qualified pipelines.
Best for Agile Tech Company Marketing
New North excels in multi-channel strategies tailored for tech firms, combining agility with long-term strategic planning. They help B2B technology companies grow with better marketing and offer personalized strategies and dynamic campaigns.
Best for Lead Generation & ABM Strategy
Ironpaper focuses on data-driven demand generation, content sprints, ABM, and conversion optimization for tech clients. They align marketing and sales to drive measurable outcomes.
Best for AI-Enhanced Growth Marketing
Avenue Z combines narrative clarity, AI visibility strategies, and CRM-integrated campaigns for enterprise and professional services. They position brands at the top of their category by turning complex offerings into digestible thought leadership.
Best for Research-Driven Campaign Design
Elevation B2B delivers omnichannel campaigns rooted in strategic insights for brand awareness, lead generation, and growth. They focus on providing full-service, data-driven marketing solutions specifically for B2B companies in tech.
Best for Professional Services Thought Leadership
Hinge Marketing specializes in branding and marketing strategies tailored to professional services firms. Their research-driven approach and emphasis on thought leadership help build authority and pipeline impact.
Best for Holistic Digital Campaigns
Power Digital delivers SEO, PPC, content marketing, and social media with data-driven precision and proven lead-gen results. They offer a comprehensive suite of services to drive growth and optimize marketing ROI.
Best for Visual Brand Storytelling
Column Five are experts in brand strategy, content, data visualization, and multimedia—especially for SaaS and tech brands wanting engaging storytelling assets. They focus on creating compelling narratives that resonate with target audiences.
A B2B marketing agency offers specialized services designed to address the unique challenges of marketing products and services to other businesses. At the heart of effective B2B marketing is creating a marketing strategy that aligns with your business objectives. Agencies collaborate with you to develop comprehensive plans that encompass market research, competitive analysis, and customer insights to create this strategy and help you achieve your goals.
B2B marketing agencies provide a suite of services tailored to the intricate needs of business-to-business marketing, usually including:
B2B marketing agencies can help your company grow thanks to a combination of strategic planning, technology, and data-driven execution. Their focus is attracting great and promising leads and also nurturing those relationships. Below are three ways working with a B2B marketing agency can help your company find the growth you’re looking for.
A core function of B2B marketing agencies is identifying and nurturing high-quality leads. They focus on marketing qualified leads (MQLs)—prospects who have shown interest or engagement with your brand—and work to convert them into sales qualified leads (SQLs), who are ready for direct sales engagement. By aligning marketing and sales efforts, agencies ensure a smoother handoff and higher conversion rates.
B2B marketing agencies often use automation and CRM tools like HubSpot, Marketo, and Salesforce to manage campaigns, track prospect interactions, and deliver personalized messaging at scale. Automation allows agencies to nurture leads while also reducing manual work, so you can see results.
To demonstrate impact and optimize strategies, agencies employ marketing attribution models that track performance across all touchpoints your company needs. These models help your business understand which campaigns, channels, and messaging strategies contribute the most to revenue generation. By analyzing ROI and attribution data, agencies can continuously refine their tactics and help you create a great budget that leads to measurable growth.
Selecting the right B2B marketing agency is the first step to getting the results you want to see. The best partnerships are built on expertise, alignment, and trust, so it’s important to ask the right questions and look for key indicators of reliability. Here are some tips to help you pick out the right fit for you.
Before committing, consider asking potential agencies questions that reveal their capabilities, approach, and fit with your business:
A trustworthy agency demonstrates transparency, flexibility, and proven results. Look for clear reporting practices, adaptable engagement models, and a track record of delivering measurable growth for clients. Ask for case studies and see if this agency’s strategies and efforts would work for your company.
When choosing an agency, avoid making decisions based solely on cost. Sometimes it’s worth paying more for a higher quality B2B agency where you’ll see results. Also consider whether or not the agency will be a cultural fit for your company—just as you would for an employee. Taking the time to vet agencies thoroughly ensures a partnership that drives real results.
For more guidance, read our full Agency Success Playbook for in-depth tips on selecting a high-performing B2B marketing agency.
B2B marketing agencies can help a wide range of industries grow, but certain sectors see especially strong results.
For technology and SaaS companies, marketing agencies focus on subscription models, reducing churn, and increasing customer lifetime value—all of which can help your company grow. They implement targeted campaigns, content strategies, and ABM approaches to engage decision-makers and accelerate adoption.
Learn more about SaaS industry marketing
Learn more about cybersecurity marketing
Manufacturing and industrial businesses often face long sales cycles and niche target audiences. B2B marketing agencies help these companies identify and engage the right buyers, craft tailored messaging, and build campaigns that support complex buying decisions.
Learn more about construction equipment marketing
Learn more about industrial sector marketing
Professional services and healthcare organizations rely heavily on authority and trust. Agencies in these sectors focus on thought leadership, content marketing, and reputation-building strategies that demonstrate expertise and credibility to prospective clients.
Learn more about financial services marketing
Learn more about health and wellness marketing
Want to see how B2B marketing can transform your company? Here are a few case studies to get you started:
See more success stories to get an idea of how a B2B marketing agency can help you.
Measuring success is critical to understanding the impact of your B2B marketing efforts and optimizing for growth. Agencies use a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics to track performance, inform decisions, and maximize ROI.
97th Floor is a trusted partner for B2B companies looking to drive measurable growth through strategic, data-driven marketing. With proven expertise across digital marketing disciplines—including content, SEO, paid advertising, design, and emerging AI-powered SEO tactics—our team helps businesses generate leads, accelerate pipeline growth, and maximize ROI.
We prioritize transparent communication and consistently deliver results backed by analytics, so that every campaign is aligned with your business objectives. What sets 97th Floor apart is our deep industry experience combined with flexible engagement models. We tailor strategies to your unique needs and scale as your business grows.
See how an audience-first approach translates to bottom-line results.
If you have Googled anything in the last few years, you’ve likely come across an AI overview that summarizes some of the ranking pages to answer your query. Or maybe you wondered about the history of the Ottoman Empire or needed instructions to refill your car’s oil and turned to ChatGPT. AI is taking online search by a storm.
For search engine users, the rise of AI has made getting synthesized summaries of all the top internet easy. For companies and SEO experts, it involves figuring out how to adjust your content strategy to keep your content visible and to reach your customers. That’s why we’ve put together this guide on the future of AI search SEO to help you figure out where and how to tweak your content strategy to be ready for the growth of AI SEO.
Unlike traditional search engines that rely on keyword matching and indexed pages, AI-powered systems use large language models (LLMs) to interpret natural language in an attempt to deliver nuanced, conversational results.
Some of the leading AI search tools you may have used or heard of include:
Search is undergoing a fundamental shift that’s only getting started. In May 2023, Google began rolling out Search Generative Experience (SGE), now rebranded as AI Overviews, which places AI-generated responses above standard results. Microsoft integrated AI mode into Bing in early 2023 using ChatGPT-4, while platforms like You.com and Perplexity launched AI-first search tools that prioritize summarization and citations. Search engines now are prioritizing their own AI summaries at the top of the SERP in what used to be prime real estate for SEOs.
These AI tools are changing the way people interact with SERPs. In fact, a study from the Pew Research Center in May 2025 notes that people are significantly less likely to click on web pages listed in Google search results if there’s an AI summary present. They also only rarely click on the sources listed by the AI summary.
With the shift in how users interact with search engines, SEO is going to shift too.
Traditional SEO is built around optimizing for search engine crawlers and ranking within standard SERPs. This includes tactics you’re likely very familiar with, such as:
GEO—Generative Engine Optimization—targets AI searches. Large Language Models don’t crawl; they try to interpret the context and evaluate:
Because LLMs respond to context and credibility, not just ranking signals, you want to optimize content for semantic relevance, not just visibility. Adding GEO to your content strategy is another way to make your content visible in those AI-generated summaries—though traditional SEO still matters as well.
So if AI is going to change the way people search (and already is starting to do so), you need a content strategy designed to fit in that landscape. These are our four top tips for creating content that your readers will love and that works with AI.
Content these days has to walk a very fine line: being written for humans and for AI accessibility all at the same time. You don’t want to write a brilliant piece of long-form content only for it to be lost in the ether of Google, but you definitely don’t want to end up with AI slop. Some ways you want to cater your content for your readers and for AI include:
The goal here is to write content for your human audience but to make sure it’s fully AI accessible afterward. At the end of the day, good content is still king, so prioritize having well-written content and avoid losing that human touch while optimizing for AI search SEO.
AI works like any other search engine: it will rank your pages higher if they’re correctly set up with appropriate metadata. While AI tools don’t crawl the web like traditional bots, they still rely on structured, well-maintained websites. Technical SEO helps ensure your content is indexed by both search engines and used by AI models that reference top-ranking pages. Prioritize:
Just like with Google Search, AI systems reward content that’s well-structured and technically sound.
Optimizing for search engine results page (SERP) features can improve your visibility in both traditional and AI-generated summaries. Focus on:
Appearing in these SERP features improves your chances of being referenced by AI models—and therefore coming across your readers’ screens.
If you’re looking to build your pages in a way that makes it easy for AI tools to scan your content, focus on these five strategies:
By following these principles, your content becomes easier for AI models to recognize—which then helps you stay visible in the next era of online searches.
Even though it might feel like the search landscape is rapidly evolving, the core principles of technical SEO remain as important as ever. In fact, SEO hasn’t really changed—it’s only expanded to include AI searches. Staying on top of and implementing foundational technical best practices still pays dividends, both in traditional rankings and in AI-generated search results.
Structured data helps both traditional search engines and AI systems better understand the context of your content. Using it can help your content get featured in snippets and AI overview citations. To get the most out of your structured data:
Well-implemented schema makes it easier for AI systems to identify key facts and understand the relationships between ideas—boosting your content’s chances of being referenced in AI search results.
AI-powered search is no longer limited to just text, and your content strategy can capitalize on that. Many search engines and AI assistants now support multimodal inputs and outputs to blend text, images, and video to meet user needs. Make sure your site:
By incorporating diverse formats, you increase your visibility across a variety of SERP features. Your site could end up as the cited image in an AI overview or in an image carousel. That visibility will make your content more accessible and expand your reach.
All the general tips we’ve talked about so far are best practices for any type of AI search tool. While many core principles remain consistent, each model has its unique behaviors and ranking preferences. Some of the most prominent and widely used AI search engines—and the ones offering the most trackable performance insights today—include:
AI systems reward conversational content that mimics how people talk, so here are a few tips to optimize for conversational queries and natural language prompts:
By tailoring your content for the nuances of each platform—and optimizing for how people naturally ask questions—you’ll increase your visibility in both AI-driven and traditional search environments.
Traditional SEO tools may not yet offer complete coverage of AI-driven search experiences—but a new wave of reporting solutions is emerging to bridge the gap.
There are a lot of SEO metrics, but which ones matter for AI search SEO? Key metrics to focus on include:
Since AI search focuses more on credibility and relevance than on traditional rankings, visibility can come in the form of mentions and summaries rather than blue links.
While AI searches are still relatively new, there are tools that are adapting to help you keep track of your most important metrics:
As AI search adoption increases, expect more tracking solutions to emerge. Just like SEO matured with its own analytics stack, AI SEO reporting will become a core part of modern marketing analytics within the very near future. Start experimenting with these tools now to stay ahead of the curve and get a head start above your competitors.
Working with AI to produce AI-optimized content is increasingly essential. Modern AI systems—like ChatGPT, Gemini, and MarketMuse—can help you with identifying content gaps and topic clusters that you can write about, speed up the drafting process, and create content outlines for you.
Don’t think of AI replacing your content creators. Instead, pair AI with human experts to speed up the content creation process without losing what makes human-written content great.
Another way to AI-prep your content strategy is to apply the hub and spoke model. The hub and spoke model is a content architecture that creates a central “hub” page targeting a broad, high-value topic, supported by multiple “spoke” pages that address related subtopics in depth. Each spoke links back to the hub and to one another.
For example, when Maveneer came to 97th Floor in 2023, they wanted content that would rank, so we gave them a hub and spoke strategy with comprehensive overview hubs targeting keywords like “warehouse automation” and “order picking.” After establishing those hubs, we could expand to spokes with drill-down articles like “order picking technology” and “automated sorting systems” linked to and from the hub. This structure improves internal linking, site navigation, and topic authority to search engines and AI systems alike. In fact, for Maveneer, their domain authority R skyrocketed from 3 to 34, and they saw an 886% increase in search impressions YoY.
Search is evolving—and fast. More people are relying on AI to answer their questions and give them potential solutions. With AI browsers popping up, there are only going to be more AI search developments. These platforms don’t just display a list of blue links. Instead, they generate dynamic responses by pulling insights from multiple sources, often without traditional attribution or visible rankings.
For enterprise brands, this shift has major implications.
In this new paradigm, visibility isn’t just about ranking #1—it’s about being referenced, cited, or summarized by AI models at the moment a customer asks a question. Failing to adapt means losing organic visibility at critical touchpoints—especially early in the customer journey when buyers are still gathering information.
Enterprise brands that invest in AI search SEO now can make sure they’re ahead of the curve and stay visible. AI isn’t replacing internet searches—it’s reshaping it. And enterprise brands that evolve their strategies now will be best positioned to lead out in the next era of SEO.
If you're ready to show up in AI-generated results, let's build your strategy.
Is user confidence in online content at an all-time low? AI-generated content dominates many key topics, and users can easily find themselves frustrated when searching, finding articles they could have generated directly from a chatbot themselves. There is also an increasing volume of content that is becoming commonly known as “AI slop.”
And that’s without getting into the other struggle: LLMs are not only competing for eyeballs on regular search engines, but also stealing traffic directly. As a result, sometimes it can feel like the rest of us are left to fight over scraps.
If the current outrage over AI slop proves anything, however, it’s this: users still want good content. And marketers still want to give it to them. So — with the internet noisier and more crowded than ever — how can we complete the matchmaking experience and find each other?
At 97th Floor, we have cracked the code, and we can prove it.
A brief history lesson
The internet has always been noisy, overcrowded, and full of shoddy content churned out by marketers hoping to maximize their reach. While many of us like to think of marketing as a noble profession (we are helping people solve their problems!), there will always be those who act in bad faith, trying to game the system however they can. It’s the whole reason “black hat” marketing exists.
Luckily, Google is fighting the good fight, and every update they have made over the years is done so in an attempt to improve the experience of the user, and get them closer to the type of content they need. This means that those focusing more on gaming the system and less on quality content are the ones who are typically hit the hardest by algorithm updates.
It’s the reason why, if you have been anywhere around content marketing, SEO, or even digital marketing in general for more than a few years, you will no doubt remember getting asked a question a million times, akin to “how do you balance SEO content and quality content.” Real ones know the truth: the best “SEO content” has always been high-quality content. And that kind of content is what has the power to withstand just about any algorithm update.
If that is not reason enough to focus on high-quality content, then let us also add this: The cost of bad content is steep. Analytics company CreativeX recently recently found that the average Fortune 500 company wastes approximately $25 million annually on content that fails to reach its intended audience or is not fully utilized.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the answer to combatting the current cacophony of AI slop is infuriatingly simple: produce high-quality content.
Ok, But…What Actually Is High-Quality Content?
I know, I know, that’s an incredibly unhelpful piece of advice. Because of course, anyone can claim to produce “quality content” but that means different things to different people. So, what do we mean when we say quality content? 97th Floor has a few principles that we have always lived by when it comes to both content and marketing in general.
1. High quality content is audience-focused
One of the main things that people get wrong about content marketing to this day is the how behind making the content itself audience-focused. As marketers, we can get caught up in how great we believe our solutions to be, that we get evangelical about the value that they bring — resulting in us pushing those solutions on our audience, rather than helping them. Quality content starts from a place of “what does my audience want or need?” rather than “what can we as a brand give our audience?”
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2. High quality content is relevant to your brand
Ok, so you have figured out what the audience needs, and you have a ton of great content ideas. The next pitfall that marketers commonly fall into is trying to write everything. To illustrate: Take a quick moment to Google “best” anything and look at all of the sites that wrote about it, despite it being completely unrelated to their brand, product, or mission.
3. You are an expert and/or uniquely qualified to write this content
Authority matters. You might think this is the same as number two, but there’s a slight but significant difference. Something may be relevant to your brand, but you still have to prove yourself uniquely qualified to write it. This might come from expertise, experience, unique insights, or all three. This is also where the human element comes into play — even before AI, but especially now — users want content that they cannot simply generate by asking an LLM themselves. A unique and specialized point of view is more important than ever.
You may have noticed that our three quality content criteria and the use of AI are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, we are not anti-AI evangelists. In fact, we use AI regularly to aid in efficiency and accuracy in the content creation process. However, it is rare (perhaps impossible) for a piece of content to match all three criteria without first passing by a human expert.
A survey conducted by consulting firm Baringa provides insight into opinions regarding AI-generated content by internet users. A majority of respondents identified at least one reason to value human-generated content above AI-generated content, with 81% citing “authenticity” as the key feature. However, users did not overwhelmingly state that they would avoid AI altogether — especially when it came to the younger demographics.
The fight for quality content is not a fight against AI, rather a delicate dance to make sure that it is used in the most effective way possible.
I Thought You Said You Could Prove It?
Ok, sounds like a nice theory, but does it actually work in practice? And can you prove it? In fact, we can. We have a proven history of this approach to content succeeding time and time again — surviving algorithm updates, changes in user behavior, and more. Here are a few examples.
Blendtec
Earlier, we made the claim that high-quality content will stand the test of time — and withstand algorithm updates. A perfect example of this is an article from way back in 2014 that we produced for Blendtec. A simple listicle of peanut butter smoothies, and accompanying recipes.
It meets our three criteria to a T and was incredibly successful when published. It continued to rank for several important keywords and survive several algorithm updates over the course of the next 10 years, to remain a top-three traffic driver for the site.
Dr Will Cole
Another example can be found in this guide on increasing progesterone levels for Dr Will Cole that we published and optimized in 2022.
This article saw its biggest jump in traffic after an algorithm update in April 2023.
General Kinematics
But what about now? When AI is everywhere and AI Overview is stealing traffic from many pages. Well, we have countless examples of content that has survived the recent AI-pocalypse through following this simple formula for high-quality content. One such example this simple article for General Kinematics about uses for potash.
This content is audience-focused, brand-relevant, and something that General Kinematics — a producer of mining equipment — is uniquely qualified to write about. Published in 2022, it was automatically featured in AI Overview upon rollout of the feature in 2024, and has continued to do so since. What’s more: This page actually saw a 60.4% increase in traffic when you compare pre-AIO rollout to post-AIO rollout.
The bottom line: Google agrees with us. Every major and minor Google update in the past decade and change has been to get the search engine closer to prioritizing one of the three facets of quality content as identified by 97th Floor. For example:
1- Helpful content and other updates intended to prioritize user-first content.
2- Updates around brand authority, including recent updates that are deprioritizing irrelevant content for brands (or worse, brands that have spread themselves too thin and made it difficult for Google to assign authority).
3- This one goes beyond Google. Consider this: In a study of hundreds of thousands of citations, the most cited content type was product pages — by some margin. This means that this facet of quality content matters two-fold: Generic blog content is most likely to be directly replaced by LLMs, and product content — i.e. content that you are most uniquely qualified to write — is most likely to be cited. With optimizing both for and against LLMs becoming an increasing priority, this may be the most significant quality content guidepost of all.
I called out just three examples of this, but there are many more where that came from, and so will that continue.
The pattern across every one of those examples points to the same underlying truth. SEO expert Eli Schwartz makes the case that LLM visibility isn't a data or technical problem — it's a brand problem. This short video captures why the brands that consistently show up in AI-generated answers aren't winning on data. They're winning on authority.
Why It Matters Moving Forward
We talked about the ever-increasing noise of the internet. IBM predicts that AI will only continue to expand over the next decade, influencing more than content creation. High-quality content will continue to perform through both search engines and LLMs. The challenge or “noise” as marketers used to be different, but the solution is the same. If you put your audience first and prioritize quality content, the cream will rise to the top every single time.
Further Reading
Of course, that’s only part of the story. Sometimes you have to give even the cream of the crop the best chance to succeed. Next time, we’ll talk about how to get the most out of your content with an audience-first strategy.
If you're ready to show up in AI-generated results, let's build your strategy.
We’ve all felt it. You pour time into high-quality content, only to see your organic clicks drop—despite impressions climbing. What gives?
Welcome to the era of AI-powered search.
Google’s AI Overviews (AIO) and other generative engines are changing how people discover and engage with content. The game isn’t over—it’s evolving. And if you want to keep winning, it’s time to optimize not just for traditional SEO, but for AI-powered results.
At 97th Floor, we’ve spent the last year testing and refining strategies that help our clients show up and stand out in AI results. This guide breaks down what we’ve learned and how you can use it to grow.
Here’s a fast-track checklist that we stand behind:
We’re seeing a clear trend since the advent of Google’s AI Overviews:
This shift in metrics is significant. Your content is still being seen, but it’s not driving as many clicks.
This is largely due to AI Overviews, which are providing answers directly in search results—without users even having to visit your site.
In fact, research from Ahrefs revealed that AI Overviews reduce clicks by 34.5%. They analyzed 300,000 keywords and found that the presence of an AI Overview in the search results correlated with a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate (CTR) for the top-ranking page, compared to similar informational keywords without an AI Overview.
This doesn’t mean SEO is dead. It means that SEO needs to evolve.
With this change in how users interact with search results, it’s important to note that KPIs are shifting. While clicks may be down, impressions are up—and brand mentions and search visibility are becoming increasingly valuable metrics. It's no longer just about tracking clicks; it’s about how your brand is being mentioned and perceived in the broader conversation.
At 97th Floor, we’re helping brands adapt to this new search landscape. We’re testing what works—and what doesn’t. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to optimize for AI and stay ahead of the curve.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) – Structuring content to appear in AI-generated answers and summaries (like Google's AI Overviews).
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) – A broader strategy to improve how your content appears in LLM-powered results, including chatbots and voice assistants.
Other helpful terms:
Yes. But traditional SEO on its own won’t cut it.
GEO and AEO prioritize intent, clarity, and usefulness over keyword stuffing or link volume. Search engines (and AI tools) want to deliver satisfying answers, not just keyword matches.
Good keyword research still matters—especially when it covers both primary and secondary search intents.
Unlike traditional SERPs that rank blue links, AI search engines pull and generate answers using two main data sources:
They look for:
Here’s the opportunity: content that works well in LLMs often also ranks well in traditional SERPs. Optimizing for both doesn’t require two strategies—it just requires a smarter one.
AI content optimization is the process of structuring, writing, and formatting your content to be more useful and accessible to AI tools, without losing sight of your human audience.
Let’s be clear: the goal is not to “hack” the algorithm. The goal is to help people. To provide persona-driven content that resonates.
Too often, we see content stuffed with keywords or unrelated FAQs just to rank. That’s not helpful. It’s not what AI wants, and it’s not what readers want either.
Before you go all-in on optimizing for models instead of humans, this quick video breaks down why that approach can actually hurt your content’s real-world performance.
Start with your audience. Understand who they are, what they care about, and how they search.
Consider using audience insights to build Custom GPTs that speak in your brand voice and match your customers' tone. (Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like in ChatGPT to configure a custom GPT.)
We also recommend:
Start with the answer, then explain it.
Example:
Q: How do I optimize for GEO?
A: Focus on clear, structured answers, semantic HTML, and direct responses to user queries.
Then go deeper.
Also:
AI favors content that’s easy to parse. That means:
97th Floor Test Results:
After adding bullet points and clear heading structure to a product page for a 97th Floor client, impressions and AIO rankings for an SEO-optimized article skyrocketed from ranking on the third page of the SERP to the first page (and ranking in Google’s AI Overview) in a short period of time. Here’s the results:
AI wants to serve trustworthy content. Show yours.
Ways to do that:
97th Floor Test Results:
By focusing on tightly-knit topic clusters, we were able to achieve topical authority for Princess Cruises:
AI search engines increasingly value content from recognized, authoritative sources. This makes brand pages, like your About Us or Homepage, vital for building trust with both AI and human users. Additionally, third-party citations, such as mentions from reputable websites or reviews, are becoming more influential in how your content is perceived. Ensuring your brand is recognized across the web not only boosts authority but also increases your visibility in AI-driven search results.
AI is already reshaping how people find information—and how businesses earn attention.
At 97th Floor, we’ve helped our clients weather the shift from traditional SERPs to AI Overviews and GEO. Our strategies have earned AIO features early and consistently. And we’re continuing to test and refine what works as the landscape changes.
See how an audience-first approach translates to bottom-line results.
Marketers have a lot going on in 2025.
Marketing budgets are at an all-time low post-pandemic. At companies feeling especially strained, what little budget remains is controlled by a CFO whose concern is for immediate ROI instead of long-term strategy.
Search is undergoing its own metamorphosis as AI continues to dominate SERP results and Google pushes out more algorithm changes than ever before. Gartner predicts that search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026 as audiences turn to AI chatbots and social platforms for information.
To sum up, marketers are expected to do more with less budget, grow at the whims of Google, and learn how to use AI while also combatting AI.
The response to the chaos is to focus on the core tenets of marketing–aligning our messaging to the audience and our CTAs to a robust full-funnel strategy.
Brands that will reach their audience across the entire funnel know that a message is more important than the channel through which it is sent.
Dollar Shave Club (DSC) came onto the scene in 2011 with a pioneering direct-to-consumer subscription model for high-quality razors delivered monthly for just a few bucks. The startup's messaging positioned themselves as the long-sought-for alternative to overpriced razors loaded with gimmicky features. DSC was scrappy, smart and spoke directly to their audience’s desire to save money.
Unilever bought DSC in 2016 for $1 billion cash, surely with intentions to turn the brand into a profit machine. But Unilever misunderstood DSC’s audience.
DSC was cool precisely because it wasn’t part of a massive conglomerate. Its audience loved a rugged brand born out of a viral YouTube video that offered them an alternative to $35 shaving kits.
But all that Unilever could see was the sexy world of commercials. In 2019 Unilever produced a new video for their brand DSC, inviting men and women of all kinds to “join the club.” Actually, Unilever made a slew of commercials with the same deadpan style as the 2011 hit that made DSC go viral. But it wasn’t shirtless bodybuilders squeezing shampoo bottles or sphynx cats in a shave butter heaven that made DSC successful. Okay, well kind of.
DSC subscribers love funny videos. But if the funny video doesn't have the right messaging, it still misses the mark. Unilever was too focused on channels to really understand the audience and message that DSC customers were so fanatical about.
In an effort to maintain profit margins in retail, Unilever expanded DSC’s offerings to include products such as hair cream, cologne, face moisturizer, and sunscreen. But these products cost anywhere from $10-50.
The same customer that wants quality razors for just a few bucks isn’t going to spring for a $50 bottle of cologne.
In 2023 Unilever sold their majority stake in DSC after seven fumbling years trying to grow their profit margins.
Don’t be Unilever. Know your audience. Listen to them. Create messaging that speaks to their core desires and don’t be distracted by flashy new channels.
That last part is the trap. "Flashy new channels" are usually demand channels in their prime — which means they're also the channels that will plateau, saturate, and eventually stop delivering. Udi Ledergor, former CMO at Gong, warns that every demand channel has a lifespan, and brands that build their entire growth engine on today's working channel are building on borrowed time. This short video captures what it looks like when a channel stops working — and what smart teams are already doing about it.
Something is happening to the marketing funnel. It’s waist? The core middle section that holds all those essential organs? Itty bitty. Hourglass. Nearly invisible for far too many brands.
Top of funnel content is fun! It’s exciting, it’s new, it’s engaging. Bottom of funnel strategy gets the bulk of the resources. “Leads leads leads,” we hear the CEO chanting as we ask for more SEO spend. And the mid-funnel? Forgotten.
Developing a strong mid-funnel strategy is the most crucial effort that marketers can make to increase engagement in 2025.
Mid-funnel content is the heavy hitter—or it should be—in helping your audience to trust you, become true experts in the solutions that can address their problem, and feel prepared to make a decision. This is where your audience wants to hang out.
B2B buyers are self-navigating their way to purchases. They’re not including sales people; they’re doing extensive research on their own. The brands that deliver robust early and mid-funnel content to these B2B buyers will win engagement and ROI.
A report published by Demand Gen reveals that B2B buyers consider the following to be characteristics of early- and mid-funnel content memorable enough to warrant a sales call:
The report also identified interactive content as important in the mid-stages of the buyer’s journey. This content can look take many forms, but respondents prefer:
Build mid-funnel content that allows your audience to do the research that they want to do anyway, but with you.
Ever read an article with a title like “Ten Motivational Quotes for a Tuesday” only to be hit with a “try our complicated SaaS platform” CTA?
All over the internet we’re seeing bottom-of-funnel CTAs slapped on top-of-funnel content. It’s jarring.
In 2025, engagement will hinge on how well marketers align their CTAs with the specific stage of the buyer’s journey.
Marketers should judge every single CTA against two factors: value and relevance.
First, a CTA should continue offering value to your audience. They should get something or learn something that continues to guide them on their journey and help them solve their problem.
Second, a CTA needs to be relevant to the content it appears with. A motivational quote article doesn’t need a CTA for a demo, but maybe a CTA for a productivity guide? That’s closer.
CTAs should mirror the knowledge and intent of your audience. Ask yourself this: if I were engaging with this content what would I want to know or do next that would get me closer to a resolution? That’s your CTA.
Successful marketing strategies employ multiple CTAs, each tailored for their audience’s specific needs at each stage in the funnel.
If marketing is undervalued, brand marketing is the poster child for it. Convincing leadership to lend a budget for top-of-funnel awareness plays can feel impossible in the face of a recession scare.
But marketers know the truth: having a strong brand protects performance dips in every other channel–especially organic and paid.
A strategic brand campaign can have massive ROI that rolls in new business for a long time after the campaign concludes.
One of the most overlooked brand channels is already built into your product. Former Slack CMO Bill Macaitis explains why every free user is quietly acting as a member of your marketing team, spreading awareness and pulling your brand into new organizations. This short video breaks down why your free users may be your most underutilized marketing asset.
Back to the earlier point about the mid-funnel, building strong mid-funnel strategies and CTAs along the full funnel mitigates some of the risk of investing in top-of-funnel brand marketing. Put in different terms, if you want the buy-in for your top-of-funnel dream campaigns, build the mid-funnel first and connect the dots for upper leadership.
A brand marketing campaign should not be a drop-off.
Create a journey. Make your upper-funnel content work for you by hooking your audience on valuable content that logically follows through a whole network of truly useful resources and touch points.
If we had published this article even a year ago it may have felt elementary. Of course we need mid-funnel and multiple CTA. Of course we need to focus on messaging that hits home with our audience!
But in 2025, it feels necessary to re-center on these core tenets of building a brand that audiences trust.
This year we're giving you the tools to succeed by digging into the strategies that top B2B leaders use to turn marketing challenges into meaningful wins. Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts.
On all counts, the Oil and Gas market is more volatile than most. Globally, prices fluctuate, regulations evolve, and supply and demand shift. Regionally, each market has unique dynamics, all dependent on macroeconomic variables like rising material costs and high interest rates, not to mention unique location-specific changes in supply and demand. Being a marketer in this arena demands a solid foundation in industry trends to make the smartest marketing decisions. Maintaining a clear Oil and Gas marketing strategy is the blueprint that guides every touchpoint between your brand and your potential buyers. It outlines who you’re targeting, the channels you’ll use, the messaging that resonates strongest, and the tactics needed to generate meaningful revenue.
However, most brands in Oil and Gas haven’t refreshed their marketing strategies in years. This leaves an opportunity wide open for savvy digital marketers.
We've dug deep into the most recent industry data and our own two decades of experience to provide you with a how-to guide on how to take advantage of this exponentially growing market. We’ll walk through the core components of building that strategy — from segment analysis and target market selection to developing a strong brand position that resonates in this complex landscape. We’ll also break down how to build a comprehensive marketing plan and how to leverage digital channels that drive measurable growth for Oil and Gas companies. With the right foundation, your team can stand out in a market that’s more competitive and more opportunity-rich than ever. Let's get right into it.
The oil and gas market is broken down into segments. If you haven’t yet, a good first step is to analyze each to find where your brand best fits in the flow. This allows for targeted marketing, laser-focused on which part (or parts) of the market you’re planning to win. Whether you and your team choose to focus on:
You’ll need a full understanding of each segment's needs and challenges to build the marketing strategies that place your brand in an optimal position and maximize your ROI. Each market has specific advantages and drawbacks.
Evaluate the potential ROI and align your marketing goals with the most promising markets. Choosing the target can make or break your marketing efforts. Trust us, taking the time to do the research will be the difference between a major win or a budget-crushing fail.
Customer Profiling and Targeting
Always know who you’re selling to. In the oil and gas industry, this could mean large corporations, smaller service providers, or even local governments. Carefully identify these key players and tailor your marketing efforts to meet their specific needs. It’s your job to connect as deeply as possible with your target audience. Potential customers are looking for personal connections with the brands they buy from, currently an uncommon occurrence in this market. This opens a window for you to step in and step up.
That window stays open only as long as your competitors remain comfortable. Marketer Sterling Snow calls this advantage "creating the channel" — and the brands that claim it first rarely give it up. When every player in your category is competing for the same keywords, the same trade media, and the same conference floors, the real leverage is in the channel nobody's thought to build yet. This short video captures why owning an uncrowded distribution channel — before your market wakes up — is one of the most durable advantages in B2B marketing.
Once you've identified your customers, the next step is to understand their behaviors. What drives their purchasing decisions? What are their pain points? What motivates them? What risks are they concerned about? Think about every step they’ll take on the buying journey, how they make decisions, and how you can meet their specific needs.
Once you’ve identified and worked to understand your audience, create a persona to represent your research. A clear, thought-out buyer persona will guide all your subsequent marketing efforts. Keep your persona in mind as you plan strategies and build campaigns. The more personalized and specific you are, the more likely your messaging will resonate with potential buyers. Here's an example Buyer Journey/Persona our team at 97th Floor recently created for General Kinematics.
Your brand identity is what sets you apart. Think it through – what makes you different from other businesses in the industry? What are your specialized offering points? Focus on what makes your company unique, whether it's innovative technology, exceptional service, or a strong commitment to sustainability. If you’re looking for a place to start, begin by collecting reviews or interviewing previous customers for their opinions on what you do best.
With your identity in mind, work to position your brand in a way that highlights these strengths to appeal to your target audience. Clear, consistent messaging across all marketing channels is key. To pinpoint what messaging resonates best, you can give A/B testing a shot. Most importantly, always look for new opportunities to demonstrate your value through every medium. Case studies, visual data representations, and customer reviews are common ways to do this.
The battle’s not won yet, sustaining your hard-earned digital clout isn’t an easy process. Building a strong brand reputation takes time and effort. Maintain transparency, deliver on promises, and engage with your audience consistently to keep your brand's reputation positive. This needs to be an integral part of your marketing efforts.
Developing a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy
Supported by your clear brand identity and ideal customer targeting, it’s time to build out a digital marketing strategy. First, define clear, achievable marketing objectives. Whether it's increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or boosting sales, having specific goals helps measure success. Keep track of your goals and efforts to achieve them to celebrate success and identify opportunities for improvement.
A well-developed marketing strategy, especially in Oil and Gas, involves sub-strategies including
Marketers across the field agree, almost every part of digital marketing revolves around a well-optimized website. It's no different in Oil and Gas, your website is your digital storefront – the place all potential customers will navigate to on their path toward a purchase. It needs to be user-friendly, informative, and most of all, optimized for search engines to attract organic traffic. Use tools like Google Analytics, Search Console, and HubSpot CRM to track visitor behavior and optimize performance. Learn more about SEO strategies here.
Social media platforms offer a space to connect with your audience, share industry insights, and showcase your company’s culture. Regular, engaging content helps build a loyal following. Depending on your business, goals, and strategies, social media may or may not be a place to focus your budget and time.
Quality content drives traffic and builds trust. Create valuable content that addresses your audience's pain points and positions your company as an industry thought leader. Publishing content also drives your SEO. Learn more on how to set up a consistent content strategy here.
Regularly analyze your marketing efforts to measure ROI. Use analytics tools to track performance and adjust strategies as needed for continuous improvement. Keep in mind that metrics like impressions and leads can be a great start, but the end-goal of marketing is to generate conversions. Successful marketers make money. If ROI is stagnant, the marketing strategy is too.
By targeting the right segments, fine-tuning your strategies, and focusing on persona-specific messaging, you can position your brand as a leader in this digitally stagnant market. In Oil and Gas, staying ahead requires a laser focus on your goals and your audience's needs. Find ways to set yourself apart and continuously refine your strategies. With a well-crafted Oil and Gas marketing strategy, you’re ready to take advantage of the market and win contracts like never before. Good luck!
Want to kickstart your marketing dreams? We're here to help.
Organic backlinks are links from other websites that point to your pages because your content earned their attention. These links come from genuine editorial interest, not payment, link schemes, or automated tactics.
This makes them especially valuable: each link signals that your content brings something new, relevant, or useful to the industry. Search engines use these signals to evaluate trust, relevance, and authority across your site.
Organic backlinks play a critical role in long-term SEO growth because they strengthen your entire domain, not just a single page. When reputable sites link to your content, search engines recognize your brand as a trustworthy source, which boosts domain-level authority and lifts keyword rankings across competitive categories. Beyond visibility, these links also enhance your brand’s credibility within the industry and create momentum for future content to perform even better. The more relevant and high-quality backlinks you earn, the more your entire site benefits.
Manual, one-off link building campaigns are essential for going after specific "money" pages and keywords, especially for long-tail keywords with less competition. Guest posting can help in these individual URL scenarios, but this won't boost overall domain authority.
Your best play for a massive website is to run large link-building campaigns. We’re recommending full-funnel brand awareness campaigns that will earn organic links as you pull tons of visibility. But these aren't simple:
There's no formula for making these campaigns happen, but these principles put you in the best place for success.
Be curious. Ask yourself question and go through the mental exercise of finding insights in data. These link building opportunities will not arrive pre-packaged. Be constantly exploring Ahrefs' Content Explorer, Google Analytics, or any other source of valuable data. We recommend scheduling time daily or weekly to do this.
Sam Oh, VP of Marketing at Ahrefs, has great advice for SEOs ready to get started with this practice: "SEOs should be regularly looking at really good data sources and asking themselves, what’s happening here? And why did it happen? You might not always have the right answer. You might not figure anything out for the first week. You just feel like you're looking at numbers and letters, but you are exercising that muscle of exploration and curiosity. Then all of a sudden connections start to make sense. We have everything in front of us and that data is painting a story that can inspire creative link building opportunities."
The heart of any successful marketing campaign is audience.
You need a pure and dedicated understanding of your audience so that you know what they care most about and can create link building campaigns combining this persona knowledge with current events and opportunities. This is where all of 97th Floor's strongest brand and linking campaigns have come from, including this one for sleep-deprived parents.
SITUATION
Our Mattress Industry Client (MIC) is an American mattress and bedding brand. At its launch in 2010, MIC was among the first online, bed-in-a-box companies to disrupt the brick-and-mortar industry.
MIC approached 97th Floor to increase organic reviews and organic market share for the online sleep space. While they do sell 3 main mattresses, they also sell bedding (blankets, pillows, duvets, etc) and other sleep-related products (furniture, noise-canceling machines).
MIC wanted their blog to generate more revenue from the high traffic numbers they were seeing. The sleep space is full of very competitive keywords which made this all the more challenging.
STRATEGY
"Sleep deprivation" is found in headlines everywhere. Large mattress companies pay lip-service to better sleep, but really only focus on getting you to upgrade your mattress.
Our teams decided to focus on possibly the most sleep-deprived group of all: parents.
With MIC, 97th Floor decided to shift the messaging by helping parents prioritize their rest and recovery so they can spend more time focusing on their family.
To accomplish this, we launched a Sleep Ambassador Program — a program where MIC would actually pay a select number of parents to improve their sleep health.
Of 331 applicants, 8 were selected. Aside from products to improve their sleep, each ambassador received a 1:1 sleep consultation with an expert and a personalized Sleep Course.
97th Floor teams then wrote 60+ newly researched, written, and designed blogs, infographics and micrographics to support parents in getting better sleep. Each piece of new content was informed by keyword research and optimized for maximum ranking and traffic potential.
Our teams created copy and design for 17 social media posts for MIC to use, and social media strategy and requirements for the ambassadors and influencers partnering with MIC for the campaign. Three separate email funnels and paid promotion and Linkedin and Meta boosted awareness and nurtured leads.
To increase the reach of this campaign, 97th Floor teams fulfilled outreach to a list of 2,000+ news media, websites, local media and blogs.
RESULTS
By taking an audience-centric approach and leaning into the power of earned media, this campaign won our client 100+ organic backlinks from authoritative and relevant websites.
And that's not all. MIC also benefited from:
You need a group who understands the value of SEO that you can bounce ideas off of. This may include SEOs, but you can also extend this group to your PPC counterpart, to someone in development, or to a highly-supportive leader.
Get everyone looking at the data and exploring opportunities.
Sam Oh says it's best to "Refine your backlink-generation ideas with a small team of people who understand the value of SEO. This process filters out less impactful ideas, and the buy-in from the individuals involved increases the likelihood that your best ideas will ultimately see execution."
SITUATION
eFileCabinet is a document management SAAS company that takes the pain out of complex filing and digitizing processes. Their software is cutting-edge and intuitive, but the document filing industry is stale.
eFileCabinet hired 97th Floor at a time when their stagnant market share was shrinking daily. Without a single marketing professional to manage the crisis, 97th Floor became the company's chief marketing force.
STRATEGY
After extensive customer research, 97th Floor teams built four target personas. We then synchronized all digital channels to target these personas, including intent-based keyword SEO campaigns; PPC on Facebook, LinkedIn and search; and content audits leading to new ebooks and blog posts. We built strong Hubspot workflows for the leads coming from this omni-channel strategy.
Our omni-channel campaigns were a success, but when eFileCabinet expressed that their trade show presence has been a little lackluster, we took that to challenge.
We dove back into personas to find out what would excite this audience. Our idea was simple: we would set up a room packed with old office equipment and a sledgehammer. Before handing these professionals the hammer, we would collect their information in Hubspot. Attendees were then unleashed to beat the ink out of printers, monitors, fax machines and copiers. In the background, Hubspot nurtured these new leads.
Our final deliverables for the campaign included:
RESULTS
The Rage Cage would go on to be an award winning campaign that would drive the highest influx in MQLs in a single month, which contributed to the following:
Not bad for one tradeshow, right?
97th Floor teams don't think in terms of tactics or services. What eFilecabinet needed was an omni-channel campaign supported by content, ads, creative, and SEO. By integrating all of these capabilities, SEO received a considerable lift as one component of this brand awareness campaign.
Organic search has continued to compound its success since we started with eFilecabinet. In the past year, leads brought in by organic traffic increased by 281%.
Want more? Here are seven link-building tips from our SEO experts.
Advanced Strategies for Scaling Backlink Acquisition
Still curious about backlink acquisition Here are seven advanced link-building tips from our SEO experts. These require a little more technical expertise to execute, but will yield great results.
Scaling your backlink strategy requires going beyond basic link-building techniques. To achieve substantial growth, you need to integrate multiple tactics and maintain a consistent focus on quality and relevance. Here, we’ll explore seven strategies for acquiring organic backlinks at scale, ensuring your website achieves a robust link profile.
By implementing these advanced strategies, you can scale your backlink acquisition efforts, ensuring your website benefits from a strong, diverse, and high-quality link profile. Consistency, creativity, and a focus on value are key to building sustainable organic backlinks that drive long-term SEO success.
Not all backlink tactics push your strategy forward. In fact, some can severely damage your long-term authority. Buying cheap backlink packages, overusing exact-match anchor text, or submitting your site to low-quality directories may seem like shortcuts, but they often trigger spam signals that weaken your domain. Link exchanges, private networks, and irrelevant guest posts can have the same effect, creating a backlink profile that looks manufactured rather than earned. Sustainable organic backlink growth happens when you prioritize consistency, relevance, and editorial value over quick fixes. By steering clear of risky tactics, you protect your authority and set the foundation for a strong, trustworthy link profile that compounds over time.
Building organic backlinks at scale takes creativity, insight, and a coordinated strategy that aligns content, PR, and audience behavior. When every channel works together, your brand earns the kind of editorial links that strengthen authority and drive long-term growth. If you’re ready to take your backlink strategy beyond the basics, 97th Floor brings the experience, data, and creative horsepower to help you make it happen. Let’s build something remarkable.
For seasonal business owners, demand rises and falls with the changing weather. While seasonality is a unique and perhaps daunting challenge, the predictable rhythm of demand means that those businesses who can sync their marketing with the mandates of sun or snow can have success year-round.
97th Floor is no stranger to seasonal marketing; we’ve executed winning strategies for businesses including pool maintenance, sports equipment, cruise lines, pest control, lawn care, solar, and moving services, just to name a few.
In this article, our resident experts in SEO, content, and advertising share five actionable tips for seasonable business marketers.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a long-term game, and waiting until peak season to focus on it can be a costly mistake. It's essential to begin your SEO efforts well in advance, ideally during the off-season.
Head of SEO Mike Witham says, “You need consistent year round efforts to maintain and improve rankings. If your peak season is in March, you should be ensuring you have solid rankings for core pages by no later than December. Do not start working on it the month before your peak season!”
For businesses serving multiple states or a large region of the country, seasonal demand may be different across these various geographies.
Enterprise advertising specialist Spencer Martin uses Google Keyword Planner to anticipate search volume fluctuations in different areas.
He shares, “We launch campaigns early so that we have 2 to 4 weeks to ramp up and capture the full demand. Campaigns need time to scale and learn, so if we wait until the season starts to launch we lose out on potential profits for our clients.”
While digital marketing is crucial, seasonal businesses can see major wins by looking at more traditional advertising. Enterprise Account Executive Nathan Hooper suggests non-digital forms of advertising, such as mailers or community events to target local audiences. Advertising on community calendar pages or local business directories can put your business in front of potential customers who may be researching local services.
Understanding your buyer and their motives for buying is essential for capturing demand at the right time.
Brandon Smithwrick asks what happens to your marketing instincts when you let AI do all the thinking. He breaks down how cognitive offloading quietly erodes the skills great marketers are actually built on.
Senior Director of Campaigns Jon Hammond shares that his clients in the travel industry refer to December through February as “The Wave.” This three-month period is the biggest sales period for travel as people look forward to summer sun during the cold, dark winter months. His clients maximize their ad budget and run major deals and promotions during this time to capture the demand.
Content Marketing Specialist Kaylee Baker emphasizes the importance of targeting specific demographics, such as 18-30 or 25-40-year-old males, who are the main consumers of seasonal services. Consider the platforms they frequent, such as YouTube, to tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
When reporting to leadership, especially in industries with high historical seasonality, like cruises, it's essential to use Year-over-Year (YoY) data rather than Month-over-Month (MoM) data. This approach provides a more accurate depiction of progress or decline in traffic or sales over the seasons. By analyzing YoY data, you can better understand trends and make informed decisions to optimize your marketing strategies.
In conclusion, marketing a seasonal business requires careful planning, adaptation, and understanding of your target audience. By implementing these five tips, you can maximize your marketing efforts and capitalize on seasonal fluctuations in demand.
Cybersecurity buyers are hard to impress. Ranging from CISOs to security architects, your audience is deeply technical, highly skeptical, and usually immune to generic B2B marketing.
They don’t care about buzzwords or brand storytelling. They do care about substance: what your product actually does, how it solves real security problems, and why they should trust you over a dozen lookalike competitors. Smart, intentional marketing is a must-have skill in the cybersecurity space.
At 97th Floor, we build cybersecurity marketing strategies that reach decision-makers and influence every stakeholder in the buying committee. We’ll break down the best practices we’ve observed, backed by ad examples and persona insights.
Let’s get into it.
Cybersecurity marketing is the specialized practice of promoting cybersecurity products or services to highly technical, security-conscious audiences. It goes beyond traditional B2B marketing by focusing on decision-makers like CISOs, SOC analysts, and IT leadership, all personas who demand depth, clarity, and provable value.
Effective cybersecurity marketing combines SEO, content, advertising, and design to engage buyers throughout a long, complex sales cycle. This involves building credibility, addressing real threats, and positioning your brand as a trusted solution in an oversaturated market.
As you might have experienced, Cybersecurity is a high-stakes environment where mistakes can cost millions (and your audience knows it). The technical acumen of your buyers means any hint of fluff or oversimplification can tank your credibility.
Other challenges include:
To break through, cybersecurity marketing needs to be as intelligent as the people it’s trying to reach. That means aligning every campaign with how your audience thinks, what they’re solving for, and how they evaluate vendors.
Where traditional B2B campaigns can succeed with broad messaging, cybersecurity campaigns must go narrow. They need to:
Bottom line: If your marketing isn’t built for security buyers, it’s not built to perform.
Creating a high-performing cybersecurity marketing strategy means throwing out the one-size-fits-all B2B playbook. We’ve dug through our history as a cybersecurity marketing agency to identify six principles that drive success in cybersecurity marketing, each paired with a unique ad example. Use these tips to help you take your next cybersecurity campaign to a new level.
You’re not marketing to “security teams.” Remember your target, whether it’s marketing to a CISO who oversees a sprawling enterprise, or a SOC Analyst who lives in alerts. Specificity is non-negotiable in cybersecurity marketing, because vague messaging gets ignored.
Darktrace succeeds here by getting specific. Not only are they directly calling out CISOs, but they’re tackling only one facet of security: email. This approach self-eliminates some audiences, but ensures that those who do interact with the ad are likely higher-intent. The headline text could be helped by offering some specifics about what the whitepaper offers, but the ad maintains strong branding and a strong call-to-action.
Brainstorm: What’s the most specific piece of content you can offer to your audience? How can you write ad copy that hits on just one pain point and offers one precise solution?
Cybersecurity buyers are burned out on abstract “platform” talk. What do they actually want? Time back. Fewer compliance headaches. Less operational friction. When your value proposition addresses those second-order benefits, it lands harder.
Identity security company CyberArk’s ad pinpoints a problem experienced by their customers: losing so much time finding the right security solution and dealing with compliance, that important projects get deprioritized. Rather than focusing on CyberArk’s product offerings, the ad leans on a secondary benefit that prospective buyers are eager for. A simple design and minimal colors make the ad visually appealing, and the offering of a personalized audit and compliance call is a strong call-to-action.
Brainstorm: What is the most significant benefit that your solution provides to your audience?
If you’ve been recognized by Gartner or Forrester, or if your solution meets hard-to-hit compliance benchmarks, by all means say it. Security professionals are looking for signs that you actually know what you’re doing. A little proof goes a long way.
Crowdstrike leverages Gartner’s authority in this ad, highlighting their place on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. Gartner is a trusted source on cybersecurity and IT solutions for CrowdStrike’s audience, and using this report for advertising is a brilliant and low-effort win.
Brainstorm: Have you won any awards or accolades that you can put on an advertisement? What about client testimonials?
Cybersecurity buyers are lifelong learners. They respond to content that teaches them something new, especially when it’s visual, data-driven, and skimmable. If your brand can help them stay sharp, you earn trust and attention.
A10 Networks’ use of data visualization is a great idea. People are more apt to engage with graphs, statistics and data than a chunk of text. This chart invites A10’s audience to see how they stack up against their peers concerning TLS/SSL inspections, and the ad’s call-to-action implies that there is more to learn about how technology leaders consider decryption solutions.
However, this chart isn’t the easiest thing to swallow. This ad would be stronger with just a single metric or with a more simple visual from their data. As is, the ad requires too much of its viewer and, by failing to supply any conclusions about this data, leaves too much ambiguity about where this information puts its audience in relation to A10 Networks.
Brainstorm: What data can you share with your audience that will make them want to learn more about you?
The best cybersecurity brands shape how the industry sees threats. Establishing thought leadership through bold, creative design and clear messaging makes your brand feel indispensable.
Palo Alto Networks’ ad stands out for cohesiveness between copy and design, strengthening the impact of the ad’s message. Pairing the idea of unknown threats with the impression of half-turned blinds evokes that eerie feeling of being watched by something unseen. This strengthens the ad’s promises of protection for “whatever, whenever, wherever.” Palo Alto Networks is positioning itself as an omniscient and omnipresent security solution, putting a certain 2006 babysitter receiving threatening phone calls customers at ease.
Brainstorm: What objects symbolize safety or privacy to your audience? How can you use those objects to create something visually interesting?
Let’s be honest, most cybersecurity ads look like they were built from the same uninspired template. But a little creativity goes a long way—especially when it surprises, entertains, or reframes a threat in a clever way.
All cybersecurity ads pretty much look the same, so we love it when a brand breaks out of the B2B monotony like Carbonite has. The visual analogy is straightforward and intriguing, demanding a pause and inviting a chuckle from its audience. With simple, unique ad creative, Carbonite establishes that its security solutions are so good that its customers can be completely unbothered about threats - even threats as sinister as prowling predators.
Brainstorm: What analogies does your brand or product lend itself to? How can you use that to surprise your audience?
To build a cybersecurity strategy that drives pipeline, you need to know who you’re talking to, what keeps them up at night, and how they influence the buying process. Each persona plays a different role, and each one needs a tailored message.
Below are four common groups we build campaigns around, with tips on how to reach them.
CISOs and Security Leaders
What they care about: Risk reduction, cost justification, strategic alignment
How to market to them: Be brief, credible, and focused on outcomes. CISOs aren’t deep in the weeds—they’re trying to evaluate whether your solution moves the needle on security posture or operational efficiency. Give them high-level proof points, ROI-driven messaging, and third-party validation like analyst reports or compliance frameworks.
Security Practitioners and Implementers
What they care about: Technical specs, real-world application, peer trust
How to market to them: These are the engineers and analysts who will poke holes in your claims. Your marketing needs to speak their language and show technical depth. Use product walkthroughs, architecture diagrams, feature comparisons, and use-case content that demonstrates exactly how your solution works in practice.
IT Decision Makers
What they care about: Integration, scalability, cost, security trade-offs
How to market to them: This group sits at the intersection of IT and security. They want solutions that won’t break their systems or their budget. Emphasize interoperability, performance, and ease of deployment. Case studies and pricing calculators can help them make a confident decision.
Boards and C-Suite
What they care about: Business risk, liability, brand protectionHow to market to them: You're not selling features—you’re selling peace of mind. Frame your messaging around financial impact, regulatory compliance, and business continuity. Use concise, high-trust formats like executive summaries, brief videos, or benchmarking data to support your case.
Marketing in cybersecurity is a high-stakes game. There’s less room for error, more skepticism in the room, and a shorter window to prove your credibility. Here are some do’s and don’ts that help keep cybersecurity campaigns focused, effective, and persona-aligned.
Do speak to specific personas.
Generic messaging gets ignored. Tailor every piece of content, ad, or landing page to one specific role and pain point.
Do lean on data and authority.
Use trusted sources like Gartner reports, industry benchmarks, and analyst quotes to back your claims. Show, don’t tell.
Do invest in content depth.
Your audience can sniff out fluff in a second. Write with substance. Collaborate with your SMEs. Make every piece worth your reader’s time.
Do prioritize technical accuracy.
One wrong detail can undermine the whole campaign. Double-check product specs, terminology, and claims, especially in visual assets.
Do align with the buyer journey.
CISOs don’t click “Buy Now.” Build layered campaigns that nurture interest across awareness, consideration, and validation stages.
Don’t overpromise.
"Total protection" or "unbreakable security" won't land and could backfire. Be confident, but stay grounded in reality.
Don’t assume they’ll connect the dots.
Spell out exactly how your product helps solve a specific problem. Don't rely on vague claims or industry jargon.
Don’t recycle general B2B creative.
Your cybersecurity audience has seen the same ad template 1,000 times. Differentiate with smarter, more persona-aware creative.
Don’t ignore design preferences.
Security audiences favor clarity and simplicity over flash. Avoid overly polished, “marketing-looking” assets that feel insincere.
Don’t skip the proof.
Your audience needs evidence before they trust your brand. If you don’t provide it, they’ll find a competitor who does.
Why Choose 97th Floor as Your Cybersecurity Marketing Partner?
We understand cybersecurity marketing because we’ve done it—successfully—for some of the top names in the industry. If you need to lower your CPA, hit revenue goals, or get in front of the right people, we can help. We build strategies based on research, data, and a deep understanding of how security buyers think. And we always respect your audience’s intelligence, time, and high standards.
Learn more about our cybersecurity marketing services, or get in touch to start your next campaign.
Ready to Grow? Get in touch to see what's possible for your brand.
Cybersecurity solutions buyers are worn out by the constant barrage of stale content flooding their search results, inboxes and social media.
Only brands that are willing to pause the content machine long enough to develop true empathy for their audience will be able to make any progress towards the mecca of trust and authority.
97th Floor believes that Empathy, paired with Innovation and Profitability, produces Great Marketing—marketing that fosters relationships and ultimately sales. We unlock empathy for our client’s customers through an exhaustive process of in-depth persona research and customer journey mapping.
Our customer journey maps reveal the questions, actions and touchpoints of an audience at each stage of the funnel: awareness, consideration and decision. Using these maps as a launching pad for every marketing campaign makes delivering "the right message at the right time" a reality.
The following are real persona customer journey maps created for our clients in and adjacent to the cybersecurity industry. They have been anonymized, but all other information is as-delivered to our clients.
Most buyer personas get built, presented, and shelved. This short video breaks down why — and what the ones that actually drive content decisions look like instead.
In 2022, artificial intelligence can drive cars, map the spread of infectious diseases, and recommend your next binge-worthy show. Some AI is even composing music and painting.
By some estimates, we could achieve “singularity”—or the point at which computers are proactively and exponentially improving themselves as the dominant intelligence on earth—by 2045.
Others don’t think this will ever happen. We think there’s no point worrying about it yet.
We’re wondering how it could impact marketing. Could certain marketing roles or responsibilities eventually be replaced by AI? Specifically, how will it impact content creation? With so much of a marketer’s work already living on digital platforms powered by AI (Google, social media platforms, marketing automation software, etc.), could AI-generated content ever replace human-generated content?
We wanted to know. Fortunately, our client Hiya wanted to know, too.
Hiya is a SaaS voice performance platform that reduces spam calls and provides extremely impactful caller ID services to enterprises. We fed various AI machines content prompts for Hiya and gave the exact same prompts to the content team at 97th Floor. Take the quiz to see if you can pick out the human-created content.
We took these results back to Hiya to see what they thought about the AI content. Jonah-Kai Hancock, Hiya's Vice President of Demand Generation, noted that "Any time you are asking someone to read a blog or engage in an email or watch a webinar you are asking for their time and I don’t think that the AI does a really good job explaining what I would get out of that time.”
Rachel Bascom, Head of Content Marketing at 97th Floor, was surprised by what the AI could do. She shared, “The blog article from AI may rank fairly well. We could use it for SEO and it might please an algorithm, but I don’t think it would sell anything anytime soon. A content marketer is thinking beyond an algorithm in a way that AI can’t do. Yes, the AI piece might rank well, but what happens when someone opens that link? Human writers can think about the content journey and create something engaging, educational and conversational.”
Rachel is also feeling assured that she, a living breathing content marketer, will get to keep her job after this experiment.
No surprise here—we all felt that the AI content lacked personality. Especially in Hiya’s industry where personal touch is central to their product, this AI content could never fly.
But honestly, that’s what we expected. Here’s the process most marketers face when trying AI out for the first time:
Maybe you’ve had similar experiences. AI is, most often, not where it needs to be for marketers, and many marketers feel that their existing, non-AI process for content creation is effective. To many, adding AI seems like an unnecessary disruption of that process.
Hancock shares, “It would be a lot more work for me to figure out how to make AI work. Unless my content team came to me and said ‘hey we really want this and here’s why,’ I don’t see this happening right now.”
Content-generating AI is still unproven, and marketers are justified in hesitating to invest.
But that hesitation has a compounding cost — and the gap between early movers and late adopters widens faster than most realize. Certainty is always one more data point away, and waiting for it is how capable people end up starting last. Daniel Nisan, startup founder and investor, makes the case that waiting for proof isn't caution — it's the most common reason people never begin. This short video breaks down the mental shift that separates those who start from those who wait indefinitely.
But is it possible we’re not giving AI a fair shot? It’s possible the marketing industry needs to invest more time and money into AI before it can help us to improve our content.
Realizing great AI-assisted content requires investing time into the tool.
Kate Bradley Chernis knows all about that. Chernis is the founder and CEO at Lately, an AI-based content generation platform creating dozens of pretested social posts to promote your brand’s longform content. Kate shared this with us: “If artificial intelligence was a human, it would be about three months old. It can’t sit up on its own, can’t feed itself, can’t do a lot of things. It requires human intervention to even exist. Without humans, it's just automation—we have to guide the AI along in the process.”
Laura Smous is the VP of Product Marketing at Verblio, a content creation marketplace and platform powered by human writers. We asked Laura about how writers should be using AI and she assures us that “There are a ton of places where AI can provide a really great assist, but it’s not replacing humans in the way that people fear.”
So, will AI take content marketers’ and copywriters’ jobs? Never. AI has major limitations. That said, there is no doubt it is quickly finding its way into the content production process. Marketers who don’t start experimenting and discovering the value AI can bring to their content could be disadvantaged.
Paul Roetzer, founder of the Artificial Intelligence Marketing Institute, forecasts that “A lot of marketers are going to sit back and in three years think ‘wow, this software is way better than it was.’ Then there’s going to be a segment of marketers who understand the potential of more intelligent software and they’re going to find those tools today and get a multi-year headstart on their peers who are still afraid of the topic.”
So where do marketers begin? How do marketing teams invite AI into their processes? We propose 3 key opportunities:
Market research is time-consuming and expensive—it’s also the least predictable aspect of content creation. It could take 2 hours or it could take 15 minutes. But it’s obviously crucial in providing content that resonates with your audience.
Laura Smous believes, “Content research can be assisted by AI, ensuring that some of the foundational ideas in content are not only backed by data but that they actually come from data as opposed to instinct. We can actually get some validation from AI research before anyone starts writing or looking at a brief.”
When Tomorrow Sleep appeared as a new startup in their market, their own high-quality content was pulling about 4,000 visitors per month. Anxious to scale up their content and connect with their audience, Tomorrow Sleep tapped into multiple AI-backed and non-AI-backed data content research tools. After discovering the topics their audience responded to and what their competitors were doing with these topics, Tomorrow Sleep was ready to launch new content that would rank and resonate with customers. The new AI-informed content resulted in 40,000 monthly site visitors - a 10,000% increase in less than a year.
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The AI didn’t write any of Tomorrow Sleep’s new content, but it propelled the marketing team in the right direction. Because of the new insights from AI, they could be completely confident in their content strategy, and their remarkable results further justified their research and content.
AI and even some of the newest data-backed tools can identify trends and keywords to focus on, generate topics, uncover what competitors are saying and identify high-value content for your audiences. It can analyze tremendous amounts of data - even open-ended data - with speed and efficiency, delivering key insights to decision makers before a decision is made.
Palomar is 97th Floor’s patent pending software for analyzing contextual, semantic data in real-time. Palomar’s SERP Intelligence crawls through all of the content on the web that competes with your content and after thorough analysis, it will not only tell you what to speak on and how to speak about it.
Another essential tool for marketers is SparkToro (founded by Rand Fishkin, original founder of Moz). SparkToro aggregates the most comprehensive overview of audience data on the internet revealing demographics, behavioral traits, topics discussed publicly online, and other key data points so that we can pick up on how our audience thinks, what they consume and ultimately how to help them purchase intelligently.
97th Floor recently took on a client facing unfounded public criticism and negative press, desperately in need of reputation management. We learned from Semantic Analysis in Palomar that a specific thought leader’s writing was negatively impacting public sentiment. We learned from SparkToro where specifically our audience was consuming this content. Our content teams knew that in order to rank on this issue and correct the misinformation, we had to debunk what was coming from these sources. Over the course of ten months, this research-backed content helped pull our client towards a positive public sentiment. Without this intelligence, our content could not have correctly identified and addressed the issues threatening our client.
AI or not, marketers are severely under-leveraging the tools and data available to them.
Do This: Let data-backed tools analyze data and deliver insights to you. Don’t shy away from this bias-free, super-efficient way to discover the seeds in your data that lead to golden content. Spend your time strategizing around reliable data, not finding it.
Tools to Try:
• SparkToro
• Palomar
• BuzzSumo
“Humans are bad at getting started. They’re bad at doing that first step towards that task.” That’s Laura Smous again and we’re all feeling quite seen by her comment. And maybe a little relieved that other humans are also like this.
Getting down an outline, a first draft, a content brief - going from nothing to something - can be daunting. But if an AI cranks out that first piece of writing for you, you can start acting as editor and creative, launching off of that writing into something more exciting without losing hours watching your cursor blink on an empty page.
The Associated Press was one of the first news organizations to use AI in reporting by integrating AI for news gathering, production and distribution beginning in 2014. By allowing AI to help draft content and amp up volume, AP reporters had more time to “experiment with new projects and establish thought leadership.”
Rachel Bascom shares, “In the past 9 years at 97th Floor, I’ve written a lot of content on a lot of different topics. Ten minutes can very quickly turn into thirty minutes or an hour when you’re just struggling to get started. Using AI-generated content as something to start with would make a huge difference.”
Where would you spend that 10 minutes? What about 30 minutes? An hour? What new projects would you start?
Do This: Add an AI draft to your workflow. Let a cold machine write something bad. Then turn that into something great.
Tools to Try:
• Frase
• Jasper
• StoryLab.ai
Yes, AI can speed up our processes—but we want more from it than efficiency. We want AI to help us create better content. There’s so much discussion about improving AI content, but could AI also teach us a few things? We posed this idea to Kate Bradley Chernis, and she shared two cases where Lately’s AI did just that.
One Lately client fed his blog into Lately’s AI and was horrified by the social posts he got back. Rather than condemning the machine for producing bad content, the client went to the Lately word cloud associated with his writing, examining which words resonate with his audiences across every timeframe, channel and campaign. He realized that his blog post was just bad. With new intel from Lately’s AI, this client rewrote a more focused blog post. The Lately social posts that came from this new content were spot on.
Gary Vaynerchuk, now one of Lately’s advisors, tested Lately by having his team create an entire Twitter channel (@garyveetv) with hours and hours of content they pumped into it. Initially, Lately’s content boosted the channel's engagement by 12,000%.
Vaynerchuk’s team also reported an 80% agreement between the quotes Lately pulled and what they would have pulled themselves. His team went back and forth with the AI, feeding Lately tons of content to learn from and then comparing their own content with whatever Lately produced for wildly successful results.
Both Lately clients consulted the AI to make sure their content was on track with their marketing goals, using each interaction as a data point to guide the content forward.
Some AI services like Grammarly can edit copy, checking for grammar, spelling and weak writing. Marketers should also consider AI that analyzes for consistency in style, tone, terminology and content goals.
Laura Smous admits that “Humans are very bad at consistency. Humans think if they have a script or a pitch that they use that they deliver it the same way every time, or that their follow-up is at the same intervals and we’re actually pretty bad at understanding if we’ve done that.”
AI can help solve this problem in your content, building coherence across all of your content so that your audience recognizes and trusts each piece you create.
Do This: Collaborate with AI. Consider the relationship symbiotic. Check back in while editing and before publishing to make sure your content is consistent, accurate and focused.
Tools to Try:
• Lately
• Acrolinx
• CrawlQ
AI models have not yet proven themselves to be a sure-fire investment of marketers’ time and money. Content AI isn’t quite where we want it to be now, but maybe that future dream of AI-assisted content collaboration is only realized by marketers who will put in a little more time and a little more money and a little more feedback. It is called machine learning, right?
Either way, marketers are not leveraging existing tools (AI and non-AI) nearly as much as they should be and the only way AI will ruin jobs is if marketers don’t begin learning how to collaborate with it.
