In this no-fluff Prezi video, Paxton Gray, CEO of 97th Floor walks you through his step-by-step process to creating consistent and quality content marketing that works for virtually any budget. If you’ve felt that content marketing hasn’t been producing the results you’ve wanted, this video is for you.
Paxton explains one of the reasons why Buzzfeed content marketing can draw you in — even when you know it’s just clickbait — is because it taps into the “human algorithm.” It's the power of appealing to a person’s curiosity, especially in a content marketing context. Curiosity alone is not enough, though. Paxton explains how to also use data to create content that’s more personal, targeted, and relevant. After all, content marketing made for everybody means it doesn’t really appeal to anybody.
MozCon 2020 is a wrap.
We heard from many speakers covering many industries, but even more compelling than the voices we heard, was the common themes between them.
I worked with my fellow attendees from 97th Floor to pull together the common themes and action items from MozCon 2020. In no particular order, here's the themes we saw, and what marketers and brands should be doing next.
As always Moz leads by example when discussing difficult, but necessary, topics. Like addressing the current economic, social, and civil situations. Sarah Bird kicked the conference off by acknowledging the current environment, and Dr. Pete gave a heartfelt opening to his address on keyword research. Immediately Dr. Pete had my heart and attention as he drew the connection between today's circumstances and how these factor into the fundamentals of SEO. Specifically topical research.
Of course today's economic climate is affecting each of the businesses we work for. Wil Reynolds closed the conference by introducing us to the new CMO, or rather, the lack thereof. We were all given stark evidence that our careers and success as marketers hinge on being able to effectively communicate in the language of the board.
The Takeaway: I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m sick of hearing “unprecedented times” in brand messaging. Let’s skip getting things back to normal and instead make things better. No doubt, the past few months have changed some foundational elements of everyone’s lives, but as marketers let’s make sure this change is for good, and is long lasting.
Look at your current marketing efforts and ask, "Are we trying to get back to "normal"? Or are we using this as an opportunity to get better?
I think I speak for all the attendees when I say that day 2 of MozCon 2020 was filled with equal parts intrigue and trepidation. Of course we've all known for a long time 97th Floor has already believed in the power of unconventional data sets for practical SEO use. (We're so close to launching something big around this, stay tuned!)
I think most SEOs understand and respect the different methods of deep technical SEO, but many don't know what's possible, or how to begin. Enter Moz's Senior SEO Scientist Britney Muller, who walk gave every attendee the chance to dip their toes into machine learning and automaton.
Britney continued on with examples and uses cases, but perhaps none was more interesting than entities from Google. Essentially it's a score that indicates Google's topical associations with a given URL. I'm excited to dig deeper into this later.
Of course every attendee this year remembers Michael King's one of a kind theatrical experience showcasing the many use cases of data scraping, machine learning, big data crunching, and artificial intelligence.
This address was maybe the heaviest conference address I've ever heard, but the format of a ~30 minute film and story made it actually digestible. In the traditional setting, my eyes may have glazed, but today, they were glued. Today, we witnessed a new medium for virtual conference addresses. Well done Michael!
The Takeaway: The technical inspiration shared today could come across as fiercely intimidating. But you can take it for a fact that these advanced scripts, and machine learning setups aren't conceived out of nothing (even for the pros). If you are enthralled by the idea to get busy with scripts, machine learning, and automations start slow and be patient with yourself. It's a brave new world! Also rewatch those sessions when the recordings come out.
Stay glued to the 97th Floor social accounts and newsletter to be of the first to know when we drop our own software that accomplishes a lot of the technical crunching we've seen seen at MozCon.
How can you get customers if you don't know them? Even before Coronavirus, the industry has been seeing subtle shifts to growth-driven marketing. Or in other words, measurable marketing.
Quickly Wil Reynolds had the audience's attention with the line, "The less you understand your customer, the more you spend to acquire them."
If we really care about bottom line budgets, we should start acting like it. Wil went on to call out mistakes he's seen of advertisers spending inefficiently because they didn't have their customer map dialed in. He made the case that saving money comes when you understand the customer journey and all marketing facets work in unison to perfect the customer journey experience.
Branding expert Flavilla Fongang uncovered timeless branding expertise with many notable tactics like:
But perhaps none was more resounding to me than her declaration that customer engagement is a company-wide effort. Innovation must be built into the company culture to retain and delight customers.
The Takeaway: The customer journey is not only knowing your audience, it's anticipating their next move. The customer journey is crucial to bottom-line success. There are too many options in your space for you to just meet needs, we need to exceed customer expectations. And that only comes when we know our audience.
Invest in a real customer journey map (not just audience insights), paired with your published content. Hopefully you find gaps in the journey, filling those gaps with customer-focused content is your next homework assignment.
A great place to start on this a guide we put together on building a bullet-proof buyer persona.
I love transparency, but even more I love the vulnerability that took place at MozCon 2020. Speakers were eager to share what didn’t work for them. Phil Nottingham shared a story of setting three different budgets for a set video ads, $1,000, $10,000, and $100,000.
Obviously this would mean huge differences in the production value of these campaigns, and you might think that a better video ad would lead to better traffic.
Crazy right?
But we learned that spending more doesn’t mean it’ll produce proportionally more results.
Shannon McGuirk also spared no punches in reviewing her past work in link acquisition. I love this honesty, because this is how we (as a community) go further. Link acquisition is something that most are shy to share, so I was especially glad to see Shannon’s blunt honesty about what didn’t work (and what did).
The above graphic from Shannon shows what our marketing efforts tend to look like. You can see that majority of the activity is bringing in steady results. We can all see this is a healthy balance of activity, yet too often marketers only focus on the "huge wins" and consider everything else a fail. Embrace the steady performing campaigns and learn from your fails.
The Takeaway: None of us have ever marketed through a global pandemic before (unless someone at MozCon 2020 was marketing during the Spanish Flu 100 years ago). Let’s grant ourselves a little leeway and break a few eggs while we make a marketing omelet in this new world.
So don't shy away from getting after something our of your comfort zone. Whether you win or lose, the world keeps spinning. So get after that crazy idea you've been pushing off.
You know that building and selling to an audience isn’t cheap. You didn’t need to pay for a MozCon ticket to hear that, but it’s important to be reminded that people aren’t waiting around online for a brand to win their loyalty. Phil Nottingham encapsulated this feeling when he said, “The number of impressions is not the number of people impressed.”
A number of speakers today expressed renewed focus on audience building, especially through the lens of the unique health, economic, social, and civil circumstances everyone is facing today.
The Takeaway: Be empathetic and understanding with your audience. Rerun your keyword research because volumes and interests have changed dramatically in the past few months. Being quick on an SEO/paid media/content strategy for up and coming keywords in your space will be rewarded with more traffic. Now comes the fun part of turning that traffic into an audience, which was discussed today by many presenters.
Get fresh keyword and audience data, then restructure your traffic and audience source.
This isn’t a new topic for MozCon, or any digital conference for that matter, but today it matters more than it did in the past. Just within the past several months, spending and consuming habits have changed dramatically. If SEOs are working purely off keyword data that is 6-12 months old, they are missing out on huge opportunities.
Utilizing Google Trends at this time is a great place to start, and Dr. Pete took us on a journey of just how to grab that data. Who else was excited to learn about Pinterest Trends?
Many others at MozCon shared truly cool ways to collect and crunch data that give you deep and actionable understanding your audience, for example...
And don't write off knowing your own business. Heather Physioc laid down the foundational truth that before any significant marketing can be conducted, we need to understand the brand we are marketing for. Including our values and competitive edge. A good tip for defining your competitive edge is finding the collection of words that describe your businesses that end in "est" (i.e. quickest, cheapest, etc.).
The Takeaway: Your audience, along with their wants and needs, has likely drastically shifted over the last six months. If you aren't on top of those new insights, you are bleeding money. Lucky for you, there’s data out there to inform your audience strategy. Of course there’s some readily available data sources from traditional tools, but through custom scrapers and unique data pulls/crunches you can get clean data that actually informs strategy.
Make every effort to obtain audience data, build real personas, and then use those personas throughout your marketing team.
Another way to say this is to invest in your brand.
This is another trend that isn’t exclusive to this MozCon, but we’ve been saying the same thing for years. However, I think most brands are feeling this exaggerated effect given the economic hardships associated with the Coronavirus pandemic.
It was mentioned multiple times by many speakers; Capture and delight your audience, and then nurture them on your own platforms. Be it your copy, website, videos, or email.
Phil Nottingham gave a great example of this such as Uber creating Uber Presents, or Mailchimp creating Mailchimp Presents, or Wistia creating Brandwagon, a late night style talk show for marketers.
All of these projects are great examples of companies creating content for their audience. They become the media their users seek, rather than spending a ton of money to annoy users on other media platforms.
When Brian Dean started by dropping some Star Wars themed slides, he had me. But the data kept me! For example he confirmed what many have already assumed, but not with the hard data behind it. Your email subscribers are more likely to get to your content than your social followers.
Not to mention Brian's presentation also discussed specifics of how to invest in your brand. He asserts (and I agree) that marketers need to spend more time on the promotion of their content, especially when compared to how much time we spend creating it. He called for an end to the "
Too often marketers rely on instinct to create content. As a result, content is less engaging and we have to produce more of it to make up for that lack of performance. In this clip from the 2019 ContentTECH Summit, Paxton Gray - VP of Operations at 97th Floor - shares how marketers can access hidden treasure troves of data, which will help them to create content their audience will love.
it can be hard to be aware of the human side of the business while also making sure we’re focused on the business side. when people are the happiest and feeling fulfilled and accomplished in their role, it benefits the whole company.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week we sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders, and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys and successes, to failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to Miranda Barnard, Vice President of Marketing at Vivint Solar, about the marketing value of understanding your audience, creating sharable messaging, recognizing and employing trends, and more. Using personal experiences and insights, Miranda dials in on what it means to provide a great customer experience, how that focus is changing the world of business, and how leadership in business is adapting.
0:10 About Miranda
2:37 Storytelling
4:28 Communicating with authenticity
7:09 Career changes
8:36 About Vivint Solar
14:15 Onboarding
18:11 Leadership style
19:33 Letting people go
23:09 Creating vs recycling content
25:30 What keeps you up at night
26:30 Handling conflict
29:02 Miranda’s legacy
Learn more about Vivint Solar
Connect with 97th Floor on YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and get notifications - we’ll drop a new episode every week.
 |
 |
 |
[leadership] comes down to who you are and your ability to influence people to do great things.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week we sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders, and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys and successes, to failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to Kurt Workman, CEO and Co-Founder of Owlet Baby Care, about his own journey to business success. Through personal experiences and insights, Kurt shares how he learned how to turn potential hurdles into valuable educational opportunities.
0:10 About Owlet
2:52 Priorities
5:12 Technology behind Owlet
8:45 Failure
12:10 The startup phase
17:15 Building the company
19:03 Success
23:55 Hiring and firing
28:43 What keeps you up at night
31:15 Pain points with growth
35:55 Kurt’s legacy
Learn more about Owlett
Connect with 97th Floor on YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and get notifications - we’ll drop a new episode every week.
|
|
|
Talking about design, and giving feedback can be difficult. Sometimes it feels as though there’s a whole language you don’t know how to speak. And when you can’t find the words, it’s a challenge to get anything done the way you envisioned it in the first place. Here are a few pointers to help you communicate better with your designer so you can both end up in a place you’re proud of.
There’s nothing more frustrating for graphic designers than finishing a project and being notified of an issue that could have been addressed (and fixed) in the early stages. If you have concerns or feedback about something, voice them early and as they arise. Waiting until the end of a project to address the issue only makes things worse. Most often, it creates a domino effect of other changes that now must be made.
Don’t be afraid to give a free and honest critique. Graphic designers expect opinions, and yours are valid. Everything should be up for discussion. Remember, you know your brand/company/product the best. Your designer needs your voice on that front. While some feedback may seem obvious to you, it may not be obvious to your designer. Be sure to share your concerns. If you don’t tell your designer you think something needs to be revised, they won’t know there’s an issue. And when words are hard to find, gather examples. Show your designer what you like and/or what you don’t like. This will help carve a more guided path for the designer to take.
When it comes to graphic design, there are 5 main principles your feedback should live under.
When you give feedback, be specific to one of those principles. Instead of saying, “Make it pop.” Say, “I’d like to see brighter colors.” The field of interpretation to “make it pop” opens up a sea of possible solutions. But by being specific, the graphic designer can then ask more clarifying questions. Do you like the current color combination? Do you want brighter hues of what we have, or new colors? This will help pinpoint the root of the issue.
Poor: “Make it pop.”
Good: “I’d like to see brighter colors.”
Best: “I’d like to see brighter colors because it’ll show up more prominently. It also relates to our youthful audience.”
Telling your “why” helps the designer see from your perspective beyond your feelings or emotions (“I think” and “I feel” statements). Giving specific feedback is helpful, but explaining the “why” can really visualize your thought process. Opinions (“I think” and “I feel” statements) hold weight, but “why” statements can reveal more substantial underlying points worth talking about.
Design is subjective. While you may feel strongly one way about a design, your designer may feel the opposite way. State your case. This means you’re giving specific feedback and following your feedback with the “why” behind it. After you state your case, be sure to ask and listen for your designer’s reasoning. Design is full of decisions that you may not be aware of. Find out what the designer insists is necessary to the project, then compromise on what can be changed.
humility is about confidence. it's about knowing you're enough. it's not better than and it's not less than.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys, successes, failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to CEO and Co-Founder of Homie, Johnny Hanna. Homie is a platform where you can buy or sell your home online without an agent. In this interview, we talk about building a blue ocean within an old industry. Johnny shares his insight about educating on a new offering in a marketplace, scaling and living on the spectrum of “less than” and “better than.” We dive into the meaning of failure and what work-life balance really means. Let’s jump in!
0:10 Building a blue ocean
3:45 All about Johnny
6:15 Mentoring and giving back
6:56 What is Homie?
11:20 Educating on a new offering in a marketplace
12:43 Scaling requires education, data and nailing the “it factor”
18:18 The spectrum of “less than” and “better than”
22:23 Finding good fits within a team
24:33 Work-life harmony and defining seasons of business
28:53 What keeps Johnny up at night
30:00 Failure and solving one problem at a time
39:00 Johnny’s legacy
Learn more about Homie
Connect with 97th Floor on YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn
What’d you think of the episode? The conversation continues in the comments below. Be sure to leave your insights.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and get notifications - we’ll drop a new episode every week.
|
|
|
one of the best things we've done at chatbooks is to create a clear set of values; we promote, reward and cut based on these values.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week we sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys, successes, failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to Chatbooks Chief Marketing Officer, Rachel Hofstetter. Rachel joined Chatbooks in November 2015 and played a pivotal role in creating the video The Real Mom, which has since amassed more than 100 million views. Rachel did this while also overseeing the overall brand that is turning instagram photos into instant coffee table artwork. Prior to Chatbooks, Rachel worked at “O” the Oprah Magazine, Reader’s Digest, wrote a best-selling book Cooking Up a Business and founded a company called guesterly. Her insights in this interview on everything from just getting started on a project or life goal, to failing, to defining your teams’ north star are spectacularly clear and spot on. Let’s jump in!
0:35 An editor, best-selling author and entrepreneur—Rachel Hofstetter's start and journey to Chatbooks.
3:37 Validating an idea, starting a company and getting noticed by Glamour, Real Simple and Procter & Gamble.
6:39 Storytelling and entrepreneurship.
7:14 Chatbooks launch and the story behind the simple idea and brand.
10:58 The process (and myth) behind creating a viral video; collaborating with the Harmon Brothers.
14:58 Creating a clear vision and three objectives of a CMO.
17:27 How to grow an all-star team and defining the 5-points of the Chatbooks north star.
22:55 The remedy to fear of failure.
29:00 Rachel's guiding principle to always improving and growing.
31:37 The art of essentialism and getting the right things done.
33:27 Saying "no" without saying no.
what I give doesn't have to necessarily be what you asked for and it can still be beneficial to you.
36:24 Legacy; what Rachel wants to be remembered for.
39:04 Advice to those figuring out what they want to have, be, do next.
Learn more about Chatbooks | guesterly
Chatbooks "The Real Mom" video
Rachel's book Cooking Up a Business: Lessons from Food Lovers Who Turned Their Passion into a Career -- and How You Can, Too
Connect with 97th Floor on YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn
What’d you think of the episode? The conversation continues in the comments below. Be sure to leave your insights.
If you liked this episode, subscribe to our YouTube channel and get notifications - we’ll drop a new episode every week.
|
|
|
Here are 5 things to create a killer Facebook ad with expert and PPC Specialist Cinthia Packard.
Article and tips here.
Keyword research is at the heart of all the work we do at 97th Floor. In this webinar Director of Marketing Operations Paxton Gray shares advanced keyword research techniques that provide the ground work for solid strategies that garner results, whether for high volume brand awareness or specific product conversions. Whether novice or a pro, you're sure to glean some remarkable and actionable insights.
Get the free downloadable Advanced Keyword Research Template below!
What You'll Find in this Webinar:
[1:28] Who we are
[1:33] Who we work with
[1:41] What we do
[2:10] What is a keyword? 15% of Google search has never been searched, everyday.
[2:45] The Search Demand Curve: Fat Head, Chunky Middle and Long Tail Keywords
[4:15] Google's #1 objective
[4:35] Google Micro-Moments: The consumer journey and you
[5:08] Advanced Keyword Research: What it is, What it's not
[6:07] Think strategy, not specifics.
[6:45] All about expert Paxton Gray
[8:40] Benefits of keyword research
[10:01] Keyword Research: Step 1 "Find Keywords"
[11:20] Keyword Research: Step 2 "Gather Data" and Pillars of Keyword Research Data
[13:23] Tools for pulling data (free and paid)
[15:21] Keyword Research: Step 3 "Analyze Data"
[16:01] Keyword Research: Step 4 "Group by Intent"
[17:00] DEMO and template overview
[36:00] Q&A
[47:00] Next Webinar "How to Get the Most Out of Google Analytics"
[48:24] Questions, comments, concerns? Hit us up at up@97thfloor.com.
Yesterday, September 23, was the final day of BrightEdge’s Share15 conference in San Francisco. Share15 is a Content Performance Marketing event put on “for digital marketers, by digital marketers.” The conference is a specific opportunity for BrightEdge users to get hands-on. This year’s conference had speakers from several big players in the industry, including BrightEdge, Salesforce, Google, and many others.
.@chrisbennett of @97thFloor shares how to bucket #keywords for #content success at #Share15 pic.twitter.com/JvsydGAGeD
— BrightEdge (@brightedge) September 23, 2015
Chris Bennett, 97th Floor’s CEO, had the chance to speak at the conference yesterday. 97th Floor is a certified BrightEdge Agency Partner, and several of our clients use BrightEdge in their business. Chris was excited for the opportunity to speak here, as this was his first year presenting at a Share conference. He also enjoyed this chance to speak alongside his old friend, Kirill Konrod from Adobe, who had some great insights on Google’s Quick Answer boxes. Chris’s presentation emphasized tactics such as focusing on keyword research, using those keywords to recognize and create better content, and making sure that you are creating altruistic content for the user.
For a session that @97thFloor claims doesn't include earth shattering news, I'm sure loving these ideas! #contentmarketing #share15 — Taylor Harker (@TaylorHarker) September 23, 2015
Not only was Chris one of the speakers at Share15, but 97th Floor was a sponsor of this year’s event, setting up a “swag machine" for use by conference attendees.
The machine was filled with shirts and portable chargers. To get their swag, participants could tweet a selfie in front of the machine, tagging @97thfloor, #share15, and a special hashtag the machine would generate. Once the tweet went out, the machine would dispense the loot.
We figured that Share15 was the perfect opportunity to showcase the machine. Where better than a Digital Conference to share a fun, innovative platform to build social engagement?
At #share15 with @97thfloor #dm858 how cool is this? pic.twitter.com/21KKbXTJ5K
— Lisa Brown (@bunltd) September 23, 2015
Not only did this generate buzz for 97th Floor and Share15, it also fell right in line with Chris’s message from his presentation, and 97th Floor’s own brand, combining creative tactics for bigger results.
@97thfloor #share15 #dm901 awesome swag machine!! pic.twitter.com/IXTsfqGHoy
— Jim Yu (@jimyu) September 23, 2015
Having a great time @97thFloor #share15 #dm042 pic.twitter.com/Tsas0gPgLP
— Sophia Eng (@sophianeng) September 23, 2015
We loved coming to Share15 and working with BrightEdge. Their staff was wonderful to work with and a real class act. They really proved just how much they care about their customers. Thanks, guys!
Dreamforce, Salesforce’s enormous, annual conference, happened last week, bringing together more than 150,000 professionals from several different industries, with millions more viewing live via the Internet. The event took place from September 15–18 across several venues in downtown San Francisco and included approximately 1,600 sessions and keynote addresses.
97th Floor’s CEO Chris Bennett spoke at the conference on Wednesday, September 16. Salesforce is one of 97th Floor’s clients, and Chris attends Dreamforce regularly. His presentation, “Building Content that Grows Your Business,” marked the third time Chris has been invited to speak at Dreamforce, having spoken previously in 2013 and 2014.
.@chrisbennett Content marketing and seo works for B2B, too. #cmseo #df15 #seo pic.twitter.com/9ku7FxhXlS
— Stuart (@steuwart) September 16, 2015
This year, Chris focused on fundamental principles to ensure success in digital marketing. While the tactics he presented seemed simple, he showed several case studies demonstrating impressive results. Tactics included baking promo into content, and basing content on sound research. Chris especially emphasized keyword research, recommending marketers “add three hours to the five minutes you currently spend.” People responded well to his presentation and provided lots of positive feedback:
@chrisbennett really liked your presentation, super tactical. Thanks for the tips!! #df15
— Jason Bilog (@JasonBilog) September 16, 2015
Your content must provide value and prioritize the customer's needs over your company's needs. via @chrisbennett #DF15 #contentmarketing
— Mike Koyle (@mikekoyle) September 20, 2015
My boy @chrisbennett killing it @Dreamforce #DF15! You NEED to follow this guy! @crowdmics @97thFloor #seo #marketing pic.twitter.com/V0IX0O60SA
— Sean Holladay (@seanholladay) September 16, 2015
View the full deck from Chris’s presentation below:
