Last Thursday, September 10th, 97th Floor’s CEO Chris Bennett spoke at the SearchLove Conference in San Diego. SearchLove SD is an especially great conference for those who are really interested in learning about good tactics. This was the fourth SearchLove conference at which Chris has spoken. In the past, he has also given presentations at SearchLove conferences in Boston, London, and New Orleans.
Chris was a bit hesitant to speak on the topic he presented because the tactics were not earth shattering, but that was the point he wanted to make. His presentation, “How to Never Lose at Content Strategy,” emphasized that you don’t have to chase the newest tactics to succeed in content marketing. In fact, sometimes by just working a little harder and longer during the preparation stages, you can gather insights and data that will dramatically increase your chances for success. Particularly, he recommended not skimping when it comes to keyword research—SEO 101.
In the end, focusing on results is what really matters. Chris gave several examples of different campaigns that reaffirm this, including some that did not end up going viral and garnered very few social media shares, but which still significantly improved organic traffic to the site—which directly translated to revenue. Meanwhile, another campaign seemingly had all the right ingredients for success but only resulted in a brief spike in traffic. This focus on results shows through not only in 97th Floor’s work for its clients, but also in the company’s culture. It trickled down to the company’s employees when 97th Floor became a Results-Only Work Environment, or ROWE.
While each of these concepts seems very intuitive, it proved to be exactly what the audience needed to hear. Overall, the presentation was very well received.
SEO 101: Remember the keywords! Do real keyword research, not 5 minutes, 3 hours. @chrisbennett #searchlove
— Julien Brandt (@Julienbrandt) September 11, 2015
Ohh boy! >> "Add 3 hours to the 5 mins of keyword research you usually do" - @chrisbennett #searchlove
— Megan Cynaumon (@MeganCynaumon) September 11, 2015
The 90s called: they want their keyword research back. @chrisbennett #searchlove
— Marli Mesibov (@marsinthestars) September 11, 2015
Sometimes, the best presentations remind you to just do basics #notshiny #searchlove @chrisbennett
— Wil Reynolds (@wilreynolds) September 11, 2015
Not only that, Chris’s presentation was featured as one of the top decks on SlideShare a few days later.
The final takeaway is that no matter your resources, everyone can work a little harder and focus more on the details. This is exciting, because it means that anyone can can compete when it comes to content.
View the full deck from Chris’s presentation below:
