Dennis Buckley

Content mapping. A tale as old as time herself. Gather 'round, let me show you how it's done.. On my 9th birthday, Dad gave me a compass. I wasn't an outdoorsy kid, so it was a weird gift. But I kept it, knowing it would come in handy one day It didn't. Anyway, a content map is a lot like that weird compass my Dad gave me — it gives you direction. To develop your own direction-giving content map: 1. First decide that you want to develop one 2. Research your audience and learn their pain points 3. Organize pain points into content buckets 4. Make sure buckets relate to your product 5. Create good content for each of your buckets 6. Distribute content where your ICPs hang out 7. Collect feedback and adjust the map over time Fin!

In my experience, a strong brand voice aligns with your corporate identity through: 1. Depth: Go beyond single adjectives like "casual." Your voice should be multi-dimensional, like a real person. 2. Resonance: Align with your mission, brand character, and target audience. Be someone they'd want to talk to. 3. Consistency: Apply your voice across all channels for a cohesive brand experience. 4. Collaboration: Define your voice clearly to guide internal teams and external partners in creating consistent brand messaging. By crafting a voice that reflects your mission, resonates with your audience, and guides all communication, you can build a cohesive and memorable brand.

As SEO practitioners, we must adapt our roles to align more closely with content strategy and customer insights rather than relying solely on keyword data and competitor analysis. Those who prioritize creating valuable, relevant, helpful content will have the upper hand in the new era of search. To align your SEO content marketing with business objectives, consider: 1. Subject matter expertise is critical. High-quality, relevant, and novel insights are necessary to contribute “information gain” content that expands the Knowledge Graph on your chosen topic. 2. Topics are replacing keywords. Focusing on user satisfaction by tailoring content that fits within a topic's life cycle makes keywords less indispensable.

To optimize content for digital channels, optimize content for native consumption. That means: - Create TikTok videos that follow TikTok best practices - Create YouTube videos that follow YouTube best practices - Create LinkedIn posts that follow LinkedIn best practices - Create podcasts that follow podcasting best practices Remember, the #1 goal of content is for it to be consumed. To increase your odds of that happening, develop native content experiences for each platform. Give your audience the content they want, how they want it.

In 2023, content experience is critical. AKA the new "E" in E-E-A-T Google's algorithms, along with their human manual search evaluators, are looking for user engagement signals in your content to determine if it deserves a spot in the SERP. The old way: "good" content hits all the target keywords and builds on the top-ranking articles (i.e., Skyscraper content). Previously, copycat content won in the SERP. The new way: "good" content hits a specific angle or intent and demonstrates first-hand experience or subject matter expertise. Now, unique perspectives and experience-based content are rewarded in the SERP (E-E-A-T). Takeaway: Design content for your audience, not for Google.

In my experience, the "right" channels are the ones through which you can reach your target audience. For most companies today, your target customers are likely accessible through these channels: -Online communities (e.g., Slack, Reddit, Quora) -Content platforms (e.g., YouTube, Podcasts) -Social media (e.g., LinkedIn, FB, TikTok) -Influencer marketing -Guest posting -Email Step 1. Create relevant and compelling website content for your target audience (most people skip this step). Step 2. Distribute content *natively* on channels that allow you to reach your target customer. Step 3. Give it enough time to work (persistence and consistency are key) Step 4. Double down on your top-performing channel(s). Step 5. Rinse and repeat.