The balance of tech and touch in Content Marketing
The episode centers around content marketing strategies and the impact of recent updates by Google. Our guest speakers stress the need for creativity to satisfy Google’s evolving algorithms. They emphasize the importance of including quotes and expertise from industry professionals in content, even for product-led articles. Romana discusses how she adapted her content brief templates, keyword research process, and interview templates to include more relevant information and build content around people’s pain points, challenges, and how their product solves them.
Interestingly, the Google updates haven’t significantly impacted SEO terms, which prompts a discussion about the importance of monitoring and analyzing content metrics to determine its effectiveness. Google is refining its algorithm to prioritize valuable content over SEO tactics. Our roundtable guests advocate for shifting towards storytelling, incorporating human-point-of-view quotes, and utilizing data in content creation.
The conversation moves towards the challenges faced by the speakers’ organizations about SEO. Romana admits that SEO was initially unexplored or ignored in her company and that they are competing in a tough space against B2B marketers and agencies. The focus is choosing which keywords to rank for and using content to engage users throughout the buying journey.
The importance of aligning marketing, sales, product, and customer service is highlighted as crucial for effective messaging and scaling content. The speakers impart their wisdom on creating high-quality content that serves search intent and focuses on the customer. They emphasize the value of gamifying the system by providing value to consumers rather than relying solely on backlinks.
The future of content marketing
The conversation then delves into the implementation of new technologies in content marketing. Our guests agree on the need to embrace new tools while acknowledging that the industry is still in the early stages of learning how to use them effectively. They stress that new technologies should be seen as enhancement tools, not replacements for human work. However, they acknowledge that technology can save time on non-roadmap tasks, even if proofreading and editing are required afterward.
The episode concludes with a focus on the content distribution and repurposing aspect of content marketing. The guest speakers emphasized prioritizing quality over quantity and considering content distribution during the planning stage. Companies should create a smaller number of high-quality articles that can be distributed extensively. They also caution against saving money by creating cheap, low-quality content, often leading to costly fixes later.
In summary, the Content Marketing Roundtable delves into various aspects of content marketing strategies and the impact of Google updates. We stress the importance of creativity, aligning with executive goals, and measuring the impact on key performance indicators. They emphasize the value of user-focused content, effective communication with executive leadership, and the need for a holistic content marketing strategy. The episode provides valuable insights for content marketers navigating the ever-evolving landscape of SEO and content distribution.
Roundtable guests:
Ana-Maria Stanciuc, Head of Content at Tekpon
Romana Hoekstra, ex Content Marketing Lead at Dealfront
Bianca Wilk, Senior Manager, Content & Community at ChartMogul
Bethany Fagan, Head of Content at PandaDoc
Jeremy Sacramento, Content Marketing Manager at Dreamdata
Alejandro Salse, Head of Content Marketing at Pleo
Lashay Lewis, Content Strategy Advisor
