Is your SEO content not working anymore? If so, this article is for you.

You see, I have a big, big problem with most "SEO" content for Expert Brands, and in this article, I hope to explain not only why your marketing team shouldn't publish "SEO" content the way most teach, but how to make that kind of content more effective at pulling people into your database where they will eventually become clients. 

(An outcome which I presume you, like the rest of us, want more of in 2024 and 2025.)

The State of "SEO" Content for Experts

I've worked in enough Expert Brands of all sizes, from $1M/year all the way to $90M/year, to know that many of them at one point or another attempt to put out "SEO Content." This kind of content is designed to meet certain search engine search terms.

So, let's say you're a marketing agency and you want more clients... so your SEO consultant tells you that you need to publish content which hits certain keywords with high volume: 

• What is Marketing
• What is Digital Marketing
• Digital Marketing 101
• Digital Marketing Agencies
• Digital Marketing for [insert industry]

And so forth. 

Now, creating content which aligns with certain keywords and search intents isn't the part I dislike.

What I dislike is how most Expert Brands go about creating this kind of content.

And how most Expert Brands go about creating this kind of content is they'll have generative AI, or a VA, or some outsourced writer, or even a content mill write generic content around that keyword. 500-800 words, make sure the headlines answer search intent, etc. 

... but then that's all they do.

So someone with search intent lands on the page, hopefully reads this generic content (which could be slapped on any brand's website without a single change) and then.... what? 

That's right: they'll bounce and leave your website, or your social channel, and never engage again.

You see, writing content this way ensures that you'll have wasted your BEST opportunity to make a good first impression on your potential future client. 

And I can hear some of you now:

"But Lynn... this is TOFU content! We aren't supposed to sell in this content."

This kind of objection reveals a critical misunderstanding of the buyer's journey; this misunderstanding holds that buyers engage in a linear fashion and that there are parts of the marketing funnel where you shouldn't weave any of your personality, worldview, proof, philosophy, or other Messaging Factors into the content.

Yikes on a stick, my friend.

How to Write Actually Client-Getting SEO Content for Your Expert Brand

Make no mistake: it's important to write for the bots and computer algorithms which run the internet and deliver traffic to your site. That part, while frustrating, is undeniable for a modern business. But bots can't buy your services -- only people can. So your marketing team's job should be to make sure that the living, breathing, problem-having potential future clients you want to reach actually want to consume your content.

Here's how you make that happen:

One: You Write for the Awareness Level with The Avatar in Mind

Don't write so generically that you don't know exactly who you're reaching with your content. Think of your content as trying to reach a specific Sophistication Spectrum Stage of your ideal Avatar. If you have multiple avatars each with their own spectrum, then narrow the article so that the content only speaks to one of those avatars... and then create another with similar content which speaks specifically to the other Avatar. 

For generic content like the above, you're marketing to:

•  the most Unsophisticated stage of your Avatar journey
• Desire Aware to Problem Aware in awareness levels

So write to that. They aren't unaware of anything, they're simply unaware of the specific topic you're talking about... and they want to learn more. So frame your information around that lens and what that kind of client needs to hear to take the next step in becoming more sophisticated.

Two: You Include YOU in this Content

The second step is to actually include you in the content. 

Don't just let GenAI or some outsourced freelancer write content. Have your team write content from the heart and soul, which captures what working with you is actually like. 

What would you say to someone who could be your future client, but doesn't yet know anything about what it is you do? You certainly wouldn't give them generic info, right? More than likely, you would include information relevant to their business (or life) as an example, you'd cite past clients as proof, and you'd ask further questions to help them figure out where they are at with their own situation.

You also wouldn't list or talk about things which have no relevance for them. 

THIS is how you make it so that even if someone is coming to you unaware of who you are, they're going to be engaged with your content and will feel like what you have to say is valuable and helpful. And chances are, they're going to follow you until they're ready to buy.

Three: Give them a CTA Which Helps Them Become More Mature in That Area

As mentioned in tip #1, you need to write to the single Sophistication Spectrum Stage of a single avatar who you actually reach. Not all businesses, not all moms, not some generic person... your ideal client, but at an earlier stage of Sophistication (likely) than you need them to be to buy now.

To refresh, if you're aware of my Sophistication Spectrum concept, then you already know that your clients grow in sophistication in stages as they mature more areas of their business (or life, if you sell B2C) to the next stage of Sophistication.

Here's how that looks again, remember that people/businesses mature rightward:

So if you are writing a piece of content on Marketing 101, then the CTA might be:

• To take a marketing assessment reviewing how they're doing with their marketing
• To download your book which teaches them how to go from no (or ineffective) marketing to successfully implementing a basic marketing foundation
• To register for a webinar, training, or masterclass where this particular topic is covered in more detail
• To download a checklist which they can take back to their team (or do themselves) which evaluates their marketing activities
• To take a quiz which reveals which kind of marketing they should do - written, audio (podcast, etc), or video (shorts, video, webinars)
• Etc etc etc

Ideally, this next step gets them to get onto your email list and part of your database.

Ready to Fix Your Expert Brand's SEO Content?

Chances are, you have content on your website and social media channels which follows this generic framework. That's okay! So many Expert Brands do. 

Your next step is to do the following, or have your team do it: 

1. Identify the SOPHISTICATION SPECTRUM STAGE and the AWARENESS LEVEL of each piece of content. If the content is so generic that it can't be determined, then pick a stage and awareness level for that piece of content and add it to your queue to be rewritten. 

(10/30/24 Note: I will likely build a mini course with worksheets to help you get this done.)

2. Map your content across the Stages and Awareness levels and see where there are holes. Chances are, your content is completely ignoring key areas, and that's where your "Marketing Gap" is. Fill it with content! 

3. If you need help doing this, contact me and let's get a consultation on the books to review where you're at and what might be needed to map it all out. You can book a session using this link.