Feature: Magnificent Marketing Case Study: Blogging = Steady Monthly Traffic Growth

I recently sat down with David Reimherr, founder of Magnificent Marketing, and their firm’s content marketing manager, Bre South.

Here’s what they had to say about how content marketing and blogging contributes to their client’s success.

“Our content strategy success begins with a deep dive onboard with our client to walk through targeted audience demographics, content mission statement, and their content tilt. In discussing the core messaging of the client’s product; we dig into the core of a client’s product and why it would resonate with its audience. We find which content angles will serve their audience, and how to reach their audience appropriately.

We help them figure out how to talk the talk their audience wants to hear.

All content efforts are driven by the content mission statement in addition to what our client already knows about their audience and experience. This gives way to the creation of determining main pillar topics and sub-topics the client commits to producing content for.

We help them create this mission statement for which all efforts will follow.

The main pillar topics are determined based on what a persona would actively be searching for as a problem they are looking for help to solve.

The 30 Best Entrepreneurs to Look For in 2018

At 21, a young David Reimherr, full of innovative ideas and entrepreneurial mindset was working as a sales rep for a college magazine. This was his humble beginning and later on an introduction  to the marketing world. Recognizing David’s talent, the owner of the magazine offered him the VP position. With a keen interest in the marketing field and gumption enough to dare, David accepted the position. This dialing for dollars and lesson learning experience continued for a couple of years, along with a ton of hard work and putting in long hours.

Through the years, the progression continued and David’s company started flourishing. After 8 or 9 years, the company’s decision makers eventually got to the point where salesforce expansion was necessary. Along came the recognition that there was a need to concentrate more on branding, marketing, and bringing in leads. This led to promoting the company’s sales assistant and beginning afresh with another challenge that was unfamiliar with David.

Quoting from David’s favorite book, ‘The Motivation Manifesto’, the author Brendon Burchard says, “All the real riches–love, passion, joy, satisfaction, harmony–are available now on the menu of the mind, available for us to savor should we awake and order them.” The book sheds light on the joy’s of life and freedom to achieve the unachievable. David highly recommends this book to people, as he himself religiously reads through the daily repetition of its motivational content and draws positive mindset from it. With a dire need for a positive attitude and relief from the build-up resentment towards people led David to this book of though-provoking enchantments.

Team Alignment – Why It’s Vital to the Success of Content Marketing

If you work with a marketing team – consider yourself fortunate.

Trying to take care of every marketing task on your own can be overwhelming. It can also be rather limiting. After all, just how many topics or different angles on an already well-covered topic can one person come up with?

When you have a team, though, you have an opportunity for greatness.

Some people might disagree with me, though, citing the fact that teams can suffer from egos, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings.

That’s definitely true. We’re all human and make mistakes and rub each other the wrong way. But at the end of the day, a marketing team that gets on the same page and works together can accomplish great things.

In fact, Margaret Magnarelli, the Senior Director of Marketing at Monster.com, backs up that point. Her suggestion is to do all you can to ensure that your team is in proper alignment.

Start by Getting Clear on What Content Marketing Means to You

Getting aligned actually starts with you.

You need to be clear on what content marketing really means to you. Only then can you successfully express your thoughts and plans to your team and anyone else involved in the marketing and production of your product or service.

When Margaret and I spoke recently, she explained what content marketing means to her.

“I take a pretty broad stand…content marketing is a way that you use messaging across your organization – the traditional being the blog, your social channels, your site copy, sales enablement, customer service dialogue, conversation design – to engage with buyers, build relationships, and ultimately drive conversations and revenue. I think to do it right you have to be customer obsessed.”

Getting clear on what content marketing is to her has helped Margaret to convey her goals to her team. This is a great way to ensure that everyone is on the same page, which is an important step toward team alignment.

Team Alignment: Why It’s Imperative and 4 Steps to Make It Happen

If you want to be successful in business, you need to make sure everyone on your team is working for the same goals.

Some people think having a mission statement is enough to keep everyone on the same page. But really, it’s going to take consistent effort to make sure you’re always on the same page.

Margaret provided four tips that can help marketing teams to do this.

1. It All Starts With Adequate Training

When Margaret first started working for Monster.com, she spent the first 90 days working very closely with her team. She spent a lot of one-on-one time with each team member so that they would understand how she worked, what she wanted to achieve, and what she expected from them.

You might thing 90 days is pretty impressive, but Margaret actually wishes she’d spent even more time training her team. The more time you spend with them, the better understanding there will be all around.

Spending time with your team members is an investment. You’re explaining to them how you’re all going to achieve success. And you’re doing so in a way that will allow them to be just as successful without you as with you right there beside them. (We all need vacations, after all!)

2. Incorporate the “How, Now, Wow” Content Strategy

One of the best ways to stay in alignment is to have a content concept plan. Margaret came up with a strategy that works really well for her team. It’s called “how, now, wow.” She and her team create content based on these three pillars.

• How – This is “How To” content. It tends to be evergreen information and is meant to help readers overcome problems or achieve goals. You can use this content for blogs and newsletters.

• Now – This is not evergreen content. Rather, it is now – of the moment, fresh, and modern. These are stories related to what’s trending in the news and entertainment worlds. This content can be used for blogs and social media posts.

• Wow – These stories are shared mostly via social media. They tend to evoke an emotional response and are typically funny or touching.

These three pillars form the framework that helps your team think about what you’re doing and whether you’re serving your audience well.

3. Creative Freedom, Trust, and Delegation

Once everyone is on the same page, it’s vital that you learn to trust your team. Give them the creative freedom they need to thrive. Delegate projects to them without micromanaging them. Be open to suggestions and ideas, and let your team run with them to see if they work. Just make sure they stick to your basic guidelines.

4. Maintaining Regular Communication with Your Team and Other Departments

Regular creative meetings are a must. These meetings allow your team to bounce ideas off of each other to see what will work and what won’t. It gives everyone an opportunity to contribute, which is a great way to get different angles on stories/tips that have already been written about.

Additionally, it’s important to communicate with other departments that are involved in the creative process. Power point presentations are a great way to let graphic designers and videographers know what you want and why you want it that way.

You’re Not an Island – Success in Business Comes from Teamwork and Collaboration

Your number one goal as a business owner, marketer, or employee is the success of the company you’re working for. Every task you have, every product you make, every customer you serve – it’s all for the good of the company.

And the only way you can be truly successful is if you work well with your team.

As a business owner or marketer, you have a big job to do. Trying to do everything on your own is not the way to get it done.

Make sure your team is well aligned. Learn to trust their vision, inspiration, and efforts just as much as you trust your own.

When you do that, your team will enjoy the process and work even harder to ensure the success of your company.

We’re recognized as a top content marketing & copywriting company on DesignRush! Check us and other great content marketing companies out here!

If you’d like more tips from Margaret, make sure to follow her on Twitter. You’ll find her tweets completely inspiring.

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About Margaret Magnarelli

Margaret Magnarelli is the managing editor for content and senior director of marketing at Monster, the leading global platform for connecting jobs and people. At Monster, Margaret oversees a brand newsroom made up of seven content creators (all ex-journalists) who produce articles, social assets and videos aimed at job seekers. Her team took home the Content Marketing Institute’s 2016 award for Best Content Program and was a finalist for best infographic; she was a finalist for Content Marketer of the Year. Her team also was a finalist for Best In-House Content Studio from Digiday in 2016. She’s presented on content marketing at Content Marketing World and at an ANA Content Marketing Summit. Previously, Margaret served as executive editor at Money magazine and Money.com, and has been an editor at Good Housekeeping and Seventeen magazines as well. She’s written a book on tween idols, she’s expert in all things charcuterie, and she helped define the word snarky—no, seriously.

How to Market Your Small Business in Today’s Digital Space: Part II

The last time Paul Kortman came onto the Magnificent Marketing podcast, he had so much valuable information that we ran out of time. And yet, there was so much more that he had to offer.

Thankfully, he agreed to come back and offer some digital marketing strategies for small business owners.

If you’re not familiar with Paul’s work, he’s the owner of Connex Social. This is a digital marketing agency that specializes in increasing conversions and quality traffic. He is committed to achieving his client’s business goals through solid strategy and on-time tactics every single time.

And I have to say – the guy knows what he is talking about. The strategies he recommends are pure gold. Start implementing them and you’ll notice a change in your digital marketing results.

Paul Kortman Shares Five Strategies That Are Essential in Our Digital Space

In Part II of our conversation, Paul offers these five digital marketing strategies that small business owners will find are essential to their company’s growth and success.

1. Start Producing Videos Regularly

Video is becoming increasingly important in our digital age. More companies are utilizing this medium to get in front of potential customers and to establish themselves as experts in their field.

Something that I thought was especially interesting in our conversation was this: Paul doesn’t recommend switching over solely to video.

Some people have been doing this, thinking that it’s the wave of the future.

Well, they’re half right. Video marketing is one of the best ways to market your business. However, it’s important to remember that not everyone is a visual learner. Some people process information better by reading it, while others prefer audio content to visual.

It’s important to remember, too, that people can’t watch videos whenever they want to. If they’re at work or in a public place and don’t have ear buds/earphones, their best option is to read content.

So, the goal here is to offer a nice mix of digital content: Audio, video, and written content. Doing so allows you to appeal to a wider audience.

2. Make Introductory, Testimonial, and How To Videos

When you do make videos, though, what type should you make?

Paul pointed to some of the mistakes people make with video, like talking only about what the business does. Not only can this be an incredibly boring way to make a video, it doesn’t speak to what matters most to the customer: What’s in it for them.

Another mistake is making super long videos. In the world of digital marketing, a five minute video can seem like an eternity. People just don’t have the patience for that, especially when they’re just learning about a new company.

Paul offered the following tips.

·        Make an introductory video describing what your company can do for customers.

·        Keep your videos short. Introductory videos should be 30-60 seconds.

·        Create How To videos. For instance, a shoe repair shop could make a video about how to repair shoes. You may wonder, though – won’t this take business away from them? Actually, it’s the opposite. People may try their hand at the info in your video but realize they just aren’t good at it or don’t have the time for it. In other words, they learn that they’d rather pay someone (you!) to do the work for them.

3. LinkedIn Is a Golden Marketing Opportunity

The most interesting tip about LinkedIn that Paul shared with me was this: View your LinkedIn profile as a mini sales page as opposed to a resume. If you’re a coach, people who are looking for your type of services won’t care that you worked at McDonald’s when you were a teenager.

Make sure your profile shows potential customers what you can do for them, what value you can provide for them.

4. Collaborate with Other Business Owners

This doesn’t necessarily mean collaborate with your competition. Instead, collaborate with business owners who are in the same sphere, or similar network, as you. These are the folks who provide a product or service that your target audience would be interested in.

Collaboration is all about sharing. You do something for them, they do something for you.

You can collaborate by working on a webinar or podcast together, or writing guest blog posts. You will promote their content on your site, and they’ll promote yours on their site.

5. Encourage Your Clients to Write Online Reviews

Is your client happy with the work you did? Great – go outside of your comfort zone and ask for a review on Yelp.com or LinkedIn.

It can be intimidating to ask for a review, but think of it this way – they’re happy and most likely happy to tell others about you. And if they say no – fine. But the more you try, the more people will end up saying yes.

Keep Learning, Keep Growing As the Digital Market Evolves

Digital marketing is constantly evolving. It seems like only yesterday written content was the best way to reach potential clients. These days, it’s a mix of video, audio, and the written word.

In closing our conversation, I asked Paul about his predictions for the future of digital marketing. He told me that voice search is and will continue to be an important part of marketing.

With Siri and now Alexa, more people are searching for online information by speaking instead of typing. The technology isn’t perfect yet and can, at times, be somewhat frustrating. But technology is always changing and improving. At some point, the majority of online searches may be through one of these devices.

And that will change how we create digital content. Why? It’s simple – people tend to speak differently than they type. This will change how we utilize keywords and put information in front of people.

This is why it’s so important to keep educating yourself. We all need to do this. Learn what the trends are, and then find out how to utilize them in your business. Doing so will ensure that you always stay in front of your target market.

Do you want to get helpful tips about online marketing on a regular basis? Paul can be found on LinkedIn and Twitter. His posts will keep you up to date with the latest digital marketing trends

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ABOUT PAUL KORTMAN

I’m just a regular guy. A follower of Jesus from Michigan in the US. My story is unique just like yours. This blog varies from stories about my family and struggles with raising our kids to helpful technical articles. This is just me in zeros and ones.

Stephan Spencer’s SEO Tip: Be Outcome Focused, Not Activity Focused

Remember when you were in school and your teacher was so exhausted that they gave you “busy work” to do? There wasn’t really that much point to the work, it didn’t yield any results.

Despite our best efforts, we can become guilty of doing this kind of “busy work” when it comes to working on search engine optimization.

Thankfully, Stephan Spencer – marketing guru extraordinaire – chatted with me about how to do SEO work that is outcome focused. In other words, follow his advice and your time spent on your SEO endeavors will actually yield results, like improving your rankings.

3 Ways to Make Sure You’re Focused on the Outcome, Not the Activity

Your goal when working on SEO should never be to do busy work. In other words, you want to focus on work that gives you results, or a great outcome. Here are three easy ways to make that happen.

1. Write Good, Thoughtful Content for SEO and for Humans

Stephan made a really good point about writing content. He said: “What you create for humans should be good for SEO, what you create for SEO should be good for humans.” Makes sense, doesn’t it?

And yet, a lot of us get too caught up in how many keywords we have in our piece and how many variations of that keyword we can add to it.

Stephan’s advice: Don’t worry so much about the number of keywords you use – worry about where and how you use them.

That means making sure your content is easy to read and full of helpful information. It also means that you need to let your readers know right away what your content is about.

For instance, Stephan pointed out that if you write a page about blue widgets, it will rank better if you talk about blue widgets in the first paragraph as opposed to waiting to mention them until the last paragraph. Making this mistake is like saying, “Oh, I forgot to tell you – this whole page was about blue widgets.”

2. Don’t Use a Keyword Just in Your Title Alone

Another keyword tip that Stephan had was related to the title of your page and keywords.

A lot of people are really concerned about the H1 title tag and using a focus keyword there. This could be useful, as long as you use your keyword thoughtfully throughout the rest of your blog.

Let’s go back to the blue widget example.

If you use the H1 tag for your title, add a keyword to it, but then don’t add that keyword anywhere else on the page, it doesn’t really look like the page is about the topic that you claimed in the title it would be.

Instead, it looks like you did a little bit of SEO and thought, “Oh, I want to work in an extra keyword in there. I hope I rank for it. I’ll drop it into the title tag where it gets the most weight.” But if there’s no mention of that word – or even a synonym of that word – on the page, you’re not likely to rank very high for that keyword.

So yes – the title is the most important place to put your main keyword, but you have to make sure you use that keyword again thoughtfully within the context of your page.

3. Link From Page to Page on Your Website – But Thoughtfully

On the Home page, you should link to your most important services, products, landing pages, and articles.

But you want to place those links strategically on your page.

A lot of website owners put links to other pages down at the bottom of their Homepage, listing “featured pages” or “featured blogs.”

People don’t have the patience to read everything you’ve written on the Home page. It’s not likely that they’ll end up scrolling down to the bottom to find out more about you and what you have to offer them.

Many websites make the mistake of having a home page where the visitors have to scroll and scroll until they finally get to some content near the footer of the page.

And then the content reads like this: “Welcome to our email marketing services company. We provide email marketing tools and email marketing consulting, and our email services are some of the best out there, and if you're looking to get email marketing best practices…” and it goes on.

Then, all of the keywords are hyperlinked to services pages.

This is not only uninteresting to read – people know that it’s been written with search engines in mind, not people.

Your visitors aren’t the only ones who won’t be impressed. Search engines have algorithms that check for this type of hyperlinking and keyword stuffing, and they penalize websites that do those things.

Your goal should be to make things as interesting and as easy as possible for your site visitors. Somewhere along the top of your page, have some sort of image that people can hover over with their mouse and click through to the services page.

While it’s important to change the images alt attributes for SEO purposes, a text link is even more important when it comes to search engine rankings.

A text link along with a useful image looks like your website is designed with humans in mind – not just search engines. For example, have your nice little image along with the text “Our Email Marketing Services.”

Focus On the Results-Based Low-Hanging Fruit Instead of Busy Work

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the idea of improving your SEO efforts. It seems like every day there’s new information about how to get better rankings, how to make more money from your website, how to attract more clients and customers.

All of that information can become really distracting, causing you to focus on busy work that you can cross off your To Do List but that leaves you with minimal results.

Focus instead on what Stephan calls the “low-hanging” fruit – like the tips above – and you’ll start seeing results without feeling overwhelmed.

Are you ready for more helpful tips from an internationally renowned marketing guru? Then, make sure to follow Stephan on Twitter and read his information-packed blogs regularly.  

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ABOUT STEPHAN SPENCER

Stephan is an internationally recognized SEO expert and bestselling author. He is the co-author of The Art of SEO, author of Google Power Search and co-author of Social eCommerce, all published by O’Reilly. The Art of SEO, now in its third edition and weighing in at nearly 1000 pages, is considered THE bible on search engine optimization, boasts testimonials from such industry giants as Seth Godin and Tony Hsieh, and is even used as a textbook at universities. 

Stephan founded Netconcepts in 1995 and grew it into a multi-national SEO agency before selling it in 2010 to paid and organic search software/services agency Covario, which was in turn acquired in 2014 by ad agency conglomerate Dentsu Aegis. Stephan invented a pay-for-performance SEO technology called GravityStream that was also acquired and is now part of Rio SEO.  After completing his earn-out in 2010, Stephan continued in the online marketing, ecommerce, and SEO space as a highly sought-after SEO and digital strategy consultant. His clients post-acquisition have included Zappos, Sony Store, Quiksilver, Best Buy Canada, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Chanel, to name a few.

Stephan has spoken at countless hundreds of Internet marketing events, including all the major search & e-commerce conferences (SES, SMX, PubCon, Internet Retailer, Shop.org, eTail, etc.). He’s been a contributor to the Huffington Post, Multichannel Merchant, Practical Ecommerce, Search Engine Land, DM News and MarketingProfs, among others.

Stephan is also the creator of Traffic Control, a three-day seminar on SEO, co-creator of the three-day professional development seminar Passions into Profits along with co-founder Kris Jones, and the host of two podcast shows, The Optimized Geek and Marketing Speak.

Stephan is on the board of Impact Network, a 501c3 nonprofit which builds and operates schools in Zambia.

He holds an M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.