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- Defend your search traffic, go viral on YouTube, and represent diversity well.
Defend your search traffic, go viral on YouTube, and represent diversity well.
May 9, 2024 - Edition #10
Dia Creative
May 09, 2024
May 9, 2024 - Edition #10
This week you’ll learn:
🔍 How to navigate emerging SEO threats
👥 Why authentic representation matters in marketing and how to get it right
📈 How Contour Cube achieved seven-figure sales by building an engaged TikTok following
🎥 Four steps to achieve viral reach on YouTube
⚡️ Quick Hits: Gen Z's Google preference, HubSpot's LinkedIn growth, YouTube's new shopping features, TikTok's AI influencer tool
SEO is changing faster than ever, and three shockwaves are hear to shake up your strategies — Google's Search Generative Experience, AI content farms, and the rise of social search.
To stay ahead of the curve, brands must adapt to address these challenges and capitalize on new opportunities.
Threat 1: Google's Search Generative Experience
Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) uses AI to provide detailed informational snapshots at the top of most search engine results pages (SERPs).
This zero-click experience could push your content down. SGE takes over the most coveted real estate, pushing even well-ranked organic content and paid advertisements off the first page. This shift can significantly decrease the visibility of content that previously ranked well organically.
Less visibility generally means less referral traffic. With answers served directly on the SERP, fewer searchers will click through to your site.
"You're going to lose a lot of visibility on SERPs, and you're going to lose a lot of referral traffic," warns Mike King, founder of iPullRank. "Why would searchers click on your content links if the specific answers they came for are placed right in front of them?"
But with a focus on value you can fight back:
Optimize for Featured Answers: Aim to get your content featured in SGE by enhancing its relevance and authority. Focus on providing clear, concise, and direct answers to common queries related to your niche.
Increase Relevance: Understand the intent behind user queries more deeply. Use persona-driven keyword research to align your content more closely with the specific needs and contexts of your target audience.
Target Long-Tail Keywords: Use specific, less competitive long-tail keywords (3-5 word phrases) that SGE might not extensively cover, allowing you to target niche demographics that reflect accurate user queries.
Threat 2: AI Content Farms
AI content farms are flooding search results with high volumes of keyword-rich content, threatening to drown out authoritative, manually-produced content.
To win you will need to elevate beyond generic content that anyone could produce.
Use your niche expertise. Create content around specialized topics where your brand has deep authority to differentiate from generic AI-generated content.
Expand reach beyond traditional channels through influencer partnerships, co-marketing, and community building.
Integrate real-world consumer perspectives and experiences to make your content more authentic and relatable.
Brands need to adapt to the dynamics of social search, where community engagement and influencer opinions often outweigh traditional ranking factors.
Creating holistic search experiences: Think beyond individual pieces of content and consider the entirety of what your audience seeks to learn, tailoring interactions accordingly.
Build an authentic social presence: Build trust by encouraging community members to share genuine experiences with your brand, rather than forcing promotional messaging.
Foster community building: Foster brand-centric communities where you can engage in meaningful dialogue, share news, and gather valuable audience insights.
While these emerging threats may seem daunting, they also present opportunities for brands to differentiate through authentic, audience-centric content experiences. By staying attuned to evolving search behaviors and prioritizing on quality over quantity, marketers can future-proof their SEO strategies.
The Importance of Authentic Representation in Marketing
Image Source: wearebrain.com
Representation in marketing is crucial for engaging diverse consumers, but not all representation is equal. As more brands prioritize inclusive visuals, marketers must learn to do representation the right way.
Representation Goes Beyond Photos
Consumers believe a brand is inclusive when representation is present throughout your entire brand, including:
Products: Ensure products cater to the differences of the people you serve.
Content: Build a content plan that represents your target audience, from videos to podcasts to influencers.
Teams: A representative team demonstrates true commitment to diversity and inclusion. Hire consultants in the interim as you build.
Testimonials: Showcase success stories from underrepresented groups, despite systemic barriers they may face.
Authentic Narratives
Ensure the narratives you communicate align with the real-world experiences of marginalized communities you represent. Avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
Consumers are skeptical of sudden representation efforts that feel inauthentic.
Changing imagery suddenly to include diverse individuals can feel gimmicky if not supported by a track record. Brands in the early stages of embracing representation can earn trust through consistent, long-term support of the community.
Make representation a priority throughout your marketing mix. You will earn the attention, trust, and loyalty of underrepresented consumers. Commit to producing content that ensures they feel seen and validated.
From Prototype to Seven-Figure Sales: Contour Cube's TikTok Success
Contour Cube's meteoric rise from prototype to seven-figure sales in just two years is a testament to the power of building an engaged TikTok following, even before having a finished product.
Leaning into Scarcity
After an initial viral TikTok post sold out their first 100-unit run, Contour Cube continued promoting the product even when out of stock.
Instead of letting the momentum fade, they cleverly leveraged the scarcity to their advantage by:
Collecting Emails: Added a waitlist notification signup, gaining 20,000 potential customers to retarget.
Staying Active on Social: Actively responded to comments about restocking, demonstrating the real people behind the brand, making the customers feel heard.
This strategic approach to scarcity worked in Contour Cube's favor, building hype and anticipation customers eagerly awaited each restock.
Build Trust with Storytelling
Contour Cube built trust with its new audience by authentically sharing their journey on TikTok.
They showcased behind-the-scenes videos showing the product development process from idea to 3D-printed prototype, which gained over 1M views in a single day.
The founder's mom nervously shared the product inspiration, driving 7M views and humanizing the brand.
They posted educational tutorials on using the product and recipes expanded their reach into the broader self-care space.
As co-founder Sarah Forrai explained "I now recommend other small business owners start filming every step of their product development and growth journey... Even the small moments that feel boring to you can engage potential customers and make them excited to root for you (and buy from you!)"
Contour Cube took imperfect action and brought their customers along for the ride. Their vulnerability helped turn an audience into a community. This TikTok-first approach to learning alongside their customers continues to fuel their growth.
YouTube offers immense potential for businesses and marketers to expand their reach and engage their target audience.
Its algorithm is a sophisticated AI system that manages content distribution across various traffic sources like the Home page, Search, Shorts feed, and Suggested videos.
Each of these sources has its own subset of algorithms that work together to determine which videos are recommended to viewers.
To grow, you need your content to perform well and be recommended to wider audiences. This four-step approach to achieving success on YouTube focuses on providing value to your audience and using data-driven insights.
1) Lay the Groundwork
Clarify your goals, intentions, and monetization pathway. Germain recommends keeping monetization on to offset operating costs and benefit from AdSense revenue.
Adopt a creator mindset focused on providing value to your audience rather than solely seeking personal gain. Creators with a selfish "taker mentality" often burn out, while successful YouTubers with a "giving mindset" prioritize delivering valuable educational, entertaining, or inspiring content to their audience.
2) Research and Reach
Develop a programming strategy by reverse-engineering patterns in your target audience's viewing habits. Look for patterns in:
Topics: Subjects covered in videos
Title structures: How titles are formatted and written
Thumbnails: Design and packaging of thumbnails
Content and editing: Pacing, style, format, and techniques used
Reverse-engineering these successful patterns allows you to create content tailored to your audience's preferences, increasing the likelihood of YouTube's AI recommending your videos.
3) Test and Optimize
Create 8-10 test videos incorporating the patterns discovered in your research. Mix and match these elements to increase the likelihood of breakout videos:
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Percentage of impressions that turn into views. Aim for above 2-3% CTR on thumbnails.
Average View Duration: How long viewers stay engaged on average. Create engaging content that keeps viewers watching.
Views Per Viewer: Number of videos watched per viewer session. Optimize end screens and playlists to encourage binge-watching.
Find what works best, and refine your approach based on this data-driven feedback.
4) Create a Workflow
Establish systems and processes to ensure a smooth, sustainable workflow as your channel scales. Implement SOPs and assign key roles like thumbnail design, video editing, and channel management to sustain growth.
Like any marketing channel, YouTube takes effort and patience. Focus on what the data says your audience finds most valuable. Serve their needs and your reach will grow.
⚡️ Quick Hits
Google's Dominance with Gen Z remains strong with 46% of users aged 18-24 starting their searches there.
HubSpot's LinkedIn Growth shows an 84% increase over six months using a casual, meme-friendly approach.
YouTube's New Shopping Features introduce product collections and an Affiliate Hub for enhanced seller revenue.
TikTok's AI Influencer Tool enables virtual influencers to autonomously promote products.
What we’re working on right now
📊At Dia Creative, we ensure exceptional ROI and ROAS with the development of a four part onboarding mindset for new clients.
This is how we ensure quality, growth-minded output every month:
Research: Unrestricted by industry, driven by proven results. This is our foundation.
Strategy: Creative is not just our design team, but our entire philosophy and that's why we excel.
Execution: Your Manager is the perfect blend of strategy & seamless execution to deliver results
Optimization: Regular analysis, ideation and new experiments drive our strategy and execution.
With an effective process, we are able to achieve and surpass monthly goals for the brands we work with. It's a framework that allows us to organize internally and execute with precision and intention.
Curious to know where your marketing strategies could be optimized? Book a meeting with our team this month and get a free strategy session to review your brand email, content and SEO strategy and learn how we can grow your business.