SEO Is Dead! Or, Well, Not.

Ready for a new round of why an online marketing discipline is pushing up the daisies? Sure you are. Soundtrack, please!

So in my professional feed recently, there's been much back and forth about how the job skills based in SEO work are now being transitioned to social media, because that's how Those Wacky Kids find stuff, and we're all about the leads, and those are coming from social now. (Also, How SEO Is Dead, Dead, Dead, because no form of Internet advertising is allowed to just be; it's either on the rise or at death's door.)

But on some level, this speaks to a generational shift that's more than platforms or sites, and will require more nuanced thought. Which leads me to the following bit of theorizing.

The first way to find anything on the Web was to either go to portal pages and be passive, or to take the wheel with search engines and drive as an active user. Users who grew up with closed system software, no "wisdom of crowds", and the relatively sudden wonder of a world-changing utility were used to finding their own information. It may have been time-consuming, or frustrating, but on some level, they took pride in the accomplishment, and were indoctrinated to that way of working.

The active users today are using esoteric search engines, maybe even checking the dark Web, and going far beyond ordinary sites. They are also more at risk for viruses and malfeasance, because black hat coding is a world-wide crime of opportunity. In addition to that chilling, the passive users are outnumbering them, because mobile traffic is outpacing desktop / laptop. So instead of being directed by the portal page, passive traffic comes from content aggregators and social media tastemakers or algorithms. Passive is more prevalent, and for an entire generation used to small screen hardware, "active" surfing is a rare event.

What I suspect will happen from all of this is a separation of traffic worth and levels. In many consumer categories, it's defensible to de-select mobile traffic, the same as you might countries where your product is not supported. It's defensible today, and demographically, it may be defensible for a very long time. Which doesn't really speak to the SEO Death Knells, especially when you take into consideration the following.

Just because search hasn't changed very much in the past 10 to 15 years does not mean that's going to continue. Wearable technology, the Internet of Things, increasingly accurate voice recognition, all have significant power to make SEO grow again. So does data analysis that shows commerce is platform driven, or the profound spend level difference between demographic classes, especially with the rough employment conditions facing Millennials. This can and might all change again, in ways that are very hard to predict.

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You have read this far, so feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I also welcome email to davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or you can visit my agency's site.

In addition to copywriting, direction and strategy, we also provide design, illustration, photography, coding and hosting. Tell us what you need done, and your budget, and we'll work out an RFP.

The Best Creative Advice

Add One Stone

This will take a little while to explain, but I promise that the payoff is worth it.

A few cycles ago, I was very concerned about the US presidential election. So my wife and I donated a vacation level of payment to the campaign of our choosing. I am also the kind of person that does not believe in half measures, so I backed up the donation by also putting my feet on the line. On weekends, I would drive about four hours to a neighboring state (yes, a “swing” state) so that I could knock on doors and help get out the vote. There was one experience in particular, from this, that has always stuck with me, and made my work as a marketing and advertising pro much, much better.

The state in question allowed for early voting, and voting by mail. So the goal of the campaign was to “bank” as many votes as possible, by getting as many of “our” voters locked down. Then, the campaign could reach out to voters who were less likely to get to the polls, or who had no party affiliation.

The longer you do this kind of work, the more you are around people who are committed to your candidate’s victory… and the less likely you are to think charitably of undecided voters, especially those who are in your own affiliation. On some level, they are worse than people in the other camp, since they are taking up more of your time and energy. As Election Day gets closer, it seems more and more irresponsible to be undecided. It is very easy to go down the mental path, especially at the end of a long day pounding the pavement, to ask who are these people, really. Maybe, even more darkly, why their vote should count as much as others, since they are clearly not willing to be full citizens.

This was all running in the back of my mind one hot Saturday as I was canvassing an undecided woman, who our records had as in her mid-60s. As she came to the door, I noticed an elderly woman in the background, and quickly checked my notes to see if there were other voters in the house that I should also try to contact… and yeah, there was. Her mother, in her late 90s. But a quick read of my voter, and the waves of fatigue that were just apparent in her body language, stopped me short. So I told her who I was, why I was on her doorstep, and then just listened.

She told me, in a polite but matter of fact manner, that she was undecided because she never decided before watching the presidential debates, and that this had been her method for decades. She also told me that her mother was unable to leave the home anymore, so she worked three jobs to support them both. My time was probably not going to be well spent talking to her mother about voting, but I was welcome to, if I liked. I told her about voting by mail, which was welcome news, as it let her vote without finding someone to cover the house on that day. I gave her the paperwork and went on my way.

Now, does every undecided voter have such an incredible humanity and reason to be that way? Of course not. But was it fair of me to put all undecided voters into my previous unkind stereotype? No. More importantly, that negative attitude could easily keep me from presenting the best face for the cause I was representing.

Now, as to how this relates to copywriting, marketing and advertising.

There is a tendency, especially when you are working in a downmarket product or service, to think unkindly of your prospects and buyers. They only buy on price, or worse yet, because of trends or fads and so on. We need to distract them with packaging, or branding, or an offer that is not really an offer. They live where we do not, care about different things, dress and eat and listen and watch to social and cultural mores that are not our own. We do our jobs mechanically, or in execution steps to statistical projections, and do not put ourselves in the shoes of the buyers.

It is, simply, the wrong way to work. It will keep you from finding the heart in your offer, keep you from acting in the best interest of the brand, and leave you feeling drained at the end of the day, or just happy to punch the clock.

Instead, have a moment of charity. Tell a different story about your prospect. Imagine them to be, as in the case of my caretaking voter, a person with a kindness of spirit, and challenges, that are far greater than your own. Consider what small moments of happiness, or relief, or comfort, could be achieved by the purchase of your products or service.

I promise you, at the end of the process, you will do better work. You will also, most likely, feel better about what you are doing for a living.

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You have read this far, so feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I also welcome email to davidlmountain at gmail dot com.

Five Points Of Wisdom From Turning Something-Something

Oh, Google, You Always Get Pixels

Today's my birthday (Thanks, Mom! You really did so much more on this day than I did!), which means I'm going to get some fun stuff and be in a kind and giving mood. I'll also reflect on What It All Means, and note that when you celebrate enough orbits around the sun and start to find yourself in a different demographic than your start-up colleagues, there are things you'd like to say to people... even if they don't work in your department. (You also get old enough to be a little brave about stuff like that.) So before you all tuck into my Google cake, the following gift requests from outside my realm.

5) HR Departments: Hire the Right Handed Purple Unicorns.

When you are short-staffed, there's a temptation to try to find new hires who can fill several small holes, or have someone fill roles that seem mutually exclusive. So the traffic manager who dabbles in design does that on the side, or the designer who writes good emails picks up some copy writing, or the receptionist does QA, and so on, and so on. So long as its junior level roles, or for low-leverage assignments, this is fine, and a good way to build redundancy, especially when you need to cover during illness or vacation.

Where it gets into dysfunction is when you try to hire for it at senior levels. And while it's understandable, especially in an age where benefits and salaries are blocking agents, and every dollar has to stretch... but, well, there just aren't so many people that get to expert level and beyond at multiple disciplines. So if you hold out for the perfect hire that isn't just ideal for your company and perfectly suited for a role -- i.e., a right-handed purple unicorn -- but also someone that can fill another box with a side skill?

That's, well, crazy. Not sustainable in the long run. Destined to keep your roles unfilled for some substantial amount of time, with missed opportunity costs that can be fatal for a start up. Oh, and with major issues if and when that *left* handed purple unicorn moves on. (And you'd be amazed just how often this mistake is made.) So just split out roles, take your right handed purple unicorn, and be happy!

4) Accounting: Stop Dragging Your Feet To Vendors

When you bill clients, how much do you enjoy having them push terms to the point where you have to spend most of your time chasing them down? Not at all, hopefully. So... if you aren't willing to pay your own accounts payable on time or better, you are, in fact, contributing to the same problem. Especially if you are dealing with small and/or dependent vendors, making their fiscal planning harder is just wrong, and hurts your ability to get exceptional service. Don't do it.

3) Sales: Tell Marketing... Something New

Every marketing pro worth their salt should be happy to hear from the people that actually talk to the leads the most... but all too often, those channels are siloed or closed. Having been on the marketing side of things, I can tell you why some in my world tune those folks out, and it's for one simple reason -- it's incredibly frustrating to only ever hear things that are outside of our ability to change.

So, by all means, keep us in the loop... but also keep your ears open for changes from the prospects, new areas of concern, and so on. We'll all be happier.

2) The Board of Directors: Resist Seagull Urges

You've probably heard the long-standing comparison of poor managers to seagulls, but all too often in start-ups, boards serve that exact purpose, especially with overly strong reactions to market trends. A responsive company is fine, but if last month's goals and means to get there rarely match next month's, you are just asking for turnover. An overly assertive board can get you there in a quickness.

1) IT: Please Don't Take IT Personally

I know that it seems like way too many of your co-workers are just here to create tickets and busy work for you on things they really should just learn how to do themselves... and if you had a dime for every problem that could be solved by reboot or not opening virus spams, you wouldn't have to come to work ever again... But honestly, if everyone at the start-up was always competent in their computing habits, you'd have a lot less in the way of life-saving thanks from your co-workers. Or, possibly, job security.

I can also tell you that some of the best people practice horrible computer etiquette. Also, that there is no corollary towards, say, prompt and diligent adherence to security upgrades and the ability to close a big deal, retain a critical account, and so on, and so on.

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It's my birthday! And you've read this far, so feel free to give me the present of a fresh connection on LinkedIn, or a share, comment, or like. I also welcome email to davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or RFPs at the top right of this page. Those are gifts for both of us, really...