AI & the Human Connection: Highlights from Content Marketing World

Category: Content

  • AI & the Human Connection: Highlights from Content Marketing World

    AI & the Human Connection: Highlights from Content Marketing World

    Last year, the “Robots will never take our jobs!” vibe drove strong emotions from speakers and attendees. This year, though AI surfaced in nearly every session, I was pleasantly surprised by the challenging, yet optimistic, perspective I gained from each session.

    It felt like the dust has settled on the AI Freakout of 2023, and industry experts are feeling more enlightened than afraid of the possibilities of AI in marketing. Session discussions were wiser, focusing on how AI tools can help creators reconnect with and leverage our humanity in the creative process—not how to avoid the creative struggle that produces the best work.

    Rather than turning creative work over to AI, marketers should use it to give creative teams more room for innovation and creativity. In doing so, brands can find their way back to the heart of marketing—understanding the pain points and human needs of their audience—and create content that leads with emotion to achieve customer satisfaction and realize our business goals.

    Three main themes surfaced among the keynotes, my session with Jennifer Perez of North Orange Continuing Education, and the sessions I was fortunate to attend.

    1. ‘Friction Work’ Should Still Be ‘Human Work’

    Robert Rose, internationally recognized content expert and founder/chief strategy officer of The Content Advisory, kicked off the conference keynotes by introducing the elephant in the room: Marketers today are treading water.

    Trying to do *all the things* with strapped resources hinders creativity. The creative struggle, which Rose calls “valuable friction,” is the work that makes us wiser as marketers and strategists. Friction sparks fire, and first leads to innovation.

    So don’t be tempted to turn friction work over to AI, cautions Rose. Passionate content marketers create authentic, unexpected, and enlightened thought leadership pieces that drive meaningful, SEO-rich engagements. Stories appeal to consumers in a way that generic AI content simply can’t (yet).

    Instead, Rose challenged brands to leverage the efficiencies of AI to turn the building blocks of your creative process into strategic steps—making space for your strategists to take those ideas to the next level. Companies that lean into the power of tech-supported human creativity and innovation will become the content authorities in the age of AI.

    Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, echoed Rose’s sentiment that with great speed comes great responsibility—to use generative AI appropriately and authentically in content creation.

    GenAI invites us to ask important questions that can help marketers create content more efficiently. But, Handley asks, is speed always the goal?

    In the creative process, fast does not always (often?) equal good. And “good” is not good enough for brands that want to make an impact. So, Handley said, we must be strategic in the shortcuts we take. Otherwise, we risk losing the storytelling spark that makes our brand content unique, along with the experience that makes our audience feel seen.

    2. Highlight the Outcome, Not Just the Process

    R. Ethan Braden, Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Texas A&M University, gave a moving keynote that hit this message on the head. After making everyone tear up over Google’s 2013 “Reunion” ad—a sentimental reunion between two grandfathers who were childhood friends, powered by Google Search—Braden reminded the audience that brands aren’t selling a thing or a service. Rather, brands provide an experience that resolves a need or fulfills a wish.

    Braden showed a photo of a drill bit and explained that consumers typically don’t buy something just to own it. There’s a need to fill and emotions connected to that need. The satisfaction isn’t in owning the item; it’s the feeling one gets from its use.

    Paraphrasing Seth Godin, Braden said consumers buy drill bits to make holes, but the holes aren’t the outcome your product/service fulfills. The consumer buys a drill bit to hang those family photos that have collected dust on the floor for a year. That satisfaction is the moment the drill bit company should appeal to in their marketing—and today’s AI tools can’t capture those sentiments as well as a human can.

    Erika Heald, founder of Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, provided guidance for setting up your brand strategy to put this sentiment in motion with the use of AI tools. Since how consumers talk about (and search for) answers to their needs changes rapidly, it can be challenging to make sure your brand voice echoes their desired outcome.

    Heald suggests using AI to create a list of dos and don’ts for brand content creation. You can train the tool with examples of “good” and “bad” branded content, then ask it to create a table or document that outlines the sentiment with which your brand aims to align.

    Heald did not suggest using AI to fully create important branded content for you—the current AI tools are designed to support the creative process, not take it over entirely. When we turn over creative work to AI, she cautions, it will be obvious that your brand’s humanity has been glossed over with generic phrasing.

    3. Get Vulnerable with Your Audience

    Jennifer Perez, Director of Campus Communications, North Orange Continuing Education (NOCE), highlighted the importance of empathizing with your audience beyond the marketing personas AI can help create.

    NOCE provides free career upskilling services, ranging from citizenship and English as a Second Language courses to IT and Bookkeeping training for underserved adult learners in Orange County, California. But for many students, the desire for job training floats in a sea of unmet needs: substandard housing, food insecurity, and limited flexibility due to lacking childcare or work schedules. Missed the session? Email me to get the slides.

    NOCE provides supportive services to help underserved adult learners meet these needs, reducing the mental load so students can get the education they need to thrive. Perez noted in her presentation with Stamats that only by inviting members of their audience to be vulnerable in personal conversations—in person, over Zoom, and by survey—can NOCE help students achieve their educational and professional goals.

    Analisa Goodin, CEO of Catch+Release, showcased the power of understanding your audience by leveraging user-generated (UG) content. She played a heart-tugging Mother’s Day video ad from Teleflora’s “The Hardest Part” campaign that captured the trials and joy of motherhood. The piece was created almost entirely with licensed UG content found through the AI-driven search function of the Catch+Release platform.

    Goodin noted that leveraging UG content mutually benefits creators, audiences, and brands. Creators love the content engagement. Audiences value seeing real people feel authentic emotions. And brands can appeal to the emotional impact that drives consumers to action.

    Change Is Here—How Will Your Strategy Grow?

    Artificial intelligence tools are changing how creatives tell your brand story. But if your team or vendor believes that churning out high-speed, low-authenticity content for your brand is good enough, it’s time to reconsider your strategy.

    As these CMWorld experts remind us, marketing success is built on human innovation and creativity. While AI can improve efficiency, strategic use is imperative. Brands that find content success in the age of AI will be those that respect the balance of humanity and mechanics, continually optimizing the use of AI to support and challenge creators in content delivery.

    Ready to revamp your content strategy? Email me today.

  • How Long is Too Long for a Webpage?

    How Long is Too Long for a Webpage?

    When the User Becomes Bored, Your Page is Too Long

    I know, I know, this isn’t a clear-cut answer. So, let’s dive deeper into what this really means.

    Internal clients often have a lot of information they want to put on their webpage. However, if the user quickly glances over or clicks away before consuming it, the internal client still will not have delivered the information.

    No amount of research will give you a word count for your user’s attention span. We can, however, measure their attention as they interact with a page. We can identify what they pay attention to and what they ignore.

    When You Stop Answering User Questions, Your Page is Too Long

    As we study audiences, we also come to understand what questions they ask and what content answers those questions. Therefore, we analyze a page for where the content and the attention span part ways.

    Each year, I watch thousands of videos showing how visitors interact with a page. (We only see the page data—not the visitor data.) Almost everyone scrolls immediately, stopping at points that interest them, usually identified with a heading or a graphic. After a quick scan, if interested, they will scroll again a bit slower.

    Easy Scrolling & Scanning Matter More Than Word Count

    Teenagers scroll fast, whether on social media or your website. How easy your page is to scroll and how quickly and effectively it grabs their attention matters more than word count.

    The more unwieldy your content becomes, the tougher it is for your audience to take the next conversion step. A short page with clunky graphics or a hard-to-spot call to action performs worse than a long page that’s well organized.

    On average, a prospective student visits your site 4–12 times before they take a conversion step, such as Schedule a Visit or Apply. That means they might visit the same page more than once, and each visit has a slightly different job to do.

    For example, the first visit to a program page is to see if they have your program. Several visits later, they might (or might not) be interested in the course details. Making those answers easy to spot on a quick scroll makes your page perform better with return visitors.

    Let the Audience’s Goals Organize Your Content

    Focus first on whether the content addresses the audience’s needs and questions. Define your audience, and then ask yourself, does this content answer their questions? This might seem overly simple, but it is a crucial step.

    For example, do prospective students really need to know the department’s mission, vision, and values? Challenge your assumptions. Even if a faculty member or current student seeks that content, would a prospect?

    Now that we know the audience and agree that the content is necessary, let’s break down a couple of other key parts of any webpage, regardless of length.

    About 60% of users will scroll 90% of the page. Once you exclude those that immediately bounce, this is a fairly strong scroll pattern. The question is, do they pause to consume the content?

    Give Them Clear Calls-To-Action

    A webpage’s effectiveness often hinges on its ability to guide users towards specific actions. Clear and conspicuous calls-to-action (CTAs) serve as signposts, directing visitors on the desired path—whether it’s signing up for a newsletter, applying to a program, or registering for an event.

    Well-designed CTAs, strategically placed throughout the page, drive conversions and make for a better user experience. On a longer page, they can appear as buttons, inline links, and callout features, so the user doesn’t go too long without an action to take.

    Users expect to click again. They want to take actions that make sense for their journey. Many websites repeat the same conversion-goal CTAs on every page (often it’s Apply, Visit, Request Info). On longer pages, however, be sure to add CTAs that are smaller and specific to the user’s current journey point. You don’t need to make every CTA loud, either.

    An “Apply” CTA in body text can outperform the same callout in the top navigation!

    Listen to our podcast: Why CTAs are a Big Deal

    Interlinking: Body Links Work

    Mobile users are even more likely to click on body copy links, probably because menus and callouts disappear quickly when scrolling fast on a small screen. We know most people are not ready to convert immediately, so we want them to dive deeper into your offerings before leaving.

    That’s where interlinking comes into play. Add links to relevant pages on your site throughout your content so that your readers can easily follow their questions to next steps.

    Read More: Brick by Cascade Brick: A Smarter Way to Build Your Web Content Strategy

    Accordions: Use Only to Improve UX

    Accordions hide content from the scrolling user. That’s both a virtue and a danger. You might be tempted to bury longer content in an accordion section. However, you should examine the content carefully and build the best user experience (UX) for that content. Don’t hide content that people need to read.

    A good rule of thumb for an accordion: If I need to scan all the headings and pick a few to read more, make it an accordion. If I need to read all the content, consider expanding “read more.” Having to open each section just makes extra work.

    Keep the Topic on One Page

    You might also be tempted to break a long page into several smaller pages. Help them scroll by giving them useful headlines, callouts, and clear answers to their questions. Nobody says “too long; didn’t scroll”—keep the ideas together and let them scroll. It’s better than several pages with very meager content.

    Regardless of length, your webpage should answer questions, allow for user engagement, and be easy to navigate.

    Key Advice to Crafting Your Page

    • Although people do scroll, put the most important information at the top. Consider that your bumper sticker for the page.
    • Use larger text at the top and key messages.
    • Break up text with headlines and design elements.
    • Keep key information on the left side of the page; it’s more likely to be picked up as they scroll.

    Ready to take your webpage to the next level? Stamats experts are here to help. Email us today.

  • 18% Enrollment Increase, No Extra Budget Required: Pro-tips from NCMPR 3

    18% Enrollment Increase, No Extra Budget Required: Pro-tips from NCMPR 3

    Among the incredible presentations at the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations District 3 conference was Enrollment Results-Driven Marketing: Pro Tips to Increase Your Results with Your Current Budget by Tasha Hussain Black, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Marketing and Communications at Owens Community College and Lisa Starkey-Wood Account Executive at Stamats. Bringing over 40 years of experience to the table, Hussain Black and Starkey-Wood offered straightforward advice on how to work hand-in-hand with other departments on campus and maximize your existing budgets to achieve meaningful results.

    In higher education, teams often operate in siloes. Admissions works independently from marketing, which works separately from student life and academics. But when these departments synchronize and work together, marketing strategies become stronger. Unified efforts can lead to innovative solutions and greater impact overall.

    So, without further ado, let’s dig in.

    1. Align Your Ad Spend Budget with the Enrollment Cycle

    One of the most common opportunities for budget optimization is to treat each month’s allocated ad spend like a unique budget. We know all months of the enrollment cycle are not created equal—splitting ad spend evenly across 12 months of the year means that excess budget is wasted in months that don’t need the extra boost.

    Instead, plan increases in your ad spend around the most important dates in the enrollment cycle, such as application deadlines, registration deadlines, or the start of classes. Strategic timing delivers your messaging to prospective students when they’re most engaged and likely to interact. If the start of your fall semester overlaps with your winter nursing application deadline, increase your ad spend in the months leading up to those dates to increase conversions and see results.

    Using this strategy, Owens Community College increased their conversions by 135% with a 53% decrease in cost per lead within two months of launching their campaigns with Stamats—without any increase in their ad spend budget. Aligning your ad spend strategy with prospective student behaviors in addition to daily campaign optimizations leads to meaningful results.

    Related Reading: Strategic Planning Checklist: Tips for Higher Ed Marketing Teams

    2. Push Admission Deadlines in Ad Campaigns

    Deadlines spur people to action. Dates turn the dream of getting a degree from a notion to a real goal with steps. Let’s say classes start in January. A good time to push the deadline, according to Hussain Black and Starkey-Wood, is starting in November, giving people time to apply and arrange their lives to fit classes into the mix. This timeline aligns with when Owens tends to see application numbers increase before the start of each semester.

    Ads aren’t the only place to push deadlines. Campaign landing pages should also emphasize application timelines and align with the copy in the ads. Owens Community College uses a countdown banner on their campaign landing page starting 45 days prior to the deadline. This way, prospective students can visualize exactly how much time they have left to enroll in this cycle and see a consistent message on their journey from the ad to the campaign landing page.

    Owens website homepage.

    Something as simple as promoting your upcoming deadlines can help push your campaign to the next level. Using this method to promote their January deadline, Owens Community College achieved a 57% increase in conversions and a 40% increase in click-through rate. This was a remarkable success, especially considering the increased competition for ad space around the holidays.

    Related Reading: How to Increase Application Yield

    3. Incorporate Admissions and Campus Events in Your Ad Strategy

    Ad copy can get stale, fast. Don’t you get annoyed when you’re served the same ad over and over? Your prospective students feel the same way.

    One way to keep ad copy fresh is to incorporate campus events and photos into your overall strategy. Showcasing events gives prospective students a better understanding of the energy on campus. It can also convince more students to visit campus–and it’s a well-known fact that students who visit campus have a higher yield rate.

    Results of Owens Community College’s 2023 open house campaign speak to the effectiveness of this strategy: 50% increase in prospective student event attendance and 49 applications attributed to open house attendees. According to Hussain Black and Starkey-Wood, one of the most frequent questions prospective students ask is what campus like will be like—there’s no better way to show them.

    Related Reading: 3 Ways Stamats Specialists Leverage Personal Higher Ed Marketing Experience for Clients

    4. Give Audiences What They Want, When They Want It

    Timing is half the battle, according to Hussain Black and Starkey-Wood. If there is a time-sensitive campaign for visiting students to enroll to take classes over the summer, it may not make sense to run those ads throughout the year. Prospective students likely are not thinking about what they will be doing during the summer until February or March. You don’t want them to see your ad in December, think “Cool,” and then forget about it.

    To give students the information they want when during the right time in their decision process, Hussain Black and Starkey-Wood worked together to create a campaign with ads and landing pages specific to visiting students, with content that went beyond generic “enroll here” messaging. They launched the campaign three months before the deadline when students would be thinking about their summer plans. This strategy led to a 13% increase in the visiting student summer program

    Making sure ad and campaign landing page copy contain messaging related to what students are interested in is very important in driving conversions. This strategy helps improve campaign performance and gives prospective students the information they are craving. To promote the Owens Community College pipefitting and plumbing program, Stamats swapped generic manufacturing ad language with verbiage tailored to the specific program. This change led to a 150% increase in conversions and $6 decrease in cost per conversion in just one month.

    Another similarly tailored campaign for adult learners, with photos, headline, and content specific to them, led to 178 conversions in just one month.

    Real Impact from Strategic Marketing: Proven Strategies to Drive Growth

    Hussain Black and Starkey-Wood left the audience with a quote from marketing specialist Jake Victor. “When your marketing is done right, your audience won’t see it as an interruption. They’re glad it came on their feed.”

    With these strategies combined, Owens Community College increased their new student enrollment by nearly 18% from 2023 to 2024. We’d love to help you develop a strategy that will increase your enrollment numbers with your current marketing budget. Schedule a consultation with Lisa Starkey-Wood to start your strategy today.

  • 3 Ways Stamats Specialists Leverage Personal Higher Ed Marketing Experience for Clients

    3 Ways Stamats Specialists Leverage Personal Higher Ed Marketing Experience for Clients

    If you’ve never worked in higher education, it can be tricky to understand the nuances. Colleges and universities have a language all their own.

    At Stamats, we’re fluent in higher ed.

    “Higher ed needs expertise,” explained Lisa Starkey-Wood, Stamats Account Executive and former director in marketing and admissions roles for Keuka College and Hartwick College. “It has to be strategic and data-driven. It’s helpful to have someone like Stamats experts drive the strategy, especially when we’ve been in their shoes.”

    Starkey-Wood is one of several Stamats team members with deep experience in higher education. Because we’ve been there, we’re well-equipped to help our clients see the big picture, understand the varied perspectives of students, faculty, and staff, and help manage change in large organizations that are often dedicated to tradition.

    In light of the changing dynamics of higher ed, it’s more important than ever to ensure marketing is strategic, insightful, and precise.

    “Whether it’s a community college or a university, the challenges facing higher education are real,” said Leslie Schmidt, Senior Digital Project Manager at Stamats and former Highland Community College marketing and community relations administrator. “We have deep expertise in the big picture challenges and day-to-day struggles our clients face, and we’ve developed solutions that work.”

    1. Outside experts with insider experience

    In a crisis or an enrollment pinch, politics can get stormy. Even the steadiest ship can get tossed on the seas of overwhelming projects and competing priorities. When it comes to knowing which way the wind blows, it helps to have a weatherman (despite what Bob Dylan’s been arguing for 60 years now).

    That’s where Stamats comes in. Our experts have walked a mile in our clients’ galoshes, and we’ve weathered these storms before.

    “One asset of people who have worked in a higher education environment is that we’ve been a part of that culture,” explained Lin Larson, Stamats Digital Strategist, who held strategic director positions through a 20-year career in marketing and communications with the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin. “But we also have enough experience outside it to see how the culture operates across different institutions and projects. It allows us to have a broader perspective.”

    When the interests of faculty diverge from the institution’s marketing goals, seas can get rough. It helps to be an experienced sailor.

    “Faculty and marcomm priorities are different, and they should be different,” explained Stamats Senior Digital Project Manager Kelly O’Brien, who held several marketing and communications roles at the University of Minnesota. “Every place has politics. Understanding how these priorities and politics intersect and how to ensure the marketing team’s voice gets heard is one way I help my clients.”

    Jennifer VanGenderen, Stamats Senior Account Manager, worked in the financial aid office at St. Ambrose University—an experience she said helps her understand how her clients work together for students.

    “Working in the financial aid office helped me understand the importance of the work they do,” she reflected. “I also learned how admissions, marketing, and financial aid all work together in the enrollment process, which I use when helping my clients make strategic decisions and think through workflows.”

    Stamats’ experts navigate with more than just expertise. They use data to make and support decisions that get results for clients—in the conference room and on the bottom line.

    “I do a lot of work in website designs and information architecture,” Larson explained. “I stress that whatever recommendations we make are supported by data. Our recommendations tend to be accepted by faculty and administrators. We don’t get a lot of pushback because we’ve done the research and we can show the data.”

    Data is central to creating designs that inspire and knowing your audience’s voice is key to motivating them to action.

    Related reading: Ban These Words from Your Higher Ed Content

    2. Speaking the many languages of higher ed

    At their best, colleges and universities are diverse, exciting places where thoughts collide, new knowledge is formed, and future leaders take shape. In that environment, there are a lot of voices talking at the same time, and it can be hard to understand who’s speaking your language.

    Stamats experts are steeped in the languages of higher ed, and we have experience crafting communications that hit the mark with distinct audiences.

    Take it from me, a former journalist and marketing specialist for Hartwick College who is now a Senior Content Writer at Stamats. You wouldn’t talk to an alumna with a Ph.D. the same way you talk to a high school senior who just visited campus. They value different things about your institution, and they’re looking for different outcomes from their interaction with you. If you use the same language for both audiences, neither one will be well served.

    Julie Toomsen, who worked in distance learning at Kirkwood Community College for more than 30 years, knows understanding how different people communicate is an important part of her role in proofreading and content migration for Stamats clients.

    “It’s always valuable to understand the different voices and audiences of higher ed,” she said, “and I always appreciate how Stamats creates and implements easy-to-navigate websites.”

    In recruitment and philanthropic materials, websites, print publications, and emails, Stamats helps our clients find their voice and make sure it resonates with the right audiences.

    For instance, recruitment communication plans are complicated by nature. Knowing when to send the right message to the right audience (and how!) can be the difference between hitting your goal for the incoming class and scrambling all summer to make the numbers work.

    We’ve been there. We’ve hit home runs for our colleges and our clients, we’ve learned how to pivot when a mistake happens, and we’ve learned how to build a strategy that gets results.

    “I can help our clients now because I’ve had to put my waders on and figure it out,” said Marianne Sipe, Senior Director of Enrollment Strategies at Stamats who’s worked in all aspects of strategic enrollment communications for Eastern Oregon University and Blue Mountain Community College. “Now I can give them that perspective. I wish I would have had someone to help me like that when I was in their shoes.”

    Related reading: Enroll More Now: 3 Steps You Can Take Today

    3. Managing change in an adverse environment

    Some higher education institutions are great at change. They’re nimble, agile, and ready to adapt. Others … not so much.

    It’s entirely understandable that large organizations built on tradition and shared decision-making can turn like a tanker. Progress can be slow and agonizing—a dangerous proposition when change is happening quickly.

    Stamats teams have led major projects resulting in major positive change. We build momentum, get buy-in, and support important decisions with data that can help us forecast results.

    “Higher ed can sometimes be a culture of ‘yes,’” explained Starkey-Wood. “When a faculty member wants something on the website, we can help say ‘no’ if what they want is not focused on the strategy, user, and student journey. We can speak truth to power when it comes to overcoming obstacles to effective strategy.”

    Just like saying ‘no,’ big picture change management can be difficult when you’re embedded in a marcomm office that needs to respond to internal pressures.

    “We did a big website project where we centralized control of the website, and we knew people were going to freak out,” O’Brien recalled of her time at Minnesota. “We prepared them by acknowledging the pros and cons, we shared the analytics and trained people how to understand them, and we formed a steering committee that included people from across campus.”

    Getting ahead of concerns and practicing transparency can help manage change, as can having someone to keep an eye on the big picture.

    “We’re helping clients look at their holistic communications plan, discover where those issues are, and track traffic from digital ad campaigns through email communications,” said Katie Eckelmann, Stamats Digital Specialist and a former director of enrollment technology and operations at Hartwick. “That helps our clients get the best ROI from working with us because we can provide that outside perspective on their overall strategy.”

    Related reading: Campus Protests: 4 Tips for Crisis Planning

    Why diversity of expertise is more important than ever

    Not every strategy is the same for every college, so Stamats experts come from a diverse range of backgrounds. We’ve been insiders at sprawling public universities and tiny private colleges. We’re as well versed in career-focused community college offerings as cutting-edge research science and religious institutional cultures.

    No matter your organization’s story, we can help you share it with audiences who want to hear from you.

    “Our clients have different needs, and we all have different backgrounds,” explained Schmidt. “No matter where our clients come from, we’ve been there.”

    As the landscape of higher education shifts, it’s never been more important for colleges and universities to produce thoughtful, strategic communications that advance institutional goals.

    “We see a lot of institutions facing real enrollment challenges, and we see some closing up shop. I don’t think that is going to change,” Larson reflected. “I think that going to college, earning traditional credentials and new credentials, is going to continue to be important. But the market is shrinking and changing, and it’s going to move in some ways we don’t expect.”

    That’s why understanding what the data mean for your institution and executing strategic communications is more important than ever.

    “The enrollment cliff is real,” said Sipe. “Marketing and communications are essential because these strategies help schools attract students who are a good fit. It’s so important to have the conversation about value and to be prepared for when employers start prizing credentials again.”

    The combination of inside expertise and outside perspective allows Stamats to offer clients particularly effective guidance in challenging times.

    “The stakes are so high, and for many of our clients, resources are being cut,” O’Brien reflected. “It’s incumbent upon us to understand and anticipate the trends, to work with our research team to know everything we can about jobs, outlooks, and demographics, and to help translate that for our clients so they can be ready for opportunities.”

    Are you ready to get some help with your digital, content, and enrollment strategy projects? Stamats’ team of experts is here to help. Contact us to get started.

  • S1, E8: Why Do Blogs Outperform Regular Pages?

    Blogs answer questions, and they’re timely. Stu and Mariah chat about the many reasons why blog stories often outperform program and service webpages. 

    August 19, 2024

    Season 1, Episode 8

    Blogs answer questions, and they’re timely. Stu and Mariah chat about the many reasons why blog stories often outperform program and service webpages. 

    Listen to Episode


    Show Notes
    Transcript

    Mariah Tang: Did I say that out loud? Welcome to “Did I Say that Out Loud?”, a podcast where Stu Eddins and Mariah Tang reflect on agency life and answer questions from our higher ed and healthcare clients about the latest in digital marketing, content and SEO.

    Mariah Tang: What’s wrong with my kid? Why is his poop weird? You know, things like that things you don’t want to ask anybody out loud. So you Google it? Did I say that out loud?

    Stu Eddins: We’re going to talk about something today. That’s kind of cool. Why do blogs outperform regular content? Now regular content can be in healthcare service line pages. It could be program pages for higher ed. It can be product description pages, if you’re selling things like services or product bundled with services online. In other words, we’re talking about your regular website content, or wanting a blog content. And often blog content is considered variable content. Because it changes a lot. It’s not that you know, you’re you’re you’re at the whim and fancy of whoever’s writing a blog, though, sometimes you are. That’s not why it’s variable. It’s at the same topic can be discussed from multiple angles. And that can be the variability to over the years, Mariah, you’ve noticed something that I’ve noticed, and I think anybody who pays attention has probably seen you see your blog articles coming out at the top of viewership over content, regular content pages time and time again. Yeah. Why do you think that is?

    Mariah: There’s a lot of reasons. Sometimes it’s a timeliness factor. So if there’s something trending in the news, or something that happened on the, you know, the TV show that’s sweeping the nation, we’ve seen this happen, too. I think it was the show, this is us. Several years ago, we were working with a hospital group out of Washington, DC, and there was a Widowmaker heart attack in one of the characters and nobody had really ever heard much about this. And so overnight, we wrote a blog about it, published it the next day, and it hit number one on Google from all the search markets. And I’ve stayed there for quite some time while the show was popular. And still, if you Google, you can, it’ll crop up. It’s because of the timeliness because there wasn’t a lot of content out there about it. And we just hit it at the moment where everybody was Googling, you know, what’s a Widowmaker heart attack? Or, you know, would somebody have lived if this was real life kind of questions.

    Stu: Yeah. And again, to return to healthcare, we saw the same thing. We were already I think, preparing a little bit of an outline or an article about fentanyl and opioids. And the day after Prince died, we were able to get something up. And it just roared to page one top of page quickly. Now, in some ways, Google does look for timeliness in content. And if it’s timely and news, and it’s getting signals all over the place, it will push it to the top. And, you know, we’ve had all sorts of assistance we’ve given clients to make sure that they’re right there for that lightning moment. Getting timely content, absolutely. They get noticed. And I have noticed some things that you’d have to I had a client who had a a an article, blog article on tabular constipation. The article was like seven years old, and it was always still the number one most viewed page on their website, or constipation.

    Mariah: Yeah, that brings us to point number two still looking at you. And number two, so we did that.

    Stu: Yeah, give me the $5. Bill.

    Mariah: It ‘s a relevant factor. It’s a it’s a question that is asked by just about every parent out there, you know, what’s, what’s wrong with my kid? Why is his poop weird? You know, things like that things. You don’t want to ask anybody out loud. So you Google it. And it’s those micro moments when you’re the ones able to provide that answer that it just reinforces, yes, there are other people wondering about this, too. Perhaps my kid is just fine. And I need to feed him some vegetables. And it also gives that brand reassurance that it’s coming from a Henry Ford or a UT Southwestern or another great big organization that clearly has the expertise to you know, answer these questions for you. So it’s a it’s a validation of the question you’re asking and then answering it and microfilm it. Yeah.

    Stu: And I’ve seen I see this on a lot of websites that have a somewhat active blog. I say somewhat active. It’s not like they’re posting every single day but they have some regularity to their posting. Frequency does draw attention to a blog more often, not just from Google, Bing and Yahoo, but from the people themselves. People are searching for stuff. The thing I’ve noticed is particularly with that type of a question or widowmaker heart attack somebody, there are these timely things that are out there but they have a they have a evergreen type of a presence. This is something that people have had asked about their kid from timeout of mind. This is something people were concerned about with heart conditions from timeout of mind. The best part about it is it develops traffic coming to your website. And it comes it comes from a number of different sources, a number of people groups, all sorts of things come together to lift that piece of content to the stratosphere as far as viewership. And let’s be careful here. There are also some things that are slightly more obscure topics, rare disease, or a highly specialized college programs, the search volume is not terribly high. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn it at the top by being I haven’t blogged content that’s worthy of attention.

    Mariah: My number three in my brain is always the shareability. And the relevance, if like you said, if you can own a slice of an audience or a niche topic, you can stay at the top all day long, and you’re gonna reach exactly the people that you’re trying to reach. And we work with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center on their neurology blog. And we worked with them on a story that actually won a digital health award a few years ago, it was about a day in the life of one of their fellows training to be a very specialized form of neurologists. And there was no content out there about this, the only content that really existed that we could find, were those program type pages are about our fellowship, and really, you know, lauding the universities that were, you know, putting forth this fellowship, we took it the other way, we made this fun visual timeline, we spoke with an actual resident or fellow about what this day would actually be like starting at 400, and ending at, you know, whatever the equivalent is super late at night. And it was really interesting, because it only was a matter of a week, maybe two weeks that it was at the top of Google, it was outranking Johns Hopkins, it was outranking some of the other regional academic medical centers that also offered this fellowship. But the content on those sites was boring. And the content that we put together was fun, it was relevant, it was shareable. And to your point earlier, it’s variable. So if you know for whatever reason, they change up their program, swap in a new picture, swap in a new timestamp, that contents ready to go. And it offered lots and lots of interconnectivity with the other pages from their site that admittedly were a little bit more boring. But you can link out to the, you know, the about the curriculum, you can link out to check out stories from the residence, you can link out to the virtual tour of the labs, whatever it is, but it provides that kind of fun entry point, the entertaining entry point that is really shareable because of that role.

    Stu: That’s cool. That’s pretty good. Another thing that we need to talk about a little bit. When I’m doing reporting on website Behavior Survey analytics, when I when I’m asked to track down the behaviors within a particular segment of the website, it works across everything I’ve worked in legal I’ve worked in health care I’ve worked with in the higher ed. Because the it’s not the content I’m about to ask you about. It’s about the people. And what happens is that the blog articles outshine the regular content in organic search. I once had, let’s start with the healthcare example. I once had a cardiologist that was very upset that the blog articles were ranking higher and getting more traffic than his actual, he was the stakeholder for the department, the department pages in the website, we’re not getting that type of attention. The thing we were able to do is, is help that particular doctor understand something, she had a valid concern, first off, but secondly, it opened up an opportunity to have a discussion. If you think about the way the content is used, when people have a question about heart health, when they have a question about, you know, what I want to be when I grow up when I want to what programs don’t want to take in college, that’s like that. That is the research just that that middle decision phase that people go through, they spend a lot more time there than they do at the commitment, end of that of that particular process. They want to get more information. And the more often you are able to provide information points in that decision path. You increase the likelihood they’re going to choose you for the solution. So in a way, in a way, we really do want to have the blog content coming up higher in search for specific searches. Now if somebody searches for Best Business Program and 50 miles or cardiologist in Omaha, Nebraska or so, you don’t want the blog articles coming up for that very different type of search. In fact, the two I just mentioned about proximity and about in about location, they tend to be more transactional than informational. Yeah. And that does tend to get down to that pointy end of the funnel. Where I’m ready to make a decision. Let’s get these questions answered about who’s closest who’s nearest? Who’s cheapest? Who’s best? Who’s whatever? The middle part, that section about why is my kid constipated? What’s going on with this particular heart condition that I need to be aware of? Think about, think about this way. Sex in the City came back on TV, and Mitrovic died on a peloton.

    Mariah: Can you Oh, well started?

    Stu: Well, the thing is, they also prove two things. Not only did pills and sales drop a little bit, but searches for it went up right through the roof. It was not brought the product and home exercise influenced by heart health. So yeah, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on in the immediacy of the moment when the news is hot is coming at you. But there’s also the stuff that hangs around forever. And it’s at Evergreen middle section, where you want to have more data points, more content, pages, ranking higher perhaps for specific searches, when it comes to the transactional helped me decide who questions that’s where you want your regular content pages to step forward, perhaps

    Mariah: Yeah, like you build a you build that web of context around, you build the stories, you build the examples, the testimonials that this dispelling of myths about writing your peloton at home. From that point, you can then drive them all to the logical conclusion of we need care right now, do we need to sign up for this program right now? If not, here’s some more information that you might find useful in your life. Good luck, we’ll see you when you’re ready. And so it’s really just keeping that continual conversation happening. And you know, I have to I have to be a little snarky, because that’s my way. A few years ago, well, I will say like, about 10 years ago, I had an executive tell me to my face, content, marketing is never going to be a viable sales opportunity for you, you should kind of hang it up. And from that point, it just made me more angry and more passionate about what I do what my team does what we do as a whole. And if you fast forward to today, just about every campaign that we work on, for, for big clients, for small clients, for people in the middle are recommending some aspect of storytelling, whether it’s a lengthy, you know, content marketing experience, with social ads, with podcasts, with blogs, with blog, whatever it might be, or it’s just one or two stories to say, let’s, let’s explain this. And then you can drive your campaign for ice pages with integral I mean, it’s it’s super effective, it’s relevant. And it’s, it’s by far one of the easiest entry points, I think, for organizations to get into, everybody has stories, all of your stakeholders have stories, all of your patients or students have stories, it’s just a matter of capturing them and deciding how to strategically tell those stories, while also lifting up the rest of your pages. In.

    Stu: First off, remind me never to challenge you that way. But there’s also another aspect about the difference between what I what I would consider to be the regular blog, regular website content and the blog content. One is more human than the other. We’d have to have more of a corporate voice on regular content pages. I mean, if you want to put yourself to sleep at night, go to almost any higher ed website and start reading their program catalog. That’s some pretty dry stuff. How many different ways can you can you describe business accounting classes? Well, there’s some variety, otherwise, we wouldn’t have so many offerings. But really, when it comes down to it, what you have is a backup back of the package description of what’s inside and that’s it. Yeah, it is somewhat brief. It is to the point. There’s no There’s no human connection to it much. There’s a time and place for it. Believe me, people want to know this stuff. It’s that pointy end that you spoke about the right rate, but people make their decisions with data based on sentiment feeling in humanity. They don’t make a totally Mr. Spock decision totally our logic all the time. More often than not, it’s well you know, this looks pretty good to me. And everything I’ve read so far says these people are like me to is making the human connection, that community connection, however you care to think about it. And it’s kind of vital. I’ve found it I have absolutely no hard data to back it up. Just observationally that when we have a chunk of website content, and again, it could be service line of programming, whatever you want to think of it, the the product or offering, and it’s out there and it does pretty well you’ll get X number of signups you’ll get a wide number of phone calls, and so on. But there’s a network of related blog content, variable content, you can call it blog, you can call it news, you can you can call it this is what we think whatever the heck you call it. But there’s a variability out there that had connection in that middle part of my path for decision making. What I find is if you have that content, and it connects to your regular internal content, that descriptive page, what we find is that the the conversion rate and the number of forms and calls you get, whatever it is, goes up, you can have all sorts of blog content, news content, whatever you care to call it PR content, if you don’t connect it to your regular content, all you have is a readership, you don’t tend to have the development of a lead or a prospect. And so that’s the other part that’s kind of important. Take the take the humanity you’ve developed over here with the blog or the variable content, and now with a direction with the interior content of your website that says okay, now you notice now you know we do, here’s what it is. And here’s how we take care of it.

    Mariah: Yeah, the smart organizations are, are wrapping it all together. So your blog lives within your regular website. It lives, page to page through your service lines, through your programs, whatever it is as an embed, it’s, it’s that constant interaction of hey, you’re here at this point. But remember, we have all of this other context at this other point too. And, you know, we’ve seen organizations put RFI forms on blogs, we’ve seen them put, fly now all kinds of things, kind of calls to action in the middle, you know, as long as that’s relevant. And as long as it’s driving those blog pages can be really versatile for campaigns or, you know, even just ongoing education.

    Stu: In what we’re doing marketing, we get involved with things like digital marketing, and advertising, we get involved with pay per click, we get involved with impressions and reach, we get involved with all sorts of nice little metrics that describe eyeballs on content and fingers on mouse clicks. But I’ll bet you anything, that if you have a site that has a well-developed, supporting content in blog news, or PR, whatever, again, whatever you call it, and you have the same related content on the website, in the service line program, descriptive, this is what it is content. I would bet dollars to donuts that the one gets shared among people, the other one does not. Like don’t often see somebody who’s come to that Business Accounting page and been so blown over by but they click that share button and it’s out on X tomorrow. Look how boring I am. Yes. However, if somebody reads a testimonial in the form of a blog article about the experience of being in business accounting at this particular institution, about my interactions with these pediatricians at this hospital, that read those testimonials, that humanizing content that gets shared. And as much as it pains, my digital marketing heart to say it, word of mouth wins time and time again. It is the thought leadership it is that connection you make with people. And and that variable content section is where that really gets developed at a time.

    Mariah: You can’t buy from somebody if you don’t know they exist. Right. And you don’t know they exist. So you have a problem that requires you to find out.

    Stu: Yeah, you know, we were looking for some help some help us some house cleaning firm for my parents. And there’s more transactional intent with that. So yeah, we were going right to the content pages to see what people did. But we were also paying attention to reviews. We were paying attention to the websites, blog content in this case, because it described happy customers and what they were getting it described in depth, which means you know, we clean your kitchen. Great. What does that mean? And in the blog content, a couple of them actually talked about what they clean for food safety, and put it in that context, as opposed to we wiped out your counters and cupboards. They gave a little more insight into it. We chose the one that had more supporting content, because for one thing, they gave comfort with their answers for the other thing. They also gave us something as as far as a mark, we’d say, Hey, you said you do this. I’d like to see evidence that this is really going on. This is what I expect now. So it can be helpful in that regard as well. Anyway, so we’ve talked about why blogs outperform regular content. We’ve looked at why that came be a very good thing. We’ve also discussed only briefly, the need to interconnect all this stuff when we’ve talked about interconnecting your website content on other podcasts that talk about it all. Yeah. But it is critically important to create not just the content, but the internal web of your website that links all this stuff together. But connective tissue that says, You’ve read this now do that, or you read this, here’s some more supporting information, then go do that. All of that is tied together. And yes, that’s why often blog content will outrank regular content on the website for a given theme.

    Mariah Tang: Thanks for listening to “Did I Say That Out Loud?” with Stu Eddins and Mariah Tang. Check out the show notes for more information about today’s episode. And if you have any questions, concerns or comments, hit us up anytime at stamats.com.

  • 3 Ways Career-Focused Storytelling Wins in Higher Ed—and How to Get Started

    3 Ways Career-Focused Storytelling Wins in Higher Ed—and How to Get Started

    BestColleges.com reports that student outcomes ranked second only to affordability among decision factors for prospective students. Your audience wants to know if they’ll be able to:

    • Graduate without a lot of debt
    • Get a job after graduation
    • Make enough money in their new career

    Your institution has the data to answer these questions. And you can use it to fuel a career-focused storytelling strategy that builds community with prospective students—and supports your enrollment goals.

    Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, is one example of a forward-thinking institution that’s leaning into this strategy. Here are some pro tips from Mike Barzacchini, Director of Marketing Services at Harper, and Mariah Tang, AVP of Content Marketing at Stamats, about creating career-focused stories for your institution.

    1. Show the Proof with Alumni Career Stories

    Prospective students are more likely to trust testimonials from current students and alumni than from faculty or staff. Stories from alumni naturally avoid the advertising-speak that can creep into your marketing materials—and that young consumers can spot from a mile away.

    “Career-focused stories from alumni hold so much more depth and relevance than the typical ‘graduated and got a job’ approach to alumni testimonials,” said Mike. “As a community college, we emphasize belonging, and we intentionally focus on the community impacts of our alumni. We feature stories about people who live and work here after graduation, alongside stories of alumni who are now making waves in a new community.”

    Cool Head®

    Here are four examples of career-focused alumni stories from Harper:

    • Social media: In the LinkedIn series, “From Harper to…,” Mike’s team shares the stories of Harper students who transferred to a university after graduation.
    • Podcast: The Harper Talks alumni podcast discusses the challenges alumni faced in their journey to a rewarding career and how Harper laid their foundation for career success.
    • Blog story: Eric Emery, Harper College graduate and welding inspector, drew from his education in welding and electronics to design and patent Cool Head®. This innovative device fits in a helmet to help protect welders from the harmful effects of fume inhalation and heat exhaustion.
    • Video: Harper graduate Klara Carrera is pursuing a four-year degree while working at the House of Blues. This video and text story of how the Audio/Video program at Harper prepared her to pursue a career in audio engineering performs well on Google, and that SEO power drives relevant traffic to Harper’s website.

    By promoting alumni and student success on LinkedIn, Harper demonstrates the real-world value of their career-focused curriculum.

    Pro tips:

    • Build your stories on your website and share them on social. That keeps the original content under your ownership and potentially draws SEO.
    • Share alumni stories and news in memorable, bite-sized chunks on social media and in eNewsletters.
    • Include a call-to-action to guide the prospective student to the next natural step.

    2. Answer Career-focused Questions

    Prospective students (especially adult learners) need a clear understanding of their return on investment before committing to your college. Show them why it’s worth their time, energy, and money to enroll by creating content that answers their burning—and often specific—questions, such as:

    • What degree or certification do I need to get this job?
    • How long will it take to graduate?
    • Will I make a good salary after college?

    To answer these important questions, use current career data from EMSI and other trusted resources to craft a broad overview story about a growing industry or in-demand career. Include testimonials from alumni who’ve been there, along with details such as future job demand and the degree needed to achieve their goal.

    In 2020, UT Permian Basin worked with Stamats to create a roundup story about in-demand careers in growing industries in West Texas. The story opens with an alumni story, in which a student discusses her ROI.

    The meat of the story is a description of certificates, degrees, and job titles to reach for if learners are working or trying to get into top fields like healthcare, manufacturing, or hospitality. The story still ranks on Google Page 1, four years later.

    Pro tip: Include links in the text that direct readers to specific programs and fast-tracking strategies to graduate early. Strategic interlinking to helpful next steps shows that you “get” them and you are here to help.

    3. Create a Virtual Job Shadow Experience

    Partner with local businesses in your community to give prospective students a look at what specific careers are really like. Or talk with students in particularly intense training programs to show incoming learners what to expect.

    In 2021, the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center worked with Stamats to create this award-winning timeline, A Day in the Life of a Neuro ICU Resident, to visualize a neurology trainee’s daily schedule.

    The story continues to outrank major competitors’ program pages due in part to its compelling, narrative approach to answering audience questions.

    Pro tip: “Day in the life” stories let prospective students picture themselves in a career or in your program. Offer detailed and transparent timelines—how long the program takes, when it is offered, and how to get it done around work and family.

    Career-focused storytelling lets you highlight your programs in a way that is helpful and relevant to prospective students. While it does take work to connect with alumni, gather career data, and keep your content fresh, the investment is worth the result: Click-worthy, engaging content that helps more students choose your institution.

    Ready to create career-focused stories that convert? We’d love to connect to discuss your content strategy and how career-focused storytelling can support your enrollment goals. Email Mariah Tang today.

  • 3 SEO Questions Stakeholders Often Ask—and How to Answer Them

    3 SEO Questions Stakeholders Often Ask—and How to Answer Them

    At NACCDO-PAMN, an annual marketing and public relations conference for cancer center teams, savvy content strategist Dan Cave presented data-driven answers to SEO questions his team fields from curious clinicians and stakeholders.

    Dan, the Digital Marketing and Intranet Manager at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, uses SEO best practices to improve their website’s performance and build trust among the digital and clinical teams.

    Here are three common questions and answers that Dan discussed at NACCDO-PAMN 2024.

    1. Why don’t I see our website when I search for “X”?

    Let’s say, for example, you search for “esophageal cancer.” Your search results display several healthcare institutions—but not your own. Avoid the urge to panic. This doesn’t automatically indicate an SEO issue.

    An important question to consider is, what is your intent behind this search? “Esophageal cancer” is a broad topic with many avenues to pursue: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, recovery, management.

    Google is good, but it’s not perfect. It returns the most logical results based on the most authoritative sites and best-perceived user experience.

    Answer: Search Like Your Users

    Put yourself in the shoes of someone searching for a particular term. Consider what they are specifically looking for and hoping to accomplish with that search. When you search for something, you expect to get personalized, instantly relevant answers.

    Help Google give you more relevant results by being direct and specific with your search queries. Something like “esophageal cancer near buffalo ny” (or “esophageal cancer near me”) offers more relevant results for which prospective patients are more likely to search.

    Examine stakeholder questions case-by-case to ensure you have content on your site that caters to common questions your users expect to find answers to.

    webpage of search for esophageal cancer near buffalo NY

    2. Why aren’t we ranking ahead of this other website?

    When answering questions like this, avoid going right to “we can’t control Google.” You do control your content. Don your detective hat to identify and fill your content gaps.

    Answer: Use Analytics to Identify Content Gaps

    Gather and parse your website’s data using GA4 or another solution that fits your needs. For example, before Roswell Park launched their new patient-facing website, they worked with Stamats to integrate the robust research and education that takes place there into the website content.

    After reshaping Roswell Park’s content story sitewide, they experienced a 15% increase in pageviews and 6.4% new users year-over-year, and applications to their high school summer program doubled. They were definitely getting found more!

    Roswell Park uses Matomo Analytics, which is an alternative for Google Analytics that is privacy-friendly and provides high-quality data.

    Find a data solution that works well for you and start digging. Get a clear understanding of:

    • How users enter your site (organic from Google, email, social channel, paid advertising)
    • What pages they come in on and where they go next (or if they bounce)
    • Interactions
    • What content is and isn’t driving conversions

    Review your site search history to see what keywords and phrases users are typing. This may reveal content they are unable to find and that you need to add. In this process, you begin to get a feel for the entire user journey. This helps you uncover ways to update and expand your content in ways that resonate with your audience.

    Optimize Existing Content

    SEO is always changing, so your content requires ongoing optimization to keep up. Watch your website’s metrics and remain cognizant of any notable shifts in your organic traffic, such as month-over-month changes. If something seems off, find out if there was an algorithm shift or a core update you missed. Here are some ways to prioritize your content optimization projects:

    • Keep a database of keyword opportunities
    • Use a keyword planner, such as SEMRush
    • Review Google Trends to identify terms to include

    Conduct regular content audits and flag anything that could use a refresh. Implement a strong governance policy for updating or removing content that is out of date or irrelevant. Your digital web and marketing teams need to be in constant communication, sharing data, keyword insights, and SEO opportunities.

    Create New Content

    Be aware of new developments at your institution that need web content. If you discover the content doesn’t yet exist, you’ve uncovered a golden opportunity. Work with a subject matter expert to create your new content.

    People often ask what should go on a webpage versus a blog. Healthcare and academia websites must follow a very specific content strategy for pages on the site to remain aligned with the site’s information architecture (organized structure) and goals supporting the user journey.

    Blog stories offer more flexibility. Use blogs as an avenue to address niche topics, instill brand credibility, and build trust. Not all users are at the point in their journey to make an appointment. In healthcare, use a blog to explore a novel treatment option, share new research, or tell a patient story. Blogs offer quick answers to the questions your users are asking.

    3. Why isn’t this page on our site showing at the top of Google?

    Sometimes missing content isn’t the culprit. Let’s say you have a page on a very specific topic brimming with fact-based insights, but it doesn’t show up in search. How can this be?

    If your content isn’t showing up on search, make sure each of the following is true:

    • Your content is published live on the site.
    • The search query is relevant to this content.
    • You infused relevant keywords into the content.
    • The page has been up for weeks, or even months.
    • You followed SEO best practices.

    If each of those factors is true, check the page’s content and analytics, as well as organic traffic throughout your site. Research any recent Google updates you may have missed.

    Tip: Talk with Your Technical Team

    Check-in with your user interface designer and technical team regularly to ensure your technical SEO is in line. They monitor crucial behind-the-scenes factors such as:

    • Page speed
    • Load time
    • Responsive design
    • Security (HTTPS)
    • Sitemap

    If your content is relatively new and everything is working properly, Google may simply not realize it exists yet. It can take search engines a few days or weeks to crawl your site and start the SERP ranking process for new content. Doing SEO is a mix of immediacy, long game, and detective work.

    Flex Your SEO Muscles

    A strong SEO strategy carried throughout a website can help you enhance your search result presence. As you continue to curate content, draw upon those insights and your existing pool of SEO knowledge for:

    • Content quality
    • Keyword research
    • URL structure
    • Link building

    Remember, you’re the expert. Get familiar with all things SEO. Know your web content in and out and remain educated about how Google works and what it wants. Doing this gives you the knowledge base needed to tackle issues as they arise.

    SEO is always changing, and we all must adapt along with it. Stay on top of Google’s core updates, ranking factors, and algorithm changes. As Chat GPT and Gemini impact traditional search, consider “doubling down” on longtail keywords to remain relevant in AI conversations. In addition, there are plenty of blogs, newsletters, YouTube channels, and podcasts that dig into these topics.

    SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. If you’re new to the content strategy game, start small with 5-10 pages and follow SEO and content best practices. Get a few pages of content right, then continue building from there.

    Need help with your SEO strategy? We’d love to connect and discuss your content strategy and how SEO fits into it. Email us today.

    Related reading: “Do You Do SEO?” We Do, and You Should Too

  • What Social Channels Should I Be on in Higher Ed Marketing?

    What Social Channels Should I Be on in Higher Ed Marketing?

    The answer largely depends on who your audience is and the goals of your communication plan.

    If you’re reaching out to prospective students in their teens and 20s, you may want to focus your energy on popular Gen Z social media platforms like TikTok. If you’re pushing to recruit non-traditional students and/or family decision-makers, Facebook and Instagram could be a better option.

    The best way to decide which platforms to make a push on isn’t guesswork. It’s hard data. The best way to get that data is to take an inventory of your current platforms, messaging strategies, and gaps…otherwise known as a social media audit.

    Audit Your Social Strategy

    A social media audit evaluates your overall social media presence, including your profiles, content, engagement metrics, and overall strategy. It helps you assess the effectiveness of your social media efforts and identify areas of improvement.

    A social media audit has several steps and aims to understand your social media presence, follower type, and the gaps between your goals and your current engagement. A social media audit should cover:

    • Number of platforms in use.
    • Number of accounts on those platforms, including groups: You might be surprised at the number of active, inactive, branded, and non-branded accounts you uncover when you start searching!
    • Follower counts and characteristics.
    • Engagement on each channel, such as views, shares, mentions, and comments.
    • Patterns in engagement, such as the kinds of posts your audience most engages with.

    Working with a community college in Michigan, we identified 65 accounts across six platforms, including unsanctioned and inactive groups and accounts diluting their brand messaging. Spotting those errant accounts lets you reduce digital “clutter” and create a streamlined storytelling strategy that relays the information and entertainment prospective students and families want and need.

    Part of that strategy should include effectively repurposing content to match the tone, voice, and intent of users by platform—without spreading yourself thin by **constantly** creating new content.

    Repurpose Content Without Being Repetitive

    As the godfather of content marketing, Joe Pulizzi said, “Don’t build your mansion on rented land.” In other words, if your content lives only on social media, you’re wasting an opportunity to welcome new audience members into your content community.

    Instead of publishing on social alone, create a solid content bank on your website.

    Think of social media as the front porch where you greet guests and share snippets of your life. Invite people inside your website to support their journey with helpful resources and opportunities to stay in touch. Plus, guiding visitors from social media to your website boosts your site’s SEO and allows visitors to explore all you have to offer—not just the slice of content you’re advertising.

    Listen Now: SEO is not a Service it is a Way of Life

    Keep Your Content Fresh—And Minimize Your Workload

    Creating new, engaging content can be overwhelming. How many TikToks and Reels can one person make in a day? Here’s our quick and easy guide to repurposing content while still making it feel fresh.

    Reuse Content (But Not Images)

    Changing up the images you use with written content refreshes the story with minimal effort. But when audience members see the same featured image over and over in your feed, it all starts to run together.

    Try adding a new image as your featured media when you redistribute blog stories or ads—keeping it fresh will attract new eyes and continued engagement. Add descriptive alt text for each image to improve accessibility.

    Share Video Across Platforms

    You might have heard the phrase “video is king,” but even simple animations or videos may take time and effort for your team. So, instead of making a ton of separate shorts, create one epic video and parse it out across your platforms.

    Nearly every social site is video-friendly, and you can choose the thumbnail on video-centric platforms like YouTube to keep the content looking fresh and clean. Just make sure your video is formatted correctly across platforms and includes captions to help a larger pool of people enjoy your content.

    Give Outdated Content a Glow-Up

    Too often we see organizations allowing their older content to languish on their site, in desperate need of an update. But sometimes it’s more efficient—and SEO-friendly—to refresh content rather than create something entirely new.

    For example, if you have an existing blog story about a specific program or service, but it hasn’t been touched since 2020, it may be time for a refresh. Keep the URL the same to retain your glorious SEO “juice” and gut the on-page content to update:

    • Calls-to-action
    • Images and video
    • Internal links
    • Stats
    • Search intent phrasing
    • The timestamp on the page

    Subsequently, you can redistribute that story on social media, over email, and through your other channels. This approach enhances the relevance and timeliness of your content in half the time it may take your team to write something from scratch.

    Listen Now: Why CTAs are a Big Deal

    Leverage User-Generated Content

    User-generated content consists of photos, videos, testimonials, reviews, and more. Encourage your audience to tag and mention you by reposting and engaging with their original content.

    For example, you can turn a visitor’s quote into a visual post and distribute it on various social channels. Comment on photos that tag your page or location to show the human caring and enthusiasm behind your brand.

    Related reading: How to Maximize Website Traffic with a Content Audit—and What to Do Next

    Pro Tip: Make a Reddit Strategy

    One platform that absolutely should not be neglected is Reddit. Reddit has an extremely loyal user base, with over 16% of its 500 million users visiting the site daily. Reddit is a series of forums divided by subject, with everything from r/marketing to r/cannedsardines.

    You might also notice that when googling something, the search results that pop up are often something like “best dog walkers Reddit.” Reddit has long been privileged by search engines as a wealth of public and collaborative information. Reddit posts are often spotlighted in the “discussion and forums” part of your search results. OpenAI partnered with Reddit to surface their content in ChatGPT—making the platform a powerful game-changer in AI.

    Posting on Reddit involves a long-term strategy for success. Engage with the communities most relevant to your niche, offer genuinely helpful insights, and reply to comments.

    Top Social Channels & Best Practices

    Facebook:

    You can be a little wordier on Facebook but aim for engaging, visually appealing content with concise captions and strategic use of hashtags.

    X:

    On X, keep your tweets short and punchy, use visuals like GIFs and images, and engage trending hashtags and conversations to boost visibility and engagement. Just make sure you know the details behind the meme; you don’t want to blunder into a trend you know nothing about.

    Instagram:

    Images and videos reign supreme on Instagram. Ensure your posts are visually interesting, use high-quality photos and videos, and leverage Stories or Reels. Reuse TikTok videos to increase your storytelling efficiency.

    LinkedIn:

    LinkedIn is generally more professional than the other platforms on this list, so focus on sharing industry insights, thought leadership content, and company updates. Join relevant groups to participate in discussions and build connections.

    TikTok:

    TikTok is all about creativity and authenticity, so create engaging and entertaining short-form videos that showcase your brand’s personality. Keep your content lighthearted—use popular hashtags and challenges to boost visibility. Engage your audience by responding to comments and participating in trends.

    Snapchat:

    Snapchat thrives on ephemeral content, meaning that the things you post won’t stick around for long. It shouldn’t be your only video platform, but it can help you reach a wide audience. It also offers fun features to augment your content, such as lenses, filters, and stickers.

    YouTube:

    For YouTube, focus on creating high-quality, engaging video content that provides value to your audience. Optimize your video titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords just like you would for a blog.

    Reddit:

    Reddit is all about niche interests and finding your audience. Answer questions and offer genuinely helpful information to make users engage and interact. Take the time to understand each subreddit’s rules and norms to ensure your posts align with the community’s expectations.

    Social media can feel like a tangled mess of platforms sometimes. However, with a strategic approach based on your target audience and messaging goals, you can effectively manage your presence across these channels. Conduct regular audits to evaluate your social media performance and identify areas for improvement. Remember, your website serves as your digital headquarters, so investing in high-quality content creation is key. By mastering the nuances of each platform and employing the tactics mentioned above, you’ll be well on your way to strengthening your brand and driving engagement.

    Ready to take your social media game to the next level? Email us to discuss your social media strategy.

  • How Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Innovative Web Project Earned Top Honors

    How Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Innovative Web Project Earned Top Honors

    We’re proud to announce that this year at NACCDO-PAMN, our partner, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, won first place in two award categories offered by Public Affairs and Marketing Network (PAMN); Survivorship Event and Physician-to-Physician.

    Before the Project

    Roswell Park was the first institution worldwide to focus exclusively on cancer research. They offer a wide range of treatments and services, from immunotherapy and clinical trials to working with the community in Buffalo, New York, for cancer screenings.

    However, in the past, the depth of research conducted by scientists at Roswell Park wasn’t always made apparent by the website itself. Before this project, scientific content would be posted somewhat randomly, with no cohesive style guide or organizational framework. It was hard for grant reviewers, peers, and prospective trainees to find exactly what they were looking for.

    Around 2012, the Department of Immunology wanted to give their scientists lab pages to showcase their work. At the time, the marketing team was small, and it wasn’t always easy to maintain these pages. What resulted was text-heavy and unwieldy, with no uniform style. There wasn’t a place to highlight these sites or cross-promote other content related to the lab. The whole research lab section went dormant in a matter of years.

    Senior Digital Content Coordinator, Alexander Szczesny, knew there had to be a change. But first, he had to assemble a team.

    Stage 1: Finding Collaborators

    Stamats had experience in both healthcare and higher education content, making us a perfect fit for Roswell Park’s new project to overhaul its research content and strengthen its presence in higher ed. Stamats received the contract in early 2020 and was set to begin the project by meeting with leaders and stakeholders in Buffalo.

    According to Lisa Starkey-Wood, an account executive at Stamats, “The goal of the lab website is to showcase Roswell Park’s position as a world-class research institution. Roswell is doing amazing things and having the opportunity to work on the lab websites makes us feel like we get to be just a small part of what they are doing.”

    Secure in their partnership, Stamats and Roswell Park set out to create a meaningful web experience. But of course, things did not go as expected. Mere weeks before the meetings were set to take place, COVID-19 hit—and everything changed.

    Stage 2: Building Remotely

    In 2020, Stamats overhauled Roswell Park’s educational programs by working remotely with stakeholders, even through the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Stamats and Roswell Park’s marketing team continued work on 10 research departments, five Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) programs, and smaller research groups and pages. Then in 2022, the focus shifted to the lab pages after the other sections launched.

    After completing work on the first two labs in March/April 2022, Stamats and Roswell Park identified the first round of lab sites to focus on. Together, they identified principal investigators (PIs) who receive external funding and publish frequently, as well as researchers who’d already set up external websites. Even though these independent sites posed a legal liability to Roswell Park, it showed that the PIs were interested in creating content.

    To set the stage for the lab sites, Stamats analyzed competitors and decided on a primary, secondary, and tertiary audience. Stamats chose a tone and voice that matched Roswell’s brand goals. Roswell’s web team then created visual templates for the lab’s landing pages. Stamats interviewed PIs to create content for each of the labs. Finally, it was time to publish the lab sites for the public.

    Stage 3: Deploying the Lab Sites

    Now, the lab sites were available on the websites for the public. Keeping the research front and center was the primary focus of each lab site. There were also impactful callouts that allowed Roswell to highlight important studies, releases, and quotes. Roswell Park also created a process for cross promotion, interlinking relevant content on each page to bolster the website as a whole. Finally, Roswell featured their latest press releases on their site to showcase cutting-edge updates and news stories. What emerged was a synchronized and organized series of lab pages that showcased the work while remaining visually appealing.

    Next, it was time to expand the project. Phase 2 of the lab project involved creating content for 15 more PIs from across the research departments, while Phase 3 involved an additional 15 PIs. At the time of this writing, Stamats and Roswell have published lab pages with department heads, senior researchers, and even Roswell Park’s Deputy Director/Chair of the Department of Medicine. Each quarter content owners review their pages and make edits so that all content is up to date. Since launching the project in April 2022, the lab pages have received 34,881 total page views. Roswell’s most viewed lab sits at nearly 4,000 page views. Most labs average around 100 views/month. Together, Stamats and Roswell Park have worked hard to create and maintain these lab pages. According to Jennifer Panaro, department administrator of the Department of Cancer Genetics and Genomics and Molecular and Cellular Biology at Roswell Park, “the work that Stamats and our Roswell Park Marketing Team have accomplished will provide opportunities for new collaborations and support for future grant funding for years to come.”

    Spotlight on Survivorship

    In addition to winning the Physician-to-Physician award, Roswell Park won the Survivorship award for Chapter 2: A Cancer Survivor’s Workshop.

    In this workshop, cancer survivors attended sessions focusing on physical and mental health, from acupuncture to mindfulness to patient-doctor communication. As a kick-off for the workshop, keynote speaker, author Gina Vild, spoke about ways to cultivate resiliency.

    Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center was the only organization at NACCDO-PAMN to win two first-place awards this year. At Stamats, we’re so proud of our partners and grateful that we continue to have an opportunity to be part of their journey to improve cancer research and provide a haven for patients and survivors.

    Shaking up your website can bring more patients, researchers, and funders to your door. Interested? Contact us for a personalized consultation on how you can transform your internet presence.

    Related reading: How to Maximize Website Traffic with a Content Audit—and What to Do Next

  • How PR and Content Marketing Can Streamline Superpowers to Achieve Business Goals

    How PR and Content Marketing Can Streamline Superpowers to Achieve Business Goals

    This article was originally published by the Content Marketing Institute. It has been edited for brevity.

    The goals and roles of content marketing and PR overlap more and more. The job descriptions look awfully similar. Shrinking budgets and a shrewd eye for efficiency mean you and your PR pals could face the chopping block if you don’t streamline operations and deliver on the company’s goals (because marketing communications is always first to be axed, right?).

    Yikes. Let’s take a big, deep breath. This is not a threat. It’s an opportunity.

    Reach across the aisle to PR and streamline content creation, improve distribution strategies, and get back to the heart of what you both are meant to do: Build strong relationships and tell impactful stories.

    So, before you panic-post that open-to-work banner on LinkedIn, consider these tips from content marketing, PR, and journalism pros who’ve figured out how to thrive in an increasingly narrowing content ecosystem.

    1. See journalists as your audience

    Savvy pros know the ability to tell an impactful story — and support it with publish-ready collateral — grounds successful media relationships. As a content marketer, your skills in storytelling and connecting with audiences, including journalists, naturally support your PR pals’ media outreach.

    Strategic storytelling creates content focused on what the audience needs and wants. Sharing content on your blog or social media builds relationships with journalists who source those channels for story ideas, event updates, and subject matter experts.

    “Embedding PR strategies in your content marketing pieces informs your audience and can easily be picked up by media,” says Alex Sanchez, chief experience officer at BeWell, New Mexico’s Health Insurance Marketplace. “We have seen reporters do this many times, pulling stories from our blogs and putting them in the nightly news — most of the time without even reaching out to us.”

    Kirby Winn, manager of PR at ImpactLife, says reporters and assignment editors are key consumers of their content. “And I don’t mean a news release that just hit their inbox. They’re going to our blog and consuming our stories, just like any other audience member,” he says. “Our organization has put more focus into content marketing in the past few years — it supports a media pitch so well and highlights the stories we have to tell.”

    2. Learn the media outlet’s audience

    Seventy-three percent of reporters say one-fourth or less of the stories pitched are relevant to their audiences, according to Cision’s 2024 State of the Media Report (registration required).

    PR pros are known for building relationships with journalists, while content marketers thrive in building communities around content. Merge these best practices to build desirable content that works simultaneously for your target audience and the media’s audiences.

    Acacia James, weekend producer/morning associate producer at WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., says sources who show they’re ready to share helpful, relevant content often win pitches for coverage. “In radio, we do a lot of research on who is listening to us, and we’re focused on a prototype called ‘Mike and Jen’ — normal, everyday people in Generation X … So when we get press releases and pitches, we ask, ‘How interested will Mike and Jen be in this story?’”

    3. Deliver the full content package (and make journalists’ jobs easier)

    Cranking out content to their media outlet’s standards has never been tougher for journalists. Newsrooms are significantly understaffed, and anything you can do to make their lives easier will be appreciated and potentially rewarded with coverage. Content marketers are built to think about all the elements to tell the story through multiple mediums and channels.

    “Today’s content marketing pretty much provides a package to the media outlet,” says So Young Pak, director of media relations at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “PR is doing a lot of storytelling work in advance of media publication. We (and content marketing) work together to provide the elements to go with each story—photos, subject matter experts, patients, videos, and data points, if needed.”

    4. Unite great minds to maximize efficiency

    Everyone needs to set aside the debate about which team—PR or content marketing—gets credit for the resulting media coverage.

    Regular, cross-team meetings are essential to understand the best channels for reaching key audiences, including the media. A story that began life as a press release might reap SEO and earned media gold if it’s strategized as a blog, video, and media pitch.

    “At Intermountain Health, we have individual teams for media relations, marketing, social media, and hospital communications. That setup works well because it allows us to bring in the people who are the given experts in those areas,” says Jason Carlton, APR, Marketing Manager at Intermountain Health. “Together, we decide if a story is best for the blog, a media pitch, or a mix of channels—that way, we avoid duplicating work and the risk of diluting the story’s impact.”

    5. Measure what matters

    Cutting through the noise to earn media mentions requires keen attention to metrics. Since content marketing and PR metrics overlap, synthesizing the data in your team meetings can save time while streamlining your storytelling efforts.

    “For content marketers, using analytical tools such as GA4 can help measure the effectiveness of their content campaigns and landing pages to determine meaningful KPIs such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, lead generation, and conversion rates,” says John Martino, director of digital marketing for Visiting Angels. “PR teams can use media coverage and social interactions to assess user engagement and brand awareness. A unified and omnichannel approach can help both teams demonstrate their value in enhancing brand visibility, engagement, and overall business success.”

    To track your shared goals, launch a shared dashboard that helps tell the combined “story of your stories” to internal and executive teams. Among the metrics to monitor:

    • Page views
    • Earned media mentions
    • Organic search queries
    • On-page actions

    But perhaps the biggest metric to track is team satisfaction. Who on the collaborative team had the most fun writing blogs, producing videos, or calling the news stations? Lean into the natural skills and passions of your team members to distribute work properly, maximize the team output, and improve relationships with the media, your audience, and internal teams.

    Don’t fear the merger

    Whether you deliberately work together or not, content marketing and public relations are tied together. ImpactLife’s Kirby Winn explains, “As soon as we begin to talk about (ourselves) to a reporter who doesn’t know us, they are certainly going to check out our stories.”

    But consciously uniting PR and content marketing will ease the challenges you both face. Working together allows you to save time, eliminate duplicate work, and gain free time to tell more stories and drive them into impactful media placements.

    Get even more insights from Mariah and these content marketing and public relations experts. Read the full article at Content Marketing Institute.

    Related reading: AI, Oh My! How Content Marketers Grapple with the Robot Invasion and More Lessons from CMWorld