The Beginning

The two men had hit upon a relatively new concept—direct mail advertising. The French-Stamats Company grew rapidly and, according to a Des Moines Register article, had become the largest national direct mail service in the U.S. within their first four years. New business meant a greater need for publishing equipment so by 1927, French-Stamats had acquired Rapid Press in Cedar Rapids, and Guthrie Publishing in Chicago.

“Direct mailing was in its infancy and French-Stamats got in on the ground floor,” said Peter S. Stamats, current Stamats president and CEO. “They were successful because of their willingness to try different concepts, accepting both the risk and the reward.”

Throughout the long length of the Great Depression, the French-Stamats Company found a way to succeed and grow, continuing to maintain their nationwide sales force in more than 35 states. Often finances were tight, and stories persist of payroll occasionally maintained through French and Stamats’ own finances. It was soon obvious that their biggest problem was the location of their offices.

Located within an old YMCA building, the offices were small, and the basement pressroom was damp and subject to flooding. In March 1929, more than six feet of water flooded the stock room, destroying over $20,000 of equipment and paper stock.

But it took another six years, in July 1935, before the company could move into its own new building on Sixth Avenue SE. Though only a small portion of our present headquarters, this new building’s design and construction fit the company’s specialized needs for offices and publishing.

In 1934, Frank French moved to New York City to handle eastern activities for the growing company. Tragically, only 18 months later, French died suddenly, and Herbert Stamats took over as sole proprietor. The company continued to operate as French-Stamats Company until 1944 when the name changed to Stamats Publishing Company.

Birth of Syndication

French and Stamats’ modestly successful syndication plan included a variety of small store programs, such as Table Talk used by voluntary chains of retail grocers, and Birthday Listing Service for jewelers, florists, and hotels to use for direct mail campaigns. The bulk of these programs were strictly advertising, but some also held the germ of another idea—syndicated publications to help build goodwill for their sponsors.

In October 1934, the company developed Perfect Home, its first magazine-type public relations program in the home ownership field. Designed to provide an attractive, informative, and effective PR publication, Perfect Home had the simple purpose of building goodwill through background selling and word-of-mouth referrals rather than product advertising.

Sponsors with sterling reputations were selected in cities across the country. Each sponsor received personalization on the magazine’s cover, which involved control of the imprinting process. By 1938, growth in the company’s business volume made expansion essential, and a second addition was added to their publishing plant. In 1939 came the installation of their first two-color letterpress, and another expansion became necessary, completed in 1947.

In 1942, French-Stamats purchased two monthly trade magazines: the National Real Estate Journal established in 1909, circulating nationally to real estate organizations, and Buildings and Building Management, established in 1906, which circulated nationally to owners and managers of office buildings. Published in the Cedar Rapids plant, both publications maintained offices in the Chicago Board of Trade building.

“Successful businesses are the result of a multitude of right, little decisions, of handling properly time after time the little crises.”

-Herbert Stamats in a speech to the National Association of Real Estate Boards in New Orleans, January 1941

Related reading: 2013-2023: The Digital Shift

Instead, Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing conference in the world, showed that they’re embracing the emergence of AI and making content that’s even more relevant. Content marketers work to stay ahead of change and ensure audiences have the information they need to keep web traffic flowing and conversions converting.

If you couldn’t make it to our nation’s capital for CMWorld, well, you missed out. But here’s the next best thing: three themes that emerged throughout the conference that can help you keep your work at the forefront of the content marketing evolution.

1. AI: Your New Robot Overlords?

If there was one topic that was on everyone’s mind at CMWorld, it was artificial intelligence. The rise of AI tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, Copy.ai, Jasper, and dozens of others led to a lot of conversation about what these products mean for the future of content marketing.

The consensus was far from “the sky is falling.” While there’s plenty of chatter in the press about AI taking over roles filled by human content creators, the reality is more nuanced.

When it comes to search engine optimization, Fire&Spark’s Dale Bertrand reminded workshop attendees that the latest update to Google Analytics 4 means that rules-based SEO practices are a thing of the past. Instead, Google’s AI-powered, human-rated search results monitor audience behavior and reward the most compelling content with higher search rankings.

DemandJump’s Ryan Brock echoed this sentiment in a mock funeral for SEO practices that have passed away. He included the sales funnel (check out Stamats AVP of Digital Strategy Stu Eddins’ take on the new customer journey in higher ed enrollment for more), domain authority, and keyword struggles on his memorial list. These and more have gone the way of the dodo, Brock said, thanks to the rise of AI-powered semantic search.

AI presents opportunities, too. As Croud’s Avinash Kaushik noted, and dozens of Expo Hall vendors reinforced, AI has the power to help marketers “deliver customer delight and business success at a scale that is extraordinary.”

Speaker after speaker agreed: GA4 has changed the game. But how can content marketers compete with a flood of AI-generated content?

2. Avoid Commodity Content with a Human Touch.

The term “commodity content” was on everyone’s lips at CMWorld, and it’s key to understanding why human content marketers aren’t too worried about AI taking away our jobs (yet).

Commodity content is everywhere these days. AI can generate thousands of words of generic copy in almost an instant, but this noisy content has little value for consumers. It is a restating of authoritative sources found elsewhere on the web, provides little insight, and does a poor job of helping audiences answer the questions that motivate them.

That’s why GA4 deprioritizes commodity content in search results, and it’s why humans still have something to say.

To differentiate your content from what the robot can write, keep these tips from CMWorld experts like Ann Handley, Andrew Davis, and Melanie Deziel in mind:

• Create original, insightful content. AI can’t create new knowledge, and it can’t provide your audiences with the insights they need. Insightful content shows deep understanding of the topic at hand, provides a new perspective, and simplifies complex concepts.
• Develop your voice. Your writing is influenced by your human experiences. Leverage your unique perspective and special talents to craft a relatable voice that speaks to your audience where they are. When writing for clients, understand their perspectives deeply and craft a unique voice that helps them stand out from the crowd authentically.
• Be audience-centric. Google’s not buying your product. Focus on empathizing with the customer’s pain points and answering their questions. Google will reward you with rankings that surpass the robots.
• Lead with the story: Stamats’ AVP of Content Marketing, Mariah Obiedinski Tang and Allison Kapson, Assistant Vice President, Research Communications, Marketing & Public Relations at MedStar Health Research Institute, presented a Quentin Tarantino-based workshop on the inverted pyramid. They reminded writers to prioritize the most important information to answer audience (and search engine) questions right away.
• Tell compelling customer stories. First-person narratives about how a product or service impacted your customer are powerful, insightful, non-commodity content that builds trust and encourages conversions.
• Write like it matters. Being a writer means making people feel something. Whether you’re crafting content for the corner coffee shop or a global non-profit, the content marketer’s job is to move people to action.

Far from a niche corner of the marketing world, the rise of semantic search and changing customer expectations for relevant, on-demand answers mean people are still crucial to creating content for brands and businesses that need authentic connections to consumers.

3. Content Marketing is Marketing.

Robert Rose (Content Marketing Institute), Bennie Johnson (American Marketing Association), Beverly Jackson (Zillow), and even headlining actress/director/producer Elizabeth Banks made it clear in their presentations: content marketing is all grown up.

No longer just “blogging,” content marketing has evolved to become the spine, the center, and often the sum total of marketing itself. From data analytics and lead generation through list management, sales, social media, and yes, blogs, content marketing is modern marketing.

Nimble organizations ensure that marketing leaders are at the table for important product development conversations, and those marketing leaders will have content strategy at the top of their to-do lists. Branding and visual development, voice and tone, data analytics, ad spend and so much more are, at their core, content processes.

Content marketers study, analyze, and answer audience questions. We drive traffic through all phases of the sales funnel, craft content that’s optimized for search, speak to the audience in their voice, and advance organizational goals through people-focused content that robots just can’t match.

Content marketers aren’t worried about AI taking our jobs, at least not yet. For now, the global community is focused on honing our craft and leveraging actionable data, because this is what will continue to insulate our organizations from the robot invasion and keep insightful, optimized content flowing to the audiences who need it most.

Want to stay at the forefront of content marketing? Schedule a time with Mariah Obiedzinski Tang to learn how Stamats can help your content work smarter.

Your Big, Reliable, Go-To Commercial SEO Research Tools

SEMRush and AHREFS are like the Coke and Pepsi of it all—and if there were a third cola out there, we’d have to call it Moz.

Moz: Great free keyword tools. Free account required—but no credit card. (I have also used the paid version.) When I was new to SEO and someone pointed me at Moz, I found it confusing. If this is you, try several others, then come back to Moz.

• Moz—Free account, free pro trial (w/credit card), starts @$79/month

SEMRush: My current favorite of the freemium offers. SEMRush allows you to create a free account (no credit card) and get up to 10 queries a day. I can squeak out useful info within that limit, although I hit the wall regularly.

• SEMRush—Free account with max 10 queries a day, starts @$99/month

AHREFS: Free tool, no account required. On the upside, the free Keyword Generator lets you specify the search engine (Google, Bing, YouTube, or Amazon). Downside? Severely throttled data and no free account or trial. Full set of tools look great through the window.

• AHREFS Free Keyword Generator—No free account or trial, starts @$99/month

Writing with great keywords not enough? Consider your linking strategy.

The Delightful and Quirky Keyword Tools

Answer the Public: Beautiful visuals; love the wheels—both the look of the infographics and the insights they offer. Even with the free account, you can download (limited) keyword lists into a csv file. Uses Google and Bing and is great for people starting out in SEO.

• Answer the Public—Free account gives you 3 searches/day with throttled results, free trial, paid plans start at $9/month or a one-time $99 lifetime fee. (I find that offer unique and tempting!)

QuestionDb: Free on-screen tool is great for blog ideas. It does throttle results; I received 51 of 115 questions asked about my topic—I can work with that. It pulls questions from search sites and social media. Shows you how users frame the questions and everything. Pretty cool tool all things considered.

• QuestionDb—Free, with limits on results; paid plans start at $12.50/month.

Keyword Sheeter: In the quirky camp, for sure. Not quite NSFW, this tool relies on bathroom humor as the core of its brand. Still, fast and free results on your screen, pulled from autocomplete results from Google. Downloading or digging into the results (ahem) requires a subscription.

• Keyword Sheeter—Free on screen; subscriptions start at $9/month.

Need help turning keywords into content? Talk to us. We have efficient, skilled people (real humans!) who can write in your voice, for your audience.

SEO Tools from Search Engines

• Google Trends—Not a generator—more of a keyword smackdown tool. Use it when you’re not sure which term works better with your audience or when you’re planning your next topic. Has some key regional- and industry-specific insights. More useful for content writers than campaign strategists.
• Google Keyword Planner—Designed for campaign strategists, this tool works for anyone. However, you must tell the tool about your campaign. If you don’t have one (because you’re a content editor or writer), you’ll be feeding the tool fiction.
• Bard—Google’s AI in beta will generate keywords and give you insights into long-tail options. You’ll get even more out of it by testing how to approach search-worthy topics.
• Bing Webmaster Tools—Has SEO tools equal to Google’s. Free, but you must make an account to access any of them.
• Bing Chat AI, aka “Discover” button—Find it in the upper right of the Edge browser window (looks like a chat icon). Free and worth exploring. I asked for keyword recommendations and got AI-produced copy, rich with keywords.

Need more results than a pile of keywords? Schedule time to talk with a Stamats digital strategist.

Suddenly, you’ve gone from professional SEO rockstar to the under- or over-dressed one at the swank party. Yes, I speak from bitter, bitter experience. I am not comforted—nor, I imagine, are you—that this is common. Search Engine Land puts it this way: “Your working theory should be that even the best content gets ignored.”

Still, there is hope for every content wallflower out there. It’s not how you’re dressed. (Those keywords are just fine, sweetie.) It’s about getting your links game on.

Links Are the OG Search Engine

Surprise—the Internet predates Google and Bing. How did we find things? We counted on people or entities we trusted to put links to related content or new ideas in their blogs or on their websites. How well did it work? Even though I lived through it, I still find it hard to believe we had an internet before search engines.

Links are still essential to SEO. Google looks at your place in the web of links, particularly your inbound or backlinks (links on other people’s sites that point back to you) to determine your expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (“EAT” in the sea of SEO acronyms).

In other words, it’s not what you know; it’s not even who you know; it’s who knows you. But—I can hear your wail way over here in Iowa—that’s my problem! Nobody knows me.

There’s only one solution: start networking. The Internet is like a big party with a billion people talking; your content has popped up somewhere in the mix and is just staring all around. Get into the conversation with these three simple rules.

Craving a deeper dive into how Google sees you and your content? Schedule a free consultation with our digital strategists.

To be honest, this is table stakes in your linking strategy: Have something worth saying. Write great content that matters to your audience. 

Search engines match users with content that answers their questions. They match what goes into a search box (or a voice assistant’s microphone) with the content on your page. Do these things for SERP-worthy content: 

• Answer users’ questions (write for your audience, not to them) 
• Use the words and phrases entered in search engines (do your SERP homework) 
• One idea at a time (write for busy, multi-tasking people) 
• Add to the conversation (I haven’t yet found an AI who can) 
• Maybe: Offer a different take—you might make it into Google’s “Perspectives” panel 

That first idea, answering users’ questions, is the most important. Implicit questions and answers shape user journeys through pages and across sites, even if you never pose a question in a heading. 

To paraphrase Marcus Sheridan, “they ask you answer” is the heartbeat of web content. That’s how you’ll make your first connection—by answering their next question. 

Are your user journeys muddled or stagnant?  Hit us up for a free user journey audit today.

Rule 2: Build Great Interlinks with the Next Question

Interlinks connect your lonely wallflower content with other content on your site. They are the easiest connection to build because it’s all your content. Anticipate related questions—whether the next one in a logical sequence, a sidetrack, or a backtrack—and link to that page.

Start by brainstorming users’ other questions. Do some search engine research. Review your own published content. Make the link or put that next blog topic on your editorial calendar.

What do I mean by the next question? As the user receives their first answer, what other questions does that answer spark?

In Rule 1, when I said, “Do your homework” on keywords, you might have asked yourself, “Is there a keyword research tool I should use?” See, that’s an interlink.

For a page on college costs, a logical next question would be, “Can I get a scholarship?” So, link to the scholarship’s content. For a blog on pediatric epilepsy, a logical next question would be, “What happens as my child grows up?” Link to a blog story or service page for young adults.

Sometimes, the question will go sideways, say from college costs to a moan of “I don’t know what I want to study—is college even worth it?” Those are great interlinks, too.

The best moment at the Internet party? When someone you’ve been talking to grabs you by the hand and pulls you across the room, “My friends just have to meet you!” That’s the treasured backlink.

One of the best ways to earn backlinks is by creating blog stories. They help you rise to the top of the funnel so the rest of your site can be consulted during the messy middle of the prospective student journey. Why? Because they typically focus on answering questions around a singular topic.

Ready for your content to start getting noticed?  Talk with a Stamats blog expert today

Rule 3: Earn Your Best Backlinks

Working the Internet room for worthwhile backlinks is very much like working a room IRL—the people who do it best do it with authenticity (stay on brand!), and hospitality (invite others into the conversation), and warmth (appreciate the other content that’s out there). 

For blog and web content, this translates into practicing these high-level tactics regularly: 

• Use your authentic voice: Have something to say and a distinct way of saying it 
• Invite others in: Guest posts on your blog, web page featured quotes, or user-generated content on any platform 
• Warm up your social media: Even to your competitors. If they do something great for the community or for research, it’s ok to applaud them. Repost from thought leaders in your industry. Repost a quirky but inspiring find. Reduce the me-noise. Amplify the best you find around you. 

Create a virtuous cycle of paying attention to others to get attention back (backlinks). Like all public relations and brand building, it takes time, repetition, and staying your course. 

Turbocharge the virtuous cycle by investing staff time or budget dollars in professional PR. Pay someone to build the connections that turn into relevant backlinks—not inauthentic, spammy purchased links—as well as brand equity. 

The internet party has some specialized side corridors where you can strike up particularly useful connections for future backlinks: 

• Broken links mining: If you’d love a backlink from Platform X, search that platform for broken links that could instead go to your content. Reach out to the person who manages Platform X and alert them to the broken link, offering your link as an alternative. 
• HARO (Help a Reporter Out): Get your SMEs in front of journalists looking for someone like your SME as a source. There are lots of nuances to this rapidly growing and specialized PR practice. The SEO-toolmaker Ahrefs posted a lengthy HARO guide in late 2022. 

Keep the cycle virtuous and healthy:

• Monitor for lost or toxic backlinks: Use an SEO tool like SEMrush to audit your backlinks regularly. You might be able to reclaim a lost backlink simply by asking. If you find toxic backlinks, you might consider disavowing them. Oddly enough, there are many circumstances where you should just let the toxic backlinks ride. Dig into it more if you see an uptick in spammy backlinks. 
• Celebrate new backlinks: When a quality site links to you, give them a nod. Maybe in a them-focused social media post or just an email to the editor. You can even give them a backlink if your users will find the link useful. Google’s pretty good at sniffing out shallow reciprocal backlinking schemes, making those lose-lose propositions. 

Backlinks in the Future: Will Your Hard Work Matter for SEO?

Yes, backlinks will continue to signal your site’s authoritativeness and trustworthiness, but Google predicts diminishing weight on backlinks. As usual, there are few clues on what will replace inbound links. 

My prediction is that backlinks will go the way of keywords. As the search engines got better and better at natural language processing, keywords on their own meant less and less. Keywords in context still matter—they add to the algorithm’s overall assessment when it matches content to a query. 

So, I see a future where search engines have grown better and better at assessing the overall economy of authoritativeness and trustworthiness across the web. Quality backlinks will still be part of that assessment, just not the strongest signal. 

Links are, and will always be, the OG search engine. They’re how we find stuff. 

Forming Fruitful Partnerships

During the 70s, Stamats developed a strong partnership with Amana Refrigeration. This collaboration would prove to be a game-changer, as they took on the production of the legendary “Radar Range” cookbook for Amana’s microwave oven. This endeavor not only showcased Stamats’ expertise in content creation and publishing but also opened doors to expanding their commercial printing operations.

To accommodate their growing endeavors, Stamats opened a new printing facility spanning an impressive 15,000 square feet. This new facility housed a range of cutting-edge printing equipment, including a four-color press, two two-color presses, and two one-color presses.

“It was state-of-the-art with sophisticated offset printing,” recalled Stamats President and CEO, Peter Stamats. “It brought new jobs and more commercial printing business. We were running that business 24 hours a day.”

Bidding Farewell to an Era

While one area of business soared, another found itself on the fringes. In the early 80s, Stamats was at a crossroads, leading to a bittersweet decision to close its syndicated publishing business. The division housed three iconic brands: Perfect Home, Building Progress, and Ownership. These publications were staples in the real estate industry since the mid-1930s. For nearly 50 years, these publications provided valuable insights and information to countless readers and great marketing exposure for realtors and property developers. However, shifting trends in the marketplace and economic challenges forced the end of this era.

Building a Bright Future Ahead

Stamats witnessed remarkable growth in popularity and profit for their Buildings magazine division. “Buildings magazine really flourished during that period,” Stamats said. “We were in a qualified subscriber business model, now known as ‘Opt-In’. At that time, it was an incredible accomplishment to provide something with significant value that people are willing to opt-in to any large numbers.”

Stamats attributes the success to the company’s ability to provide high-quality, informative, and compelling content for a select, highly qualified audience. This strategy has been the underpinning of the company since its inception.

A New Identity

As Stamats continued to evolve and expand its reach in the groovy decade, a defining moment arrived in the form of a company-wide name change. The transition from Stamats Publishing Company to Stamats Communications was more than a mere rebranding; it reflected the company’s emerging identity as a comprehensive communications company. Now with a diverse range of services that encompass publishing, printing, video and multi-media production, full-service marketing, brand campaigns, content strategy, and complete creative services.

To this day, Stamats provides unparalleled marketing, communications, and creative services to its niche customers. Embracing and evolving with change is the company’s key to growth and sustainability.

Related reading: A Landscape of Change

A New Era of Efficiency

Technological advances dominated the publishing landscape in the early 1980s. Stamats adopted digital typesetting, a cutting-edge technology that enhanced efficiency and precision. It empowered the company to explore new creative possibilities while meeting the demands of a rapidly changing market.

Seizing Opportunities

In the pursuit of growth and expanding its influence, the company seized strategic opportunities for expansion. The establishment of the research division in 1988, led by Bob Sevier, allowed the company to tap into the power of data-driven decision-making, providing clients with valuable insights and a competitive edge.

“We really wanted to provide some quantitative research to help us confirm some of the creative approaches we were taking for clients in that space,” emphasized Stamats President and CEO, Peter Stamats.

Stamats faced a pivotal choice in this decade—the sale of their printing division.

“Commercial printing was a highly competitive marketplace,” Peter Stamats explained. “We either needed to go more deeply into the capital invested in printing or focus strictly on the creative processes. So, we took our chances and sold our printing division.”

Some of the funds from the sale were then invested in the acquisition of the publication Meetings Monthly, which later became Meetings Today. This choice broadened Stamats’ reach into the thriving meetings and events industry.

Experimenting with New Strategies

Stamats fearlessly ventured into new territories and experimented with diverse offerings. During this decade, the company saw a growing need for comprehensive healthcare resources. Stamats tapped into their syndicated publishing expertise by providing emergency care guides to hospital system communities.

Additionally, Stamats embraced the rising popularity of film and video and ventured into the realm of visual storytelling. Leveraging their creative talent and technical expertise, the company began producing engaging films and videos for a diverse range of clients. By expanding into this medium, Stamats effectively communicated complex ideas, captured attention, and left a lasting impact on audiences.

“This period was a great example of when you start things, you might try 10 things, and only one will work out,” said Stamats. “You may have a lot of failures, but you only need a couple of them to work out to be okay.”

These bold moves not only expanded Stamats’ capabilities but also showcased its visionary approach to communication and its desire to make a positive impact in various markets.

Related reading: 1993-2003: Modernizing from the Ground Up