A new idea thundered during Brian Easter’s presentation at Atlanta’s recent Search Engine Marketing Professionals meeting. Brian is the visionary CEO and co-founder of award-winning Nebo, a top digital marketing agency.
His revelation?
search, social media and sales.”
Wait…here’s a search guy talking
about Story?
“More than anything else, story matters… It’s what drives decisions for one brand over another throughout the entire buyer journey.” – Brian Easter, CEO, Nebo
The fusion of story, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media is now a solid trend. Hotels saw a similar pattern in the synthesis of revenue management with marketing. That movement took 10 years to solidify.
“The user is creating his or her own story in the buyer journey,
and so should you.” - Brian Easter
We liked that and grabbed Brian to learn more.
Julie: How has SEO changed over the past 3 years to arrive at the point of Story-Search-Social?
Brian: SEO is evolving. We’re now starting to see the impact of that.
Google’s algorithm is less math-based now. It’s a semantic search engine. That’s why meaning is so important. Story is everything. You can manipulate things like keyword instances and inbound links, but you can’t manipulate a message that solves people’s problems. Google is getting better at interpreting story. It’s more important than ever to figure out what yours is.
Julie: You said “We promise your search marketing campaigns will improve once you know what your story is.” Why?
Brian: Humans are not coldhearted, rational beings. We’re not Spock. We’re emotional creatures who are willing to pay more and remain loyal to companies that stand for something.
Look at New Belgium Brewery, a beer maker dedicated to eco-friendly manufacturing and physical fitness. The cost-to-quality ratio of New Belgium microbrews may not be the lowest around, but it’s a company that people can feel good about buying from. The brewery’s unique selling point is this:
When you grab a six-pack of Ranger IPA, you’re not just buying a Pale Ale, you’re buying a story. You’re buying New Belgium’s drive-in movie nights and Tour de Fat race and its sustainability initiatives. Brands like New Belgium set a shrewd lesson for all of us with the way they communicate core values.
“Story is the glue that connects SEO to Pay Per Click to Public Relations to
your overall brand identity.” - Brian Easter
Without it, your campaigns are nothing more than ads and keywords.
Julie: What are the top online venues, from an SEO perspective, on which to post the company paragraph?
Brian: Story comes alive through great content – thought leadership, videos, visuals, earned media coverage. There’s no “right” place to post this content. The important thing is to craft your story effectively, then find your audience and bring it to them. That could mean Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn or YouTube.
From an SEO perspective, we never recommend chasing links. We recommend spreading great content. There’s a difference. Google will pick up on social mentions and brand mentions, even if the number of direct links to your site isn’t high. The goal is to get people talking.
And I enjoyed talking with you, Brian. Thanks, and see you around town.
Give Brian a shout at www.neboagency.com.
Do you use storytelling to drive sales? Tell me – what is your main challenge?