SEO is dead. Influencer marketing is dying. Print is a thing of the past.
We see these comments every day. There’s constantly some marketing expert telling us why a tactic is no longer effective. But that just isn’t the truth. No, the truth is that there’s only one type of marketing that’s dead: boring content.
When we create for masses, it becomes to general. Ads everywhere, for everyone are noticed by no one. It boils down to this: if your content isn’t engaging and specific to your audience, it won’t work.
We have YouTube, social media, blogs, email, you name it. There’s never been so many ways for creative, entertaining people to get something interesting in front of you. We literally have algorithms built around capturing attention.
Let’s look at SEO. There’s no doubt that AI is changing how people find information online. We see 42% of American adults using LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude for search.* Search engines have also started offering AI answer boxes, referenced by 60% of American adults.* The likelihood someone goes to your website for an answer is getting smaller.
That doesn’t mean stop building websites or optimizing them for search. Your business still needs one. But it does add a heightened importance to using the website to provide value. It changes how we optimize.
For years White Hound has fought SEO companies that game the system with overt keyword stuffing, writing “home builder” or “financial advisor near you” over and over and over. Pages full of using keywords time and again, with little other substance. It was boring content that would still get companies ranked, despite doing a poor job of converting new clients once they came to the website.
Search engines are now fighting alongside us. They punish websites that don’t quickly answer searchers’ questions. The key is crafting content that answers your audience’s questions and then provides unique, actionable information. Well written content gets you ranked and pulled into those answer boxes. Engaging content, with extra value, gets you clicks and visitors.
Now shift the conversation to influencers and social media. Never has it been easier for so many creative people to get their voices heard. Of course, that means a deluge of content to dig through. Some of it is high quality, some not so much. It’s getting harder and harder to “go viral.” There’s less success from big name influencers, because there’s so many of them. Yet the issue isn’t “influencers are dead” or “social media is overwatered and useless.”
The goal of a small business on social media should never have been to go viral. Instead, we’re looking for a way to build sales. Grow leads. And that’s what engaging content does. If you build out posts that matter to your audience, posts that get shares and saves from the right people, you’ll be found by more of the right people. We just crafted a 7 month social strategy around this exact idea for a Houston custom home builder, resulting in 2.5x the social media leads.
As for influencers? We’re seeing (and have seen) the rise of micro influencers. These are people with smaller numbers of followers. They’re actually crushing it for businesses. The reason? The massive number of posts and users hasn’t turned everyone off of social, it’s created pockets of belonging within. These microinfluencers are easier to identify with.
And print. Print has been “dying” since the invention of the television. But it’s not really dead. It’s simply shifted, like the influencer.
A great examples comes from a personal favorite publication, the Golfer’s Journal. Every ad in the magazine is specifically crafted for the golfing audience, with a higher standard that matches both the quality of the magazine and the virual storytelling that makes it a cult hit with readers. It’s the perfect spot for Omega to congratulate Rory McIlroy on winning the Masters. The ad fits the audience and the tactic.
To be clear, this is not a call for you to advertise everywhere. Our recommendation will always be to focus on where your clients and prospects actually are and where the important conversations related to your product or service are happening.
Instead, the idea here is that it all still works, when done correctly. And what does “correctly” mean?
Your audience should be captivated. Abandon general spec sheets or emails that just beleaguer benefits. Instead, spark conversation. Answer possible questions before prospects even ask (past client questions are a great resource).
The search for belonging and small, tight knit communities ins’t limited to social media. Everyone wants to feel like they’re part of something. When you can build that space for them, people will work with you time and time again. And the knowledge of which tactics to use will become clear.
Just don’t try to do it with boring content. Then you’re dead.
At White Hound Co, we help businesses grow, particularly those who keep a mission or passion at the center of all they do. We make your budget work for you, whether it’s branding, a new website, messaging, or an ad campaign that you need.
Curious about what that looks like? Let’s talk!