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The Utah DMC Blog

Lee Odden | DMC 2015

DSC_0096 For our final keynote of DMC 2015, we were honored to hear from Lee Odden, the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing. In addition to hearing from Lee, all of our attendees were given a copy of his book,
Optimize. Lee spoke to us on being the best answer through integrated marketing campaigns. Instead of optimizing to search, Lee has decided to be accountable to experiences. Things have become a lot more complex, and there’s a lot more data to consider than ever before. This is confusing not just for marketers, but also for customers. Here are Lee's best tips for creating great experiences online.

Understand the customer journey

Many view the customer journey like this: if someone wants a flannel shirt, they look at all the options and choose their favorite one. This is the big lie and it is so convenient for marketers like us. In reality, there is no linear line from awareness to purchase. Reality might look a little closer to this. Someone goes back to the magazine where they first saw the flannel shirt, goes to buy it online, and then post about it on Instagram. If your marketing plan optimizes for a simple, linear journey, you’re marketing for something that only happens 30% of the time

Make things customer savvy

What’s the best way to approach digital marketing as a real thing? How do you deal with a customer journey that isn’t linear? You have to consider your audience's preferences for content types, what they want to engage with, and what they want to consume. Consider what types of offers will inspire them to action. Make sure that when you collect info on your target audience preferences, you use the right data to make your marketing plan. The customer journey is very nebulous. They don’t all buy for the same reason. The most fundamental thing you could possibly do is think: what questions do your customers need answered in what channels in order to buy? Answer these questions in an informative and entertaining way.

Good UX is great SEO

Don't just make things search savvy, make them customer savvy. Create a unified, integrated digital experience across all properties. Create a fantastic digital commerce experience that is highly personalized. This might be similar to what you’d do for SEO, but the user should be your first focus. Create content entirely for users, and the search rankings you're looking for will come naturally.

SEO in 2016

As Cyrus said, "Get over it, SEO is marketing." To be an effective SEO, you need traditional marketing skills. SEO is a foundational element of digital marketing. As long as there is a Google, SEO will be a staple in the digital marketing mix—creating the right content for the right customers at the right time. Organizations should focus on how all of their marketing elements integrate. This is important and especially important when part of the bigger whole. SEO is the responsibility of all members of our organizations, from the PR team to the web team to the eCommerce team.

Focus on mobile

There are a lot distractions in the SEO world. Mobile should be our number one focus. Consider this—smartphones are now the #1 screen, beating TV. If you only have a mobile website, you’ll do fine in a desktop rankings. Cyrus said that if content is not mobile-first now, they don’t publish it.

Create credibility signals

Create signals of credibility wherever your customers are. How do you want your company to be known? Create signals of credibility to humans
and search engines. Whether they look at industry news, social networks, referrals, they hear a consistent message: your brand has expertise.

Takeaways

Optimize for buyers: Focus on being the best answer wherever customers are looking Optimize experiences: Use search marketing, expertise to attract, engage, convert Optimize expertise: Start developing strategic digital marketing skills NOW (or hire someone that has them) A huge thanks to Cyrus for sharing his expertise with our audiences, both in his presentation and in his book.

Topics: Event Recaps