As web marketing undergoes its biggest shift in a decade, how we impact audiences needs to evolve. In this presentation, Rand shows how web marketers in content, search, social, and advertising (+ influencer marketing) can shift their strategic and tactical investments to align with what the big platforms offer, and how consumer behavior has changed, too.
HOW TO HANDLE SALES OBJECTIONS | SELLING AND NEGOTIATION
Building Influence in 2019
1. Rand Fishkin | Founder & CEO
Building Influence 2019
As web marketing undergoes its biggest shift in a decade,
how we impact audiences needs to evolve.
11. • Desktop devices average ~800
distinct pages viewed per month
• Mobile devices averaged ~300
distinct pages viewed per month
• Slight decrease in mobile browser
pageviews over time (possibly
cannibalized by apps)
• In March 2019, users viewed 2,350
unique pages on desktop and 680
unique pages on mobile (monthly
counts in the graph count multiple
visits to the same URL per month as
1)
0
150
300
450
600
750
900
Avg.#ofPageViews
Average Distinct Pages Viewed Per Device by Month
Mobile Desktop
Despite the Growth ofApps & Domination of Big Tech Monopolies,
the Web Remains a Vibrant, Diverse Ecosystem
12. Where Should We Do Influence Marketing?
Wherever Our Audience Engages.
No “r”
13. The Major Shifts Impacting
Search, Social,
Content, & Advertising
And How Marketers Can Best React
17. Google Needs Growth, & It’s Not Coming From New
Searchers (at least in developed countries)
-
5,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
15,000,000,000
20,000,000,000
25,000,000,000
30,000,000,000
35,000,000,000
40,000,000,000
U.S. Searches by Month (web browsers only)
Google Desktop Google Images Desktop Google Mobile Google Images Mobile
18. 3 Theories of Plateauing Search Demand
2: Voice search and mobile apps are cannibalizing queries
(e.g. Google Home, GoogleAssistant, and their SearchApp)
1: Google’s getting better at solving searches the first time
(so searchers don’t need toperform more queries)
3: Alternatives to Google are taking market share
(e.g. Facebook, Instagram, DuckDuckGo, YouTube, andAmazon)
19. Theory 1: Google’s Removing the Need for Multiple
Queries on the Same Topic(s)
26. Theory 3: Alternatives to GoogleAre Taking Market Share
-
10,000,000,000
20,000,000,000
30,000,000,000
40,000,000,000
50,000,000,000
60,000,000,000
Desktop Share of Searches by Month
Google Google Images Google Maps YouTube Bing Yahoo Facebook
Amazon Twitter Pinterest DuckDuckGo AOL Ask Wikipedia
ViaJumpshot’sclickstream panelof10mm+devicesintheUS,browser dataonly(noapps)
27. -
500,000,000
1,000,000,000
1,500,000,000
2,000,000,000
2,500,000,000
Search Volumes by Month Under 2.5B
Bing Yahoo Facebook Amazon Twitter
Pinterest DuckDuckGo AOL Ask Wikipedia
-
50,000,000
100,000,000
150,000,000
200,000,000
250,000,000
300,000,000
350,000,000
Search Volumes by Month Under 350M
Twitter Pinterest DuckDuckGo AOL Ask Wikipedia
ViaJumpshot’sclickstream panelof10mm+devicesintheUS,browser dataonly(noapps)
28. Amazon’s Searched ~1/30th as Much as Google, But…
50,000
500,000
5,000,000
50,000 500,000 5,000,000
GOOGLESEARCHES
AMAZON SEARCHES
Search Volumes for Top 1K Branded and Nonbranded Amazon Keywords on Google and Amazon
(2018)
Nonbranded Terms Branded Terms Nonbranded Avg Branded Avg
nintendo switch
laptop
headphones
kindle
ps4
bluetooth headphones
prime video
external hard drive
paper towels
iPhone 7 case
cbd oil
water bottle
iPhone charger
food
lingerie
dog
iPhone
adidas
aa batteries
roku
mens socks
monitor
christmas
audible
sheets
29. What About Search on Instagram?
-
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
Instagram Hashtag Clicks by Month (Desktop)
IG’s grown ~2.5X on desktop (at a time when desktop overall
shrank). Still <0.1% of Google’s desktop search volume.
30. 3 Theories of Plateauing Search Demand
2: Voice search and mobile apps are cannibalizing queries
(e.g. Google Home, GoogleAssistant, and their SearchApp)
1: Google’s getting better at solving searches the first time
(so searchers don’t need toperform more queries)
3: Alternatives to Google are taking market share
(e.g. Facebook, Instagram, DuckDuckGo, YouTube, andAmazon)
These two are probably happening. The
third, not so much.
31. What’s Google Doing to Grow
Ad Revenue?
#1: Larger numbers
of more subtle ads
#2: More kinds of ads
32. Google’s Desktop CTRs
March 2018 (US):
Paid: 6.1%
Organic: 65.3%
No Click
Searches: 34.7%
*Note:Sumsaregreaterthan100%assomesearchersclickmultipleresultsperquery
33. Google’s Mobile CTRs September 2018 (US):
*Note:Sumsaregreaterthan100%assomesearchersclickmultipleresultsperquery
Paid: 9.5%
Organic: 38.4%
No Click Searches:
61.6%
34. How Do These Changes Affect Searcher Behavior?
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Desktop Organic CTR, Paid CTR, and Zero Click Searches (2016-2019)
Desktop Organic Clickthroughs Desktop Paid Clicks Desktop Zero Clicks
Desktop Zero-Click Searches
Up ~12% in 3 Years
35. On Mobile, Those Effects Are Magnified
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Mobile Organic CTR, Paid CTR, and Zero-Click Searches (2016-2019)
Mobile Clickthroughs Mobile Paid Clicks Mobile Zero Clicks
Mobile Zero-Click Searches Up
~20% in 3 Years
36. Google’s 2019 ABCs:
Biasing Visibility & Clicks to Paid Results
Answering Queries in SERPs & Sending Out Less Traffic
Competing Directly with Publishers
(and ranking their own properties ahead of anyone else’s)
38. Four Ways to Mitigate Search Risk in 2019:
2) Focus on Marketing that Grows Branded Search
1) Influence Searchers On the SERP
4) Re-Prioritize Keyword Targeting to CTR%
3) Use Barnacle SEO When Google Won’t Rank Your Site
39. Control Your Brand with On-SERP SEO
ID sites that rank in
your space, & build
profiles on them
Claim Your Panels
Leverage the Rich
Snippets Google
Offers
40. When KWs Show Aggregated
Answers, Influence the
Publishers Below to Get Listed
To Get Into These…
Get Mentioned + Listed In These
41. Double Down on Branded Demand Creation
CrowdCow’s “Craft Beef” campaign: a book, web content, & events focused
on growing branded demand for their unique product
42. If Other Sites Can Rank, But You Can’t;
Use Barnacle SEO
Every one of these sites
enables user-submitted or
guest editorial contributions
44. Use CTR % Estimates in Your KW Research
This metric uses clicksteam data to
estimate the % of searchers who’ll
click on the standard, non-paid,
organic SERPs
48. Social
Follower
Email
Address
Avg
Engagement/
Post or Email
Ability to
Retarget?
Reach on
Other
Platforms
Ability to Get
Audience Data
Direct
Outreach
Possible?
20.81%*
* Via Mailchimp
Yes,Anywhere Yup. Tons. Yes.
1.73%*
Onlyonthat
Network
Nope. Onlywhatthe
networkgivesyou.
No.
* Via RivalIQ
49. Social’s Traffic is Still Paltry Compared to Search
Via
Google.com
Oct 2016
Facebook.com
Reddit.com
YouTube.com
Imgur.com
Bing.com
Wikipedia.org
Gained/Lost
59.2%
6.5%
5.4%
4.5%
2.2%
2.2%
1.4%
Yahoo.com 6.0%
-1.4%
-1.3%
-2.0%
+0.3%
-1.2%
+1.5%
-0.1%
-1.7%
Amazon.com 1.3% +0.1%
Top Traffic Referrers Feb 2018
57.8%
5.2%
3.4%
4.8%
1.0%
3.7%
1.3%
4.3%
1.4%
53. Now They May Be Targeting the “Link in Bio”
Via AgoraPulse
AgoraPulse’s experiment found a 34% decrease in avg. reach when a post contained the
phrase “link in bio” or similar.
54. YouTube Cuts Off Descriptions to Avoid Making
Links Visible in the Default View
60. Three Ways to Still Get Value from Social in 2019:
2) Use Social to BuildAudiences Who Know & Like You
1) Play to the Networks’Bias for High Engagement Streaks
3) Drive Branded Search & Clicks w/ Latent vs.Active Links
62. Social Algorithms Are Designed to:
Engage
Addict
Retain
Does this content attract users, generate
likes/shares, & hold their attention?
Do users who see this content stay
on our platform and keep engaging?
Do users who’ve consumed this content
return to our platform again & again?
63. When I have a low engagement post,
my next post has a harder time
reaching a big audience.
64. When a post gets high engagement,
FB boosts the reach of my next post
(unless it starts to show poor
engagement)
65. In this way, Facebook (& Twitter, Instagram,
LinkedIn, etc) reward high engagement
streaks and makes accounts w/ low
engagement invisible.
66. To benefit from this
system, use a
formula like this:
High engagement, non-
promotional post
High engagement, non-
promotional post
Promotion w/ CTA
High engagement, non-
promotional post
These earn brand
exposure & new
followers
High engagement, non-
promotional post
67. To benefit from this
system, use a
formula like this:
High engagement, non-
promotional post
High engagement, non-
promotional post
Promotion w/ CTA
High engagement, non-
promotional post
These capitalize on
your algorithmic
reputation for high
engagement, & earn
direct traffic
High engagement, non-
promotional post
68. Using Social Effectively Builds Brand Familiarity
This is all generic, not-
actionable, next-to-
useless advice
69. To Build Brand on
Social, We Need:
2) Content that is obviously connected
to the brand
1) Content that earns high engagement
& amplification
3) Content that creates emotional
resonance (best done through
compelling stories)
70. Use Latent vs. Active Links to Your Brand
That’s what I’m
talking ‘bout!
That’s no so bad,
either
73. For 15 Years, Content Marketing Worked
Great Like This…
74. Content
Flywheel
2001-2016
KW Research +
Industry Intuition
Publish
Content
Promote via Social
Channels
Push to email +
RSS subscribers
Earn Links +
Amplification
Grow social, email,
RSS, & WoM channels
Grow Authority &
Brand Recognition
Earn Search &
Referral Traffic
Rank Higher, Get
More Traffic
75. But, in 2019, Four Forces Work Against This Model
#2 Demands for monetization and growth have pushed tech
monopolies to become publishers’competitors
#1 Search Engine & Social NetworkAlgorithms Have Become
Winner Take Most Platforms
#3 Amplifiers are overwhelmed by requests and more skeptical than
ever before
#4 Traffic quantity correlates less & less with conversions
77. How to Make Content Work in 2019
2) Build content like you build product, i.e. deliver unique value
with a competitive advantage to a hungry audience
1) Find the intersection of what resonates with your customers
AND their influencers
3) Use content to earn email subscribers, and drive conversions
from there
78. Successful Content Targets Topics that Resonate with
Amplifiers, Not Just Customers
What Your
Customers Care
About
What Influential
Publications & People
Your Customers
Listen To Care About
Topics with high
potential reach
79. The Most Visited Piece the NYT Ever Published?
Dialect Quiz Map via NY Times
Grabs you fast, then demands
engagement
Plays to the psychological
desire for categorizing oneself
& others
Creates a viral loop (through
sharing & seeing friends’
answers)
80. Content as Product
This interactive piece from Typeform isn’t
just “good content;” it delivers:
Unique value
Reference-worthiness
A view into Typeform’s
competitive advantage
Rise of the Conversational UI via Typeform
81. Content → Email Subscriber → Conversion
“A visitor who reaches us via search is 1/19th as likely to
subscribe as one who comes in from a newsletter; a
reader coming in from Facebook is 1/12th; and a reader
coming in from Twitter is 1/6th.”
-Nicholas Thompson, Editor in Chief
Via Wired
85. The Late Adopters Are Finally Crossing the Digital
Marketing Chasm
Via Geoffrey Moore
These players have lots of $$$, entrenched
brands, & are used to overpaying for
untrackable advertising
88. Ad Bids in Many Sectors Go Far Above What’s
Profitable
89. Ad Costs Have Gone Up, While ROI Trends Down
Via BusinessInsider
90. And Ad Tracking Getting Much Harder
Which Will Reinforce Large Quantities of “Dumb
Money” > More Trackable Advertising
The concept of a 90-day look back window is a
wrap. Retargeting beyond 7 days is dead.
Effectively, for a sales cycle of any realistic
length, the whole concept of attribution outside
of last click is over.
Via iPullRank
92. And Accountability is a Massive Issue
Via TheDrum
“I do campaigns for brands on a weekly basis
and less than half ever come back for metrics;
less than 50% ever want to know what’s
happened. That makes me think it’s PRs playing
a numbers game and once a campaign has
gone no one is really interested.”
94. First: Organic + Brand; Then: Ads + CRO
If you’re not yet known, liked, &
trusted, ad ROI sucks.
95. Via Wordstream
New to a market? This
happens.
Known & loved? Welcome
to Profitville.
96. If “Branding” and “Awareness” are your
biggest goals… Measure that!
Via Google Trends
Branded Search *IS* a Measurable Number
97. The Most FollowedAccount(s) that Match a Keyword Search
Traditional Influencer Marketing Seeks Out:
The Most-ReachableAccount(s) that Match a Keyword Search
OR
But That’s Not Really What We Want…
98. Targeting on Audience Size > Audience Match
4mm followers
Followed by 19% of profiles
that frequently talk about
“supercars”
99. What You Really Want: People & Publications YourAudience Engages
With Most
Followed by 16% of people
who frequently talk about
“Italian food”
100. What You Really Want: People & Publications YourAudience Engages
With Most
Small overall following, but reaches
exactly who we want to reach!
101. How to Win at Digital Advertising in 2019
Step 2: Earn brand exposure through organic, social, content, SEO,
events, & targeted brand marketing
Step 3: Get >1 organic visit (or a social engagement)
Step 4: Pay to advertise where your audience engages to those who
already know+like you
Step 1: Interview, survey, or use profile data to discover where your
audiences engage (and with whom/what)