Alright. So, on the last podcast, I touched on utilising information from your sales department to create content. Let me expand on this.
The traditional way of creating content with SEO involves carrying out keyword research with a tool like Keyword Planner, SEMRush, or something else.
These tools are great for keyword research – keyword research, in itself, being used as an ideation tool for the content you seek to create.
Such tools are excellent! They truly are.
However, keyword research should not be limited to these tools.
Here’s why I say this…
The point of keyword research is to get a sense of what people are searching for, to get a sense of the demand of what people are searching for. Ultimately, it’s to get a sense of the content to create, and the terms to target within the content.
External tools are great for you to reach this determination.
However, within your business, you’ll already have ample amount of data to utilise in reaching this same determination.
Dataset from within one’s business is often overlooked when it comes to content ideas from an SEO point of view.
As far as data within your business goes, your sales team will be an excellent source to mine for content.
Let me put it to you this way –
Everything you’re done in your business, for your business, has equipped you with ample amount of intel about your audience.
You already hold the research data needed to service your users – or potential users.
You simply need to appropriate this dataset for SEO purposes.
Now, what do I mean by this…?
Let me give you an example.
You’re in the finance industry – in investments.
You have a sales team that successfully onboard new clients.
As part of their onboarding process, they request feedback from existing clients.
They make this request regularly, and have done so for many years.
They’ve done so for so long that they’ve iterated their onboarding to incorporate the feedback received.
One of the requests, received from many clients, was to have a glossary of some sort, of all the key investment terms that clients can refer to whenever they want to get more familiar with the range of investment terms out there.
This idea was added into the investment welcome pack, which every new client receives, as part of their onboarding.
One day, an SEO requested to view this welcome pack.
They peruse the doc and see this investment glossary section, which instantly ignited a light bulb moment.
They thought: ‘I wonder if there is any search volume for this’.
And just like that, they stumble across a range of content that can be created for your site.
This content, won’t only draw in existing clients, it will draw in potential clients – new users that can be added to your sales funnel.
Your sales department is an excellent source for content generation!
The way SEOs carry out keyword research, is carried out similarly by sales.
Think about it…
Both departments have users in mind.
When we, SEOs, conduct keyword research, it’s to get a deeper understanding of the content that people are seeking.
This insight is from a number of individual things – including the keywords themselves.
We’re able to look at keywords and judge what the intent behind the keyword are, as well as judge what the content the users will expect when they search with those keywords.
Just like we can extract keywords from a piece of content, we can do the opposite – look at a keyword and envision the content that’s needed for it.
It’s one of the skillsets that SEOs have, right?
This is all for users – targeted users!
Sales target users, too!
Do they not…?
All of the research they carry out is to better target the users they want to convert into clients.
They research the same type of users (or audience) that SEOs research to target.
Well, if you’re targeting the same set of users, why not share the data you have of the targeted users?
If sales have already spent shitloads of money to research their targeted users and have extracted insights from the findings, why not appropriate that research, those findings, from an SEO point of view?
Sales already have the data of the audience you seek.
By their very existence, they already have ample amount of data of the targeted audience you seek.
There wouldn’t be a department, if there wasn’t already this data, right?
The point of there being a department is to have sales utilise the data to generate sales.
Now, the way they generate sales is different to the way SEO generates sales – but both generate sales.
They both service the same targeted audience – an audience inherently researched by the sales department.
Sales wouldn’t be able to appropriate their data for SEO purposes but guess who’ll be able to do this…?
Aha moment…?
Do you see why it’s essential that SEO engage with every department in your business – whether they be marketing, or non-marketing?
I tell you, the worst thing you can do for SEO is to keep it isolated into its own department.
If you want to keep SEO firefighting, if you want to keep your SEO in a reactive state, keeping SEO siloed is a great way to achieve this.
If, on the other hand, you regard SEO as more than keywords, rankings and links, you’ll let it engage with other departments – marketing and non-marketing, alike.
Keeping SEO isolated is the way you keep it in a reactive state.
Give it life, and you’ll be amazed at how proactive the channel can be. You’ll be amazed at the results the channel can generate. You’ll be amazed at how the channel can grow your business.