The Big Think: Think, Search & Act—-Using SEO to Craft Your Message
SEO. It seems everywhere I turn, search engine optimization shows up. Now I know I spend time in odd places (like advertising agencies), but something important is going on here.
We often take concepts like "key word selection" as part of our digital sphere and delegate it off to the technocrats to do what they do. But there's something much richer here. Key words are an essential part of crafting and refining a powerful promotional message.
THINK--the cognitive and amorphous aspect of our desire. The impulse and drive. OUR DESIRE FOR THE BRAND!
SEARCH--the very specific words that define our intellectual and emotional journey. OUR SEARCH FOR THE BRAND
ACT--Thought brought to life. Our behavior. OUR PURCHASE AND ADOPTION OF THE BRAND.
What happens between THINK and ACT is the powerful fulcrum of behavior.
Key words are actually the bridge between DESIRE and ACTION in the digital world and provide a a two-way street of information!! The application of key words, and the resultant hits, allow us to refine our message based upon the success and failure. It's market research right at your finger tips.
So, the next time you talk about SEO and key word selection, look at it prospectively and retrospectively. This methodology will help discover the "search terms" that should be part of your messaging--not the other way around.
The key observation is that very often, the messaging (typically done first) doesn't match up with the real-world search dynamics of the audience.
Search on....but be smart about it!
September 23rd, 2011 - 20:21
THINK in the vernacular of your target audience.
SEARCH in the spirit of your searchers NOT for the search engines
ACT like a human not a brand
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September 25th, 2011 - 06:33
Great observations John-there are two great focus points in this approach 1.) If a user cannot articulate the brand, they may never find it, 2.) The “fulcrum” of behavior will be very different based on the demographic. If your brand isn’t coke and you’re selling sode in the southern US, you had better understand that users will be searching for “pop”.
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February 26th, 2012 - 02:06
Another portion should be allocated to muncipal agencies and the like like the one that digs up the road in front of my house every 3 weeks .
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