Digital marketers are technical, creative, and data-driven. Our skills are in high demand because we can deliver exceptional ROI. But all of us have, in our careers, faced the challenge of trying to market when the demand just doesn't exist or competing for the scraps Google, Facebook, and our competition have left to "the little guys." Serving demand is the bread and butter of a web marketer, but there is another way - demand creation. For the truly new spaces and those so competitive as to be barely-ROI-positive, it's a strategy worthy of investment. In this presentation, Rand will walk through ways to use the skills we have in a new way - to create demand for our products rather than attracting those already likely to buy.

1. Rand Fishkin | Founder & CEO
Demand Creation
How Marketers Can Incite Hunger Rather than Just Serve Existing Appetites

2. I Come from the World of SEO
For me, ranking here
was the pinnacle of
web marketing
achievements

3. Via SimilarWeb
And There’s Data to Support That Belief:

4. Via
Google.com
Oct 2016 May 2017
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%
62.6%
5.9%
4.1%
4.7%
1.5%
2.1%
1.4%
5.0%
+3.4%
-0.6%
-1.3%
+0.2%
-0.6%
-0.1%
+0%
-1.0%
Amazon.com 1.3% 1.4% +0.1%
Top Traffic Referrers

5. Via Google Trends

6. Via Rand’s Blog
For every paid ad click on Google, there are 20 clicks to an organic result.

7. But, Some Things About How I’ve Historically
Thought About SEO Trouble Me…

8. 90% of clicks, 10% of
marketing spend
10% of clicks, 90% of
marketing spend

9. Via GetResponse
2,510 marketers surveyed by GetResponse in 2017 say
SEO is only the 4th highest ROI channel they invest in

10. In Q3/4 2017, there were (seasonally) fewer clicks available
for SEO for perhaps the first time since Google’s launchVia Rand’s Blog

11. Via Geoffrey Weg

12. We Sometimes Mock Companies for Getting
SEO Wrong, But…

14. Via Sistrix

15. Via Motley Fool & Seeking Alpha

19. The most popular
service (by 10X+) in
the sector is nowhere
on page one?

23. This Isn’t Just True for Big Companies…

30. Granted, There Are Exceptions…

34. I Used to Sweat Moz’s Rankings;
Maybe I Should Have Been Sweating Our Brand

36. Ranking Better
in Searches
Creating More
Searches
There Are Two Paths We Can Take…

37. 4 Ways to Grow Demand
Directly Through SEO

38. #1: Search Suggest

39. #2: Related Searches

40. #3: People Also Search…

41. #4: Rank. Solve Query. Earn Loyalty.

42. But Today, I Want to Spend Time on How We
Grow Demand Outside the SERPs

43. A Roadmap for Demand Creation:
Associate your brand with a problem, experience, or need
Amplify the problem/experience/need
Create awareness of the problem/experience/need
Make your brand visible at the right times, to the right people, in the right
places
Improve processing fluency & reduce cognitive load with simple, repeated
messaging that ties together need+brand

45. Via Reddit

46. Brand is…
A promise.
i.e. when you see “Brand X” it means “YAttributes”
A memory trigger.
i.e. when you experience problem Z, you think of “Brand X” as the
potential solution

47. Brand Marketing is…
A coded message.
Reminding you of the brand’s existence
Reinforcing the brand’s colors, shapes, sounds, experiences, &
feelings
Nudging you to use the brand at the right time

48. What do you think of when you
see this brand?

49. Brand marketing reinforces that:

50. What do you think of when you
see this brand?

51. Brand marketing reinforces that:

52. Before you can reinforce branding, you need a
Brand Promise
We
provide…
We evoke
feelings…
We remind
you of…
We share the
values of…
product/
service that
solves a
problem you
have
that make our
customers most
anxious about
whether our
solution is right for
them
Memories that our
target
demographics &
psychographics will
have ++
associations with
People who are
statistically most
likely to be our best
customers

53. Everything Should (Subtly) Reinforce the Message
SEO Snippets
PPC Ads
Big
Content
CommentsTweets
Photos
Landing
Pages
UI & UX
Brand Name
Facebook
Posts
Emails
Product
Names
Videos
Visual
Branding
Outreach
Onboarding
Press & PR
The Brand
Promise

54. Pro Tip:
Stop Being So Scared of Controversy

55. Via NYTimes

57. How can Penzey’s call 22% of Americans “racist” and
maintain a consumer business?

58. Online sales up 59.9%. Customer
cancellations up 3%.

59. Pro Tip:
Stop Being So Literal with Language

60. From 2007-2012, Lots of SEOs Talked About a
Shift from Gray Hat to White Hat
But it didn’t stick until…

62. R.C.S.
Real. Company. Shit.

63. To shift demand from “buy
us links,” to “build us great
assets,” Wil just needed to
name the movement

65. Via New Scientist & BBC

67. Pro Tip:
Make the Product Do Some Marketing

70. Via InvisionApp

71. Pro Tip:
Leverage Customer Affinities

72. Via Book Larder

73. Via IndieHackers

74. Via Gusto

76. Pro Tip:
Help Your Customers Advocate For You

80. Pro Tip:
Align Influencers’ Motivations with Your Own

81. Via Rand’s Blog

82. Via OfficeNinjas

84. Instead of Getting Blamed
When This Happens:
What the #$%^?
Why aren’t we #1?

85. Get Credit When This Happens:
Way to go SEO team

86. Rand Fishkin | Founder & CEO
bit.ly/sparkdemand