Content Marketing, Engineered Podcast Wendy Covey

 Learn the fundamentals of taking a conversion-focused approach to SEO content to meet your audience where they are in their buyer’s journey, and drive sales and revenue for your business. 

Part 2 of our SEO mini-series continues with Dale Bertrand, President of SEO agency Fire&Spark. Like many SEO professionals, he didn’t start his career focused on marketing, content, or search. He started as an engineer, first in manufacturing and then in computer engineering building a supercomputer for the NSA, before a stint focused on AI. He brings his rare combination of engineering, AI, and SEO expertise to our episode today, tackling the topic of conversion-focused SEO for engineering and technical companies.
As search engines have evolved and user behavior has changed over time, SEO best practices have changed as well. SEO success no longer comes from keyword stuffing, or a few back-end tweaks, or aggressive link building. Instead, companies are finding success in search by building authority around key topics to gain visibility, and by focusing on conversion intent and optimization in their search strategies.
Dale elaborates on taking a conversion-focused SEO approach to meet your audience where they are in their buyer’s journey, delivering the content they need at that time and using content to drive them to the next step. He gives examples of how companies in the engineering space can use this approach to drive lead generation, revenue, and other key conversion activities. We also discuss the impact AI is having and will have on SEO, and how even as the technology changes, the fundamentals of marketing, SEO, and content development stay the same.



Resources
Fire&Spark's websiteDale Bertrand on LinkedInGot a question? Email Dale: dale@fireandspark.comConnect with TREW Marketing
 Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with Wendy
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.

 Learn about the biggest changes to SEO over the last year, including the EEAT update and the growth of AI search and generative AI, and hear how these changes are impacting B2B engineering companies like yours. 

For part one of this two-part series on SEO for technical, B2B companies, we’re joined by Lily Ray, Senior Director of SEO and Head of Organic Research at Amsive Digital. Lily has spent the last 11 years in agencies, focused on SEO and organic research across many industries, and she brings a wealth of experience to our episode today.
Google has been in a period of rapid evolution, with multiple core updates released over the last few years. The biggest update, E-E-A-T, has changed the search landscape, prioritizing experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness of websites and individual authors alongside other, long standing ranking factors. Lily cites how she’s seeing E-E-A-T and other core updates impact client sites, as well as how businesses can find success in organic search by focusing on user experience first and foremost.
If the frequent shifts in Google’s algorithm weren’t enough, we also have the rapid adoption of AI changing how people search for and create content. After spending months testing ChatGPT and AI search engines, Lily has takeaways on the smart, responsible ways of using these tools, and why it’s dangerous to use the tools without a firm understanding of how they work and what they do and do not do. She also shares how she’s using this new toolset to create efficiencies in info sourcing and content reuse, to augment rather than replace current processes.
Resources
Lily Ray on TwitterLily Ray on LinkedInLily Ray’s websiteAmsive Digital: SEO Articles


Connect with TREW Marketing
 Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with Wendy
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.

 Gain insights into where manufacturing marketers are seeing success and how they are investing their marketing budgets in 2023. 

For part two of my two-part research series, Lisa Beets, Research Director for the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), joins me to walk through key findings from the 2023 Manufacturing Content Marketing Research Report. The report studies where content marketers working in manufacturing invest time and budget dollars, and the outcomes they are experiencing.
This year's study spans a broad range of marketing topics, from content creation and management, distribution, metrics and goals, and budget allocation.
There were three particularly interesting discussions we had during the interview:
Manufacturing marketers are outpacing B2B marketers in video investment in both the number of videos produced and the use of YouTube as a distribution channel.Manufacturing marketers cited web visits and social followers as the most important metrics as opposed to conversion metrics for B2B marketers; hearing this makes me ponder the final point....There were struggles cited with creating a content marketing strategy (which may be the reason for bullet #2 - relying on easy-to-grab vanity metrics over substantial conversion metrics)This report is an excellent companion to part one of my research series, where we walked through the 2023 State of Marketing to Engineers.
Resources
2023 CMI Manufacturing Content Marketing ReportContent Marketing InstituteLisa Beets on LinkedIn2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Guide, including previous research reportsConnect with TREW Marketing
 Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with Wendy
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.

 Gain insights on how engineers and technical buyers find and consume content to make purchase decisions. 

Christian Haight (a.k.a. CJ), Content Marketing Manager at GlobalSpec, joins me on this episode to walk through key findings from the 6th annual research study conducted by TREW Marketing and GlobalSpec. 
The 2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Report includes a set of consistent questions we ask to monitor trends, such as preferred information sources and content types. We also take a deep dive into search behaviors, influencers, podcasts, and in-person events.
In this episode we walk through key findings, industry feedback and our own opinions in areas such as:
Search behaviorsChannel preferencesIndustry influencersSocial media preferencesValued contentSales interactionsFor more in-depth research information, check out the resources link below. Also be on the lookout for event MORE research to be released this year. In June 2023 GlobalSpec has a report coming out on engineers' work challenges and where they seek training and education. In Fall 2023 TREW Marketing and Elektor will release a European-focused report with many overlapping areas of focus as the State of Marketing to Engineers research.



Resources
2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Guide, including previous research reports2023 State of Marketing to Engineers on-demand Webinar and Webinar FAQ blog postGlobalSpecCJ on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing
 Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with Wendy
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.

 Hear from TREW Marketing Co-Founders and early employees share stories about the company and how marketing has changed in the past 15 years. 

To celebrate TREW Marketing's 15-year "TREWversary," TREW Co-Founder Rebecca Geier, along with early employees Lee Chapman and Morgan Norris, joined me for a look-back episode. Expect to hear many stories on this episode, including:
Where TREW Marketing got its nameThe most dramatic changes in marketing over the past 15 yearsCritical business decisions that shaped the agencyThe most unique technologies we learned about through client engagementsLearn more about TREW Marketing here.
Resources
Smart Marketing for Engineers: An Inbound Marketing Guide to Reach Technical Audiences, by Rebecca GeierContent Marketing, Engineered: Build Trust and Convert Buyers with Technical Content, by Wendy Covey2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research ReportTraction: Get a Grip on Your Business, by Gino WickmanRebecca Geier on LinkedInLee Chapman on LinkedInMorgan Norris on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing
 Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with Wendy
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.

 Hear the latest updates on generative AI for marketing, including tools we're kicking around, features we love, and prompting best practices for creating AI-assisted technical content. 

Morgan Norris, TREW Brand and Content Strategist, is on top of how AI tools can enhance our technical content writing process (not derail it). She's been researching and piloting various tools and staying abreast of the ever-evolving legal and cultural implications of generative AI.
In this episode we cover:
Marketing AI news, including a statement and guidance from the U.S. Copywrite OfficeGenerative AI tools we are trying out (see full list below)Generative AI functionality that benefits us most as technical marketersBest practices for prompting AI tools during ideation, research and writingHow to create a company policy on generative AIMorgan will host a webinar in May to take a deeper dive into many of these topics. If you have questions or topics you'd like her to cover, drop her a line on LinkedIn. 

Resources
Past podcast episode: Generative AI for Industrial Content Development - A ChatGPT, Writer and Jasper ShowdownAn Industrial Marketers' Guide to Generative AIU.S. Copywrite Office - Generative AI Resource PageWriterJasperChatGPTDemandwellCanvaGlossAIMarketing AI InstituteMorgan on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing
 Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with Wendy
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.