First Page Strategy, by RevenueZen

RevenueZen started generating SaaS leads from SEO in 2017. Back then? I was ALL about targeting high search volume. But that's wrong. 95% of B2B SEO should be about your High Intent Money Pages: Specific, solution oriented URLs ranking for keywords related to your features, products, services, or jobs-to-be-done. --> This is where most of the actual SQL conversions happen, and from where pipeline can be attributed. Other supporting assets are important **primarily to the extent that they contributes to the success of the Money Pages** Examples: /iso-certification-software : YES /commercial-solar-installation : YES /what-is-a-meta-description : NO SEO that is focused mostly on increasing traffic, sometimes called 'Audience Development', is mostly important to the extent that 1) that traffic can be redirected somehow to the money pages, or 2) it causes a brand impression that can later be useful for a money page conversion, or 3) it helps the domain accrue enough backlinks/authority that the money pages have a better chance of ranking. Audience development shouldn't be overlooked. But it isn't the first priority. And when you work with RevenueZen, we are definitely going to build you blog, article, glossary, documentation, etc and other content besides purely bottom-funnel pages. When we do that though, it's because we think that's the best way to get more conversions on your bottom-funnel pages, not because we think that /what-is-cybersecurity ITSELF is going to actually bring you any pipeline. If you're going to invest in SEO, you need an actual hard plan for how that investment is going to result in pipeline, not just traffic. Don't waste your money.

$100k/mo. That's how much MANY companies spent in the 2021 heydey of influencer marketing. Too many. I think it's time to bring the creator marketing strategy back. Just... more thoughtfully. I envision a SaaS company's creator partners like members of its sales team: → Enable with great collateral → Provide strategic advice but not micromanagement → Give direction and encouragement → Timely updates and commission payments → Leaderboards to enable competition Another reason why having a sales leadership background is SUPER helpful for leading a marketing org.

Why do people do business with your team? It's not why you think: It's because it's your neck they'll wring if sh!t goes wrong. Because it was YOU that came up with all of those great thoughts and ideas. The ones that ended up getting packaged into a delightful social media post. That's part of why: ❌ AI cannot, and should not, THINK for you. Worse... if you let it, your brain will atrophy. Examples: AI FOR NOTETAKING Overuse of AI notetakers, which are overall a good thing (I own a few shares in Fathom!), have atrophied sellers' ability to retain and lock in the KEY information they need to remember after a call. AI FOR LINKEDIN COMMENT RESPONSES Makes you look like a dweeb. It doesn't hurt MY feelings if you use AI to comment on my post, but for your own good, please stop doing this. It's not helping you. It's just adding noise. AI FOR CONTENT CREATION For repurposing and editing? Sure. For coming up with WHAT to say? Not a chance. Since content is part of the process of understanding what another team of people (aka an Organization) believes... which underpins why they've created the product they have... outsourcing this process to AI dooms you to failure. If all of my content was created with AI, and you talked to me about it on a call, I'd have no idea what you were talking about. And I'd look (and be) foolish indeed. Let me further unpack this argument and hopefully convince you as to WHERE exactly in your marketing processes you should, and should not, be leveraging AI 👇🏼

The journey of bootstrapping Aware B2B hasn't been a straight line upward. We realized: a lot of people have VERY bad habits. One of those is thinking you need to be *always on* when it comes to LinkedIn. This is difficult. As a SaaS company? We want to help our users get what they want. But we also want to coach them on what WE THINK they should want. And I can tell you that systematically engaging with posts minutes after they go live, is NT a recipe for demonstrating credibility. Worse: to me, it's a sign you don't have enough to do. Sure, there are exceptions. But the typical executive? They're not bookmarking when their creators post, and trying to be "first". P.S. If you're not an executive... you can still think/act like one :)

"SEO doesn't work for enterprise lead gen." Hold up. Do people stop using search engines once they begin working at a company that has <1000 headcount? Of course not. Now, obviously: → Organic Search is just one of MANY ways that people evaluate and make large purchases But it's ridiculous to think that, just because YOU PERSONALLY are in a bunch of Slack groups and marketing communities and often have awareness of solutions before you need to Google about them, that *your prospects and customers* don't ever Search. The most laughable part of this is that - in the same breath! - people who would never in a million years suggest that Google Ads don't work, label SEO a thing of the past. Cool. Keep it up. Our clients and our portfolio companies are laughing all the way to the bank :) When your prospects are searching for things they need? → Be present → Be findable → Roll out the red carpet LinkedIn & SEO should be your two most capital efficient channels in the tool belt in 2024.

The right hand partner of an SEO agency? The web team. SaaS companies be wanting to redesign their website ALL the time: But without an incredibly tight-fitting partnership between the web and SEO teams, traffic and valuable lead flow can be lost in a flash. There are really SO many great website agencies out there, so this isn't a final and complete list. At the same time, there are a lot of charlatan web development teams too, that will do sh!t work and take all of your money while mucking up your site and holding your hosting account hostage. I'm providing this list because we have had good experiences with all of these companies, and can recommend their work. Check it out 👇🏼

Thinking of ghostwriting for your CEO? Great idea, but... You have to make sure you're prepared. If you're not, you will: → Make your CEO think you're unprepared :) → Cause the content strategy meetings to be unproductive → Have a tough time getting high-quality content from a busy executive → Make it harder to revive this as a channel later when you ARE more prepared I get it. You saw the pitch from the LinkedIn content creation agency, and wanted to avoid the price tag. So you DIY. But like any kind of marketing done well, it's not easy to be great. DIY ends up being a waste of time. Here's how to avoid that 👇🏼