Global Taiwanese brands often treat online marketing in the same way they would a
tradeshow.
At a tradeshow, interested people walk the halls, and your job as a vendor is to bait them into your
company's booth by any means necessary: live music, free popcorn, swag.
And once prospects are in your booth, salespeople take over and try to get their hooks in them.
SEO/GEO content is the bait global Taiwanese marketers use to try and get people into their booth online
(i.e., their website).
This can work with FMCG that can be bought through your site, or if you can get customers to agree to
a purchase in their minds based on what they find there, but it's rare in categories that involve
deeper pre- and post-purchase commitments, especially in B2B.
Even if you sell to freelancers and/or solopreneurs, you're not likely to win a customer during their
first website visit (unless they have the option for a
free trial or demo).
And even if they do, this still isn't a reliable tactic.
Because the Internet isn't a tradeshow full of interested people who've paid to be there.
The Internet is a city full of people doing their own things.
Most aren't interested in what you sell and don't care what you have to say, which requires a different
playbook than what you would do at a tradeshow, and a longer timeframe.
Online Marketing: It's a Jungle Out There
If you're wondering how to get people's attention when they're online, think about how marketers win
their attention in the urban jungle.
Cities are busy and full of things to look at, which is why ads must rely on flash and sex appeal to
win eyeballs.
In other words, they must be inherently attractive.
And what's more, most people out and about in cities are going places, so the ads they encounter must
be understandable and digestible at a glance.
Everything I've just described is the exact opposite of most SEO/GEO content, which is slow to consume and
boring AF.
Try putting 2,500 words on the side of a bus. How well do you think that'll do with commuters?
In the Jungle, It's Adapt or Die
If you want to know how to change, I can't tell you that here.
I'd have to know more about you. But I can give you some hints.
One, focus more on attracting attention through
flashier creativity and quick-to-digest
content and
advertising.
Two, when it comes to the top of the funnel (
TOFU), focus your SEO/GEO content on
answering questions prospects ask when they're just starting to consider a purchase (instead of just
optimizing for keywords).
At this point, the prospect knows they have a problem or need but they might not know or understand
what the solution is yet (or whether a solution exists).
This is an important window if your brand isn't a market leader, because it's your last chance to get on
the vendor's list before vetting begins.
And three, when it comes to the middle of the funnel (i.e.,
consideration content) or lower,
experts recommend (including myself) creating content that better satisfies
conversational queries,
such as comparison pages, niche buying guides, and interactive tools such as product selectors.
People are increasingly conversing online using natural language, they're not just inputting simple words
and phrases anymore.
If your brand is looking to attract online attention that gets prospects conversing with you,
get in touch.
