- The Search Economy
- Posts
- ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² for CEOs
ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² for CEOs
Brett explores how CEOs should prepare their brands for The Search Economy
Brett McGrath
May 31, 2024
Welcome back to another edition of the ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² newsletter! This week my focus is on the fearless leaders of our organizations, CEOs. The responsibilities for CEOs are endless. Thereβs the hiring, firing, revenue projections, fundraising, board meetings, client meetings, staff meetings, and everything else in between. I want to spend todayβs newsletter considering how CEOs can find time amongst all of their other responsibilities to solidify their companyβs position in ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π².
First, I understand the audience reading this will be a mix of CEOs and the people who support CEOs in their role. Iβm in the latter camp. Iβve spent the last decade of my career reporting directly to the role of the CEO. Iβve been fortunate to work for CEOs of all different working styles, personality types, and skills. Iβm convinced that youβve got to be a different breed to be a CEO and each CEO is a 1/1 prototype. Before we get into the ideal CEO mindset around ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² I want to share a few important lessons that Iβve picked up from a decade of working directly for CEOs:
Excellent communication is not only a focus, it's the most important quality of leadership. This means having the ability to customize a message for different audience types and always searching for ways to resonate with each stakeholder group.
The best CEOs are experts in change management. They understand that what got their businesses to where itβs at today likely wonβt get it to its next stage. Their view is that change is inevitable and focus their time on helping manage their team through it.
Marketing is important, but growth always prevails. Because most CEOs donβt come from a marketing background they rely on employees and agencies to drive the marketing strategy. Iβve learned that most of the time it doesnβt matter what youβre doing from quarter to quarter as long as itβs helping support growth oriented business goals.
These 3 takeaways from my experience should be encouraging for CEOs or anyone who works for CEOs when trying to solidify your position in ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π². Hereβs how I think each of those themes can translate into great results for CEOs who want to take more modern approaches to being found by their next customer.
Communication
The words that CEOs use to describe business goals, opportunities, and company strategy is critical in order to get everyone inside of an organization on the same page. More importantly, the words that CEOs use to describe their brandβs point of view on topics that matter to their next customer is everything. CEOs have to be great communicators in order to be effective. ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² requires excellent communication in order to even be a part of the game. It takes the right messaging, content, and positioning to show up when your next customer searches for a problem that you can solve. CEOs are likely not the right people to take those words and use them to fuel a first-in-class SEO strategy, however, the CEO needs to be able to make sure the right people are on the bench to make it happen.
Change Management
Thereβs always undeniable changes that are going on that impact the industries that weβre marketing and selling into. The first step to being a master in change in ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² is to have an understanding that your next customer is in complete control of the buying experience. Your next customer has mini computers inside their pockets that they search for information whenever they have a problem. Your next customer values information and access. The brands who are going to get the most attention are those who show up at the top of search results. The biggest step to prepare for this shift in the way we market our products or services is to make sure your website gets placement during the buying process. If youβre unable to rank for key terms that people are searching for then itβs likely a digital strategy shift will need to take place.
Marketing
The best CEOs know they need marketing to grow, but most donβt have the time to understand how every campaign, program, and tactic should work. ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² isnβt just about using digital marketing strategies to get in front of your next customer. ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² is about growth. Iβve never worked for a CEO who wasnβt growth obsessed. The most impactful CEOs understand that marketing can help their companyβs growth and this is where the right resources come into play. If youβre a CEO who values marketing you should always make sure you have the right leader or agency in place to help support your growth. If youβre a marketer working directly with a CEO you should always find ways to manage up the latest and greatest strategies to be found by your next customer.
Getting prepared for the ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² isnβt easy because it's new.
CEOs who understand the way their next customer behaves in ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² will be the group who grows. Itβs about creating the right system that works for you and having really smart people around to help you execute it.
The Content We Dropped This Week
In the third episode of ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² podcast we host our first guest, Jonathan Rivera at Superior Attic.
Jonathan talks about how he thinks about using data to find his next customer. He shares his process, strategy, and how he allocates budget to making sure his business stands out above the rest in the space heβs in.
Please follow and subscribe to ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² wherever you consume fine audio and video content.
Quick Tip for The Search Economy
ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² can be complicated. Weβre all jockeying for position. We all want our content to show up first. Thereβs a lot of different ways to consider how to improve our position in ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² and a lot of technology that can help. Iβve spent my entire career working in technology and am a big believer that technology can enhance your ability to be found, but will never replace the strategy.
Having the best technology, but no strategy for SEO is like having a map with zero destination in mind. In order to maximize your chances to be successful in this era you need the right strategy and people to help you execute it.
If youβre interested in learning more about this topic you can check out the article that I wrote about it here. This topic will also make its way into an upcoming conversation on the podcast.
What Theyβre Saying About Search
In a previous career stop I recorded a podcast episode with Viola about all of the changes that were happening in the world of SEO. Sheβs a SEO subject matter expert who has built a business around helping her customers enter ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π².
SEO can be complicated, but I love the way Viola simplifies its impact in her post.
If youβre looking for a team that will help give you a jump start into ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² give Pneuma a shout for a free traffic audit!
Content That Supports The Search Economy
HubSpot has always been prolific at creating content for the marketer. If you peel a couple layers back theyβre pretty damn good at creating content for the ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π², too.
I dug through their SEO guide of 2024 and had a lot of notes. I think this is a great resource especially for any CEO trying to figure out SEO.
I appreciate you being here for ππ‘π ππππ«ππ‘ πππ¨π§π¨π¦π² newsletter. If youβre looking to learn more about how your company can get found by your next customer then give the Pneuma team a shout.