Dig deeper: Boosting search conversions: 5 behavioral strategies to test
Digital PR: Building authority for all
Digital PR is often treated as a subset of SEO, overlooking its broader benefits for the overall marketing strategy.
While it originated from link building efforts, in 2024, digital PR encompasses much more.
It closely connects with content, influencer outreach, social media and traditional PR. When these teams collaborate, they can create truly impactful results.
An effective digital PR strategy enhances every stage of the customer journey. Although link building remains a goal for SEO, the authority gained extends beyond that.
By working with the strategic team to understand audience personas and their online behavior, insights can guide targeted strategies.
Collaboration with the social media team also opens up opportunities to leverage trends.
For instance, at my agency, our pet insurance brand relies heavily on social media for topic generation, whether endorsing trends or advising against them, like the trend of dyeing dogs’ fur. This alignment between teams is vital for a successful strategy.
Metrics across the customer journey
Data is one of the greatest strengths and biggest challenges of digital marketing.
We have access to a wealth of information that can be reported in various ways, leading to numerous reports for different meetings and purposes.
Aligning data across teams is crucial. It helps everyone agree on how to attribute conversions and understand the customer journey, which can transform the digital marketing strategy.
When channels and campaigns have clarity on their roles, they can focus their efforts effectively.
Not every activity needs to show a direct ROI; some efforts are meant to raise awareness and spark interest, and that’s perfectly valid.
If the SEO team collaborates with other departments to create a unified approach to reporting on the customer journey – mapping their needs and actions – they can unlock tremendous potential for all teams involved.
Champions for the customer
In a digital marketing team, it’s essential to have champions for the customer – team members who remember that our ultimate goal is to inspire the audience to make a purchase, in whatever form that takes.
Whether from the SEO team, PPC team or others, all departments should unite to enhance the customer journey. I often liken the customer to a baton in a relay race; once a team has it, they need to effectively pass it through various channels.
Each team, including SEO, has valuable contributions to make. The key is to foster collaboration, share knowledge and maintain a customer-centric focus. The more teams understand each other’s strengths, the better they can work together.
When was the last time you shared knowledge with another department? If it’s been over six weeks, consider suggesting a lunch-and-learn session.
Improving collaboration isn’t just a leadership responsibility – anyone on the team can initiate it. So, think about how you can make a difference today.
Dig deeper: Customer-centric SEO: Adapting your search strategy for success
Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.