In this episode of Content Logistics, host Camille Trent welcomes Eric Doty, the content lead at Dock, who shares his insights on SEO and content operations. Their conversation kicks off with Camille expressing excitement about having Eric on the show, citing his previous appearance on the Superpath podcast and his expertise in SEO as key reasons for inviting him.
Eric, with his background in SEO and experience as a one-person marketing team for seed-stage startups, discusses the importance of SEO in content strategy. He emphasizes the foundational role of SEO content in the growth and scaling of a company, particularly in the early stages. This approach, driven by both his past experiences and the specific needs of the company, underscores the strategic importance of SEO in building a company’s online presence.
Throughout the episode, Eric offers valuable insights into the world of content marketing, highlighting the significance of SEO in establishing a robust digital footprint. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intricacies of content strategy and the role of SEO in driving business growth.
Featured Guest
Key Insights
Maximizing Podcast Exposure: Eric’s Strategy
Eric Doty reveals a unique strategy for gaining visibility through podcast appearances. He advises being among the first few guests on a new podcast, leveraging the tendency of audiences to start listening from the earliest episodes. This approach, as Eric explains, can significantly boost one’s exposure since these initial episodes often garner the most listens over time. This tactic is not just beneficial for personal branding, but it also serves as a clever marketing technique for professionals looking to increase their reach in a crowded digital space. Eric’s insight reflects an understanding of audience behavior and the dynamics of content consumption in the podcasting world, offering a practical tip for anyone seeking to enhance their visibility or promote their expertise through podcasts.
The Evolution of Dock’s Content Strategy
Camille and Eric discuss the rapid development and scaling of Dock’s content strategy within a year. This conversation highlights the dynamic nature of content marketing and SEO, demonstrating how a company can evolve its approach to meet growing demands and changing market conditions. Eric’s experience at Dock illustrates the importance of flexibility and responsiveness in content marketing, showing how a company can adapt its strategies to maintain relevance and effectiveness. This insight is particularly valuable for marketers and business leaders who need to understand the importance of agility in their content and SEO strategies to stay competitive and responsive to market trends.
SEO as the Foundation of Content Strategy
Eric Doty emphasizes the critical role of SEO in laying the foundation for a company’s content strategy. He points out that starting with SEO-focused content is often the best approach, especially for companies in their early stages. This strategy ensures that the content not only aligns with the target audience’s interests and needs but also enhances online visibility and search rankings. Eric’s perspective sheds light on the integral role of SEO in content creation and digital marketing. It underlines the necessity for businesses, particularly startups, to prioritize SEO in their content development process to build a strong digital presence and drive organic growth.
Episode Highlights
Efficiency in Content Production
Eric Doty discusses his journey towards efficiency in content creation at Dock. Initially, he dedicated significant time to setting up the blog, determining the design aspects, and achieving a level of quality he was satisfied with. This process took about three months. However, as time progressed, Eric focused on achieving the same output in less time. He successfully reduced the time spent on creating eight blogs a month from a full month’s work to just over a week, allowing him to allocate the rest of his time to other tasks. This evolution showcases the importance of streamlining processes and finding efficiencies in content marketing.
“And that whole thing took three months to get to a level where I was only working on the blog and to get to a level where I was happy with the quality and happy with the outputs…And now I’d say I can do eight blogs a month in like a week and a bit of work a month and then I have three weeks to do other things.”
Long-Term Strategy Over Immediate Gains
In the podcast, Eric emphasizes Dock’s focus on a long-term strategy rather than immediate gains. He contrasts Dock’s approach with other startups he has worked at, where the emphasis was often on immediate customer acquisition and marketing-driven sales. Dock has avoided this short-term approach, concentrating instead on building a sustainable, long-term strategy. As the sales team grows, they plan to integrate more immediate lead capture strategies, balancing long-term vision with short-term needs.
“And we’ve purposely avoided that approach. Now that our sales team is growing, we’re probably going to have to get more into that lead capture mode. But, yeah we’ve kind of put the blinders on and been like, nope, long term.”
Learning Efficiency in Content Marketing
Eric shares his learning curve in understanding the balance between creating perfect content and producing efficient, result-driven content. He reflects on the transition from focusing on detailed content creation, often consuming significant time, to mastering the art of delivering content that drives business results efficiently. This shift in mindset is crucial for content marketers in fast-paced environments, where driving traffic and business results quickly is often more important than minute details.
“It’s learning all these efficiencies, which is a really different process than just starting to finish trying to make a beautiful piece of content. It’s like how do I make a minimum level of content at a big enough scale in an efficient enough way that it drives business results quickly?”
Balancing Detail with Speed in Content Creation
Eric speaks about the balance required in content creation, especially in startup environments where driving web traffic is critical. Initially, he was overly focused on details like grammar and formatting. However, working in a startup context, where immediate results are paramount, led him to prioritize speed and business impact over minute details. This experience highlights the need for content marketers to strike a balance between attention to detail and the urgency of publishing content that drives results.
“But I think I was a typical content marketer who was worried about the Oxford commas…versus speed of delivery and driving business results…I need to publish this today or else it’s not gonna drive results tomorrow.”
