#99 Leveraging National Days for Content Marketing & Navigating the Cookie Deadline

Jonny Ross: 00:00:14

Hello and welcome! This is episode 22 of the 90 day Website Mastery podcast series. This is the companion of the 90 day Website Mastery program. We wanted to find a way to continue to share more advice and insights about making your website work harder, and for you to feel proud about your website again. I've got my co-host, Pascale Tony with me. You're right.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:00:37

Pascal, I'm very well, thank you very much. Talking about website, what, you know, a fascinating subject. And in fact, looking at my diary at this moment in time, in terms of my coaching services and training, it's all about website or content for websites. Fascinating isn't it?

Jonny Ross: 00:00:52

Yeah, it's interesting because I do, uh, lots of different work across all of marketing. And you're right, there's so much talk about websites at the moment. I'm not sure if everyone should have come back into the the new year. And it's like the focus is on having the website. Right. But, you know, we want you to start feeling proud of your website again.

Jonny Ross: 00:01:09

That's what this podcast is all about. Uh, we have four segments. As always. We have the you ask, we answer, we have website stories, we have the website engine room. And of course, we always leave you with a website call to action, where me and Pascal come up with one small change that you could be making right now on your website to start you making feel to start you feeling proud of your website again. So without further ado, we will start with you. Ask. We answer.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:01:44

Now for episode 22. This is a question which is more of this summary of a very heated debate I had only two days ago. Jonny, with regard to content planning and using obviously different tactics and so on, and the group I was kind of, uh, group discussion over facilitating ended up talking about those national and international days, you know, the kind of cybersecurity days or all the others with kind of, uh, hashtags and so on. And that was really two school of thoughts.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:02:15

So which I've kind of captured into this question for you, which is, are national and international days a worthwhile tactic for my content marketing and website traffic generation? And this is this business of something that's been used for a while. Is it still valid? Because not all tactics will last forever. And it was just very interesting. There was definitely two camps, those who thought that was completely outdated and we should move on, and all those who felt now we've barely scratched the surface. It's going to be an interesting way and meaningful way to piggyback on those national international days. What say you?

Jonny Ross: 00:02:55

Well, you're right. I mean, we have been using those tactics for many, many, many years. I think they still help give a structure. They still help give ideas. Uh, I think the key thing is ensuring that whatever if you are using national days, national weeks, uh, campaigns, it's about making sure that they're relevant, that they're relevant to your business, but also to your target audience, and probably to make them part of a much bigger picture.

Jonny Ross: 00:03:23

So you're not just using it as a, as a one day thing, but actually it's part of a wider campaign. Or perhaps there's a there's more of a story around it. Maybe there's a lead up and a and sort of something following as well. So I think it has to be more integrated. But I think, um, it definitely helps give some kind of, uh, structure to your content marketing. And I still believe it's a great way to, to, uh, make it relevant, uh, to, to your audience, as long as it, as long as it fits the demographic. Because if these national days, weeks, campaigns, whatever they are, uh, people are used to them and know them. It's a it is a great way to sort of connect with that and, and, um, and bring your brand into the to the forefront whilst that thing, whatever that might be, is going on.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:04:07

Yeah. And I think you're right. So you've got the relevancy.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:04:09

So if it is actually top of uh, in top of mind for your audience. So this part of the diary may be, as you pointed out, they almost make, make an appointment with that National Day or the International Week and so on. And there's something in there. So your audience, you know, is always in charge of your marketing. Then the next reflection is the what are you going to do about it? Because sadly, people have leave at the last minute, which has been the case of the conversation. So they, in a panic, put together a few LinkedIn posts or maybe an article there just to fix, you know, the, uh, agreed hashtag and then that's that. And, and I think that, uh, you know, in 20, 24, 25, you have to have a more considered approach. And to your point that for if you think about it, look ahead, study what those international and national days might be like. Give yourself months, really, of preparation and reflection, and do something that is more keen of a campaign and to get others to participate.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:05:07

So it's not just about you and your content. What are you going to do? But actually you could you can open up a conversation, invite contributors and and more, and then get that to be on the website. You have obviously also the chance when you share it on social media to to tag people. But it feels to me that it's not so much that the tactic has been around for a long time. It's because it's been around for a long time. You have to elevate the execution, and that may be the stimulate more of your imagination to do something that is going to make people stop in their tracks, or you're going to be part of the white noise.

Jonny Ross: 00:05:40

Yeah, yeah. And and it's this thing of when you're trying to come up with, uh, content ideas. Uh, it as I said, it does give you sort of that, um, ability to have something to, to, to connect the content with and to help you come up with that plan and, but only use them if they're meaningful, if they're relevant.

Jonny Ross: 00:06:01

And as we've both said, make them part of that wider picture. So yes, I think I'm in the camp that we still should be using them, but not just for the sake of it.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:06:12

Yes. And and the the danger, in fact, is by not giving yourself enough time to reflect and connect with good ideas or getting others to participate, even for that matter, to kind of plug in your activities with, uh, the official, if you like, body. It was looking after that National day or international, you're missing out on the PR potentially and and more. And I like the what you said which is it feels almost you should have a before, during and after element to using those international days.

Jonny Ross: 00:06:44

Making it. You're not just using it on the day and actually making it part of your story. I meant to say that, by the way, if you're watching or listening, perhaps you're live with us right now. Just to remind you, we're live on YouTube. We live on LinkedIn, we live on Facebook.

Jonny Ross: 00:07:00

Uh, we also turn this into an audio podcast afterwards. And the video is on YouTube for later as well. So perhaps you're joining us later on and listening right now, or watching right now on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platform? Let us know. Leave a review if we're being helpful. Tell a friend we're interested and we really want to share this. Uh, we enjoy doing this. We're very passionate about this. We've both said, uh, Pascal, haven't we? That, you know, we're we can't believe, first of all, that we've got to episode 22. But but when we reflect at the amount of content we've talked about, and we also think there's still so much to talk about, we've we've hardly scratched the surface.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:07:39

And I think comes from, you know, our position, which is the the website, you know, this kind of, um, digital entity is in fact the extension of so many things. You know, your business value, your your approach to customer care, your, your vision for, for the future and more.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:07:55

So it has so much to cover this, so multifaceted that yes, I can see you and I, you know, continuing for quite a while with this audio companion.

Jonny Ross: 00:08:04

And as we said, this is about making you feel proud of your website. We know that moment when someone says to you, oh, what's your website address? I'll have a look. And all of a sudden you get that pang in your stomach. That's oh no, don't go and have a look, because I'm not very proud of it. Well, we're here to turn that around and make you proud of it. Let's move on to our next segment, which is Website Stories.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:08:32

Norfolk is at 22. We've chosen an article that was published a few months ago, but the selection and the fact that it's a few months old is part of our little tactic to day user listeners, to make you aware that 2024 is going to be a very important year in and around tracking the behavior of our website visitors. The article was written by Matt Southern from Search Engine Journal, and the title is as follows.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:08:58

Google to disable third party cookies for 1% of Chrome users. Now, this was a dramatic pose on purpose because this article was written in October 2023, and it was just giving us the bit of a warning, I suppose. And, and the, the early kind of, um, warning about a big, big change in a world of digital marketing and particularly around data. So what is what is happening? Google and by extension, all the products owned by Google, which includes the Chrome browser, are going to little by little and will complete the transition by the third quarter of 2024. They're going to stop supporting third party cookies and other tracking devices that, let's just say, this business journey of tracking people from website to website to websites. So which was essentially, um, heralded as, you know, the kind of, um, magic one we'd be waiting for all of us in digital marketing to track somebody's journeys via the, the interweb so you can do the remarketing and that kind of things.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:10:02

And the argument put forward by Google is that this is contrary to their Now principles when it comes to privacy and their principle of anonymity. Now others are saying that's not true. Google, I just wanted to kind of, you know, wall fence their own platforms so that they are the sole kind of, um, you know, owner of data and behavioral data. And, listen, the debate could go on forever, Jonny, but we need to kind of be made aware, all of us as website owners and by extension, maybe advertisers, that we're going to have less data, less behavioral data to kind of use from the single source. And that's what this article really is indicating, which is, uh, in October of last year, it was 1% of Chrome users being essentially, uh, hidden from view, if you will. And that percentage is going to reach 99 to 100% by the end of this year. So again, with this, um, story making the headlines again, now, the start of the year, the the kind of recommendation for businesses is to be aware of it and to talk to your developers, to talk to your marketing team and ask yourself the question, what are we tracking right now? How are we tracking it, and what would it look like in the near future when some of that tracking it's taken office? And that that can be big, be the beginning of internal, um, kind of, uh, you know, planning in terms of doing things a bit differently and so on.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:11:37

But it's happening. It's been delayed, actually, because it was meant to happen last year. But I think there's been some pushback from the community. So Google gave everybody another year just to get ready for a time where only they're tracking, you know, interfaces and cookies will work, but third party will not work on their platform. And this example, by the way, is followed by Facebook and being and so on. So we're going to have essentially platform with just their data, which they're going to call uh, first party data. And they won't allow um partners and, and, and others to be able to be on their platform to track the behavior of their users.

Jonny Ross: 00:12:15

Yeah. I mean, some of you might be listening and thinking, what are we on about? Um, and, uh, let's just let let's just, um, uh, tear this down to really simply so you've got cookies that the browser uses to track or to deal with things like payments or things like filling forms out, uh, to remember that you've logged into a website, for example.

Jonny Ross: 00:12:40

So cookies can be really helpful, but they're also used for tracking purposes as well. And as Pascal said, um, privacy is uh, is becoming higher and higher. And so, uh, Chrome is starting to, uh, disable some third party cookies and also things like, uh, Apple, the iPhone, uh, and other devices, you'll find that cookies are not working as they used to be in terms of the tracking world. So if you're doing a Facebook ad campaign and you want to track if someone's clicked through and then have they bought something or have they filled out a form, typically we'd use, uh, cookie tracking, third party cookies to then see that journey and, and be able to put a return on investment to understand who's converted, how they've converted, etc. things are changing vastly, as Pascal's pointed out. So it's about how can we, uh, keep that tracking in place. And what we're talking about here is using client side, server side cookies of tracking instead of relying on a third party cookie.

Jonny Ross: 00:13:37

So so it takes the browser out the equation, because what you're doing is you've got the cookie on the website, not on the browser, if that makes sense. It's not the easiest thing to implement, but if you're spending money on Facebook ads, if you're spending money on Google Pay per click campaigns, then you really need to consider. Thinking about it and discussing it and looking into it, because potentially you're wasting money on Facebook ads, wasting money on Google Pay per click because you've no idea what's actually happening. Are people clicking through what's what is the conversion happening, what pages they're looking at, how long are they spending. And all of that data is disappearing slowly but surely. So it's client side server side cookies. And it's you know, it's really important if you're spending as I'm going to use the word significant amount because that's relative. It depends on the size of the business, doesn't it? If you're spending a significant amount on advertising, on Facebook ads or pay per click, you absolutely need to look into server side cookies.

Jonny Ross: 00:14:40

And it's better privacy. You're in more control. You're in control of the data. You can connect it directly to Facebook, directly to Google, so you don't rely on the browser taking the cookie away. Um, and um, and it's more transparent. So definitely worth considering.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:14:58

And for me, it's back to this idea, which is, um, as you pointed out, it's perhaps not something that you would consider regularly. It's not something that necessarily, you understand, it's not part of your profession or your specialist area, but that's no excuse for not actually asking the right questions to the right people. You know, this website I've used, we've said it. You know, we're here to make you feel proud again, to make it work harder for you. So speak to the right people and say, okay, I understand that, you know, it's not going to be as easy as it used to be to track the behavior of my website. Visitors, understand is not going to be as clear and as obvious as before to track the advertising.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:15:32

So what are we going to do? And that's a collective question as a as a team, as external partners and so on. And because it's it's logic essentially, you know, you won't be able to be able to, uh, have someone arriving on your website for argument's sake and then track them beyond your website environment and be able to kind of do all sorts of things. Um, so, so the argument is, therefore, what do we do as well as so instead. So there's been a couple of recommendations. So the first one is be clear about your need for data. Just because everything is possible and everything can be tracked to a point. Do you use it. Do you want it? Do you actually make any use of it? So actually, it could be a good timing to rationalize your practice when it comes to data gathering and data literacy and say, but let's say that you need data, you use it, you use to inform your activities, your product design and so on.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:16:28

So the recommendation out there from experts would be to simply diversify where you advertise, instead of just relying on the sole source. You can use Facebook again or LinkedIn and another if you want data, if you want behavioral kind of insight, they're going to have to spread your advertising budget, perhaps be more broadly. So that's one consideration. Again, if you want data, then why don't you simply and I mean simply what I mean about that is, you know, logically increased traffic to your own website. And therefore invest in that search engine optimization, particularly off page optimization, and get more behavioral, uh, activities on your own platform, because you will have the data for that, particularly if you follow Gianni's advice with, uh, using search, um, console and more. The other thing that you want to be doing is look at the emergence of services of organizations. You're going to have to do your your due diligence and check and check again who are going to be providing services saying we have data and we can do correlation between your data set and our data set to give you additional behavioral insight to help you put together some strategies.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:17:41

So that's going to come through. But there's going to be good with an ugly journey. As you know that's been the history of the of the web from the get go. But that is certainly part of what you can do. So you need you need data. Do you know what data you need? Advertise more broadly, increase your SEO practices and access data from reputable sources.

Jonny Ross: 00:18:01

All extremely good advice. So consider your tracking and cookies. And if you're spending significant amounts of advertising, this is something you need to take seriously. Uh, if you're not, perhaps this could be something that you don't need to spend time on, uh, and, uh, and stay focused on the things that are important. Uh, so we for now, I think we're highlighting for the ones that are advertising and with significant amounts, uh, it's time to take some action. And with that, we will move to our next segment, which is the website engine room.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:18:44

Now, John and I would like to die to surprise each other with a new discovery and app.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:18:49

Software solution might be a piece of kit that can make life easier as a website manager. So Jonny, what is your selection for episode 22?

Jonny Ross: 00:18:57

For this episode I've chosen mangles KW finder. Uh, it's a keyword finder. Uh, you know, there's lots out there, but it's another tool that could be worth looking at. It's about I like the word triangulation. I like being able to look at a number of different tools, gather lots of different data. Uh, this is a keyword research tool that helps you find long tail keywords with low SEO difficulty. I mean, what better box could you tick? Uh, it's great for finding keywords that can ultimately drive targeted traffic to your website. Uh, so it's KW finder, um, and, uh, just yet another place where it can start giving you inspiration on the keywords that you should be optimizing for.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:19:37

And as I mentioned a moment ago, I'm surprised because I like to think that I know a hell of a lot about when it comes to keyword finders and content ideas generators, but this is new to me, so thank you very much.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:19:48

And I'll take it that, you know, the whole practice is exactly that which is you come up with that short, long phrase and I stimulate your imagination to come up with content series that you're going to publish on your website.

Jonny Ross: 00:19:59

Yeah. And we're looking for keywords that have got high search volume where people are searching, uh, or certainly not, you know, no search volume, but, you know, a decent search volume. But where the difficulty where the competitiveness isn't there. So it's sort of it potentially could be more of a niche phrase or a niche keyword. Um, but it's still got search volume. And so yes, it then drives your content ideas and, and uh, and production around those phrases to then start ranking super.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:20:28

Now my selection, I'm not sure whether actually I follow the rules on this occasion with my selection. You'll tell me, but it's all really inspired by a meeting. I have a client a few days ago where they confessed that they had forgotten completely about Google My business, but, you know, it's it's understandable.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:20:46

Everybody is very, very busy. Many plates are spinning. And we were just talking about, of course, search engine optimization. We're talking about what it looks like to control your Google CV, as I used to call it, with affection. And of course, your entry on Google Maps via the Google My Business um, dashboard, and they will change your name again, I'm sure, and again and again. But, um, the question I have for all of you and listeners is, are you taking full advantage of that platform, which I know is not particularly appealing. When you first open it, it looks like a tax return form with fields and boxes and, and whatever. But actually, if you take your time and do it step by step, it's incredible the amount of information you can actually add to supplement, you know, your free entry on, on, on Google Maps and get the red pen and so on. Uh, you can now do some microblogging. You can, you know, put links as you would, for example, on LinkedIn, Facebook and all the others to articles you can put some shout outs, you can do some product highlights and so on.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:21:48

So it operates almost as a as a mini website. Doesn't go all the way to that. And I think for me, you know, if we go back to behavior and this idea of people checking you out as you would on Google in particular, if they were to put your your business name from a reputation point of view, it's not better for them to see a full entry with all the fields and everything else without there. And if you feel up to it, you could even switch on the live chat so people could actually use. They're very familiar. It's the number one app, you know, used by all mobile phone owners in the in, in Western Europe when it comes to directions and recommendations and so on. So they are very, very comfortable. And the idea that they can, you know, they could ring you, they could email you, they could have a live chat with you. It's kind of interesting. So that's it. You know, it's Google my business. Are you taking full advantage of what is on offer?

Jonny Ross: 00:22:41

Yeah, I think there's two camps here.

Jonny Ross: 00:22:43

There's it amazes me that there's still businesses that I, that I speak to on a reasonably regular basis that still haven't set up a profile on Google My business. So that's the first thing. But then the second thing that you're really highlighting, um, is for those that have set profiles up, you know, when did you last optimize? But there's so many tools in there now that you can use. And the fact that you can, um, post content to your profile. Well, actually, it's what it's one of the simplest ways to get Google to notice your content, because you've got the ability to put that content directly into Google's database by sharing on Google's own app. So it's a great way to start getting Google to notice your new blog, or your new piece of news, or whatever the new content is. So yeah, I don't think either as a saying, you know, spend all day, every day on there, but it's a, it's a it's definitely a tool that you should that should be part of your strategy and part of your workflow.

Jonny Ross: 00:23:40

When you've got new content and opening the door using live chat. Well, if. Your audience is, uh, you know, uh, fit the demographic. Uh, which is a huge demographic. Uh, the chances of them, uh, interacting with you more absolutely increases. If you've got a live chat button on the Google profile where they've searched with maps or they've searched you in search. Uh, so definitely, uh, especially for consumer businesses.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:24:07

And I think for me, it's back to first impressions. It shows you you've got, you know, attention to detail, you know, and you're controlling, you know, why wouldn't you, uh, you know, at least intervene if a directory chooses to list your, your business and, you know, you have control over the information you share and more. So, uh, I was both surprised. But also, you know what I will say in defense of of ABC listeners, however, Google, I'm making such a rubbish job of informing all of us, for that matter, of all the different things they're doing on Google Business Profile, my business, Google Maps, whichever term you favor.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:24:46

Uh, I think that communication model leads very, very poor for something that it's probably actually almost like the one of the small business secret weapon of sort.

Jonny Ross: 00:24:54

Yeah, absolutely. It's time for the website call to action.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:25:07

Well, it's hard to believe that we've reached nearly the end of today's episode. So this is about the one change to one adjustment that can make life easier for you, your visitors, and make you feel part of your website again. Jonny, what is your call to action?

Jonny Ross: 00:25:22

Using or adding animations or transitions so subtly adding movement onto your website to bring it a bit more to life to potentially guide users attention to improve the overall interactive experience. To make it that bit more engaging. Having little things that move. I'm not saying go out on this, I'm saying subtle, using little transitions, little animations that guide the user to the right parts of the page that, you know, perhaps just push them to that form that you're trying to get them to fill out, or push them to that button that you're trying to get them to click.

Jonny Ross: 00:25:59

And and as I said, just bringing your website a bit more to life so that there's things that sort of, you know, maybe, uh, just, just jump out or, you know, subtly, subtly jump out so that you've got that movement as you're moving around the page, moving around the website and making it just that bit more interactive. It's nothing new. This has been around a long time, but so many websites, well, they even use it terribly where there's way too much transition in animation or they don't use it at all. And for me it's about subtle transitions and animations where just things just pop a tiny bit, move a tiny bit. And that, for me is something that's really simple to integrate very quickly on a home page or on a service page. So that's my call to action for today.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:26:43

Thank you very much. You know, you're right. Fascinating because we discussed actually last time this idea of creating sensor depth, you know, with shadows and overlays and, and that kind of kind of things.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:26:53

And now we have also and everything's subtle. You're right. It's subtle animation. You know, the, the hover effect of the mouse. So the way in which, you know, things can, can be revealed and so on means that you thought about it. And for me, that's probably the message here throughout, which is it feels like a thoughtful experience to visit your website as opposed to something they've just been plonked on on the web page. Now, my recommendation, my call to action is interesting one, because again, it's all to do with this idea. First impressions of impact, uh, letting particularly returning visitors feel like you are fully engaged with your own website. So this is what people to do. I would like you to research blog header images from other sectors and industries. So don't look at the competition. Don't look at what you know. People in your sector do research what others have done in terms of that visual stimuli of articles, product pages and more from other sectors and industries.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:27:46

Because what I'm looking for are ideas. And if you see anything you like from those other sectors and industries, just do a bit of scrapbooking, you know, do some screenshots, put it together into, um, Google Slides or PowerPoint, and then have a team meeting, or have a meeting with your business consultants and more, and use some of what you've spotted to modernize the design and the look of your own blog series, because I think that it's only what you would do. And if you look at magazines, if you look at TV series and so on, there's always a slight, you know, uh, moving with the times, uh, design elements. If you look at, for example, TV channels and how they do their things, you know, I'll take as an example channel four, the channel four do there channel for a logo animation changes or with the times, you know, and we're seeing more and more. So that to me is going to be how you're going to also retain someone's attention and good will to be a returning visitor, but also to impress first time visitor, find ways to ever so slightly, subtly again modernize your blogger header images by getting inspiration from other sectors.

Jonny Ross: 00:28:54

And something that you can do so quickly and easily as well. That's what these website call to actions are about something you can implement this afternoon or perhaps tomorrow. Uh, you know, updating an image. That's ultimately what Pascale has said. Uh, but the impact and the relevancy, if you make that a relevant image, it can make a big difference. What another episode? Uh, we've covered, uh, weather, um, national and international days are a worthwhile tactic. We've sort of said as long as they're relevant, as long as they're part of the wider story, uh, then they absolutely should be part of your content marketing plan, but not just for the sake of it. We've talked about, uh, how third party cookies are changing. And if you're doing Facebook, if you're doing any type of advertising at all, uh, and data is important for you, then you really need to consider server side or client side, uh, tracking. We've given you some, uh, great, uh, apps.

Jonny Ross: 00:29:47

Uh, or or um, uh. Is Google My Business an app? I guess it's it's a it's a product.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:29:53

It's yeah, it's.

Jonny Ross: 00:29:54

A product that you should absolutely be, uh, be using. Um, and hopefully some brilliant call to actions. What, another.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:30:02

Episode.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:30:03

And in half an hour. How do we do it I don't know.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:30:06

Yeah.

Jonny Ross: 00:30:07

That's it for today. This was episode 22 of our new podcast series, the audio companion to the 90 day Website Mastery Program. For more information, please do visit 90 Day Marketing mastery.com. You'll be able to book your discovery call with either myself or Pascal. We'll be back with another podcast episode in. In the meantime, feel free to send you questions. Uh, but more so get on with these bite size actions and let us know how you get on. Please do comment, ask questions. Share the love letter. If this has been helpful. Let other people know. We shall leave you for now with a video and audio montage and we'll see you all soon.

Jonny Ross: 00:30:47

Take care. See you soon, Pascal.

Pascal Fintoni: 00:30:48

Cheers.