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Welcome to Volume 119
Happy new year 🎉🎉🎉
(Yeah, it’s Jessica this time. Thanks for holding down the fort, Ethan 🤗)
We hope you are kicking off the new year with intention. Ours is to give you all the news and information you need to do marketing better and grow your business this year.
Here’s what’s to come:
- Google Will Rank AI Written Content If…
- What SaaS Companies Should Know in 2023
- And more…
Let’s dive in.
🎧 Listen to the latest episode of Create Like the Greats while you work to hear Ross Simmonds break down Monday.com’s marketing strategy. 👀
SEO UPDATE
Google Will Rank AI Written Content If…
You are probably tired of reading about AI, ChatGPT, and its impending takeover 😅. Perhaps you’re awestruck by what you can do with these tools or worried they would steal your job.
If it’s the latter, you’re not alone. Google seemed worried sick less than a month ago.
Business Insider reported Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai had multiple teams developing prototypes to prevent ChatGPT-3 from stealing its users’ attention. Earlier in the same year, Google’s John Mueller called AI-generated content “spam.”
But there seems to be some silver lining since Bankrate came out about using AI to create SEO content. Bankrate has a 76 authority score, with an estimated monthly organic traffic of 14 million and 29.1 million backlinks. The website creates content on your money, your life (YMYL) topics—personal finance, investments…
Google has stricter rules for ranking YMYL content because they directly impact people’s financial stability. Yet some of Bankrate’s articles rank on page 1 of the search results page. Like this one:
2400 people search for the keyword every month, and the web page drives 3200 sessions every month!
Why would Google break its own rule and let an AI generated content rank on the featured snippet?
Well, Google didn’t exactly break its own rule. Instead, Bankrate did one better: they created helpful, people-first content with the help of AI.
(Remember the helpful content update?)
AI-generated content will rank if it puts people first—focuses on providing valuable information they can apply in the real world. That’s why Bankrate’s articles rank.
Bottom line?
Don’t lay off your entire content team and rely solely on AI 😉.
Sure, AI is here to stay, but it still has a long way to go before you can use the tools without the help of an expert writer.
Don’t ignore AI either, especially when creating content for search.
Instead, use AI to speed up your content creation process. Then have your team fact-check to ensure the article is helpful for readers, and external data (SME quotes, statistics, and social proof) is accurate and well-referenced. That way, you won’t be staring at a blank screen for hours waiting for inspiration to strike 🙃.
Try experimenting like CNET to see if it works for you or how you can make it work. If you want to learn more about using AI to scale your content creation process, you should read Ross’ latest piece.
SAAS UPDATE
What SaaS Companies Should Know in 2023
2022 was a roller coaster ride for the SaaS industry. Don’t get us started on the upsetting layoffs, market downturn, and other unpleasant happenings.
As a result, OpenView shared some predictions to help people know what to expect in the SaaS industry this year. Here are some key takeaways:
- 2023 will be a make-or-break year for early-stage startups. Those with product-market-fit and go-to-market repeatability will win over VCs.
- Companies will have more talents to choose from, with more layoffs happening. The key to attracting the best talents is to show them you’re set up for success and offer transparent, competitive benefits.
- Pricing models will become more complex. OpenView recommends a hybrid pricing model, such as usage-based pricing.
- Use micro-influencers to show authenticity and expand your organic reach.
You can read the full article here.
Want to sponsor our next issue? Reply to this email, and we’ll share how you can reach more SaaS founders and marketers today.
B2B NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
💰 OpenAI is going pro with ChatGPT-3. So you’ll soon have to pay to access more features.
👩🏽💻 More marketers and brands are embracing Twitter Alternative Mastodon. Medium recently joined the platform and launched its own community.
🚀 Microsoft launches 365 Basic with 100GB data storage, outlook email, and more for $1.99
✍🏽 Microacquire.com is now Acquire.com. See why they are dropping the “Micro.”
BRAIN FOOD OF THE WEEK:
Speaking of brilliant AI inventions 👇🏽
Notion launched its AI writing assistant in November last year. The tool is supposed to help users create various content types, including press releases, blog posts, meeting agendas, and job descriptions. It’s also supposed to help with editing tasks and translating texts to other languages.
Notion plans to roll out this feature slowly to ensure that the quality of AI-generated content remains high and to get early feedback.
HIRING BRILLIANT B2B MARKETERS:
- VP of Client Services
- Director Of Strategy
- Content Marketing Strategist
- Content Marketing Specialist
TWITTER THREAD OF THE WEEK:
How Webflow became worth $4B in less than 10 years by Jessica Tee Orika
NICE FINDS YOU SHOULD BINGE
- Make 2023 the Year You Create Like the Greats by Ethan Crump
- What Is Artificial Intelligence And How It Will Impact Marketers by Ross Simmonds
- How Cargurus Built a $14M SEO Moat by Giving Users the Proof They Need by Jessica Tee Orika
- 24 Experts share how they are using ChatGPT to help with SEO efforts by Matt Tutt
- Viola Capital: “Only Half of Unicorns Are Still Worth $1 Billion” | SaaStr
WHAT WE’RE WIRED INTO THIS WEEK 🎧:
Create Like the Greats (the Monday.com episode)
This charcuterie board of insights is brought to you by me, Jessica Tee O. ✌🏾!