You.com takes on Google & Microsoft | Vol 123

Welcome to Volume 123

We extend our heartfelt condolences to those in Turkey and Syria, particularly those who have been deeply affected by the tragedy. May the coming days bring you hope, comfort, and strength 🙏🏽.

In this week’s newsletter, we cover: 

• You.com takes on Google & Microsoft.
• How to use customer success stories to gain new users.
• And more

Let’s jump in.

SEO UPDATE

You.com takes on Google & Microsoft 

The battle for AI search dominance is heating up. 

Of course, if you’ve been following AI chatbot news, you know that Google’s Bard misfire cost the company $100 billion 🤯🤯🤯. Microsoft’s Bing, on the other hand, soared to the top of the charts following the ChatGPT upgrade, despite reports that the chatbot made errors similar to Bard. 

(Did you notice OpenAI’s ChatGPT also shares inaccurate answers sometimes?)

But the point of this section isn’t to debate whether or not these chatbots make mistakes. They are all works in progress that should improve over time. We’re more interested in one of the new kids on the block: You.com.

You.com launched its search chatbot in December and has been adding features ever since. Its number of visits has seen more than 2x growth—from 6.3 million to almost 16 million. 

Now, the AI search engine is taking a direct shot at the giants with a multimodal search feature. This means You.com could provide more than text-based answers, unlike Google and Bing. For example, say you ask a question such as, “What company is the market leader in search?” Instead of giving a text-based answer, You.com will add a stock chart or an equivalent helpful element to help you visualize the answer. 

TechCrunch shares an example of what this will look like:

This is a typical David vs Goliath case—You.com doesn’t stand a chance against the search giants right now. However, this update could help the AI search engine gain more market share. Finding a way to differentiate itself in a way that is helpful to users, and sustaining the differentiation with better updates, can give You.com a strong edge in this battle. 

Of course, Google appears to have the upper hand, because it has long dominated search. However, if Google does not find ways to improve its AI search offerings, power may shift. Search as we know it is evolving, and You.com has a chance to take the lead. After all, it went from a Similarweb ranking of 77 in November, 2022 to 39 last month.

Don’t miss out on the chance to network with industry leaders and learn from top experts.

On March 13 and 14, 2023, Ross will speak at the SearchLove Conference in San Diego alongside Aleyda Solis, Rand Fishkin, and other accomplished marketers. Register today and save 15% on tickets.

SAAS BEST PRACTICES

How to use customer success stories to gain new users

Standing out from competitors in the B2B SaaS industry can be pretty difficult.  

That’s because the industry is highly competitive—many companies offer similar products and services, so it’s hard to differentiate themselves from competitors.  

Also, the typical B2B buyer is highly educated and knowledgeable about their industry and the solutions they need for their business. Not to mention, the B2B buying process involves more than one decision-maker, and the decision-making team is growing bigger and harder to please, and everyone involved must sign off on the decision. 

Yup! That’s what the landscape looks like right now, sadly. But there’s hope. 

As a SaaS company, finding ways to build trust and credibility is more important than ever. That’s how you gain new users and potentially increase customer lifetime value. 

So how do you build trust and credibility with potential users, stand out from competitors, and gain new users? Use customer success stories. 

Our latest article explains why customer success stories are important for B2B SaaS and how to use them to gain new users and potentially increase customer lifetime value.  

You can read the guide here.

🎧 Listen to the latest episode of Create Like The Greats as Ross breaks down how Calm built a $2 billion media, content marketing, and YouTube SEO empire.

B2B NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

🚀 BuzzFeed partnered with OpenAI to launch an AI-powered quiz called Infinity Quizzes. 

🚫 Instagram is giving up on live shopping to focus more on ads. 

💵 Jobber closes $100 million USD Series D with a strong demand for home services.

BRAIN FOOD OF THE WEEK: 

Owning your part in whatever you do is essential to success. This is referred to as “extreme ownership” at Foundation. 

Extreme ownership extends beyond simply knowing what you are accountable for. It also entails understanding how your actions affect your team, company, and clients. 

Having this complete picture does not mean you will not make mistakes. It means you are conscious and committed to always giving and doing your very best to support the team, drive the company’s mission, and provide the highest quality of service to clients. 

And if you do fail, you’re willing to admit your error, apologize, learn what went wrong, and take steps to do better and be better in the future. This can set you apart from the rest of the crowd and make you successful in any area of your life. 

 HIRING BRILLIANT B2B MARKETERS:

• VP of Client Services
• Director Of Strategy
• Content Marketing Strategist
• Content Marketing Specialist

TWITTER THREAD OF THE WEEK:

What’s your single best question to ask when job interviewing someone? by Codie Sanchez

NICE FINDS YOU SHOULD BINGE

• The Content Marketing Handbook – Priceonomics
• A Crash Course in Speaking at Conferences – SparkToro
• On the journey to Series B, strategy is more important than metrics – TechCrunch
• Google publishes new link best practices – Search Engine Land

WHAT WE’RE WIRED INTO THIS WEEK 🎧:

Will AI/ChatGPT actually take my job by Ross Simmonds

This charcuterie board of insights is brought to you by me, Jessica Tee O. ✌🏾!