At PULSE Interactive the answer is clear – do both!

PULSE Interactive
Your Free Digital Contact Marketing Channel
For the Oil and Gas Industry

If you are responsible for marketing in your company or involved with your website in some small way, more than likely someone has talked to you about SEO, Keywords, Meta Tags, Page Counts, Analytics and more!  All of these items are worthy of your attention, but let’s take a step back a bit to look at your website content, and for that matter, all of your potential digital marketing content from an optimization point of view.

All too often we think more about the tactics and tools to optimize our websites but we don’t give near enough attention to optimizing our company’s digital content.

The challenge in front of us ……. how do we take the events that happen in our businesses every day and turn them into meaningful and relevant content that others outside your company just may want to know about?  Here are a few examples:

We had a spectacular run in the Pembina field ……. who should we tell?

Our 7” stubby was their best chance to get TD down to bottom ……. who else needs to know?

We just introduced a new positive displacement pump …… how do we let our customers know?

We moved into a new-state of-the-art manufacturing facility ……. what new services can we provide?

Each of these events is a great chance to tell your story and get the message out.  But how do you optimize this content?  First create it, and then optimize it!  The story doesn’t need to be a 3,000 word white paper, just an article long enough, say 200 to 300 words, to get your message across.  Next, it’s a perfect opportunity to run a sharp looking complementary display ad alongside the article for your company.  The content alone is the first step, the corresponding display ad is the second, tied together is marketing gold.

Now that’s optimization!

But there are many other things that happen at your company from a human interest standpoint that are perhaps just as important.  They serve to acquaint your customers with the people side your business, your social conscious and community involvement, such as:

The local community resource centers needs your help ……. how do we get this message out?

Our staff made over 500 sandwiches for the school lunch bag program ……. who wants to get involved?

The housing society we support received the Building of the Year Award ……. they deserve applause and recognition!

It’s not that you are looking for recognition or to promote your involvement, instead you are using the power of your company’s ongoing marketing efforts to further the causes that you and your staff believe in.  Many of the organizations you support don’t have the same marketing reach that you do, so these stories covering your involvement go a long way in their world.  Optimize this content with information on how to get involved and it is a win-win situation for all!

The oil and gas industry as a whole is an easy target for bad press, but the industry is the sum of the people that work in it.  And that’s where amplifying your message comes in.  The natural starting place is your own website under a News, Blog or Update page.  But don’t stop there!  The Internet provides countless opportunities to amplify your stories whether it’s your corporate digital marketing content or a human interest piece.  Don’t try to adopt them all, it will drive you crazy.  Pick 3 to 5 social networking services or channels which blend well with your corporate image and direction, and focus your attention on them.  Spread it out too thin and your optimization and amplification efforts will quickly lose steam, and your marketing efforts will flounder.

When you optimize your content, and amplify your message by sharing it with others you will undoubtedly attract supporters.  After all, it’s far better to have someone else tell your oil and gas customers and prospects that you are great, versus you constantly trying to tell them you are great!