Seth Hastings: Welcome to another episode of the Search & Sustain podcast. I'm your host, Seth Hastings, and, as always, joined by the AEO, SEO, whatever acronym you want to use, Erin Hallstrom. 

Erin Hallstrom: Hey. 

Seth Hastings: So, Erin, I hear you're a celebrity now. You have your own talk show, I believe. Is that what's going on? 

Erin Hallstrom: It kind of feels like it. I'm going on the road. 

I'll be speaking at an upcoming event in September in Chicago. Not that anyone needs to know, but I am a Chicagolander, and whenever the opportunity arises, I love speaking at content marketing, audience, editorial, and related events. 

I'll be speaking at the MACMA, or Media Audience Content Marketing Association, event on September 24. If anyone listening is going to be there, please reach out to me on LinkedIn because I'd love to connect. 

Seth Hastings: Awesome. I'll give it to the MACMA people. "MACMA" is a lot easier to say than the full name, so power to them. That's a great abbreviation. 

Like Erin said, go reach out to her. She'd love to hear from you. 

Today, we're going to talk about the current king of content: video. Video is everywhere. If you're not using it, stop what you're doing and start. You need video in your content strategy, especially short-form video. 

But I'm going to let the content expert talk about this. Erin, why should people have a video strategy as part of their marketing strategy? 

Erin Hallstrom: It's something we talk about here at Endeavor as well, the importance of video as part of a content strategy. 

Video can be a great brand extension and another way for potential customers to find you. More and more, people are consuming content in different ways. It's not always the written word. Some people prefer video because it combines audio and visual elements. 

Content consumption is not a monolith. The written word is still great and powerful, but it's not the only way people engage with information. Having a video presence definitely helps. 

Another benefit is that video humanizes brands. It shows there's a real person or team behind the brand and the ideas being communicated. 

There are a lot of optimization techniques and tactics we could discuss, but one of the biggest advantages is authenticity. Whether it's a CEO speaking directly to customers, a marketing manager sharing insights, interviews with customers, or demonstrations of products and solutions, video creates a more authentic connection. 

Ultimately, it's a great brand extension and another way for people to discover you. 

Seth Hastings: Let me ask this: if video is so important, where should we put it? 

Should it live primarily on our website and rely on Google search? Should we focus on a specific social platform? Is it a "put it everywhere" situation? What would you recommend? 

Erin Hallstrom: I don't think you should record something once and simply put it everywhere. You may do that in the beginning, but it's more valuable to learn what works with specific audiences and content types. 

Anyone who has spent time on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn knows that not every video performs equally well on every platform. 

TikTok might feel more casual, like you're FaceTiming someone. LinkedIn might be more professional, with an interview or discussion featuring a company executive. 

My recommendation is to test different formats on different platforms and see what works best. 

I'd also emphasize that these videos should be viewed as brand extensions, not just content that gets posted on your website. They're entry points that help people discover your brand, product, service, or expertise. 

From there, viewers can learn more, visit your website, sign up for information, and continue their journey with your brand. 

Seth Hastings:  That makes sense. 

Another part of a successful video strategy is thinking not only about where you're putting content, but also about the quality and style of what you're producing. 

You don't need a million-dollar camera or a 20K cinematic experience. You can absolutely record with your phone. 

But I don't think the answer is sitting in front of a desktop screen with a virtual background and talking at people. You need movement. If you're just sitting and talking to a screen, people are going to scroll away. You have to capture attention in the first second. 

That means movement, and it means leading with something compelling. Whatever your main point is, put it near the beginning. Hook the audience, then provide the rest of the context. 

You have to be strategic. 

Here's my hot tip: watch what the CEOs of social media companies are doing. For example, the LinkedIn CEO often posts "walk and talks," where he simply holds a phone, walks, and talks about a topic. Those are some of the best-performing video formats on LinkedIn right now. 

If the CEO of a social media platform is doing it, that's probably a sign that you should experiment with something similar. 

So remember: where you publish your videos matters, and the kind of content you're creating matters too. 

Once you've attracted people and guided them to your website, what's next? To me, the answer is a newsletter. 

I know what some people are thinking: newsletters are editorial products, and marketers don't want to deal with them. I get it. 

But newsletters are important because the people who subscribe are your loyalists. They've given you their email address and, in some cases, demographic information. They've committed to hearing from you. 

If you don't have a newsletter, you need to figure out how to create one. It might seem old-fashioned, but newsletters still work. They still drive traffic. 

From a marketing standpoint, the next question becomes: how do I grow that audience and make it sticky so people keep coming back? 

One option is paid promotion. Nobody likes hearing that, but it can be very effective. Investing in audience growth often delivers results. 

The other thing I'd recommend is making your newsletter signup visible everywhere. Put it in your email signature, on social media, and across your website. 

Tattoo it on your shoulder and let people scan a QR code. I don't know. Do whatever you want. 

The point is that newsletter growth is a slow, consistent process. There aren't many silver bullets. 

I'll step off my soapbox now. Erin, do you have recommendations for growing a newsletter audience? 

Erin Hallstrom: That's really your area of expertise, Seth, so I'm not going to pretend to be the expert there. 

What I will say is that if you're a marketer considering a newsletter and you're unsure what to include or how it differs from a marketing email campaign, think of it as an aggregator of everything you're already promoting. 

Let's say you're active on social media. Maybe your CEO has a walk-and-talk series. Maybe you're producing videos, attending trade shows, or launching new products. 

A newsletter can bring all of that together. 

You can highlight trade show appearances, product updates, videos, YouTube content, and social posts. It can be a simple way of saying, "Hey, check us out here. Did you see this video? Did you catch our CEO talking about this topic? Did you see our latest YouTube Shorts?" 

Media brands do this all the time. They publish great content and then use newsletters to make sure loyal readers know it exists. 

It's a way to tie everything together. 

If you're using social platforms and YouTube as brand extensions, your newsletter becomes one more touchpoint. A new audience member might discover you through video, become a subscriber, and then use the newsletter to stay connected. 

There's nothing wrong with reminding people: "You might have missed the last five videos we produced." 

That's absolutely worthwhile content to include. 

Seth Hastings: I completely agree. 

One thing I'd add is that newsletter content needs to be valuable to the audience you have. Every audience is different. 

For example, I work with a vehicle service and repair audience that still loves print magazines. That's not as common anymore, but they enjoy having something physical they can flip through. 

Because audiences differ, your strategy has to differ as well. 

If your current approach isn't getting people to engage with your newsletter content, you need to think about how that audience prefers to consume information and how you're delivering it. 

Whether you're sharing the kinds of content Erin just described or something else entirely, the delivery method matters. 

Video can open doors, but you need the right type of video and the right placement. Different audiences live in different places online. 

We can't just say, "Create short-form videos, post them to YouTube and TikTok, and you'll get millions of views." It doesn't work that way. 

You have to understand what your audience uses, what they consume, and where they spend their time. Once you know that, you'll be in a much better position to grow your subscriber list and drive traffic to your website. And that's ultimately the goal we're all trying to achieve. 

I think we covered it, Erin. I think we've covered it. We'll even give everyone a little time back, which is that classic meeting phrase everybody says when there's a minute left. 

So thank you, everyone, for listening. 

Go get your QR code tattoos. I'm sure Erin will have one on her shoulder at MACMA. 

Go see her there. Go subscribe to the Marketing Edge newsletter. And, of course, enjoy the dance party on the way out. 

Thank you, everybody.