Is keyword targeting as impossible as spinning straw into gold?

Once upon a time, search engine optimizers (SEOs) and search engine marketers (SEMs) conducted keyword research before every new project or pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. 

They believed, “To reach your target audience, you need to know what words they use.”

SEOs were advised: 

• “Use words that people would use to look for your content, and place those words in prominent locations on the page, such as the title and main heading of a page, and other descriptive locations such as alt text and link text.”

SEMs were told: 

• “Choose words that are relevant to your product or service to target users making searches using those same terms.”

But this fairy tale world existed before Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, announced an investment in internet infrastructure in the U.S. and a $75 million AI Opportunity Fund and Google AI Essentials Course in April 2024.

Although Porat didn’t explicitly say “Rumpelstiltskin,” her announcement of those investments in infrastructure and AI skills means that targeting keywords will soon become mythical folklore like the Grimm’s fairy tale about spinning straw into gold.

To reach your target audience in the foreseeable future, you still need to know what words they use. 

But it will become increasingly important for you to understand the true meaning behind these keywords or topics (e.g., their needs, wants, hopes, and fears).

So, what does this mean for you?

Well, it means different things to different brands and businesses.

What does this mean for big brands?

If you work for a big brand, you’ll want to pay as much attention to consumer research in the future as you paid to keyword research in the past.

And while keyword research told you “What” consumers were searching for, consumer research can tell you “Why.”

For example, a recent report by Kantar highlights a notable trend in consumer behavior despite the current climate of uncertainty and change. 

Individuals are actively focusing on improving their personal lives in positive ways, demonstrating a proactive approach to their well-being. 

This involves a significant emphasis on self-care, with consumers increasingly seeking products and services that contribute to their emotional well-being and relaxation.

Specifically, the data reveals that a substantial majority, 82% of consumers, purchase items or experiences to enhance their sense of emotional wellness. 

They are drawn to content and experiences that offer positivity and upliftment, and they desire brands to acknowledge and reward their efforts and determination. 

Furthermore, appearance plays a significant role in mental health for younger generations.

Up to 82% of Gen Z and 84% of Millennials agree that looking good is important for their mental well-being. 

This is evidenced by the growing interest in solutions like GLP-1s, where 70% of users report using them as motivation for broader health changes.

Beyond personal well-being, consumers are also increasingly prioritizing sustainability, with 71% expressing a belief in the necessity of individual action to combat climate change. 

Marketers have begun to acknowledge these shifts, as seen in the more positive and even humorous tone adopted in advertising, such as during the Super Bowl. 

However, the report suggests that there is room for further engagement. 

Many younger consumers, 83% of Gen Z and 80% of Millennials, feel they must navigate the system strategically to obtain what they need. 

This is particularly evident in areas like AI, where many marketers acknowledge being behind consumer expectations. 

With consumers demonstrating resilience and a drive for positive change, Kantar suggests that this is an opportune time for marketers to increase their engagement and responsiveness to these evolving needs and desires.

Now, many SEOs learned their craft at a time when there were theories about “keyword density.” 

But in an era driven by machine learning and AI, it’s more important than ever to “optimize” content for the searcher’s intent.

The same is true for PPC. 

These days, fewer ads target the specific keywords that people use, and more ads target their “interests.” 

This includes affinity audiences as well as in-market audiences.

It’s time to stop trying to guess Rumpelstiltskin’s name. 

If you want content or ads to connect with your target audience, you must realize that keywords are rapidly becoming “straw,” which can’t be spun into a precious metal. 

But if you recognize that people want upbeat and uplifting content, then you’ve struck “gold.”

What does this mean for medium-sized businesses?

If you work for a medium-sized business, then you often need to collect information about purchase intent in a specific industry for your sales teams to connect with potential leads.

In early 2024, I led a series of generative AI training workshops for the content team at a company serving the higher education market. 

Their audience included students, faculty, and institutional leaders.

Keyword research back then told us that:

• College students were searching for “used textbooks” and “cheap textbooks.” 
• Faculty members were search for “new textbooks” and “best textbooks.”
• Institutional leaders were searching for “open educational resources” and “OER textbooks.”

But before entering this keyword corn maze today, I would kick off my training workshop by asking participants to read and discuss a recent article, “Consumer journeys have changed. Find out how the 4S behaviors can redefine your marketing.” 

The article says traditional marketing funnel is no longer adequate for understanding contemporary consumer behavior, as consumers now engage with brands through a dynamic and multifaceted network of touchpoints. 

Research from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) highlights four pivotal behaviors that are fundamentally reshaping consumer interactions with brands:

• Streaming.
• Scrolling.
• Searching.
• Shopping. 

Adapting marketing strategies to align with these “4S behaviors” is essential for effectively reaching and resonating with audiences, ultimately driving sales.

Streaming involves the continuous and personalized consumption of content across platforms like YouTube, connected TV, and podcasts, enabling a seamless transition from brand discovery to decision-making. 

Marketers can leverage streaming by focusing on content sequencing, AI-driven personalization, and interactive storytelling to transform passive viewers into engaged individuals. 

Scrolling represents discovery through browsing social feeds, akin to modern window shopping, where individuals explore without immediate purchase intent. 

Capturing attention in this environment requires optimized creative elements, compelling narratives, and AI-driven personalization.

Searching has evolved beyond simple keyword entries. 

Consumers now utilize AI-powered tools like Gemini, Google Lens, and multimodal search, blending text, image, and voice inputs. 

As search habits become more sophisticated, marketers must optimize for various search ecosystems and employ AI-based advertising solutions. 

Shopping is no longer a linear process. It’s a nonlinear and seamless experience, with consumers expecting effortless purchases through social commerce, shoppable ads, and in-app checkouts. 

Marketers need to integrate shopping opportunities into all relevant marketing touchpoints, using AI-powered recommendations and personalized offers.

The emergence of the 4S behaviors presents both challenges and opportunities. 

It requires a shift from the traditional marketing funnel to a more adaptable framework that embraces influence and AI. 

By aligning strategies with the realities of today’s consumer journey, medium-sized businesses can effectively capitalize on these evolving behaviors.

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What does this mean for small businesses?

If you provide local marketing services to small businesses, you may want to skip the fairy tales and tell your clients what Sun Tzu once said in “The Art of War,” an ancient Chinese military treatise:

• “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”

OK, boomer. 

So, how do you help a small business owner spot a niche opportunity in a hyperlocal geographical area in an incredibly affordable way?

Start by suggesting that they increase the time they spend talking with customers. 

When they tell you that they don’t have more time, then let them know that you can help by conducting a couple of no-cost or low-cost surveys.

For example, Google Surveys simplifies website customer satisfaction measurement by providing an easy way to create and deploy surveys directly on your site. 

These surveys, consisting of four standard questions, automatically collect and analyze user feedback, presenting the results through an intuitive online interface. 

The system ensures continuous data collection by running surveys until 500 responses are gathered, restarting monthly if completed within 30 days, or quarterly otherwise, across both mobile and desktop platforms in supported markets.

While the standard website satisfaction survey is free, users can create custom surveys with tailored questions for a small fee. 

These custom surveys, which allow for screening questions, are served alongside the standard survey. 

The standard survey is available in English, while custom surveys can be written in German, Italian, Dutch, and Japanese.

Local marketers who help small business owners by using Google Surveys benefit from demographic segmentation, interactive data visualizations, and downloadable data sets. 

However, it’s crucial to remember that the demographic data reflects the website’s specific audience, not the general population.

You can also help your small business clients by creating surveys using Google Forms, which gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of question types to tailor your surveys to your specific needs.

Furthermore, the platform allows for the creation of polished surveys. This includes the ability to implement custom logic, ensuring that respondents see questions relevant to their previous answers, leading to a more engaging and efficient survey experience. 

The distribution of these surveys is also fairly convenient. You can send opinion polls via email, embed them directly onto a website, or share a link across various social media platforms to maximize reach.

Finally, Google Forms enables you to analyze responses effectively. It provides automatic summaries of the data collected, offering a quick overview of the results.

For those requiring a more in-depth analysis, the raw data can be easily accessed and opened with Google Sheets, enabling users to perform more detailed evaluations.

Are keywords dead?

To borrow a line from another fairy tale, it just so happens that the keyword is “only mostly dead.” 

And as Miracle Max told us in The Princess Bride, “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.”

I learned this lesson more than 20 years ago when I helped optimize a press release with the headline, “Southwest Airlines Treats Customers to 22 New Daily Nonstop Flights With Low Fares Starting at $29 One-Way.” 

At the time, popular search terms based on keyword research indicated included: 

• “Cheap tickets.” 
• “Cheap flights.” 
• “Cheap airline.” 
• “Cheap airline tickets.” 
• “Cheap airlines.” 
• “Cheap airfare.” 
• “Cheap fares.” 
• “Cheap flight.” 
• “Cheap air tickets.” 
• “Cheap airfares.”

But we harnessed this intent with the phrase, “$29 one-way,” which was not a search term. 

And that press release ended up generating over $1 million in airline ticket sales.

Today, you can provide even more value to your big brand, medium-sized business, or small business clients by going back to basics: old-school market research and customer surveys.

These methods offer deeper strategic insights into customer intent than simply relying on keyword research, which often just delivers larger buckets of search terms for SEO or PPC campaigns.

This isn’t a fairy tale like the classic one about spinning straw into gold. 

It’s your best strategy to avoid the pitfalls and seize the opportunities amid chaos.