Sometimes guests create a pang of worry for yours truly when they speak on subject matter that makes me think, “Wait, we’re not doing that ourselves!” This episode with Josh Grau, Yext’s chief marketing officer, did exactly that for me. That’s the entire point of this community –  identify blind spots, improve our game and get smarter about how to become better content marketers.  

I’ve known Josh Grau for 20 years. The bonus of this podcast is that his remarkable career stops as a marketing exec at YouTube and as global marketing director at Twitter (to name a few) provide a perspective for content marketers that offers us some really rich perspectives.

Yext helps businesses deliver official answers everywhere people search – starting within companies’ websites and digital presences. They empower a Google-like experience for brands to make search a content marketing, insights-driving component of brand websites and content hubs for starters.

They’re also on a mission to help businesses be able to answer specific search questions with natural language search vs. outdated keyword search.  Ever been on a brand’s site, asked a question and you get a list of FAQ links? Yeah, me too. And it sucks. Yext helps brands brilliantly match answers to customers questions, which, for the purposes of Brand Story, Inc., led Josh and I into a deep dive on a core component of great content marketing.

Consider this – what if the data you’re using to inform your content marketing based on keyword search is flawed? Yup, that #1 ranking blog post may not actually be what folks are looking for.


 

 

 

 


This episode created some sparks for me and I hope it does for you as well. Here are a few of the highlights of our conversation:

  • Yext’s value proposition, how it differs from Google and how they help businesses harness search through a brand-first perspective.
  • The evolution of search for content marketers and where it’s going.
  • The impact of brand search within websites and content hubs and its impact on a brand’s Google presence.
  • Case studies ranging from state governments to universities – and how Yext changed the game.
  • Yext’s robust content marketing efforts on search – and how they use search on themselves to promote the future of, wait for it…search. Meta!
  • Success metrics for Yext’s content marketing efforts.
  • How Yext analyzes themselves and uses data to drive company insights and expertise to inform their content marketing efforts.
  • Advice on C-suite communication of content marketing efforts to secure budgets.
  • Josh’s career journey, with an emphasis on YouTube and Twitter and how Yext currently views social platforms.
  • “Morning Musts” and Josh’s “Bedside Bookstand” segments

We want to hear from you. Share this podcast, give us your feedback and hit me up with topic suggestions and guest ideas. Brand Story, Inc. is for you, so let’s make it great together. You can ping me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter @_JaySharman. Thanks for listening. Enjoy!

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