Modern Marketing Playbook — concise & step-by-step

1) SEO — Search Engine Optimization

What it is : organic tactics that help search engines understand and rank your pages for user queries. Google for Developers

Step-by-step (basic → advanced):

  1. Technical audit: fix crawl errors, sitemap, robots, HTTPS, mobile-first, Core Web Vitals.

  2. Keyword → Intent mapping: map primary, secondary, long-tail & question queries to pages.

  3. On-page: optimized title, meta, H1, structured headings, topic clusters, semantic HTML.

  4. Content: publish helpful pillar pages + regular cluster posts; use entity/topic modelling (LSI/semantic terms).

  5. Structured data: add JSON-LD for relevant schemas (LocalBusiness, FAQ, HowTo, Product).

  6. Link building: outreach, guest posts, content partnerships, PR.

  7. Measurement: Google Search Console + GA4 + Rank tracking; A/B test titles and snippets.

  8. Advanced: log-file analysis, content pruning, entity optimization, structured topic hubs, and leveraging language models to draft & refine content (human edit).

Top metrics: organic sessions, SERP positions, CTR, Core Web Vitals, conversions.

2) AEO — Answer Engine Optimization (optimize to be the answer)

What it is (short): structure content so AI/answer engines (chatbots, voice assistants, generative search) can extract and surface your brand’s answer directly. CXL+1

Step-by-step:

  1. Question clustering: list all user questions (short & multi-step) for each topic.

  2. Short answer blocks: include concise, 20–50 word authoritative answers near top of page.

  3. Structured Q&A sections: use H2 Qs + short answers, and implement FAQ JSON-LD.

  4. Cite & source: add clear citations and links to authoritative sources (signals trust).

  5. Canonicalization & freshness: maintain canonical pages; update answers frequently.

  6. Measure: track referral from answer engines and traffic lifts; monitor chat surfaces (Perplexity, Bing Chat, Google AI Overviews).

  7. Advanced: create “AEO topic pages” that cover hundreds of related Qs (clustered content) so an AI can build a full answer from one source.

Why important: AEO drives visibility in non-traditional SERPs (AI chat responses, voice). CXL+1

What it is (short): paid ads (Google Ads, Bing, social) where you bid for placements and pay per click/engagement. Google Business

Step-by-step:

  1. Set goals & conversions: define micro & macro conversions; install conversion tracking (GA4 + server-side if possible).

  2. Campaign structure: SKAGs or tightly themed ad groups; separate search / display / video / shopping.

  3. Keyword strategy: match types, negatives, and query reports.

  4. Landing pages: single objective, fast, with clear CTA + analytics.

  5. Bidding & audience: start with Max Conversions or Target CPA; use remarketing & customer match.

  6. Ad assets: responsive search ads + expanded text · A/B test headlines & CTAs.

  7. Optimization cadence: analyze search terms, pause poor performers, scale winners.

  8. Advanced: conversion API, offline conversion upload, Smart Bidding signals, automation scripts, Performance Max (for mixed inventory).

Top metrics: CPC, CTR, CPA, ROAS, conversion rate.

4) SMO — Social Media Optimization

What it is (short): optimizing social profiles and content to grow reach, engagement, and traffic from social platforms. Investopedia+1

Step-by-step:

  1. Profile optimization: complete bio, location, business category, CTA links (use Linktree or a landing hub).

  2. Content calendar: mix educational, product, social proof, UGC, short video (reels/shorts), and promos.

  3. Platform fit: tailor creative to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X.

  4. Community & response: fast responses, community management, social listening.

  5. Paid + organic synergy: use social ads to amplify top-performing organic posts.

  6. Measurement: engagement rate, follower growth, social CTR → site, assisted conversions.

  7. Advanced: UGC programs, influencer systems, social commerce setup, and social SEO (indexable captions, transcriptions).

5) Gemini & LLM-driven Search (how to optimize for modern AI models)

What it is (short): Gemini is Google’s advanced multimodal AI that powers AI Overviews and conversational search; content needs to be machine-readable and authoritative to be used by such agents. blog.google+1

Step-by-step to optimize for LLMs/agents:

  1. Concise lead answers: put 1–2 sentence factual answers at top of pages for extraction by models.

  2. Structured content: headings, bullet points, tables, JSON-LD — make parsing trivial.

  3. Multimodal assets: provide images with descriptive alt text, video with captions, and transcripts (agents can pull these).

  4. Cite sources & data: LLMs prefer verifiable content — link to primary data and authoritative pages.

  5. APIs & tools: expose useful data via indexable APIs or CSVs for scraping (where allowed).

  6. Monitor agent surfaces: search for brand mentions inside AI Overviews and adapt content to gaps.

  7. Advanced: produce “agent-friendly” single-topic pages that an LLM can fully consume and cite.

6) Other Important Strategies (brief & actionable)

  • Content Marketing: pillar → cluster model; repurpose long posts into short videos + social snippets.

  • Email / CRM: lead magnets → nurture sequences → segmentation for lifecycle marketing.

  • CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization): heatmaps, session recordings, A/B tests on forms and CTAs.

  • Influencer & UGC: structured influencer programs with tracking codes & landing pages.

  • Video / YouTube SEO: optimized titles, descriptions, chapters, and embedded videos on relevant pages.

  • ASO (App Store Optimization): keywords + screenshots + reviews if you have apps.

  • Local SEO: Google Business Profile + citations + local schema for foot traffic & maps.

  • Affiliate & Partnerships: tracked affiliate links and co-marketing content.

Differences — quick reference (SEO vs AEO vs PPC vs SMO vs Gemini)

  • Goal

    • SEO: organic visibility & sustained traffic.

    • AEO: be the direct answer shown in AI/chat surfaces.

    • PPC: immediate, paid visibility and conversions.

    • SMO: audience engagement, brand & social traffic.

    • Gemini (LLMs): agent citations & multimodal answers — visibility in AI Overviews.

  • Speed

    • PPC fastest, SMO fast for viral content, SEO/AEO slower but compounding.

  • Cost

    • PPC = paid; SEO/AEO/SMO cost is mostly content/time. Gemini optimization is content + technical investment.

  • Control

    • PPC high control; AEO/LLM less control (platform decides to cite you).

  • Measurement

    • SEO: organic ranks & traffic; AEO: tracking “answer” referrals + branded queries; PPC: ad metrics; SMO: engagement + social conversions.

Integrated, advanced 7-step playbook (how to make it work together)

  1. Audit & Baseline: run technical SEO, content gap, PPC account, and social performance audits.

  2. Query map: build one master spreadsheet: keywords, questions (AEO), ad intents, video ideas.

  3. Content pipeline: create pillar pages + short answer blocks for AEO → produce long form + supporting blogs + video + social snippets.

  4. Paid amplification: run PPC & social ads to the top converting pages to accelerate data collection.

  5. Embed & link: embed YouTube videos into pages; use internal linking and canonical tags.

  6. Measure & feed back: use GA4, Search Console, Ads, social analytics & social listening; feed results into content/prioritization.

  7. Scale & automate: use Smart Bidding, creative rotation, and templates; use LLMs to draft, but human edit and cite.

Quick advanced tactics (bite-size)

  • Add FAQ JSON-LD for every question block — improves AEO chance. CXL

  • Always include short 1-line answer under each H2 question (AEO friendly).

  • Embed videos + transcripts on pillar pages (boosts dwell + YouTube SEO).

  • Use UTM + server-side tracking for accurate cross-channel attribution.

  • Build topic hubs (1 pillar + 8 cluster posts) and internal link heavily.

  • Test ad landing pages vs organic pages (same content, different CTAs).

  • Monitor AI surfaces (Google AI Overviews / Gemini / Perplexity responses) and iterate content for gaps. blog.google+1

KPIs to track (by channel)

  • SEO/AEO: organic traffic, SERP features (snippets), branded queries, answers surfaced.

  • PPC: impressions, CTR, CPC, CPA, ROAS.

  • SMO: reach, engagement, social CTR → site, CAC from social.

  • Gemini/AI: referrals from AI surfaces (where measurable), mention tracking.

If you want, I’ll convert this into:

  • A 30-day tactical checklist prioritized for fast wins (which I can give now), or

  • A content calendar that maps 12 weeks of pillar + AEO question pages + video topics + PPC promo windows.

Which would you like next?

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