In this episode I interview Richard Lorenc, Executive Vice President of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE).In my conversation with Richard, we spoke about FEE’s impressive gains in organic search traffic, FEE’s content strategy, and changing FEE’s visual branding.We also talked about which think tanks excel at marketing, measuring ROI in marketing, and how Richard and his husband Colin helped Q play a trick on Neelix.FEE is a leading light in the libertarian movement. Their mission is to make the ideas of liberty familiar, credible, and compelling to the rising generation. At FEE, Lorenc serves as chief of staff, manages corporate finances, participates in fundraising, and directs partnerships.Richard also serves as the chairman of the board of directors of America’s Future Foundation, the nation's premier network of liberty-minded young professionals.Beginning in April 2020, Lorenc became a member of the Georgia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Richard joined the Mont Pelerin Society in 2018 and was a member of the Spring 2019 cohort of the AEI Leadership Network.

Tallest Tree Digital Podcast

Richard Lorenc - Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

Five questions we ask each prospective client:Why now? What's motivating you to do this now and not six months from now?Why us? Why not someone cheaper?Why not use something off-the-shelf?Why not handle this in-house?Why even bother? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to do nothing?

What the Iowa Caucus App Can Teach Us

Basics, Optimizing, Titles, DescriptionsOn-Page means it’s entirely under your control, it’s not about off-page signals like links to your websiteSEO still matters in 2020Google says “The most basic signal that information is relevant is when a webpage contains the same keywords as your search query.”Keyword-rich title tags bring trafficUse keywords in the first 100-150 wordsUse keywords frequentlyNo stuffing, but using keywords a half dozen times in an article is reasonable.Outbound links to related topics help to establish your page’s topicOptimize your URLs - short and with keywords in themBut make sure to have redirects in placePut the keyword in the front of your titleUse modifiers like best, guide, checklist, fast, reviewWrite your own meta descriptionsThis appears below your title in search results and helps your CTRContent ItselfWrite unique contentDetailed, crisp, updated, and expertLook at Analytics and double-down on what worksUpdate old posts and pages wherever possibleInstead of publishing a new page for an annual study, update the existing pageThis eliminates an old page at the same time you’re creating a new oneLook at search engine result pages and modify your content to fit the top resultsCTRQuestion-based titles have higher CTRHaving a Meta description at all boosts by 6%Using keyword in the description causes it to be bolded in results, making your page stand outUses schemasReviewsFAQs -  Voice search is another reason to use FAQ scheme, because people ask Google, Apple, and Amazon’s assistants questionsUser “power words” to add emotion to your title, 7% more trafficAdd the current yearUXBoost Your Page SpeedUse Google PageSpeed to see if you need to address thisScripts are a big problemImage OptimizationPut headline and introduction above a huge image, it will keep people on the pageBuild up internal linksChunk your contentSubheadingsBulleted listsImages - Use unique images rather than stock and use good filenames and alt text

Does On-Page SEO Matter for Think Tanks in 2020?

What makes a good homepage design?We talk about the Nielsen/Norman Group's "4 Credibility Factors"https://www.nngroup.com/articles/trustworthy-design/How can you incorporate these factors into your homepage?Design qualityUpfront disclosureComprehensive, correct, and current contentConnection to the rest of the webHow should you guide users?Primary & secondary calls to actionProvide more ways to engage, like social followingUse current user data to promote your most popular content upfront

Homepage Design

How does primary content gets broken down into micro content? That micro content essentially serves as ads on social media platforms that point back to your primary content. We talk about the role of tertiary content—the long-form posts we write that few people read—and why it shouldn't be viewed as primary. I go into an example of my in-laws' bookstore, which has taken this model and seen great success as a local business. Even though this is outside of our client base, it's a really easy example to grasp and it shows that you don't need much in the way of original content to draw people to your website and achieve your goals. Our "50 Pieces of Content a Week" goal is a little weak compared to Gary Vee's 64 piece a day prescription, but we think this is more manageable for small and mid-sized organizations. 

50 Pieces of Content a Week

Search Engine Journalhttps://www.searchenginejournal.com/technical-seo/website-navigation/#closeUsers come first: Your website navigation should satisfy users first. Then, optimize your navigation for SEO performance. Never compromise the user experience.Orbit Mediahttps://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/website-navigation/Be descriptive“What we do” doesn’t actually say what you do. Neither does “Products,” “Services” or “Solutions.” Descriptive navigation that uses keyphrases is better for two reasons. Here’s where SEO and conversions come in.Descriptive labels in your navigation are good for search engines and visitors Avoid format-based navigationNavigation labels such as “videos,” “photos” and “white papers” tell visitors the format of the content, but not the topic. People don’t go to websites looking for videos or whitepapers. They visit websites looking for answers and information.Nielsen Norman Group recommends against using format-based navigation.Avoid dropdown menusUsability studies show that dropdown menus are annoying. Here’s why: visitors move their eyes much faster than they move their mouse. When they move their mouse to a menu item, they’ve likely already decided to click… and then you gave them more options. It’s a hiccup in the mind of the visitor.Depending on how they’re programmed, they may lead to problems with search engines.But the research shows that one type of drop down menu performs well in usability studies: The “mega drop down.” These offer lots of options, making that moment of friction worth it.The order of your website navigation is importantPrimacy effect: Items at the beginning of a list are more easily remembered.Recency effect: Items at the end of a list (or things that just happened) are more easily remembered.How to optimize your website’s navigationHere are some examples of decisions you might make based on your analysis from these reports.Remove items that rarely get clicked, if they aren’t criticalRename or relabel that rarely get clicked, if they are importantMove items that often get clicked to the beginningWebsite navigation on mobile devicesAdding the word “menu” may help visitors find this type of “hidden” navigation. The Nielsen Norman Group warns that hidden navigation increases task completion time for visitors.Quantum Dynamixhttps://www.quantumdynamix.net/blog/improve-websites-navigation-9-best-practices/ALWAYS MAKE IT CLEAR WHERE THE USER IS LOCATED.There are bread crumbs at the top of the page’s content showing each of the following pages that led to this page. You can click on any of these breadcrumbs to go back to a previous page.Search Engine Journalhttps://www.searchenginejournal.com/technical-seo/website-navigation/#closeCross-linking between content silos: Content relevancy between pages is important for ranking, which comes naturally in a well-categorized, hierarchical site architecture. However, this can have limitations when it lacks cross-linking between content silos where some pages are just too deep or too far away from receiving a good amount of link juice from other sources.Blogs to products, products to blogs: Create high-quality content that is helpful and relevant to your target audience. If these blog posts help in a product buying decision, then link to the blog post from the specific product page(s).Tracking parameters: Avoid using them; use the onClick event handler on links for tracking purposes. It is always safe to have a self-referencing canonical tag.JavaScript links: Avoid using JavaScript to write content and links. If there is no way around it, there are methods to make it work.

Menus & Navigation

Why did we choose roadmapping as a new approach?How are we addressing the problems of our former approach?How does roadmapping help clients?Get the diagnosis rightLess committmentStart projects with confidenceCreate a portable plan of actionCommon objections to roadmappingWhy pay when I can get an estimate for free?I know what I need, just built it.What am I really getting for this price?Who is the ideal client for roadmapping? And for Tallest Tree in specific?

Roadmapping

This week Cord interviewed Brian Phillips, the Vice President for Communications at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Cord & Brian discussed launching a policy tour of Texas, integrating polling into your organization, and how TPPF took on a recent property tax reform effort. Policy Tour Bringing political campaign experience to the policy world How TPPF took its show on the road and toured Texas with policy experts. Getting local or state press to cover events focused on policy How TPPF chooses a venue, format, and subject for each of its policy tour stops Inviting a state rep to these stops to increase audience engagement Streaming events live Limiting analysts to only three slides for their presentations Critiquing presentations after the facts and continuously improving How to plan a tour like this Managing town-hall-style presentations Money, manpower, and message Offering an exclusive to local papers Using polling to measure the effectiveness of the tour Polling & Messaging Writing poll questions that tell you something useful, rather than confirming your priors Digging into polling cross tabs to find out where an issue is resonating or with what group of people Integrating polling and messaging into your organization Using Facebook for quick-and-dirty message testing Selling policy experts on changing messaging by using data Property Tax Reform Campaign Policy issue campaigns are all about following the issue, reacting to news, and nuturing the messaging along the way Phases: public education, creating activitists, mobilizing activitists Polling helped to establish the "intensity" of this issue for voters Polling also showed that any reform needed to result in lower taxes, not just slowed tax growth or a different arrangement Creating a property tax calculator that would show voters their tax bill for the next 10 years Crafting poll questions to get real data, not just virtue signaling How releasing the results of a poll shifted the nature of the property tax reform plan Getting started with polling by using it on an issue where you're simply stuck Brian's book recommendation: Damage Control (Revised & Updated): The Essential Lessons of Crisis Management by Eric Dezenhall. Brian shouts-out Illinois Policy Institutes's news-focused approach to policy and the Foundation for Government Accountability's communication's team as great examples of successes in marketing good public policy. Brian also advocated trying new things, even if those things are only new to you. R&D can mean "rip-off and duplicate." Parting wisdom: there's no such thing as "the general public." You must have an audience in mind with everything you write or create. Please remember to rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, follow Tallest Tree Digital on Twitter, like our page on Facebook, and share this show with other public policy marketing and communications professionals like you.

Brian Phillips, Texas Public Policy Foundation

This week Cord interviewed Daniel T. Richards, the Vice President & Director of Digital at The Federalist Society. Cord & Daniel discussed three FedSoc projects: the SCOTUS Brief video series, the "No. 86" educational project, and the National Lawyers Convention. SCOTUS Brief Changing style, rather than content, to increase engagement and get viewers to watch a video all the way through Managing a video release schedule and consulting with subject matter experts on content creation How FedSoc measures the success of this video project How-to use targeting in ads, including geotargeting ads at 150 law schools, to focus on your core audience No. 86 Why create an online educational series? How FedSoc uses student chapters and direct outreach to professors, even hostile professors, to promote courses Planning a project of this size and selecting the next courses to create Creating a release schedule that maximizes organic reach Using internal producers along with subcontractors like Phaedo Creative to create the videos themselves National Lawyers Convention What do marketers do when a conference is already hugely successful? Making a conference beautiful and emotionally engaging The importance of high-quality photography and hiring a professional photographer Using lighting, backdrops, and 4k video to make an event video look great Livestreaming and why FedSoc abandoned the idea of putting event videos behind a paywall How to use simple things like hashtags to promote an event Using "tweetboards" or a hashtag printer to get event attendees excited about sharing Using a photo backdrop to create your own red-carpet-style photo ops Scheduling interviews with event attendees Getting footage of attendees talking about your events, talking about issues, talking about your organization so you can update a general about your org video, update fundraising videos, or use in future video projects Using Airtable and Zapier to keep everything on-track If you work in the Washington, DC area, contact Daniel via email or on Twitter to RSVP for the next FedSoc rooftop marketing meetup. Please remember to rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, follow Tallest Tree Digital on Twitter, like our page on Facebook, and share this show with other public policy marketing and communications professionals like you.

Daniel T. Richards, The Federalist Society

This week Cord interviewed Todd Myers, Director of the Center for the Environment at Washington Policy Center. He is one of the nation's leading experts on free-market environmental policy and the author of Eco-Fads: How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism Is Harming the Environment. Cord & Todd talked about: How to establish trust when working on a fraught issue Overcoming biases Working in a policy area that’s not easily quantified Using smartphones to solve coordinated action problems Find the right venue or audience for the issue you’re addressing Making a frenemy into an ambassador Challenging claims about your motivations When to use consultants Finding success on Facebook The importance of experimentation Working with unlikely allies Hosting a policy nature hike Holding a debate instead of a one-side forum Todd's book recommendation was Brian Caplan’s The Myth of the Rational Voter. Please remember to rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, follow Tallest Tree Digital on Twitter, like our page on Facebook, and share this show with other public policy marketing and communications professionals like you.

Todd Myers, Washington Policy Center

This week Cord interviewed Whitney Munro of the Foundation for Government Accountability. Whitney and Cord covered a lot of topics, including: Micro-targeting state legislators Message testing with real voters Building profiles of website visitors/email readers How to pronounce "Pardot" Collecting feedback from your target audience Telling human stories about policy Choosing software platforms based on what they can deliver, rather than something that is "built for non-profits" Adopting successful business strategies Auditing campaigns The importance of letting go of bad ideas on moving on Why the Institute for Justice and the Atlas Network are killing it right now Please remember to rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, follow Tallest Tree Digital on Twitter, like our page on Facebook, and share this show with other public policy marketing and communications professionals like you.

Whitney Munro, Foundation for Government Accountability

Rob Montz is a director at We the Internet TV, a fellow at the Moving Picture Institute, and co-founder and CEO of Good Kid Productions. Rob's work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC World News, the Economist, USA Today, and The Washington Post. His documentary works have covered topics including free speech on college campuses, the North Korean regime, criminal justice reform, and the virtues of entrepreneurship. His latest docs are Trump as Destiny: Why the Reality Show Presidency Was Inevitable, and Is Instagram Destroying Teenage Girls? Hosted by Cord Blomquist of Tallest Tree Digital.

Rob Montz, We the Internet TV

Scott Barton is a nonprofit leader focused on digital communications, strategy, persuasion, and building entrepreneurial teams, which makes him a perfect guest for our show. While working at the Institute for Humane Studies, a university-based nonprofit, Scott co-founded and directed the Learn Liberty project, a digital education platform to promote the ideas of free markets and individual liberty to college students. Scott helped Learn Liberty build an impressive library of over 400 videos with over 25 million views. Scott has recently taken his talents to a new home, the Pacific Legal Foundation, where he serves as the Director of Communications and Outreach. Scott talked to Cord about how organizations can tell persuasive stories about their ideas, mission, and work.

Scott Barton, Pacific Legal Foundation

Cord Blomquist talks to marketing professionals working in public policy to bring listeners strategies, tactics, and real-world experience they can put to work in their own careers.

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Tallest Tree Digital Podcast

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