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Andy Betts
M Posted 7 years ago
t 4 min read

We sat down to speak with Chris Bennett about Featured Snippets at Share16.

We are in the middle of the exciting Share16 conference, and we had the chance to sit down with Chris Bennett - the CEO and founder of 97th Floor-- about marketing and featured snippets. His company is the Gold sponsor for this year's Share, helping to make the event as spectacular as it is. 97th Floor is responsible for some incredibly creative and innovative work in the world of digital marketing. We were glad they were able to find the time to understand featured snippets with chris bennett - brightedgechat with us and share some insights with our audience.

“There is no other technology on the market that gets us the data we need to dominate Google Quick Answers like the BrightEdge platform.” - Chris Bennett, 97th Floor

BrightEdge: What is the biggest trend in marketing as we approach the end of 2016?

Chris Bennett: I would say that Google Quick Answers is one of the biggest trends in search. They have appeared with increasing frequency on a variety of queries. Switching gears, in social media, I would say that SnapChat is the most important trend. It has been rising in popularity and we project it to be a great fertile ground for marketers.

BE: What is the biggest opportunity for marketers?

CB: I believe that Featured Snippets is the biggest opportunity right now, by far. It is like the Wild West right now with ample ability for brands to grow. Here is a quick tip for you: BrightEdge will tell you what Quick Answers you rank for. To take full advantage of this, you can go and optimize your content with images. You can also run a keyword rankings report and filter by words like “who,” “what,” “how,” and other terms that fit nicely with the Quick Answers terms. Find the ones where you do not already have featured snippets and then go and prepare your content to appear in this special space on Google.

BE: What is the biggest mistake you see marketers make?

CB: I believe that all marketers are faced with the age-old problem of just not having enough time in the day. Marketers need to be effective and efficient. Too many marketers also end up shooting in the dark when it comes to content development. They produce too much content without taking the time to back up their ideas with solid data. This plays back into the idea of needing to be efficient.

BE: What are your suggestions on how to elevate SEO and content marketing with executives?

CB: Marketers that want to elevate SEO and content marketing with executives need to show them the money. They need to tighten up their tracking and reporting so they can clearly show the progress they make through their efforts. Executives want to see real, measurable results from marketing spend, so that is what you need to show them. Another quick tip: while there are likely many KPIs that executives like to see, usually they care the most about one or two. For example, they might wake up every morning and check a certain keyword or metric. You should find out what they care the most about, and then blow that KPI out of the water. This will make it significantly easier to secure budget.

BE: What are your top two marketing tips?

CB: My top two marketing tips would be the following. First, use data throughout your marketing strategy. If you do not know what type of content to build or where to focus your efforts, then go out and gather more data. Guessing and using hunches will just result in you spinning your wheels. The second thing would be trying to grab featured snippets, even if another site has it already. Use HTML Roles in your markups, so if it is a list, add the list code to the role code in the HTML. Do this in all your content. Also pay attention to your H1, H2, and H3s. Adding the snippet phrase that you are targeting into these areas can be very helpful in gaining the featured slot.

BE: What will you speak about at Share? 

CB: At Share I will speak about the importance of gathering more data so you can have confidence in your content, even before you hit publish. I will focus specifically on Featured Snippets and how you can make sure your brand dominates in content creation.

BE: Do you have any fun facts or anecdotes that you would like to share about yourself? 

CB: I start out nearly every morning with about 2 tablespoons of grass-fed butter in a homemade cocoa tea that I make. It really helps turn my brain on and gets me ready to tackle the work ahead! It was great having the opportunity to catch up with Chris, and we look forward to hearing him speak on Wednesday. Everyone here for Share16 should come to the 4pm keynote on Wednesday to hear him speak!