Search Everything Optimization: Navigating SEO, AI, and Authenticity with Aimee Taylor
Hello there. Welcome to the Healthy Enterprise Podcast. If you are returning to listen to one of my conversations again, thanks for coming back. And if it's your first time, welcome. Today, my guest is Amy Taylor.
Heath Fletcher:She's the founder and CEO of Alt Digital Marketing, a company that specializes in medical marketing with an emphasis on the aesthetic industry. Amy has over twelve years of digital marketing experience as well as two decades of broadcast television. So let's get started, and I'd like you to meet Amy. Alright. Great, Amy.
Heath Fletcher:Welcome to this episode, and thanks for joining me on the Healthy Enterprise podcast.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Heath Fletcher:You're very welcome. So why don't you start by doing a little introduction of yourself and what you've been doing over your career in the marketing space? Okay. And give us that insight. Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Alright. My name is Amy Taylor, and I am the founder and CEO of Alt Digital Marketing. We specialize in medical marketing, specifically derms, plastics, med spas. I've been in digital marketing for thirteen years now. Hard to believe.
Aimee Taylor:I started out originally in television, broadcast television, so I have a deep understanding of the television and the traditional media side. So about thirteen years ago, I had clients that were they were moving away from television or reducing their budget. So, like, say a big client like a McDonald's was wanting to decrease their spending, and I would ask them why they're decreasing, and they'd say, well, we're we're moving some dollars to digital. So I started to look at this digital thing. And at the same time, my husband owned a or we owned a service based business, and he started doing this SEO.
Aimee Taylor:He was like, this stuff works. And I was like, okay. Let me take a look at that. So that's kind of why I went down that that channel and started in on the digital side. And it's just it's just a much more effective way for local businesses to get results.
Aimee Taylor:You know, it's much more trackable. And, you know, obviously, when I was in television, it was at a time when there wasn't as many options. You know? You had it was a long time ago, so you had cable, you had television, you had newspaper, you know? And it's crazy how much that has changed.
Aimee Taylor:I mean It is crazy. Newspapers are gone, and, you know, radio is really not the same. Television isn't the same. Remember when I worked at CBS, they were like, could not believe I was leaving them for this this weird digital thing that, you know, I must be nuts. You know?
Aimee Taylor:So anyway
Heath Fletcher:It's just a fad. It's not gonna last.
Aimee Taylor:No. It's not gonna last. Well, we saw I was working in television when we saw the .com bubble and they you know? So I don't know. You know, you see these things come out and you think they're gonna not last.
Aimee Taylor:But, I mean, obviously, AI is here to stay and we're all, you know, benefiting from it. So it's not going away.
Heath Fletcher:No. I mean, I started my I when I started off as a photographer in the late nineties, I mean, I was training on, you know, chemicals and papers and dark rooms and all that stuff. And then
Aimee Taylor:Oh, yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Early two thousand, you know, that was when the digital camera started hitting the the photographer's stage. I was like, nobody wanted to change. No one wanted to bring that on. And and there was a lot of purists who who didn't. They they left the industry because they didn't believe that that's where it should go.
Heath Fletcher:But and it was rocky in that first few years.
Aimee Taylor:But now
Heath Fletcher:now, I mean, look at look at our phones. Like, everyone has a has a high grade Well, yeah. Camera in their pocket. Mhmm. So the world has changed.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. And the TV studios now, they they operate the camera. The guy at the desk is operating his own camera remotely, so there isn't even a camera person behind the camera. He's operating his own teleprompter, everything. So there's none of that.
Aimee Taylor:I mean but it has gone full circle. So now you have photographers that are so needed out there for all the YouTube content. You know, there's content that needs to be produced, and
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Aimee Taylor:Some of it isn't so good. So if they get back to using real photographers for things, it'll it'll be great. I know we've got this AI thing now that, you know, AI generated everything so that there you go. It impacts them again, but there's always for a good photographer.
Heath Fletcher:That's a good subject to talk about is content because, I mean, you know, actually television was content too. Right? And you made that transition from traditional television to digital content. So how do you, how did you and how did you how did you transition? Like, what what was it that helped you to you know, about yourself and about your character and Mhmm.
Heath Fletcher:That made you helped you that through that transition because there was probably a steep learning curve.
Aimee Taylor:Oh, there was. You know, it's a good question. I guess at heart, I'm a true marketer. I love marketing and I love strategy. I like being able to work with the client and see direct results and, you know, television wasn't offering that for me.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, you couldn't tell conversions. You had no idea. I mean, it was just throwing a huge net out there and, you know, you had no idea. So with with digital, I mean, honestly, I'd go out there and we'd write content and we'd put something on the website. And, you know, back in the the olden days, it was crazy because you could just use a, a keyword rich domain.
Aimee Taylor:You could stuff some keywords, Botox, Botox, Botox, and boom, you're ranking number one in no time at all, it was very exciting. And then once your clients got a taste of the crack, they were like, we're never leaving you. In fact, I have clients that I have from thirteen years ago. So
Heath Fletcher:No kidding me.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. So, I mean, I think it just came down to the love of marketing and wanting something to really engage with and being able to help the customer. I mean, I could really help them grow, and they could see the results, and their phone started ringing. So, I mean, this was this was great. I mean, when I was at the end in television, I mean, when I was at the top, it was, I don't know.
Aimee Taylor:I was working with big clients, and the ad agencies did all the all the creative. I had nothing to do with it. I was basically a commodities broker. So I was basically just placing spot time, you know, to the person who would pay the most, and I didn't really wanna do that. I like the creative side of it.
Aimee Taylor:So I guess that's why I ended up over here. So now that is more what I like to do is that side of it, the strategy.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Let's and strategies, hear that word a lot now. It it comes up a lot. And I think in some cases, people don't know how does strategy influence marketing, and how does it why is it so important to have strategy ahead of that cart?
Aimee Taylor:That's a good question. So, you know, with strategy, you really have to analyze your client, what their goals are, what they're going for, because there's just so much noise out there. There's so many things. There's so many venues and so many so many places you can market. And marketing has gotten so complicated.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, it used to be like people didn't think you needed a marketing person. They thought that was stupid. And honestly, it's typically still, unless you're a major company, it's still kind of the first area they cut. I mean, nowadays, even on the big companies, they're using fractional CMOs and things like that rather than having an in house team. I mean, you know, so when it comes down to strategy, you know, nowadays, I think it's really important to nail down what exactly you're trying to achieve and where you're trying to go because we do custom strategies for the clients.
Aimee Taylor:You know, we look at their goals and then back our way into what what things they need to market on, you know, what platforms and where they need to be seen. I also think with clients, if they're not really, I don't know, niching down their product or what they're offering, even when it comes to, say a plastic surgeon, you know, if they're doing everything, it's like people want someone who's really good at, you know, noses or, you know, breast aug or whatever it is. If you're a jack of all, it kind of is hard to hard to control the market or get market share that way. So it does benefit our clients if they are more on a narrower focus, more tuned in, and then we can focus on where we think they need to be.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. That's a unique selling proposition. Like, what is it that makes you so different than every other competitor in the market? Ever everybody says, well, I'm, you know, we're innovative. We're creative, we're good customer service.
Heath Fletcher:And I mean, those are things that everyone can say, you know Right. Whether it's true or not is another story. But everyone can say those things. So you though there those are hard those are hard descriptors to really differentiate, businesses from one another in the market. So that's where strategy comes in and actually helps them identify that.
Heath Fletcher:Right?
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean and nowadays, it's hard to be you know, find authentic, you know, people out there and authentic brands. You know? Everybody's just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. And, you know, it gets it's it's messy.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, you know, so,
Heath Fletcher:I mean, I try
Aimee Taylor:I try to focus, you know, more on the aesthetic side of it because that business I understand well. Our writers understand it well. They know the difference between all the dermal fillers and what this does and what that does, and we understand the clientele well. So it helps us to to, you know, further hone in their marketing strategies rather than me trying to do everything. Now not to say that I can't market for any kind of service based business.
Aimee Taylor:Really don't do I mean, I don't wanna do fast food. I don't wanna do real estate. I don't wanna do automotive. I mean, those each business sort of has a nuance to it and a different, you know, marketing angles and different things you need to know. So it is good if you're gonna work with a professional.
Aimee Taylor:You need to have a company that, you know, specializes in your area.
Heath Fletcher:That's a good point because there's so much to learn about every type of service or every type of business and how can you actually although, you know, some of the functionality is very it's always the same. You're always using the same technology to implement. But, yeah, how do you to be able to actually understand how to sell a widget as opposed to a service or as opposed to a professional identity or or even a personal brand for that matter. Right? There's a lot there's so many nuances around each of those different
Aimee Taylor:Right.
Heath Fletcher:Areas that, yeah, you gotta have that. You gotta really flush that information out.
Aimee Taylor:So Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. So that's where
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. With, like, the AI overviews and things like that, they're trying to highlight the most important things. So you've you've gotta understand your client well enough to have all those things, have all that information out there so that they can be picked up on those as well. So it's just interesting.
Heath Fletcher:Alright. So you already you already said the word AI. The elephant's room. The big word. So the that's it's it's flooding.
Heath Fletcher:It's it's everywhere. Everyone's up to their up to their knees in it. And there's so much to choose from, and there's so much it there's just as like you said, it makes it messier because
Aimee Taylor:It is. It is.
Heath Fletcher:You know, it's so new. Everyone's really, we're all everyone in the industry, everyone who runs a business or is in charge of marketing a business, everyone's new to it. Like, it's pretty interesting.
Aimee Taylor:Mhmm. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:What are you what are you doing at your end?
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean, I think it gives marketing people job security because I don't think the average person is gonna know what to do with it. I mean, there's these companies out there that are selling, you know, software that they say, well, we can we can do all the SEO for you. We can develop all the content. This software is the magic bullet.
Aimee Taylor:And Yeah. You know, we review all these all these companies and try and use some of them and and weed out the good and the bad. And, you know, there's no one company that has it all nailed down. We have to use all our tech stack is huge. All the different things we have to use and put together.
Aimee Taylor:You know, for the most part, AI is making making things easier in some senses. I mean, it's, you know, it's taking away some of the mundane tasks like reporting each month. I mean, that used to take several days out of the month to put all the client reports together because you were copying and pasting from one software to another. So that's easier. Maybe, you know, blog briefs and and outlines and things like that.
Aimee Taylor:You know, when we're having a meeting, if we're on a conference call, you know, you just push the button now, and it takes notes.
Heath Fletcher:That's brilliant.
Aimee Taylor:Notes. Brilliant. I mean
Heath Fletcher:And summarizing. Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. And you just go, here's your list. I'll take my list, and we all go off to do our test. So I think in general, it makes us gives us more time to do the strategy part of it and the deep analysis and looking at things closer rather than getting caught up in tasks that we were charging clients for. And we'd say, well, that took that much time, so I don't have any more time to do other things.
Aimee Taylor:You know?
Heath Fletcher:So That's right.
Aimee Taylor:You know, that's better. But, I mean, the sheer number of things we have to go through. And now, I mean, SEO has always been or marketing in general has always been, you know, get accomplished on one aspect of it, and then, you know, it changes the next day. I mean, I even tell my clients, you know, what I tell you today is gonna be different tomorrow. Just get ready.
Aimee Taylor:Don't don't quote me because tomorrow we're gonna do it differently. But, I mean, that's just kind of how it is, and, it does get a little scary because it's changing so quickly. You know, like, right now, we're moving from, you know, SEO, so to speak, into, like, search everything optimization. So we're trying to analyze how you, you know, how you can rank across platforms. You know?
Aimee Taylor:I do believe Google will be here and Google will be at the top because Google has the most money. Google has Mhmm. You know, YouTube is Google, and YouTube is the most powerful, you know, video network out there. So people watch more on YouTube than anything else, and that's where the young people are. So the young people are on YouTube, and they're on TikTok.
Aimee Taylor:So, you know, you have to depending on what clientele you're going for, you have to know how to reach this medium. And Yeah. You know? So you have to be kind of an expert on everything. So, you know, the good news is we have, you know, a really strong team.
Aimee Taylor:We hire the best in specific areas of our team. So, you know, I don't try and do it all. You know? That doesn't work anymore, the word man show.
Heath Fletcher:No. Right?
Aimee Taylor:So, you know, you you just hire people that are good at what they do. And I feel like we have a really good team, and we're constantly doing more education, you know, constantly learning and taking classes on these things, you know, online stuff, and then testing out. You know, we're beta testing some things for, you know, this search everything. You know? Because I
Heath Fletcher:love that. I haven't heard that new Yeah. That new definition of the acronym. Search everything.
Aimee Taylor:S now e v is what we're going with.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. Just for just for entertainment sake, because there might be listeners who have heard that phrase SEO Mhmm. A lot and really don't understand what it means because it's always been in an acronym and everyone says, oh, you gotta get an SEO, and you gotta get this SEO, you gotta get that SEO.
Aimee Taylor:Right. Right.
Heath Fletcher:Give them a bit of a insight as to what does that actually mean to them.
Aimee Taylor:Sure. Sure. Search engine optimization is what it stands for. So, I mean, it's it's really encompasses a lot of different things, but it's basically can Google read your site and can Google rank your site? So basically, you know, you have to have all the right language under the hood, so to speak, or on the back end of the website so Google knows what you're doing.
Aimee Taylor:So that involves certain tags on the site. You know, we have what's called an h one tag, which would be, you know, your main title that tells, you know, what it is you want Google to categorize this page at. So as so if it's MedSpa, you know, you would want, you know, MedSpa in Tampa would be your your h one tag so that it would know what you are. And then it just goes from there. I mean, every image is tagged so Google can read it.
Aimee Taylor:Google can't that's called an alt tag, so Google can't read an image. It doesn't know what that image is unless you tell it. Now with AI, will that get better? Probably. But, you know, there's all these different things that are happening out there.
Aimee Taylor:But there's there's really a coding for everything. You have for SEO, you have the on page. So it's what's what you see on the page. Basically, your all the words on the page. And as the as the rule goes, if it's not on the page, you can't rank for it.
Aimee Taylor:So, you know, I'll have clients say, why am I not ranking for this? And, you know, we don't have anything outlined for that. So, you know, more content and SEO involves content. It involves, backlinking. So there's a lot that's involved in it.
Aimee Taylor:It's a it's the overarching term for basically everything that's not paid. So SEO would be all of the things you do around your website and your brand that is not paid. Which is
Heath Fletcher:commonly referred to as organic. Right?
Aimee Taylor:Right. Correct.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:So yeah.
Heath Fletcher:And that's all based on the words you're talking about are are called keywords that people have probably also heard that term before. So it's your keyword rich content that's searchable organically Mhmm. On the web.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. And it's you know, and it allows you to be found if people don't know your name. So it's it's the way you're found through keywords. So and that's what's gonna drive traffic.
Heath Fletcher:And that establishes what shows up when people type in a search in the query
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. Field. Correct. Mhmm.
Heath Fletcher:Yep. Okay. That's an onion for sure. There's many layers. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Right? And and the it's layering more and more as as time goes on because, I mean, even in in thirteen years, when you think about it, thirteen years is is it used to be a long time. Uh-huh. But it's actually so much has happened in thirteen years in this industry. Like, holy cow.
Heath Fletcher:Like, that it's not nothing's moved as fast as that. You know? I
Aimee Taylor:The last two years. I mean
Heath Fletcher:Last two years. Yes.
Aimee Taylor:Since COVID. Yeah. I mean, in the beginning, we didn't even have to consider social media. We just No. We just optimized the website, put some keywords on it, and boom.
Aimee Taylor:We were good to go. But you know? And I didn't even really wanna do social media because that's a whole another industry.
Heath Fletcher:Does anybody really want to do social media?
Aimee Taylor:I don't know.
Heath Fletcher:It's just necessary evil now, I think.
Aimee Taylor:It It is.
Heath Fletcher:We're all stuck into. Yeah. You're right. Because it's all connected. Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean, it's all connected. These are all signals that point to your brand. So Yeah. You know, the thing about social media is just that I feel like I don't like to invest a ton in social media, like your website.
Aimee Taylor:Like I have my clients, you know, own their own domain. You build up your domain authority, and so you build your site so that it becomes powerful and it's a tool. Social media, I mean, someone could get their account suspended tomorrow or it could go down or it could get
Heath Fletcher:I mean,
Aimee Taylor:it just I I
Heath Fletcher:It could get bought
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. And sold. So
Heath Fletcher:And yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. And these people put all their lives into it, and a lot of people make a lot of money off their social media. And I I'm I like to have balance because if you put all your eggs in one basket
Heath Fletcher:Right. That's a good point.
Aimee Taylor:A little nervous. I'm a traditionalist. So
Heath Fletcher:So the website, what I hear you saying, the website is a really important the most important as far as you're concerned because that's where you're gonna drive all your traffic, whether it's coming from YouTube or Facebook or x or or ads that you place in on Google, whatever. It's all driving back to the website. So that's where you find is the most value in in SEO ing SEO ing that.
Aimee Taylor:Sure.
Heath Fletcher:So that you've got that is your that's your strong holding point. Right?
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I think, yeah, your website is your foundation. And even if you're not gonna market actively, it's your brochure. It's your you know, it's where you point people if you wanna show them your work. I mean you know?
Aimee Taylor:So I think everybody needs a website. And, you know, as far as marketing, I feel like everybody really needs marketing. I mean, even if you're your own brand, I mean, I need to be branding myself, hence, I'm on this podcast. So, you know, it's it's everybody is a brand nowadays, and it's important that you brand yourself as well. So, you know, marketing is pretty crucial.
Aimee Taylor:It's up there in the sciences now. You know? Absolutely. Afterthought. You know?
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. No. It's actually yeah. It's part of what did I somebody was talking about I was talking to somebody the other day who is in the marquee industry, and she has a background in anthropology. And she said that has actually helped her in the industry more than anything is having an understanding in anthropology in anthropology, in human behavior.
Aimee Taylor:Right. Right. Human behavior and science. Like, it all, like, the technology, you know, it's it's crazy how much it's changed. It's just not like you have to come up with a slogan.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, thanks to chat GPT, we don't have to do that anymore.
Heath Fletcher:There's an there's something chat can do.
Aimee Taylor:It's like, give me 10 slogans. And, I mean, we don't use it for, you know, all the writing and things like that. But, I mean, it is useful for generating ideas and things like that. But I don't even think Google is gonna care about chat writing things as long as it's good quality content. And, you know, I think you still need a human being that's gonna review it, look at it.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, I'll take things that my clients have written. Like, I have a doctor that likes to write his own stuff, and you can actually put it in, you know, and build build a profile for that client and get, you know, chat or Claude, you know, or or one of them to to create content that sounds like him. And I'll put stuff in that I write, and it'll sound like me. And I'm like, this is cool. I mean, the the the geek in me likes some of that a lot.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Yeah. And it's efficiency. Right? It's helping with streamlining some of our, you our our activities that are a little bit more time consuming.
Heath Fletcher:And and and I think that's the thing about AI. It's really important is that it is really it is just another tool. Right? I mean, like, it's a lot, you know, laptops and we got other applications and software and cameras and all that. It's another tool to help streamline our efficiency and give us a little bit more time to do other things.
Heath Fletcher:I don't think it's it's not gonna re it'll replace some of those mundane activities. I think somebody said too, why is he why is AI coming along and taking away all the fun things to do? Like Yeah. Drawing, photography. Like, it's why can't it just take a look after my laundry and my dishes?
Aimee Taylor:Unfortunately, no. I wish. Yeah. But we'll have robots for that.
Heath Fletcher:We'll have robots eventually for that. Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Eventually. Eventually. Yeah. I mean, I hear you. I mean, I also think somewhat like social media, it's entertaining to people right now, and so there's it's a rabbit hole that can suck time for sure, but it's an interesting time suck.
Aimee Taylor:At least it's not as it's not like just watching videos all day. So yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. It is it is fascinating that what what can be created out of that if you put but you still need a human to drive it.
Aimee Taylor:Right.
Heath Fletcher:You still need an operator and it's only as good as the operator. So I think coming back to professionals in the marketing industry that have have taken the time to understand these tools and understand the needs for them and where where it's going and how it's gonna be utilized is is really the connection that's Yeah. You understanding your client.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean, some of the things I'm seeing as far as the downsides to it is just authenticity, credibility. I mean, we don't really have in media anymore. There's just really no, you know, you have no way of knowing if something's true. You know, you can Mhmm.
Aimee Taylor:Fact check, so to speak. But, I mean, there's just so much information out there. And even some of these some of these replies and text replies and email things that come at you and and even some of these scams, they they sound real. They sound so real. You think they're a real person.
Aimee Taylor:So this credibility and authenticity is something that people are gonna be looking for. And so I think that's where we need to direct some of our attention in marketing is, you know, real images, not AI images or stock images. And and we're seeing some we're doing some research on, you know, adding, images to a website, you're adding more local real images. And Google will know that it comes from your phone or where that it didn't come from AI or a stock image gallery. So then Google Google will give that more credibility, and hence, you know, the other AI tools will as well.
Aimee Taylor:So we're using that to
Heath Fletcher:That's interesting.
Aimee Taylor:To signal. You know? So if you put these real images on your website, we're finding if you add them, you know, throughout a page that are, you know, relevant images, not just any old image, but, you know, relevant images to the services that you're displaying, we're seeing that the pages are ranking better. It's just giving it credibility. And I think that, you know, all of the search engines are gonna be looking for things to align with that, you know, just like the Google Google business profiles, you know, and the big problem we're having right now with I don't know if you know about this, but a lot of the Google profiles are getting suspended.
Aimee Taylor:People who have had Google profiles for a long time. And, you know
Heath Fletcher:Oh, the business profiles. Are
Aimee Taylor:the business
Heath Fletcher:profiles? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. We've known people
Aimee Taylor:big issue. Mine even got suspended, and I've had a business profile for years. So, you know, it's like, why? So I think it's because AI has taken over that task, and there's no human being behind it at all Yeah. Number one.
Aimee Taylor:And then Google's trying to find a way to really validate people that they're real and that the content is real. So if you have anything you know, I had a client who had an old logo on there, and that's what threw it off. You know? Or we think. You know?
Aimee Taylor:We don't even know for sure.
Heath Fletcher:You don't even know.
Aimee Taylor:You don't know.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Because if you you we have we've reversed it too for our client, and it was like, we don't even know how it happened. It just all of a sudden came back. Mhmm. The reviews came back.
Heath Fletcher:Everything came back. I mean, it it started his business. It was a very service based industry business, and it's it's
Aimee Taylor:halted. Mhmm.
Heath Fletcher:Devastating. Like, he didn't know what to do. He he was scrambling.
Aimee Taylor:Mhmm.
Heath Fletcher:A mover. So he's coming into moving season.
Aimee Taylor:Oh, That's bad.
Heath Fletcher:And that and someone searches for a mover. I mean, you know, it reminded me when we were talking about traditional marketing back in the day. It's like, all you needed was a Yellow Pages ad.
Aimee Taylor:Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:And people found your business. I mean, that's what biz Google Business is. Right? It's it's like the Yellow Pages of today. And if you if you don't show up on that search in, you know, in my region and I'm looking for a mover and it doesn't pop up.
Aimee Taylor:Right.
Heath Fletcher:Well, I'll only call the one I see or the first one I see or the first three anyway.
Aimee Taylor:Right.
Heath Fletcher:But, I mean, that that's how important that is. So
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean, the Google Business profile, I mean, it was a a miraculous thing when it came out. I mean, I think they've been around for twenty years now, but when the Google Business Profile first came out, it was it was amazing. I mean and and still without a marketing team, if you get a lot of reviews and you fill out everything on your Google Business Profile and you engage and you answer all the questions and you post to it like social media, I mean, you can you can get business from it, and you can show up at the top without even a website, I think. Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, you know, there it won't stay there forever. I mean, you're gonna have to maintain it. But, I mean, if you have a lot of reviews, I mean, you can do well with a Google Business profile alone.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. 100%.
Aimee Taylor:So I'm sure it hurt that mover. Did. Awful.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. And then it just came back on.
Aimee Taylor:Do an ad campaign or something to try and
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. That's what we had to yeah. They had to implement an ad campaign and some social media and just just kinda you just had to pivot and get it going. And then and then it just came back, but it was a lot of needling and poking and
Aimee Taylor:Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Trying to get someone on the phone.
Aimee Taylor:No. That doesn't happen. No one gets on the phone anymore. You know? Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I don't know. It's a crazy world we live in. Sometimes I wonder.
Heath Fletcher:But So how you know you know, all this, we're talking about all this tech and all this change. I mean, I think probably the part that it needs to stay consistent is that human connection. Right? I mean, you have clients that you talk to and meet with and you develop that trust. And I think because the industry is so messy, to use that word again, and and there is so much unknown and maybe some skepticism as to what's real and what's not real.
Heath Fletcher:Is it having that human connection with you Mhmm. That's handling their accounts and are looking after their business, that must be incredibly important.
Aimee Taylor:Think so. I mean, you know, there are a lot of SEO companies that are, you know, just big cookie cutter agencies that they never see their clients. And, you know, people, the clients know that they're not getting as good a service. They have to put in a ticket for this or that, and they they don't they can't pick up the phone and call anybody and get immediate assistance. So I like offering the personal touch.
Aimee Taylor:I don't see my clients as much as I'd like to these days, but, I mean, I can go see them. And, you know, I'll see clients quarterly, sometimes monthly. But you know? So it it's nice that I can see them. I do have clients all over the country, I so can work with anyone anywhere, really.
Aimee Taylor:But Yeah. You know, for the most part, I do have clients in Florida. So but it is nice to be able to see them in person. And, also, I think that the best marketing campaigns are those that where the client is involved to some extent. I mean, you know, them giving you feedback.
Aimee Taylor:I'm Mhmm. For the most part, I mean, you know, it's nice to have clients that will just give you their money and then you run the campaign and you do a really good job and that's fine. But I really think that engagement piece is what we're gonna need moving forward to really help them out. Know know what's converting, what what their clients are saying, and just staying closer with the client, you know, and what what their goals are and what they're hearing on their side so that you can present the best, you know, plan for them.
Heath Fletcher:That's a really good point. And I because the marketing is like, you know, it's the horse. Right? It's it's the it's pulling the cart, and it's and it's delivering people to the website or to Correct. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:To where the the actual transaction, the lead, and it gets to into the funnel. Mhmm. But marketing doesn't always have any say or control once you let go and it's in someone else's hand in the sales journey, right, or the buyer's journey. Is that something that you'd rather have a little bit more saying or a little more insight or at least the feedback or the data that comes with it? It's like, well, this lead, I dropped this lead into this inbox.
Heath Fletcher:What happened?
Aimee Taylor:Right. Right. I agree. I mean, you know, it's hard. I mean, you have to have a significant budget to be if I'm gonna be in your practice and doing a deep analysis of everything that's happening there.
Aimee Taylor:But listen, there are a lot of tools out there that you can use to try to analyze it, like call tracking, for instance, if you have a call tracking system on there. I had a client and it was an urgent care client, and they were I was saying, well, your numbers are going up. Your numbers look great. Like and they were saying, our phone it's dead, Bill. Like, we're quiet.
Aimee Taylor:Every afternoon, it's quiet. And I said, well, have you listened to the phone calls? And he goes, oh, no. My staff is the greatest. They're the greatest.
Aimee Taylor:Everything is great. And I go, let's let's just listen to a phone call. So we get on and we listen and she's saying, yeah, the lobby is really full. Don't come in right now. This was at four in the afternoon.
Aimee Taylor:She would start telling people that would call because, know, people will call up. This was a few years ago, and they didn't have one of those, you know, get in line before you arrive things. People would call and say, how busy are you? Can I get in? Like, can someone see me this afternoon?
Aimee Taylor:And they would say, oh, no. It's full. And so this lady was literally turning everyone away, and he was floored, and he fired her. And I was just like, well, I mean, that's I mean, I'm sure they're saying all the right things when you're standing behind them, and I'm not trying to say that there aren't conscientious employees because there certainly are. But, I mean, if you don't know what happens to that lead, like you said, once it enters the door or if they have someone bad answering the phone, I tell you, I tell all my practices, they need to have the best person answering the phone.
Aimee Taylor:The nicest, you need a salesperson answering the phone.
Heath Fletcher:You're right. I mean, the data doesn't lie. The data doesn't lie when it says, well, so many people clicked on your ad, so many people clicked on this button, and so many people Right. You know, gave a gave you their email address.
Aimee Taylor:And then they say they got nothing, and you're like, I I mean, I can't help you. I don't know what to do.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. And if there's and if you can't yeah. How do you help how do you help with that? If you're not let in if you're not let in on how things are functioning at that.
Aimee Taylor:Sure. Sure. Yeah. I agree. There's there's, you know, there's two sides to everything, and I'm I only see the side where I'm driving traffic to you, and then you have to tell me what you're seeing on your side.
Aimee Taylor:And Mhmm. You know, we can try and triangulate the problem because I've I've seen it all, so I can probably help. But, I mean, I think for the most part, most businesses pay too little to the person answering the phone and at the front desk.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Aimee Taylor:You know? I mean, you can save money on all these AI things and all this automation, but don't automate that person. And, I mean, for the most part, there's a lot of businesses where you book online and so you don't talk to a person. But having someone that answers the phone, a real life human being is beneficial. So some of that could make you stand out.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Do you see anything anything coming up in health care that might have an impact on you, on on on customers?
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean, you know, with health care, it's interesting because they're so antiquated. I mean, a lot of the health care is kind of behind. Like, if you think about it, I mean, well, you maybe you don't know, but a lot of the doctors didn't even have websites in just a few years ago, or they didn't have a Google business listing. They didn't have any of this stuff.
Aimee Taylor:No exposure at all. So, you know, the customer
Heath Fletcher:didn't need to. Right?
Aimee Taylor:They didn't. They would just rely on referrals. I mean
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:And, I mean, I would imagine the first person who came out the first plastic surgeon that had a really good website and had a really good online presence did really, really well. So I mean but then again, if you're if you're if you're not a great surgeon, you, you know, you'll get the referrals if you're great. You know? So you gotta be great first. I mean and then you have to have good marketing.
Aimee Taylor:But, I'm trying to think of where I was going with that. Oh, I know what I was gonna say. With with health care, you know, they didn't have any of these tools, and now they've moved into this area where people are really, you know, shopping health care like they do a car. So you know, they'll look and and they can look up the doctor online. They don't necessarily have to go with the orthopedic that was recommended to them.
Aimee Taylor:They look up online. They see your reviews. They see what your social looks like. They see what your website is. Maybe you have a chat feature and they chat you up there.
Aimee Taylor:They can look at your website, read about things. So they really know a lot more coming in and it used to be you just, you know, fifteen minutes a year you got with your doctor and you didn't really know much about the practice or anything. They told you what to do, what prescription to fill, and off you went. So, I mean, I think it's totally different. I mean, it's a different experience for sure.
Aimee Taylor:And I like it. I think, you know, also if health care can be, you know, more about wellness care, you know, and I'm working with a lot of wellness type practices, regenerative. You know, I have a doctor that has cold plunge and sauna and cryo and all these fun things. So just for recovery and better performance and you know? So the health care, you know, is great.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, there's a lot of things coming down the pike to help people be healthier rather than you know? But that's a whole another subject.
Heath Fletcher:Well, it's it's and it's the preventative medicines way. Right. It's where that's at. Right? It's it's it's avoiding the highly expensive end outcome of having an unhealthy lifestyle.
Aimee Taylor:Correct. I think, you know, I think that hopefully is with all this information and, you know, I like to work with clients that are on that side of it that are, you know, looking for ways to improve people's quality of life. So, you know, that kind of fits with what I like to do. So yeah.
Heath Fletcher:And many doctors, I think, now our professionals are aligning themselves with very different modalities in health care. They're they're they're not only looking at, patient care once there's an issue, but also helping patients avoid those issues before they even get to that state. Yeah. And there's multi multifaceted clinics that are that are looking at all different aspects of health at the same time, right, which I think is
Aimee Taylor:a really positive movement. Working with the health care side of things and the aesthetics side and the plastics is very innovative. I mean, there's just so much going on in all those industries. It's fun. So, you know, I do have regular I do have some allergists and, you know, other things that are normal.
Aimee Taylor:But, you know, I like the I like the elective stuff. It's fun.
Heath Fletcher:What do you see? Any anything anything big happening in marketing that you see that that's new or has that you're kind of, you know, researching
Aimee Taylor:I mean, again, I think we're just I think it's just AI. I mean, we're just gonna be, you know, constantly trying to learn what's next and keeping ahead of Google and everyone else. You know, this train is leaving the station, so we're we're constantly working on it to try and to keep our clients at the top. So it's it's big it's a big lift. So yeah.
Heath Fletcher:How do you how big is your team?
Aimee Taylor:Well, I have only let's see. I have four full time people now that work directly for me, and then I I outsource a lot of stuff, have ten ninety nine employees. So I have some teams that, you know, help with writing and help with, you know, different aspects of the business. You know? Unfortunately, the best minds in SEO are not in Tampa.
Aimee Taylor:And so so I bring on a team and yeah. But I have really good people that have been with me a really long time, and so they they have the same, you know, I don't know what what I would call it, the same values. They're they they're they care about the clients. When I need something, they jump. So, essentially, it's like their employees, but, you know, they're You're on the same wavelength.
Aimee Taylor:For me. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. I mean,
Aimee Taylor:I can get things done instantly. So you know?
Heath Fletcher:What is it about your approach to your clients and and their projects and then working with working with your team? What is it about you, your leadership style, your is it, you know, that you think is is, know, your best feature?
Aimee Taylor:Leadership. Well, that's a work in progress. I don't know. I don't really think of myself as the best leader. I'm I'm very much a perfectionist, and I have high standards.
Aimee Taylor:And I think that gets me respect out there, but I I kind of fashion myself as sort of a Martha Stewart. So maybe I'm not very well liked sometimes, but I'm I'm not as successful as her. So there's hope here. But, anyway, I I don't know. I I try to hire the very best people to do segments of it because, like I said, my my passion is in the strategy and in the being in front of the clients.
Aimee Taylor:Like, I like to be forward facing, and I don't like to do a lot of the technical stuff and a lot of the paperwork. I like to be out selling and working with the clients directly and helping them to make money. So as far as a leader, I bring people on that are that are great people, that have a good attitude. I feel like attitude is everything. You know?
Aimee Taylor:I mean, even if they don't know everything, they can learn. You know? But I I like strong people with good attitudes that will work hard and have integrity. And I feel like my clients get that I work hard for them as if it were my own business. So Right.
Aimee Taylor:I get upset if things aren't right for them even if they don't even know it's not right.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Aimee Taylor:So, you know, I I think that that conveys you know, you know if someone cares. You know if someone's working hard for you. Yeah. So I think it just goes down to hard work. You know?
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Sounds like you put a lot of trust in your team because you expect clients to put a lot of trust in you, and they do put a lot of trust in you. And so you kinda just pay it down the line. Do you trust them to work to do the work with you? And then you you present that to your clients.
Heath Fletcher:Do you find you were talking about maybe you're not oh, you say, well, only be I'm not like as much as Martha Stewart or something. But is it because you're you don't have a you're not afraid to tell clients the truth? Because sometimes that can be a that can be a thing, right, where people are like, well, you just you don't wanna tell the client that their website sucks because you might hurt their feelings or you don't wanna tell a client this or that because they might not like to hear that. But that's not something you're afraid to do.
Aimee Taylor:No. I mean, I don't like I mean, I've seen marketers where they'll they'll just spin it one way or another to show the client that it's doing well. And I'm like, well, if we're down, we're down. We need to show them they're down, and we need to explain you know, try and figure out why we're down. And nobody's website marketing goes up every single month for the entire life of the business.
Aimee Taylor:So No. You know, there are economic things. I mean, in Tampa, in our area, we had hurricanes last year, and that did impact the market. I mean, there are people who still aren't in their homes. And as wealthy as the area is, you know, these are real factors.
Aimee Taylor:So, you know, sometimes demand is down, and I can't control that. So No. But and sometimes we make mistakes, honestly. If you're not if you're not making mistakes, you're just not trying hard enough. So, I mean, I feel like That's
Heath Fletcher:a really good point.
Aimee Taylor:Gotta just Yeah. You know, I'm trying different things for you, and and then the algorithms can change. Google can make a change that
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:Is out of my control, and it may not be anything we expected at all. I mean, there's changes all the time. So these things happen. And if I'm honest with them, I think I think they realize that, and they know they're gonna get the truth. Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:You know? I think people I'm not a good liar either. So if if I did lie, you'd probably know.
Heath Fletcher:Transparency goes a long way
Aimee Taylor:for sure. You know? Yeah. Yeah. It it tends to work out.
Aimee Taylor:I mean, you know, it it it always backfires if you aren't doing things for the right reason, I think. So yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. Well, this has been a great chat, and I've enjoyed learning about you and Alt Digital Marketing.
Heath Fletcher:What anything else you'd like to end with or share with? Maybe to other marketers in your space or maybe earlier in their careers, some advice about Yeah. You know, venturing into this into this industry?
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean, for my peers or anyone trying to do this, I would say hire the best people and hire faster than you think you should. You know? Like, try and outsource and and hire other people that are better than you at things. Don't try and do it all because it'll it'll bury you to try and especially if you're doing things that aren't your forte or, you know, you hate.
Aimee Taylor:Do the things that light you up, and that will help your business grow. As far as, you know, overall to the clients or anyone out there needing you know, looking at marketing for their medical practice, definitely hire someone. I mean, obviously, if you're a physician or you have a practice or a business, I mean, your efforts are best being done with what, you know, what you're good at. Do what you're good at and and leave leave the marketing to the experts over here. I do have, you know, some clients who, you know, think they know marketing, but, you know, it's it's definitely best to the professionals.
Heath Fletcher:And at some point, everybody thinks they're a logo designer. So in their life.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. I mean, some people do have a creative eye, so it's good.
Heath Fletcher:You gotta
Aimee Taylor:let them you gotta let them get in there sometimes, and it is subjective. So, yeah, I do I do have clients that like to get involved in the aesthetics of it all, but which is good. But you know?
Heath Fletcher:That's that collaborative bit. Keeps people engaged. And like you said, you want them to be engaged because not only do you need their input, but you also want them to take an interest in their marketing because you need content from them too on a regular basis. And that's Yeah.
Aimee Taylor:For sure.
Heath Fletcher:That's a key key point of an engagement, ongoing engagement with you and your client. So
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. For sure.
Heath Fletcher:Those are important.
Aimee Taylor:You want them
Heath Fletcher:to have
Aimee Taylor:But definitely hire out and hire the best. It's worth it.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. Awesome.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. Well, Amy, how can people reach you if they want to ask you some questions or learn more about your business?
Aimee Taylor:Sure. They can email me directly at amy, aimee,@altdigitalmarketing, or you can go to my website, altdigitalmarketing.com, Or you can find me on LinkedIn, and I guess we'll leave that in the show notes because that's a little longer. So
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. You got it. I'll have it. I'll be down there for Okay. For them to find out.
Aimee Taylor:Yeah. Oh, and I
Heath Fletcher:can Awesome.
Aimee Taylor:You can find me on Instagram too, and that would be all dot digital marketing and that's it.
Heath Fletcher:I'm impressed you know that. Mhmm.
Aimee Taylor:Because I love social media so much.
Heath Fletcher:Awesome, Amy. Thank you so much for joining me today, and and we'll talk again soon. Okay. So I can't believe I have not heard that definition for the acronym SEO before. Search everything optimization cannot be more accurate than that.
Heath Fletcher:AI is reshaping the marketing landscape, and it requires constant adaption. That's not a secret, and continuous learning is a key for for more people in the marketing space. Amy also had some advice for other people in the industry that effective leadership involves hiring the right people and fostering a positive team culture and creating transparency with clients, builds trust in long term relationships, which is also, great advice. If you like to reach out to Amy, all her links and and ways to communicate with her are in the show notes. So thank you for listening.
Heath Fletcher:I hope you have a great day, and please stay healthy. Bye bye. Hi.
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