What a 46.5 billion-view agency taught us about fragmented marketing

Content alone leaves gaps when your website and Google Maps get forgotten. That’s what Brian and I saw while doing white-label work for Viral Coach, the agency behind 46.5 billion views. Our goal at Protocol is to package everything we’ve learned over eight years into one holistic system for organic visibility.

What we saw behind the scenes

My co-founder, Brian Alvarado, and I did white-label work for Viral Coach. That means we worked behind the scenes for the agency rather than under our own brand.

We were able to see the behind-the-scenes strategies of this company. And yet, through this whole process, we still saw gaps. We saw holes.

One of the biggest things we saw was that there wasn’t this holistic system. They really focused on content, but they forgot about the website. They forgot about Google Maps. There was fragmentation between the different pieces.

For a service business owner, that’s a useful thing to look at before putting more time into content: how does that content connect to the rest of your online presence?

What fragmented marketing looks like for a service business

By fragmented, I mean the pieces are being handled separately without enough attention to how they work together.

As a way to check your own business, imagine someone finding one of your social posts. Can they get to a website that clearly explains the service you’re talking about? If they look you up on Google Maps, does the information there match what they just read?

These are checks I’d suggest making, not problems I’m assuming your business has. The point is to look beyond whether a post got attention and check what someone can learn or do next.

What I mean by a holistic system for organic visibility

Organic visibility means helping people find your business without paid ads. In the talk, I’m talking about Google Maps, your website, social media, and AI search tools like ChatGPT.

A holistic system considers those pieces together. Your content should connect to useful information about your services. Your website and Google Maps information should tell the same story about what your business does and where it works.

For AI search, I’d apply that same check: does your public information clearly explain your business? That’s a practical place to start, not a promise that an AI tool will recommend you.

What to check before creating more content

I’d start with one service you want more work for and follow the information across your online presence.

• Look at a social post about that service. Is there a clear place to go for more information?
• Read the relevant website page. Does it explain the service and how to contact you?
• Check your Google Maps listing. Are the business details consistent with your website?
• Note any missing or conflicting information before deciding what content to create next.

That’s the direction we’re taking with Protocol Text, our marketing business based in Lincoln, Nebraska. We’re bringing eight years of lessons into one holistic system for organic visibility, with attention to the connections between the pieces.

If you want help looking at those connections in your service business, learn about Protocol Text.