In the world of digital marketing, some products naturally capture attention – innovative consumer tech, trendy fashion brands, or cutting-edge entertainment. But what about the “boring” startups? The B2B solutions, industrial equipment manufacturers, or specialized service providers that don’t exactly light up social media?
SEO experts Jeremy Rivera and Jesse McDonald recently tackled this common challenge in a conversation that offers valuable insights for marketers struggling with seemingly unexciting products.
The Challenge of “Boring” Industries
Jeremy Rivera: “How do you thrive when you’ve got a client that’s super boring? They do medical affairs insights and you’re not exactly sure what that is. It’s some sort of esoteric B2B play. Or they sell waste oil heater recyclers that motor shops can use to turn used motor oil into heating products for their own shop. When it’s super boring, where do you go?”
Consider another example: Forestry mulching. At first glance, removing trees and vegetation might seem like a straightforward service without much marketing potential. Yet every industry, no matter how seemingly mundane, has unique angles worth exploring.
Finding Fascination in the Mundane
Jesse McDonald: “For me, this comes from having a grandfather early in my life who, though he passed when I was young, I remember would just read the encyclopedia all the time. He found the world interesting and wanted to know more about it. That mentality of just learning – just hopping in and diving into the interesting part of it – has stuck with me.
“There’s always going to be something interesting about even the most boring topic in the world. In this example, figure out what makes that product different than its competitors. From there, you can start building your own enthusiasm for the relatively boring thing.”
For land clearing services, this might mean exploring the environmental aspects of responsible clearing, the specialized equipment used, or how proper clearing prevents erosion and promotes healthy regrowth. Each of these angles opens up keyword opportunities and content ideas that might not be immediately obvious. Or if you were looking at crawl spaces you could take the health and wellness angle, that what you don’t know is growing in your foundations can hurt you.
Transforming Knowledge into Marketing Momentum
This curiosity-driven approach creates authenticity in your marketing efforts. Once you’ve found that unique angle, McDonald suggests it gives you “that pep in your step to move forward with it and find a unique way to position it and market it through your efforts and initiatives.”
For our land clearing example, this could mean developing content around seasonal clearing best practices in Tennessee’s unique climate, showcasing before-and-after transformations of properties, or explaining how professional clearing services protect valuable trees while removing problematic ones.
Tackling Technical Complexity
Jesse McDonald: “Something could be super interesting, but so highly technical that it’s out of your wheelhouse. You just have to dive into it and figure out what it means.” Take “diminished value assessment“, a highly technical aspect of car ownership that comes up after a car accident. It just takes a little digging to find the right angle or aspect to surface the topical interest value that might be the source of search traffic.
“I had to do that a lot at IBM. When I started there, I was the focal point from the CHQ SEO team within the cloud business unit for SEO, basically acting as an internal consultant to that business unit’s team. Going into that, other than knowing cloud is a computer that you access through the internet, that’s all I really knew at a very broad level.”
Similarly, land clearing involves specialized knowledge about equipment, environmental regulations, and techniques that might be foreign to marketers. Taking the time to understand these technical aspects can reveal valuable content opportunities that competitors might miss.
The Long-Term ROI of Industry Knowledge
The investment in understanding “boring” or complex products pays dividends beyond just the immediate marketing campaign:
Jesse McDonald: “From there, I built enough knowledge that, while I couldn’t program anything with a cloud because that’s not my skillset, I know enough now that it’s helped me moving forward. We work with a lot of SaaS companies at Siege, so I can say I have some level of experience. When you talk about containerization, I at least know what you mean from a broad perspective, so I can help provide that information.”
Practical Steps for Marketing “Boring” Products
Based on this conversation, here are actionable strategies for SEO professionals working with seemingly unexciting products:
- Embrace curiosity – Approach the product or service with genuine interest in understanding what makes it valuable
- Identify differentiators – What makes this product unique in its competitive landscape? This is often where the most interesting stories lie
- Talk to sales and technical teams – Go beyond marketing materials to understand how the product actually works and why customers buy it
- Translate complexity – Bridge the gap between technical features and customer benefits in plain language
- Build long-term knowledge – Industry expertise compounds over time, making each subsequent project easier
The Universal Truth of Marketing
Jesse McDonald: “Realistically, at the end of the day, a thirst for knowledge will help you regardless – in your current situation and in the long term.”
When dealing with “boring” products, the key to successful SEO isn’t finding ways to make them seem exciting to everyone. Instead, it’s about discovering the inherent value they provide to their specific audience and communicating that effectively. By approaching even the most mundane topics with curiosity and a desire to understand, marketers can uncover the stories that resonate with the people who actually need these products.
In the world of SEO, there are no truly boring products – only opportunities to connect valuable solutions with the audiences searching for them.
Want to learn more? Listen to the full episode of Jeremy’s conversation with Jesse McDonald. You can also check out a quick overview or an in-depth recap of their discussion.
