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BrightonSEO, one of the most anticipated events in the world of SEO, Search, and Content marketing, hosted its Search & Social Fringe Event this month. With a lineup of exceptional speakers, the event was filled with insights and revelations that left attendees buzzing with new ideas and strategies to implement in their paid social and search marketing efforts. Here, we'll highlight some key takeaways from the speakers.
Matthew Cooking: The Forgotten Art of Location Targeting
Matthew Cooking's talk shed light on the often-overlooked aspect of location targeting. He emphasized the importance of distinguishing between 'Presence' and 'Interest' when targeting an area. Presence includes people who are in or regularly visit an area, while Interest targets those who have shown interest in the area. Matthew stressed that location targeting is often not done effectively.
One key insight was the difference between exact match and 'near me' searches. Tailoring your targeting to the user's intent is crucial. For example, if someone searches for ‘employment solicitors near me,' you should focus on the specific location that person is searching from. However, if they search for ‘employment solicitors Watford,' your targeting should expand to the entire UK or even, the world, as they might be in Dundee but need a solicitor in Watford. The example below shows a good example:
Harriet Howarth: Programmatic Advertising and New Moments
Harriet Howarth's presentation highlighted the staggering number of ads people encounter daily, ranging from 4,000 to 10,000. Surprisingly, we only register about 100 of these ads and remember even fewer. She stressed the importance of creating ads that not only grab attention but also stick in people's minds.
Harriet discussed the effectiveness of in-game advertising, which seamlessly integrates ads into gameplay, with 27% of adults playing their favorite game first thing in the morning. Additionally, 3D audio in podcasts and music can enhance brand awareness and recall. She shared a success story involving Spotify and Fuse Tea, which saw a 3.5% increase in ad recall and a 1.8% boost in brand awareness.
Example of Marvel skins in the game Fortnite
Furthermore, Harriet mentioned the rise of digital out-of-home ads, offering targeted, measurable, and adaptable advertising solutions through digital bus stop ads or billboards which can react to the weather or time of day. For instance, Virgin Active saw 3 times higher footfall to local gyms when running a time and geotargeted digital out-of-home ad for commuters leaving the office.
Alex Jackson: B2B Marketing and Paid Social
Alex Jackson delved into the effectiveness of B2B marketing through paid social media platforms. He pointed out that 60% of advertisers on Quora are B2B, making it a valuable channel for direct conversations with potential customers. Furthermore, 46% of B2B buyers make purchases after watching a YouTube video, confirming the importance of product explainer videos.
Alex emphasized the need to build a seamless flow from awareness to lead generation, avoiding immediate call-to-action requests in your paid advertising funnel. He encouraged marketers to create emotionally engaging campaigns that resonate with their audience, B2B consumers are just as human as B2C, and should be treated as such. Gated content, Alex noted, is a powerful tool for B2B lead generation.
Patrick Kearney: Leveraging Bard/Chat GPT for Paid Media
Patrick Kearney's presentation showcased the use of AI, specifically Bard and Chat GPT, in paid media. He discussed the application of Bard for landing page scraping and AI-generated ad copy. While AI-generated copy may not always fit character limits, it is an excellent source of inspiration.
Patrick stressed the importance of understanding a company's technical language to better communicate with potential clients and using ChatGPT to simplify this language as a marketer can be invaluable.
Sophie Howard explored the stages of AI development, ranging from narrow AI with specific goals to the potential future of superintelligent AI. Currently, we are in the narrow phase of AI development, but the possibilities are vast.
Narrow AI - AI specifically designed for one or few tasks. Virtual personal assistants can play music, turn on lights, set reminders etc. but the human has to “know how to ask” i.e. “Alexa, Open Spotify and play Amy Winehouse.”
Broad AI - Refers to an AI system that combines pattern recognition from many different areas to “think like a human” - Think of how self-driving cars combine multiple narrow applications such as sensory perception, real-time traffic data, maps, object detection, collision avoidance and driver monitoring (when you take your hands off the wheel).
The presentation encouraged attendees to consider how AI can be applied to their marketing strategies within the current AI landscape. Increasing the amount of time you have by utilizing AI to foster creativity, analyse data, predict analytics and map customer profiles can be just a few of the ways to make the most of these tools.
Chester Yang: A New Bing: Microsoft Strikes Back
Chester Young discussed how search and chat should cater to different user intents. While search is ideal for specific queries, chat should provide guidance and suggestions based on user intent. This approach aims to improve the overall user experience by understanding the intent behind the query. Bing’s new chat function acts as an assistant while searching the web.
Fraser Andrews discussed how we can increase efficiency with Google Ads spending by creating granular pots of spend. He advised businesses to focus on their primary conversion goals and know ultimately exactly what they are - they should be a conversion rather than a page view. Fraser stressed the importance of understanding user behavior and aligning content with audience needs.
He also encouraged marketers to analyze their data, anything that can be tested should be tested to see where there are patterns of similarity. Learning your audience and reflecting on their wants to serve them should be the base of any competent ad campaign.
Sarah Sal: Getting 29p Leads from TikTok Ads
Sarah Sal shared her insights on successful TikTok advertising. She recommended using conversational ads that tell a story leading to action. Testing different audiences is key to achieving cost-effective leads on TikTok as Sarah has found broad automatic audiences work better than hashtag targeting.
Vicki Jakes: Case Studies from Small Spenders
Vicki Jakes discussed the challenges and strategies for small businesses with limited budgets. She highlighted the importance of user-generated content-style ads and recommended keeping campaigns broad due to budget constraints. A simple campaign structure can yield positive results for small spenders.
Rachel Fellows explored the potential of Quora and Reddit for reaching new audiences. Quora, with its vast user base, provides opportunities for precise targeting based on topics, keywords, and questions. Reddit, known for its diverse subreddits, offers unique audience targeting options.
Rachel recommended experimenting with both platforms to find the best fit for your marketing strategy.
Richard Lawrence: Tracking LinkedIn Ads Impact without Clicks
Richard Lawrence offered a solution for tracking LinkedIn ads' impact without relying on clicks. He emphasized using the LinkedIn API for detailed insights and integrating sales data for comprehensive sales journey analysis through machine learning models.
Chris Ridley: A Guide to PPC Site Migrations
Chris Ridley discussed the challenges of large-scale PPC site migrations and introduced a PPC tool from Evoluted that can streamline the process.
The BrightonSEO Search & Social Show provided attendees with actionable strategies to improve their paid social and search marketing efforts. Each speaker brought unique insights, ensuring every attendee left the event with valuable takeaways to implement in their marketing campaigns.
