With AI continuing to be an industry hot-topic, it’s no surprise that there were plenty of incredible talks at brightonSEO about the most effective ways to implement AI in your marketing workflows. Despite this, the topics that resonated most with us were resoundingly about staying human in this new landscape.
Our award-winning team are always keen to learn and develop, so here are our top findings across both days of brightonSEO, covering topics from industry news, CRO, Google Ads, and copywriting (including why watching the Princess Bride can make you a better copywriter!)
Thursday, 3rd October: brightonSEO Day 1
Kim, Brand and Content Marketing Executive
Top Talk: “Search Strategy: Diversifying beyond Google” by Nathan Height, Organic Strategy Director at Croud
I’ve been keeping an eye on the Google antitrust trials with a healthy mix of curiosity and concern, as a lot of us have! Nathan’s deep dive into the situation highlighted how if Google is made to diversify its search monopoly, users may increasingly begin switching to AI-based search engines. He also shared a simple yet effective strategy: building up your social media and online community presence to stay ahead of the game as these changes unfold.
Ross, Paid Media Lead
Top Talk: “When it’s right to send Google ads the WRONG data” by Inderpaul Rai, Group Account Director at WeDiscover
My favourite talk was probably by Inderpaul Rai from WeDiscover. He talked about a case where it was actually more beneficial to send Google the wrong data when it came to conversion value to trick Google into driving better results, despite this going against the normal best practices. My main takeaways were how important it is to optimise the data we plug into Google as the results we get are only as good as the data we provide it, and that sometimes it’s good to challenge “best practices”. The talk really emphasised how the PPC/paid media world is constantly moving and evolving, so what is considered best practice today might not be the best idea in the future.
Day 2, Last Day of brightonSEO:
James, Digital Strategy Lead
Top Talks: The afternoon CRO segment- too many excellent talks to choose from!
I had 3 main takeaways from the CRO segment, first was how website exit page data can often be misleading. Whilst that one page may have been the breaking point, usually an exit page is actually more likely to be an exit route, where a series of pages didn’t match what the user was looking for, and as a result have left your website.
Secondly, Femi Olajiga, Freelance Growth Marketing Consultant talked about reframing CRO from Conversion Rate Optimisation to Customer Retention Optimisation. Most CRO strategies focus on optimising a website for the best user experience and driving those users to convert. However, if this only works for one-time buyers then the lifetime value isn’t there. Businesses should also consider how valuable returning customers are, and factor this into their strategies.
My last key takeaway was from Tasmin Lofthouse, Conversion Copywriter at Fika Digital on creating data-based content to drive conversions. As someone who works in a more analytics-centric role, I’m guilty of thinking data has to be a big spreadsheet of numbers, but qualitative data gathered from interviews, reviews and third-party forums is just as valuable. Especially when it comes to copywriting, as one of the main influencing factors on a user converting or not is if you are able to engage them emotionally.
Jon, Head of Paid Media
Top Talks: “Hacking brand: What a 102% jump in clicks taught me about branded content” by Hassan “Brandkenstein” Ud-deen, Head of Content & SEO at Hack the Box and “Verbal Identity – hold onto your humanity to stand out in a sea of beige” by Mel Barfield, Freelance Copywriter.
My favourite talks were probably the ‘Hacking Brand’ talk with Hassan Ud-deen and the ‘Verbal Identity’ talk with Mel Barfield. Hassan focused on how to ensure your content works for the entire company, making sure your content isn’t just a sales or marketing piece, but that it benefits each department and area of your company – one piece of content doesn’t have to have just one benefit or goal!
On the other hand, Mel’s talk on keeping your writing human and some of the pitfalls of AI-generated copy really captured my attention. With every brand striving to be unique and stand out from the crowd, it’s becoming increasingly difficulty for brands to find their voice, and even more so finding one that differentiates them from the crowd. With decreasing attention spans (we’re all guilty!) it’s more important than ever to cut to the chase while retaining a sense of identity. People like people, so it’s important to ensure you adapt your tone-of-voice to meet the needs of your audience; from deciding which platforms/formats you’d use emojis for, to standing out in a beige landscape.
Kim, Brand and Content Marketing Executive
Top Talk: “Learn how to write better SEO copy from The Princess Bride” by Will Slater, Creative Content Specialist at 43 Clicks North
Right off the bat I have to admit: I’ve never watched The Princess Bride! However, Will Slater’s links between the screenplay and good copywriting has definitely convinced me to change this. From using writing elements such as loops to the importance of repetition, learning from fiction in order to write engaging and compelling copy not only makes us sound more human, but helps set us apart. My biggest takeaways were that simplicity is key and strong storytelling lends itself to strong copywriting.
We all had an absolute blast taking in the knowledge and insights at brightonSEO. If you want to find out more about how we can help you use this knowledge (and plenty more) in your marketing strategies, fill out the contact form below.
