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Brighton SEO - 5 Key Takeaways

Last month, we were lucky enough to get tickets for Brighton SEO; tBrighton seafronthe now-infamous conference where search and digital marketers get together twice a year and the tickets sell out in seconds! Although the day was packed full of SEO and content tips and tricks, we've selected some of our favourites as top 5 takeaways for you. (We're talking information takeaways here, rather than the food kind, although we can vouch for Brighton seafront's fish and chips!)

1. Compelling headlines without clickbait

Our highlight of the day came from keynote speaker and author of 'Webs of Influence,' Nathalie Nahai. Nathalie used the rules of neuropsychology to explain how to create persuasive content, looking at tailoring content to the five main personality traits as audiences.

She identified examples of trigger words that identifies a psychological reaction, encouraging the viewer to read or open the article (i.e. examples of clickbait headlines or calls to action). Running through a headline 'formula' of how to do this, Nathalie then identified the key difference that separates compelling titles from clickbait titles.

[caption id="attachment_3204" align="alignnone" width="300"]Headline formula Formula for creating a compelling headline[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3205" align="alignnone" width="300"]When is a title not clickbait? When is a title not clickbait?[/caption]

So essentially, persuasive headlines actually deliver on their promise and offer value to the reader, whereas clickbait headlines simply pull the viewer in and the content doesn't match expectations or deliver value. Which would you choose; noone likes clickbait!

Nathalie's session on 'Creating Persuasive Content' can be viewed below;

2. Enlicit chemical reactions

Natalie Jones' earlier session on 'Inbound Comedy' took some of these elements of building trust and engaging the audience with humour through to some practical demonstrations to show how we get a dopamine hit simply by watching something unexpected but funny unfold. This chemical reaction creates a rush that not only makes us laugh and makes us feel more alert, but also when coupled with the right reinforcements, makes us as a customer feel more engaged. Of course, we then know that over time as a brand we can build up a relationship with our customer and turn this good feeling into reward.

3. Sell your story first

Stephanie Chitty from Dark Star Brewing spoke with a classic lesson on the power of storytelling in marketing. Based on the South-East coast of England, the 22-year old brewing company has grown from humble beginnings to a popular real-ale pub chain.

With an average pint or bottle coming in around the £2 mark, Stephanie explained how she turned around a plan to launch a specialist new beer to the range which cost punters £9 for just a half-pint. The initial launch of showing the beer available as part of the normal range behind the bar with this price tag understandably was met with some negative feedback, with customers questioning why it was so expensive.

However, by re-positioning the new beer as an exclusive product with limited availability, and removing it from the bar, with a 'by request only' limited-edition notice, customers' interest peaked. As there was very little information available about the new product, other than a small blackboard on the wall, customers who were interested needed to ask the barman about it - at which point they could tell the story, showing their expertise, and build the relationship before revealing the price. It's easy to see how this re-positioning turned around sales with a fairly simple trick!

Dark Star Brewery on Instagram

 4. Apply the 80/20 rule to your own business

Rhys Jackson from Rocketmill used the 80/20 rule to calculate if 80% of revenue really came from 20% of customers. Although the figure came out at closer to 50%, slicing up and analysing transactional data is a must for any business, e-commerce or otherwise. Some of his tips on audience segmentation between Google Analytics data and geo-demographic data are well worth checking out, too (download his presentation here).

5. Join the dots

In the analytics track, Arianne Donoghue from icelolly.com ran through the benefits the company has seen since implementing Google Analytics 360 Suite. Other platforms offer the ability to analyse success across multiple channels, but the premium version of GA is built for enterprise-level integrations. The tool captures more hits, custom dimensions and stretches beyond just sampled data. As you'd expect, there is a heavy attribution element, and Big Query allows businesses with an in-house IT team to use a "SQL-like syntax to query all of your Analytics data", saving time overall and adding value.

Whether or not your business (or that of your client) is in a position to invest in Google Analytics 360 Suite, it's a critical reminder of the power of the Google tools, and how important it is to review analytics regularly to make data-driven informed decisions. Often there can be a wealth of surprises and customer information in Google Analytics which, when analysed, help to ensure the business is reacting to how the site and content is being engaged with. Those who can join the dots between these opportunities and across multiple channels are far more likely to be aligned to grow the business.

Arianne's deck is available to view here.

Did you attend Brighton SEO this April and have any other key takeaways to share? Are you hoping to attend the new, bigger venue, in September?

Note - We attended many of the breakout tracks on analytics, content and e-commerce due to our focus on these areas. If you'd like to find out more from the keynote sessions from Brighton SEO April 2016, these can be viewed on our YouTube playlist.

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