In the modern consumer journey, there are dozens of interactions with a brand before a purchase is made. Brands must therefore ensure that their messaging is consistent in tone and tailored to the consumer's needs at each stage. This presentation looks at how to do this across social media, SEO, and paid search.

1. HOW TO MERGE BRAND
AND PERFORMANCE
MARKETING THROUGH
CONTENT

2. 36%
of UK marketing budgets is
spent on content marketing.
82%
of consumers will click on a
search result because they
know the brand.
(https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/12/2017_UK_Research_FINAL.pdf) (https://www.redcmarketing.com/secret-life-of-search/)

3. The SEO Content block is typically filled with something
like the below:
"Our Converse styles range from sporty, retro or classic, to
bold, daring and individual. A variety of collections is on
offer in our shoe sale including the All Star, One Star and
Jack Purcell all of which come in a selection of materials
and colours. Take advantage of the Converse sale and get
stylish trainers at a discounted price!"
This can also appear at the bottom of the page, or
sometimes in the sidebar. No-one talks like this and no-one
likes to read this content. It is written 'for SEO', but SEO has
changed.
It therefore seems oddly cavalier to put so much keyword-
infused content on vital acquisition pages. Yet, many of the
world's largest brands do so.
SEO Content
LOGO
PRODUCT
DETAILS
PRODUCT
DETAILS
PRODUCT
DETAILS
THE TYPICAL LANDING PAGE

4. HOME
CATEGORY
PRODUCT
If we assume a linear progression through the
website starting with 'Home' and moving down
through the category level and on to products,
there is less need to reinforce brand messages at
the lower stages of the site hierarchy. The
homepage does the heavy lifting in this sense,
while product pages can focus on converting
sales.
From a search perspective, this has been effective
in the past and helps to explain why SEOs so often
handle product page content generation. SEOs
know how to rank on Google, which is the prime
concern here.
SITE STRUCTURE & CUSTOMER JOURNEY

5. HOME
CATEGORY
PRODUCT
However, in the age of assistance, search engines will pull
information from within a site or app to answer the query.
The sense of linear progression through a hierarchy no longer
exists.
They will pull a snippet of content and link through to the
full page. Without those 'earlier' interactions on brand-led
pages, SEOs can no longer focus purely on ranking for target
keywords. We must also convey the brand message to
persuade the audience.
Is an Amex
card
expensive?

6. "A credit card is a convenient
and flexible way of borrowing
money, which lets you make
purchases that you can pay for
in the future.
Before you take out a credit
card, it’s important to be
aware of the potential costs
and ensure that you only
borrow what you can afford to
pay back. To get the most out
of your credit card it’s
important you’re able to meet
your payment dates and
ideally pay in full every month."
Should I get a
Barclaycard
credit card?
Consumers are therefore starting to expect conversational experiences. It's great for brands if they ask these
questions, but only if the brand provides a suitable answer. Exchanges like the one above will become increasingly
common; at present, brands are providing 'SEO content' answers that were designed to hit a keyword count.
....Ok. That was
weird.
Bye, Google.

7. MAINTAINING BRAND IDENTITY THROUGH PERFORMANCE CHANNELS
PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING
BRANDED SEARCH CONTENT
Messaging
and
positioning
Search teams must
work alongside
brand marketers to
develop the brand
voice, then decide
how to imbue
content with this
tone.
The right
metrics
We need new
metrics for a new
age of search. Work
to develop an
overarching metric
such as 'Brand
Touchpoints'.
Crafting a
story
Develop a map of
the brand touch
points a consumer
will encounter, then
decide how to
synthesise brand
with performance at
each stage.
Use search
audience data
Content should still
be informed by
search trends, of
course. Use paid
search and Analytics
data to deliver on
audience
expectations.

8. Amy Vener, Pinterest
"55% OF A CONSUMER'S RESEARCH
TIME IS SPENT BEFORE THEY EVEN
KNOW WHAT THEY WANT."
TIME FOR A QUOTE

9. CONSUMER
JOURNEY
MAPPING
BLACK FRIDAY EXAMPLE
Important to develop a
metric like 'Total Brand
Touchpoints' to reflect
this new landscape.
Set up an analytics
framework that allows
you to make strategic
decisions along this
journey.
Same search; different
intent. Should mean
different content.
The 'research-
obsessed' consumer
will collect
information from
multiple sources.
Social media
content surfaces
after they visit the
site. Each interaction
will have a knock-on
effect.
We know they
shop around to
find the best
prices. How does
that inform our
content?
The component parts of this journey
are interchangeable and its length
will differ on an individual basis.
The point is therefore to plan out
these scenarios and ensure the
correct content assets are available
to consumers at all stages, in a
format that delivers the brand's
core messages.

10. Content
Purpose
Primary
Resources
Secondary
Resources
Search
Appearance
Communicate
brand messages;
differentiate from
competition.
Guide purchase decisions;
inform about product use
cases/benefits.
Homepage; social
media profiles;
About Us pages;
videos.
Product/services
pages; local
listings; external
retailer PDPs.
Knowledge
Graph; branded
search; video
search.
Local listings;
price extensions;
reviews;
image/visual
search.
Homepage;
category and
product pages.
Persuade customers to
make a purchase;
reinforce brand USPs.
Product guides;
YT videos; PPC
ads; social media
ads; influencer
content.
Quick answers;
customer
reviews; image
search.
Stay top of mind; encourage repeat
purchases and signup for loyalty
programs.
Email; signed-in
experience;
organic social
media;
personalized
recs.
Product listings;
PPC/Shopping
ads; SEO results
Customer
reviews; user-
generated
content.
Subscribe and
save through
digital assistant;
RLSA - branded
queries.
Homepage;
digital PR
CONTENT PHASES AND RESOURCES

11. LANDING PAGES -
QUESTIONS TO
ASK
Why are we creating this page? What is its one,
core purpose?
What is the first thing we want visitors to see on
the page?
What will visitors want to accomplish?
What is the main brand message we want to
convey?
How do we combine keyword usage with our
brand voice?
Through which other (non-SEO) channels will
visitors reach this page?
Which competitors will they also visit?
How will our content appear in search results?
(Text/image/video/quick answers/audio?)
How have they interacted with the brand
previously?
How will we know the page is successful?

12. TEMPLATE FOR PLANNING LANDING PAGE CONTENT

13. Search
m
arketing
team
Productteam
C
ontentdepartm
ent
Brand
team
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
WHO CREATES THE
CONTENT FOR YOUR
PRODUCT PAGES?
Recent research (Era of Ecommerce report,
ClickZ/Catalyst) found that product page
content is often created by search marketing
specialists, rather than content, brand, or
product teams.
That is fine, but their work should be
influenced by the expertise of those other
teams. Moreover, a skilled copywriter should
always create the content, whichever team
they are employed in.

14. Teambit uses its
homepage to tell a
story through visuals
and clear text, all
infused with the
brand's personality.
The homepage
develops the narrative
as the user scrolls,
covering a range of
intent stages from
initial awareness
through to pricing.
BEST PRACTICE
EXAMPLE

15. SAMSUNG PRODUCT PAGES
These pages cover every aspect of the search
journey, from awareness, through to research,
comparison, and conversion. The text content is
search-friendly and displays the brand's identity
without resorting to keyword repetition.
VISUAL CONTENT
Samsung makes use of high quality imagery and
video to reflect the product's quality. There is an
opportunity for Samsung to communicate better
via digital assistants, however. Audio content will
grow in importance for the search industry and we
should expect brands like Samsung to take
advantage.

16. CONTENT CREATION TECHNOLOGY
SEMrush Conductor Phrasee
AI-driven content creation technologies can assist the writing process, ensuring popular topics are
covered without resorting to keyword repetition. Marketers should beware, however. Technology
can have a levelling effect; if everyone has the same tools, it is more important than ever to find a
differentiating factor. Often, that can come down to the personality the brand injects into the
content. Technology can assist a good writer, but cannot yet replace them.

17. IN SUMMARY: OPPORTUNITIES TODAY
The quality of landing page content is
mediocre, at best. Review and rewrite
content across your site, your app, and
any content hosted on retailer websites.
Plan content at a broad scale and ask
questions before approaching any new
landing page.
LANDING PAGE CONTENT
Digital culture is increasingly visual.
Consumers navigate, compare, and shop
visually - just as they have always done
offline. There are no shortcuts here;
brands need to make imagery central to
their experience to rank highly in
search.
VISUAL CONTENT
Conversational search is a huge
opportunity, but it will be missed if
marketers keep writing for Google
alone. Listen to your content through a
text-to-speech transcription and
consider embedding audio clips on
landing pages.
AUDIO CONTENT
The future of search lies in personalised
experiences - an area that has been slow
to develop, due to its complexity.
Brands must use behavioural data to
create dynamic experiences that can be
communicated through digital
assistants.
BEHAVIOURAL DATA

18. GET IN TOUCH
https://www.linkedin.
com/in/clark-boyd-
digital
Clark@Candid.digital@ClarkBoyd

19. Questions? Let me know!
THANK YOU!