If there's one constant in search marketing, it's change. But by adopting a future-proof strategy, you can continue to see returns, even as search evolves in new and unrecognizable ways.

1. Future Proofing Your Agency’s
Search Visibility
Dylan Brooks
SEO Consultant

2. Welcome to Masters of Marketing!
• We will begin promptly at 12 pm CDT.
• Join the conversation on Twitter: #MastersMktg
• This presentation will be posted on our blog:
www.GetITC.com/blog
• Next Masters of Marketing:
• Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 12 PM CDT.
• The Bare Necessities: Your Homepage Checklist
• Presented by ITC Website Coordinator Karly Baker
-Dylan Brooks
SEO Consultant

3. A Little About Me
• Experienced SEO
• 3 Years at ITC
• Former TV News Producer
• Fun Fact: I’ve been to 41
states in the US

4. This Webinar Covers
• What’s next in search marketing
• Why the future of search matters
• How your agency can prepare for what’s next

5. Why Does The Future
of Search Matter?

6. My Agency
Is Already
Showing Up
Here —>
Isn’t That
Good Enough?

7. No. It’s Not.
• Search marketing changes
constantly
• Future-proofing your SEO is
key to survival

8. Let’s Go Wayyyyy Back…To 2012
• President Barack Obama won
re-election
• Gangnam Style was going viral
• The Texas Rangers hadn’t won
the World Series
Image By Eva Rinaldi from Sydney, Australia – Psy
Uploaded by tm, CC BY-SA 2.0

9. Let’s Go Wayyyyy Back…To 2012
• New smartphones:
• iPhone 5
• Samsung Galaxy S III
• Desktop PC searches
outnumbered mobile searches
by 2 to 1
• Keywords and links were the
lifeblood of SEO Image By Eva Rinaldi from Sydney, Australia – Psy
Uploaded by tm, CC BY-SA 2.0

10. And Now…In 2017
• President Donald Trump has
been in office almost 100 days
• Dabbing is (sort of) in vogue
• The Texas Rangers still haven’t
won the World Series
By Gokudabbing - Own work
CC BY-SA 4.0

11. And Now…In 2017
• Next smartphone releases:
• Google Pixel 2
• iPhone 8 (or iPhone X)
• Samsung Galaxy S8
• Mobile searches have
surpassed desktop searches
• User experience and mobile
optimization are key for SEO
By Gokudabbing - Own work
CC BY-SA 4.0

12. How Did We Get Here?
• Google Algorithm Updates:
• Hummingbird (2013)
• Pigeon (2014)
• Mobilegeddon (2015)
• Possum (2016)
• Mobile-First (2017-2018)
• All of these have helped to
shape a new search vision

13. And This Is Just The Beginning

14. What’s Coming Next
• Voice Search
• Personal Assistants
• Virtual Reality
• Location Search

15. Voice Search

16. Voice Search
• 20% of all current Google searches are
voice searches (Google)
• By 2020, more than 50% of all searches
will be voice searches (comScore)

17. Voice Search
• Why? Because it will be everywhere!
• Google Home
• Amazon Echo
• Smartphones
• Connected Cars
• Greater social acceptance

18. Voice Search
• Searchers use natural language
• “I need insurance for my 4 bedroom
home in Allen.”
• “Which agencies in my area are open
now?”
• Only one result read back to searcher
• Question and answer pattern
• Note: Some questions are implied

19. Personal Assistants

20. Personal Assistants
• About 62% of smartphone
owners use them (MindMeld, 2016)
• Most of this growth has
happened in the past 3 years

21. Personal Assistants
• Major tech providers have them
• Google Assistant
• Cortana (Microsoft)
• Siri (Apple)
• Alexa (Amazon)
• M (Facebook)
• Chatbots (Various companies)

22. Personal Assistants
• Why are they popular?
• Cross-device integration
• Ability to take on multiple tasks
• Customization to individual preferences
• Personal assistants can make
technology easier for users

23. Personal Assistants
• All search results are personalized
• Where you rank in search engines
matters less in this situation
• Context is crucial
• Location
• Time
• Specific Need

24. Virtual Reality

25. Virtual Reality
• An emerging tech trend
• Two types:
• Virtual Reality (VR)
• Augmented Reality (AR)
• Users wear a headset
• Popular for gamers

26. Virtual Reality
• Could be used for experiential
search
• Location tours
• Product test drives
• Still unclear how it will impact
traditional search

27. Location Search

28. Location Search
• “Near Me” searches up 400% in
last two years (Google Trends)
• 84% of consumers conduct
local searches (WordStream)

29. Location Search
• Search engines and retailers
prioritize this through:
• Map search features
• Location data mining
• Location specific ads
• Beacons and geofencing

30. Location Search
• Office locations matter
• Business attributes matter
• Hyperlocal marketing matters

31. What’s Driving These Changes?

32. What’s Driving These Changes?
• Millennials & Generation Z are
coming of age
• People born from 1980 on
• They grew up on the Internet
• Their expectations shape the
future of digital commerce
• Businesses must adapt to survive

33. What’s Driving These Changes?
• The biggest shift has already
happened
• Consumer-powered marketing
is here to stay
• Now is the time to future-
proof your strategy
• Make small adaptations for
new technologies

34. A Future-Proof Strategy Is...

35. A Future-Proof Strategy Is…
• User-First
• Context-Centric
• Answer-Based

36. User-First

37. User-First
• The consumer has the power
• Relevance > Keywords
• If you don’t satisfy their needs,
they’ll go elsewhere

38. Context-Centric

39. Context-Centric
• Consumer needs are specific
• Consider Micro-Moments:
• I Want To Know
• I Want To Do
• I Want To Go
• I Want To Buy
Image from Google: 4 New Micromoments Every Searcher Should Know

40. Answer-Based

41. Answer-Based
• “What is the searcher looking
for in this exact moment?”
• Make sure you’re providing
them the best answer

42. What Does This Strategy Require?

43. What Does This Strategy Require?
• Research
• Content
• Connection

44. Research

45. Research
• Understand the specific
needs of your consumers
• Survey existing customers
• Look at Google autosuggest
• Use Answer the Public

46. Content

47. Content
• Must be relevant to specific
consumer needs
• Answer-based blog articles
• Short videos
• Infographics
• Downloadable resources
• Calculators and tools

48. Connection

49. Connection
• Build ties to your consumers
• Show them you listen
• Show them you care
• Forge this through:
• Social media updates
• Local link opportunities
• Review responses

50. How To Measure This

51. How To Measure This
• We need better Key
Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
than search rankings
• After all, there might not be a
search results page at all

52. How To Measure This
• Think holistically
• Are customers finding us
through search?
• Are leads getting the
information they need to
commit to us?
• Are prospects engaging with us
across devices?

53. How To Measure This
• Track everything
• Search is omnichannel
• Search is omnipresent
• Make sure there are no holes in
your omnichannel strategy
• Don’t rely on web analytics
• Ask consumers how they found
your agency
• Ask consumers which devices
they used to find your agency

54. In Summary

55. In Summary
• Search is becoming more personalized and specific
• You can still succeed by:
• Anticipating consumer needs
• Providing the answers to those needs

56. Questions?
Want the slides? They’ll be available at:
Slideshare.net/InsTechCorp
Dylan Brooks
SEO Consultant