Branded3's SEO & PPC Conference #SearchLeeds - Here's how it went.

Thursday 15th of June was the day that I attended the Branded3 #SearchLeeds SEO and PPC conference, and what a grand day it turned out to be! Held at the First Direct Arena in Leeds city centre, it was set for success from the very beginning. Exploring all the different aspects and varying branches of SEO, PPC and Digital Marketing, Branded3 really had something for everyone. I stuck to the Content and Social focused talks (see job title) and it was truly inspiring!

The morning started with a very early train ride and some killer hay fever but from there, the only way was up. Never has this saying been more apt! I attended by myself and was perhaps slightly (only slightly) nervous to do so, but upon arrival, I soon took on the role of the mysterious loner. Unfortunately, this mysterious loner spilt hot coffee all over their light grey top within 10 minutes of arrival, but let's ignore that. I did. Onwards, to SEO, Content and Social!

Stage 1

So, to start things off I attended the welcome speech on Stage 1, aka the Main Stage, which has given by a very enthusiastic Tim Grice the CEO of Branded3. Tim took the stage to the sounds of Usher's 'Yeah!', he insisted he hadn't chosen this song himself (why? It's a killer!) but it managed to set the tone for a light-hearted and fun approach to the day. Next up, Laura Crimmons, Communications Director for Branded3, took the stage and delivered a great talk about how crucial it is to stimulate emotional connections through content and also told us about a new Drive-thru Greggs that is opening, totally go hand-in-hand... (Everyone reading this will now be mapping the journey out right? Yes? Only me?)

I made myself comfortable in the folding chairs of Stage 1 for a talk from the Head of SEO and Social Media at The Telegraph, the Content Director from Stickyeyes AND the Agency Development Manager from Google. Suffice to say, I may have geeked out to this, I honestly felt in awe of them. I was in the presence of some of the top industry greats! The leaders, the top-dogs, the kings... I'll stop there. To sum it up, this was a great part of the day. They all highlighted the importance of audience engagement, the emotional moments being key in getting noticed and getting interaction. Obviously, I have taken this as gospel!

Stage 3

The highlight of the day? Definity the early afternoon session with Toby Brown from Response One on Stage 3.. Toby gave a talk entitled 'Is content really still King? - And how do you make a king work for you?' and it was brilliant. Toby is the Head of Content and delivered such a brilliantly entertaining depth to the subject of content. As part of the talk, he used analogies of Jon Snow (true King of the North, Game of Thrones), Ibrahim the Mad (Mad Ottoman King who spent most of his life in a cage) and also the Dragon King of Bhutan (REAL life guy who is adored by subjects). A really engaging and hilarious talk about how content should be used to develop deeper relationships.

Stage 2

I ended the day by attending two very interesting talks on Stage 2. Having arrived 10 minutes early to secure a seat, I had to precariously perch on a windowsill at the back with my cup of tea (Yorkshire, of course). A highly risky manoeuvre following my previous experience involving a hot drink! It was packed out and for good reason. First off it was a talk by Ned Poulter, the CEO and Founder of Pole Star Digital, where he focused on how Facebook ads are starting to rely more on more on audience targeting and less on keywords. Next up was Lydia Hinchliff, Head of Digital at MediaCom. She gave a really interesting insight into the idea of 'dark content', nope she wasn't referring to bitcoins or the Silk Road, she was referring to the overlooked matter of sharing media in the dark. We don't always share content on Facebook, a lot of us copy the URL and send it in a closed group. I myself have a Whats App group entitled 'Creepy Bunnies Inc' in which we share numerous links that we personally find hilarious but may otherwise, if seen by the 'outside', make us look weird... A vast proportion of you will be in a group like this! It is this kind of sharing that takes up a vast proportion of content distribution and Lydia highlighted just how important it was to not forget or ignore this means of sharing.

The generation of young creatives...

This day was a buzzing with inspiration, surrounded by the next generation of creatives. For some reason, my first thought when picturing a 'creative' is an individual of old school styling with a Parisian twist but (to my dismay) there were no berets or cigarette holders to be seen! Yes, there were a lot of super stylish beards, tousled hair and a splash of nose rings, and every single attendee had a buzz of passion, drive and potential. The each and every speaker was the definition of the term 'font of knowledge' and I honestly felt both inspired and honoured that they were sharing this crafted knowledge based on their real life success and failures.

Overall? What a great experience! What a way to keep in touch with this ever changing industry! And, most importantly, what better than to be surrounded by the next generation of success, brimming with potential and, to top it off, beret free! Well done and thanks so much to Branded3 for giving me the opportunity to be part of this! You guys should be well and truly proud of your team and everyone else involved!