Last week, a team from bigdog went to Brighton SEO to hear from some incredibly influential speakers such as Rand Fishkin, Stuart Shaw and Purna Virji. We’ve pulled together a few of our favourite discussion points from the day.
Firstly, Google is not the only place users go to search now. Social channels are providing their own search experience. This is something to be aware of when planning a social strategy - we need to think about the audience, where they are searching, and what for. We can no longer think about Google for SEO and Social for push comms; these traditional roles are changing.
Social search may have a way to go, but we can definitely see why users will start searching from multiple channels! However, the benefit is seeing who from your friends list has actually visited and being able to build trust based on this.
The second point of discussion is Google’s response to this new reality. The great thing about social search is that the CX is seamless – you’re instantly presented with great information/load times within a platform you trust. However, where Google starts to feel more social than ever before is with features such as Discover, Stories powered by AI and a complete overhaul of Google Images (Mashable). It feels like google is fighting back to provide a more social experience, aligning with what younger users are familiar with.
Purna Virji informed us that, due to its 94% abandonment rate, voice search has a way to go until it becomes a viable option for comms.
“Considering ‘voice’ as a design element is a powerful idea. Just switch on a radio or visit websites like fiver to see the diverse impact and use of specific voice styles, accents and tone.
Yet, in my opinion, voice commands that require a fluent, conversational response elevate voice design to the ‘next level’.
The voice is inherently human and nonrobotic, and AI is only truly impressive when it mimics human behaviour - it’s essential that the AI experience feels natural.
Another big challenge is the fact that the current solution; typing, is already intrinsically personal and private. I think until voice commands become more personal and users feel ok with talking to a device out loud, it will lose out to pressing buttons.
- Clarity: in order to avoid confusion.
- Compassion: a key way to build rapport.
- Correction: how the bot reacts to a negative user experience.
Whether we’re considering conversational UX for a chatbot or for a voice assistant, we should be handling this through a UX lens. We’re nearing the end of development from our first two chatbots, and we’re excited to share the results!
Live content is all about jeaopardy. The reason it’s so compelling for people is that anything could be about to happen. Unlike standard video content, the user isn’t just a passive spectator – they’re complicit in the outcome. The times we’ve harnessed this interactivity in our live content have been our most successful (and most fun) broadcasts.
With the introduction of 5G over the next 12 months, we’ll start to see even more live content in our newsfeed, with improved latency and better stream quality. It’s important for brands that care about social to start thinking about how they can meaningfully integrate live broadcasting into their content strategy.
The continued growth shows a paradigm shift in the way we view social content consumption. The future is about meaningful moments that add value to the user journey.
To summarise, we can see disruptive trends growing within digital which have the power to change the way we view the digital customer journey over the coming years. If you need help with your digital strategy, please get in touch!