Three Days at BrightonSEO for Our Digital Marketing Specialists

BrightonSEO is a biannual search marketing conference where the leading figures in the search marketing industry speak about best practices, new technology. The tagline of the event, ‘where search marketers go to learn to do their job better’ perfectly sums it up.  

Adam, Ettie and James went to sunny Brighton in September to attend BrightonSEO and to get stuck into learning more about all areas of search marketing. The lucky trio ventured down to the opening fringe events, covering Paid Social, Analytics and Digital PR, looking to gather fresh ideas that can be applied to our client work. 

Focused on the Fringe 

These focused fringe events consisted of hour long sessions, with three speakers covering their topics in twenty minute blasts. There was a lot to takeaway about best practices, reporting to clients and optimising campaigns. It was hugely inspiring and motivational to learn from other marketers who work on the same type of projects as the digital team does at Freebook Global Technologies, and to hear from industry leaders, as well as executives, who like our team, work hands on with clients to deliver the best results for their business or organisation. 

With a free tasty lunch and the sunshine out, there was a feel good factor in the air, especially as this was the first in-person BrightonSEO event since the start of the pandemic. With proof of a negative test result a requirement, it felt safe enough to mingle with other experts from the world of search. 

The Main Event 

Day two and three were the main conference, with thousands more search marketers descending on the Brighton Centre to hear from the headline speakers. The main auditorium played host to some well known figures such as Dan Snow, talking about his History Hit Podcast subscription service, as well as some younger speakers making their public speaking debut. The huge stage also had two giant bat mobiles parked either side, for the perfect photo op! 

The main event was well organised with three speakers covering their topics in hour long sessions, and Ettie, Adam and James doing their best sponge impression to soak up all the knowledge and insights being shared. Aside from the main stage there was various talks on niche topics throughout the day covering creativity, content, industry insights and much, much more. 

With talks on podcasts, YouTube SEO, Instagram, keyword research, technical SEO to name a few, there was plenty of ground covered. All of the team attended 40 talks each, harvesting all the latest insights to bring back to the team and to potentially implement moving forwards. Aside from gathering new ideas, it was also brilliant to see that the work we conduct always follows best practices and much of what we do already, is at the forefront of search marketing. 

Ettie summed up the general feeling nicely, "I think the main takeaway we've had is how connected all fields of marketing are and how much cross-channel marketing means in the modern day, as there are huge crossovers between SEO, PPC, Social, Content and Digital PR. The conference has given us a load of ways to think of new strategies for clients and given us a lot of food for thought on how we can strengthen our skills and incorporate new thinking into our everyday tasks for clients. It's also been super inspiring and a big confidence boost that we are also doing a lot of stuff that other agencies are too!"

Is It Even a Conference Without a Few Beers?   

Another highlight of spending time in Brighton was some team bonding over a few cold beers and some tasty grub. The team made the most of their shared time together, staying at a house near Brighton Station and exploring the lanes in the evenings for the best places to eat. 

With the sun out for the majority of the trip, a stroll down the beach was another must and it was great that our digital specialists could enjoy some social time together. With the other members of the team always in their thoughts, the trio also brought back as many free t-shirts, mugs and merch that their bags would allow to dish out back at the office. 

Back to BrightonSEO Next Year? 

With the team back from their explorational trip and full of great feedback about the event, we hope that Freebook Global Technologies will be a frequent attendee at the conference, with other team members keen to head to the event and experience it for themselves. Being in a space with like-minded professionals was a great feeling, and implementing new ideas in the ever changing digital landscape can only be a positive thing. 

Until the next time, thanks BrightonSEO!