CHANGING THE GAME A LOOK AT THE INNERWORKINGS OF A GLOBAL SEO ENGAGEMENT
PERFORMICS & RB WINNING IN SEARCH
A global SEO engagement spanning 42 markets and 16 brands. How did they do it? It’s been truly a worldwide effort with countless people and moving parts involved. Where Performics and RB sit currently is the result of a lot of hard work, late nights and perpetual education. Back in 2014, much of the focus was directed on ensuring that the two entities had solid local market understanding. Since then, they made sure the correct processes were in place to make content better and more scalable, among other items. Today, local markets have increased their knowledge around search and SEO, and the assets being deployed have evolved to include rich media like videos and infographics. All of this has been adapted to drive maximum SEO performance in market. Now, to say that Performics and RB together are “Winning in Search” would be a huge understatement.
An ambitious global program is bound to face its obstacles and challenges. When this kicked off in 2014, there were the expected growing pains, bumps and bruises. Mistakes were made along the way and were corrected. Roles and responsibilities were better defined. More effective processes were instilled for central and local teams alike. And then 2015 happened‌
A GLOBAL APPROACH
THAT CONTINUES TO EVOLVE
2015
CONTENT AT SCALE AND HIGHER PERFORMANCE
48% SEO TRAFFIC GROWTH YOY
Across 180 engagements in 2015, Performics increased RB brand website performance by an average of 117% Share of Click Through. 7,000+ This equated to 9.6 million SEO visits representing a 48% YoY traffic ARTICLES growth. In addition to this, scale was achieved with over 7,000 PRODUCED AND articles produced and translated, as well as 1,375 links built by TRANSLATED Performics to RB brand websites.
117% INCREASE IN SHARE OF CLICK THROUGH
1,375+ LINKS BUILT
24 LIVE MARKETS IN PROGRAMME
180 ENA ENGAGEMENTS
9.6 MILLION SEO VISITS
Initially our SEO approach for RB was based largely on a completely scaled top down intuitive. This was hugely successful in building a mass infrastructure that allowed foundational content to be scaled efficiently across brand and markets. Due to this, we realised positive results across many brands and markets. As we begun to plan for 2016, we recognised that we needed to adapt our strategy to include more advanced content formats, and to some degree to have content that was more bespoke for local markets. This evolution of the strategy was based on both our learnings from working with RB on such a project, as well as the ever-evolving SEO landscape in which more advanced and tailored content was required to win.
2016
EVOLUTION OF STRATEGY AND ADVANCED CONTENT
2016 OPERATING MODEL
THE REVAMPED RB OPERATIONAL MODEL
The operating model that Performics use in partnership with RB is built around what is known as RB’s “PO1 Structure.” Performics has set up its team to work within this structure. It has a central team of over 20 SEOs who service both the global team at RB as well as the PO1 teams that lead the strategy for each brand within both the Europe and North America (ENA) and Developing Market (DvM) regions. Performics also has the unique advantage of having SEO experts in over 40 countries, meaning it can service local RB clients and execute bespoke work where required locally.
42 MARKETS 16 BRANDS
MODEL IMPROVEMENTS CENTRAL TEAM WORKS TOGETHER TO PROVIDE CONNECTIVITY ACROSS SUB-TEAMS
UK LEADS ALL PO1 MARKET ENGAGEMENTS FOR GREATER OWNERSHIP
INTEGRATION WITH PPC AND ATL CHANNELS. COLLABORATION WITH CREATIVE AGENCIES.
Performics services many of RB’s “power brands” and the central Performics team, based in London, is split into three subteams, with each servicing a number of these brands. Within this structure there are senior leads to ensure overall strategy direction is best in line with business objectives, and beneath these senior leads are account directors who lead teams of 5-6 SEOs servicing the brands.
SERVICING THE BRANDS THE PERFORMICS CENTRAL RB SEO TEAM
HEAD OF PERFORMANCE CONTENT BUSINESS DIRECTOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
A CLOSER LOOK:
HOW THE ENA PROGRAMME OPERATES
ENA COORDINATION UNIT • Brand setup • Programme coordination • Asset coordination • RB ENA liaison CONTENT FACTORY • •
72 articles per month On-demand content creation
REPORTING HUB • •
ENA-wide reports Real-time report generation
BRAND CENTRE • • • •
Regional keyword research Content localisation On-page optimisation Content marketing
LOCAL MARKETS • Keyword localisation • Content localisation • On-page optimisation • Content marketing
2016: THREE MAIN WAYS WE DELIVER FOR RB TODAY
SEO SCORE
• • •
ASSESSING VOLUME AND SCALABILITY ON A REGIONAL LEVEL
Build an understanding of brand and market priority Assess relative opportunity against capability Algorithmically determine which CMUs participate
• Keyword research across all markets • Assessing volume & scalability on a regional level • Mapping insights vs existing planned brand activity ENA COORDINATION UNIT
MAPPING INSIGHTS VS. EXISTING PLANNED BRAND ACTIVITY
• • •
Optimisation of existing website content Amplification of planned brand campaigns Creating new content around identified gaps Brand Centre
Local MArkets
PRE-2016
2016
MARKET RELEVANCE
COMPETITIVE REQUIREMENTS
CAMPAIGN INTEGRATION
Content rejected at a local level due to lack of relevance to market objectives
Content not diversified enough for competitive categories & markets
Resource intensive approach to drive awareness
Consulting with markets during the strategy phase to ensure goals are aligned to market objectives
Two-tiered approach to content deployment that prioritises creative assets where necessary
Prioritising optimisation of planned brand activity to Win in Search, and creating content only where there are gaps
OUR LEARNINGS
CONTINUE TO EVOLVE AS THE PROGRAMME PUSHES AHEAD
WEBSITE READINESS
TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Markets occasionally included within programme prior to necessary technical infrastructure
Recommended technical changes not always implemented
SEO Score audit aligns markets to a work stream most effective for them
Additional technical consultancy budget to handle all large scale technical changes
PRE-2016
2016
WORK EXAMPLES
From London to the US to India, since 2014 Performics has created countless pieces of great work as part of the global RB program. This work has been produced in the form of optimised articles, infographics and videos. The following examples represent just a tiny piece of what an enormous talent pool is constantly churning out for RB around the world.
CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY
120% YOY TRAFFIC GROWTH FOR LYSOL
CASE STUDY
374% INCREASE IN DETTOL MOBILE TRAFFIC
CASE STUDY
100% INCREASE IN FINISH USER ENGAGEMENT
CASE STUDY
CONSUMER FIRST STRATEGY - US DEMONSTRATION Challenge
Elevate Air Wick to be the answer for moms searching for air freshener, scented oil and scented candle keywords. Engage them by delivering highly relevant content, aligned with specific intent and stage within the customer journey.
Solution
Identify • Determine how consumers research within category to make product and purchase choices • Map data with intent and product relevancy • Gap analysis for site-content and in-market keywords Prioritise • Identify winnable opportunities • Categorise keywords and content based on intent mindsets * “Answer Me” * “Educate Me” * “Inspire Me” Anticipate • Create and deliver organic and paid search content based on intent • Guide searcher to info they seek CONTENT CREATED BY PERFORMICS
7% INCREASE IN SITE SESSIONS FROM ORGANIC + PAID 19% IMPROVEMENT IN ORGANIC RANK (Q2 2015 VS. Q1 2015)
8% DECREASE IN PAID SEARCH BOUNCE RATES
42% INCREASE IN PAID SEARCH QUALITY SCORE