Last month, several Semifyers – including account managers, digital marketing specialists, and members of the sales and marketing team – traveled to Las Vegas to attend the Traffic and Conversion Summit. Known as one of the best marketing conferences for agencies and entrepreneurs, T&C focuses largely on AI-powered marketing, as well as the latest developments in paid traffic, influencer marketing, email marketing, ecommerce, local search, and more.
We caught up with a few digital marketing conference attendees to find out what they saw as the biggest SEO predictions and trends from the Traffic and Conversion Summit that are likely to impact our work here at Semify, as well as how our partners can leverage this information to maximize growth in 2024. Here’s what they had to say about getting to the top of the marketing mountain.
Artificial Intelligence Isn't a Passing Fad
Because the Traffic and Conversion Summit is most notably billed as a digital marketing conference for AI-powered marketing, it’s no surprise that artificial intelligence was prominently featured in its programming. But that’s reflective of the state of marketing as a whole in 2024.
In fact, as Semify Chief Revenue Officer Dave Thomson points out, AI is almost inescapable.
“Everyone is jumping on the AI bandwagon, from AI-powered features to company branding,” says Thomson. “For example, chatbots are no longer chatbots; instead, they’re ‘AI support.’”
Indeed, AI seems to be permeating virtually every corner of the marketing sector, as well as the workforce in general. Members of the operations team were eager to learn about other ways in which AI can be utilized, especially to speed up or completely eliminate mundane or complicated tasks.
Semify Digital Marketing Specialist Cassia Kuhn says, “I was particularly impressed by the talks given by Roland Frasier, Ross Simmonds, and Adam Chronister, who demonstrated some interesting uses for AI. For example, instead of manually creating and formatting a spreadsheet, you can use AI to not only help you find the right formulas but also create the actual spreadsheet and format it in a way that’s easier to understand.”
Kuhn notes that these uses have potentially big applications for an white label SEO agency like Semify: “These kinds of applications can allow us to put even more time into creating the high-quality content we’re known for.”
Semify Digital Marketing Manager Shelby Toth echoes these sentiments.
“From my perspective, one takeaway was quite clear: AI is coming. From blogs for websites to entire podcast-style videos, AI is making a huge impact in the marketing world,” says Toth. “Of course, I knew AI was growing even before attending the conference. While it’s a scary reality for many, it’s our duty to see it and embrace it fast or be left behind. I’ll be curious to see how AI content ranks against human-generated content in the coming year.”
For our part, the growing emphasis on AI and how it’ll power digital marketing moving forward supports our current innovation efforts. While we as a team feel strongly that AI will never replace real, human experts, it’s an impressive supplemental tool that can help us and our clients reach new heights.
Local Search Deserves More Strategic Attention
AI received ample attention at this year’s Traffic and Conversion conference, but it wasn’t the only topic that got our wheels turning. Local search is getting its due, especially as the interplay between Google’s generative AI tool (SGE) and Google Business Profiles (GBP) will make a big difference in how we perform web searches in 2024 and beyond.
As Google prioritizes fast, easy-to-digest answers, the search engine aims to keep web users on the SERP itself, rather than clicking away to independent websites. That presents a challenge for small business owners (and the marketing agencies that provide services for them) to increase visibility and traffic without requiring customers to click away from search results.
Kelly Donald, Semify’s Director of Sales, says: “My biggest takeaway was that GBP activity and accuracy are crucial for local businesses and are a really amazing way for them to get in front of the traffic that they want to receive. Consistent activity makes a massive difference in visibility and 0 click searches are only likely to increase in the year ahead.”
Thomson also recognized the need for better local search visibility for marketers at the Traffic and Conversion Summit.
“I noticed a lot of attendees were smaller agencies and even brand owners with multiple locations,” explains Thomson. “The interest in how to better leverage the map pack and GBP in 2024 was definitely the topic du jour.”
Adds Toth, “Semify just recently launched our Map Pack product, which allows us to optimize end clients’ Google Business Profiles in a more effective way. It was great to hear session leader Norm Farrar reference things we’re already doing with this product, as well as areas we can focus on to improve it in future iterations.”
While Google’s SGE has yet to be rolled out more widely, we suspect that it’s only a matter of time before it becomes the standard. As your white label SEO agency fulfillment partner, we’ll continue to stay ahead of the curve to provide your clients with new and better ways to drive traffic and conversions – even when Google tries to throw us off course.
We're Ready For What's Next
Above all, these 2024 SEO trends and predictions are telling us to stay on our toes and lean into what we already do well.
Kuhn says, “My biggest takeaway from the Traffic and Conversion Summit is that, when it comes to SEO, Semify is unique. Our dashboard is one-of-a-kind, and so many attendees were surprised to see an entirely US-based team.”
“My hope is that we can continue sending team members across all teams to the best marketing conferences so they can learn more and bring it back to their everyday work,” Toth adds. “It’s likely we’ll even develop new processes and products as a result. I’m eager to continue learning and growing so we can keep Semify on the cutting edge of SEO for years to come.”
Semify’s Director of Marketing Innovation, Jeff Shipman, agrees.
“Attending the Traffic and Conversion conference really solidified that we’re heading in the right direction,” says Shipman. “In order to develop an effective 2024 SEO strategy – and especially an enterprise SEO strategy for larger organizations – we have to embrace the latest developments without forgetting about what’s helped us get to this point. Innovating around tools like AI and Google Business Profiles, while staying true to our customer service-centric roots, is what will inspire mutual growth for both Semify and our partners.”
To learn more about how our white label SEO reseller program can give your agency the fulfillment and innovation support you need, get in touch with our team today.
