Gaining \u201calgorithmic trust\u201d is top of mind for many marketers, especially as shoppers turn to AI for assistance in their search for the perfect gift or deal this holiday season. But gaining said trust can be harder than it might seem\u2014and some brands are seeking outside help.<\/p>\n
Audio brand JBL has been working with Code and Theory to audit its SEO practices, reimagine its website, and develop an editorial content strategy that accounts for an uptick in AI tools, Carolina Gonz\u00e1lez, manager, global digital content strategy at JBL, told Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n
The aim is to improve how the brand shows up when consumers are searching across various platforms, including large language models (LLMs), and the goal is for the brand\u2019s content output to work for human readers and automated crawlers alike. That\u2019s becoming increasingly crucial: throughout Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, referrals from LLMs were up 2,434% and, according to Code and Theory and JBL data shared with Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe develop stories that are not only focused on search\u2014it\u2019s a combination of talking to you in a way that you\u2019ll feel [it\u2019s] fresh, fun, and engaging for you to continue to read the article, but it\u2019s also technical,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cIt will be easier for you to understand our features or products and our portfolio overall, but also just common things that people have doubts about\u2014for example, is it actually worth buying a soundbar?\u201d<\/p>\n
Search protocol<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe content strategy isn\u2019t limited to articles on the company\u2019s website, although that\u2019s certainly part of it. For Black Friday this year, JBL published a gift guide detailing which of its products are best for different kinds of gift recipients. That guide is aimed at responding to how people search across all platforms, not just in conventional places like Google, which informs when and where the brand\u2019s content may show up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to know how people are searching on YouTube, how they\u2019re searching on TikTok,\u201d Bryn Dodson, creative director, copy, at Code and Theory, said. \u201cThe way that we see it, search is everywhere now. But that doesn\u2019t mean that people search the same way on every platform.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Dodson said that the agency\u2019s goal was to tailor content to platforms based on how users might search and what they might be looking for. One recent YouTube Short from the brand, for instance, compares two different speaker products and was informed by popular search terms on the platform. The resulting video is \u201coptimized for people, crawlers, and AI agents to understand the differences between the [two] products,\u201d Dodson told us.<\/p>\n
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Dodson said that the agency\u2019s goal was to tailor content to platforms based on how users might search and what they might be looking for. One recent YouTube Short from the brand, for instance, compares two different speaker products and was informed by popular search terms on the platform. The resulting video is \u201coptimized for people, crawlers, and AI agents to understand the differences between the [two] products,\u201d Dodson told us.<\/p>\n