Search Seven Highlights from 2019

We've skipped our usual digital highlights this month to bring you a whopper of a round-up - a whole years worth of content that's brought a smile to our faces. From changes to our team to our online shopfront, what you've been enjoying from our digital content to what we predict will be changing in 2020. Let's get stuck in.

New faces, new ideas and a new baby

This year has been a year of growth for Search Seven, and with it has brought three new faces to the team - Ryan Lewis, our Paid Media Director, Maddi Sheppard, our Paid Media Executive, and Christina Wilmowski, our Content & Insights Manager. We also welcomed a tiny face into the Search Seven family - our Operations Manager, Becky had a baby girl, Jessica. We can't wait to have Becky back in January!

We won!

2019 was the year of awards for us! We were shortlisted for SIX awards across the Brighton & Hove Business Awards and the Sussex Business Awards, and took home the CSR Excellence Award and Highly Commended for Professional Services in the Brighton & Hove Business Awards. It's credit to the whole team for their hard work and commitment to both our clients and our charity ethos. We've raised almost £14,000 for charity this year, with £1,800 raised at November's charity quiz night for our flagship charity, Rockinghorse, and organised a golf day, took part in a 10k charity run and abseiled down the i360 to raise money for our nominated charities. Finally, to end the year we sponsored the Sussex Sports Awards, an amazing evening celebrating the very best of sport in Sussex, enthusiastically hosted by Kriss Akabusi.

We launched our new website

We've been working hard over the last few months on our new website, and it's now live! We've got more changes to bring you in 2020, but for now please enjoy a sleeker, smoother digital experience thanks to our new navigation and user-journey. We've added photos from our recent photoshoot with Shoot Me Now - you can find those on our Meet The Team page (aren't we a handsome bunch?!), an easy-to-navigate Case Studies page and details of all our Services (more on that to come in 2020). You can also find out when our next charity events are on our Charity Pledge page.

Most popular blog content of 2019

Speaking of our website, we're pleased to see you've been enjoying our blog content. For those just joining us, you might want to start with our most popular blog posts of 2019:

When politics becomes a game of SEO2019 was the year we saw the government understand SEO, social media strategy and comic sans. This blog post was a hit the minute we published it, and has stayed at the top spot ever since.

Search Seven announced as Google Ad Grants Certified ProfessionalIn April 2019 we were welcomed into the Google Ad Grants Certified Professionals Community. Upon joining the programme, Google recognised our hard work and commitment to our charity clients in collaborating with them to receive their Google Ad Grants: “Search Seven has demonstrated Google Ad Grants expertise and a passion for helping non-profits carry out their mission online. We are thrilled to welcome Search Seven to the Ad Grants Certified Professionals Community.”

A look back at 2018 for Search Seven - what a year!2018 really was a great year - we had Andy, our fantastic Client Services Manager, Becky, our brilliant Operations Manager, and Ornella, our super SEO & Content specialist, all join the team. We launched our #share7 campaign, with the goal of raising £17,000 for charity to mark our 7th anniversary as a business. We beat our target and raised an incredible £20,000 for our seven nominated charities - Rockinghorse, Group B Strep Support, RISE UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Clock Tower Sanctuary, Sussex Beacon and Nkuringo Primary & Secondary School in Uganda - through a charity football match at the AMEX football stadium, a golf day, 10k run and charity quiz night, as well as many other fundraising events throughout the year. On top of all that we moved offices to our current home overlooking Palmeira Square with South Downs and sea views, won the Corporate Fundraiser Award at the Brighton and Hove Business Awards and were shortlisted for the Business in the Community Award at the Sussex Business Awards. Phew!

2019 industry trendsWe love seeing what the general public have been searching for. 2019 saw more people search for Caitlyn Jenner than Boris Johnson (honestly, we've given up being surprised any more) and plenty getting caught up in the 'Area 51' excitement. Our predictions for 2020? September will see a sharp spike in search for 'iPhone 12', 'iPhone 12 Max', 'iPhone Pro' and 'iPhone Pro Max'. You might be doubtful now, but just wait until September. In all seriousness, here are a few predictions for 2020:

Agency relationships will become more important.

We might be bias here, but as budgets tighten and marketing departments shrink, the role of the agency is becoming more important - both for project and retainer work. Long-term relationships with agencies who really understand a brand are integral to the success of a campaign, and we'll see the positive (and negative) results of this more than ever in 2020.

The role of retail will shift.

Whilst shopping has taken a massive leap online, consumers still love to browse the highstreet. In 2019 we saw some online retailers make the move from digital to physical retail, using the space as a showroom for their online stores. The role of the highstreet will become more of an immersive experience for the shopper - we'll see customers gain a better understanding of what the company is all about (whilst still being able to buy) than your traditional retail store.

Influencer marketing will continue to grow.

Brands will put more budget towards their influencer marketing programme, they'll put together some really creative, exciting strategies and we'll see some great campaigns. The rotten fruit will drop from the tree and we'll see the industry thrive. The trolls will retreat to their caves. Well, there's always wishful thinking, isn't there.

Digital transformation will be a permanent role.

Businesses will no longer be able to overlook this position in their digital marketing team - their customers have spoken, and their data doesn't lie. We'll see some really exciting examples of how brands are performing for their customers in 2020.

Veganuary is going to be insane.

Not really digital marketing as such, but we've got vegans, vegetarians and people signing up for Veganuary in the office and they're all buzzing to see what brands are going to launch in January as part of the annual campaign. Last year Gregg’s vegan sausage roll drove a rise in sales that saw the company’s annual figure exceed £1 billion for the first time, and Pizza Hut sold 28,000 vegan pizzas in one month. If you're a brand who doesn't have a vegan product ready to launch in January, you're definitely behind your competitors.

Thanks to all of our brilliant clients - old and new - our partners, friends and supporters who have helped us achieve so much in 2019. We hope you all have a brilliant Christmas and New Year, and cheers to a prosperous 2020!