The Relevance Gap Why big brands are losing ground (and how you can win)

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The Relevance Gap Why big brands are losing ground (and how you can win) Paul Norris Journey Further speakerdeck.com/paulaaronnorris/ journeyfurther.com

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Paul Norris Global VP of Organic Media US Independent Agency of the Year 2024

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3 What do most brands strive for? Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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4 TOP OF MIND EASY TO FIND Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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5 TOP OF MIND  EASY TO FIND Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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6 Letʼs play a game… Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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How do we recognise these brands? 13 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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14 TOP OF MIND EASY TO FIND REACH Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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15 TOP OF MIND EASY TO FIND REACH EXPOSURE Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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16 TOP OF MIND EASY TO FIND REACH EXPOSURE REACH EXPOSURE DISTINCTIVENESS Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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17 Builds brand identity & category relevance Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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/paulaaronnorris/ journeyfurther.com What do you think of when you think Colgate? Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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/paulaaronnorris/ journeyfurther.com Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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/paulaaronnorris/ journeyfurther.com Category: Oral Care Relevancy: Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Category: Ready to eat foods Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Category: Ready to eat foods Relevancy: Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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23 Mismatch between brand & category relevance Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Imprinting takes years Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Google's got a difficult job… Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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27 Brands & Retailers are suffering from a relevancy crisis Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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28 Brand size & legacy authority is no longer enough to dominate SERPs Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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41% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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64% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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31% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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55% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Google used to be the land of giants but thatʼs changing Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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34 Relevant brands & specialist retailers are bursting through Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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1500% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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3579 % Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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958% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Google has turned the dial up on relevance Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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John Mueller, Google Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Your data Our NLU tool Output Insight Links to your site Mentions, citations Owned URLs Disp. placement reports Keywords Entities Sentiment Relevancy Frequency Score Identification of topics, themes and concepts How does a machine view your content? Paul Norris journeyfurther.com We built a tool to measure link, content & brand relevancy at scale

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Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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We analyzed 50,000 of the most popular non-brand commercial keywords across 10 verticals in the US to understand the impact of relevance on visibility Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Domain diversity increased by 21% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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SERP domain diversity by industry Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Link profile size decreased by 22% Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Link profile size by industry Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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“Realˮ rank displaced by 1.9 vs “Baseˮ Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Retail rank variation by position Base Rank Real Rank Difference 1.0 1.8 0.8 2.0 3.4 1.4 3.0 4.9 1.9 4.0 6.3 2.3 5.0 7.6 2.6 6.0 8.8 2.8 7.0 10.0 3.0 8.0 11.2 3.2 9.0 12.3 3.3 10.0 13.4 3.4 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Domain authority decreased by 2.6

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Domain authority by industry Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Link Relevancy trumped authority 83% of the time Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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It takes authority to compete but relevancy to win Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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54 Most brands get relevancy wrong Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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The biggest losers had the most links, categories & content Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Site Drop www.forbes.com 48.70% www.cnbc.com 68.06% www.target.com 43.12% www.amazon.com 11.73% www.asos.com 80.43% www.macys.com 57.89% www.walmart.com 36.36% money.com 83.33%

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Donʼt become a buffet… Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Site Drop www.forbes.com 48.70% www.cnbc.com 68.06% www.target.com 43.12% www.amazon.com 11.73% www.asos.com 80.43% www.macys.com 57.89% www.walmart.com 36.36% money.com 83.33%

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Baiju Shah, Accenture Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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58 Being relevant is not… keyword targeting keyword density filling “content gapsˮ lots of links Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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59 Relevancy is whatʼs important to your audience Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Jeff, Amazon Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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61 Itʼs yours everybodyʼs business Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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62 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com PPC & Feed Management = SEO

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63 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Sales & Customer Support = SEOs

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64 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Logistics & Ops = SEO

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65 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Brand Teams & Buyers = SEO

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How can challengers build category relevance? Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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In February 2024 our client was the 7th most visible brand in the sector… Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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A relevance-first approach meant they doubled visibility, moving into 4th place Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Keyword Volume Then Now Change compare car insurance quotes 49,500 11 5 6 insurance car compare 27,100 13 6 7 compare car insurance prices 14,800 13 6 7 compare auto insurance 9,900 13 5 8 compare car insurance rates 8,100 12 5 7 compare car insurance quotes online 2,900 8 6 2 car insurance comparison tool 2,900 8 3 5 best car insurance comparison sites 2,400 3 2 1 compare car insurance companies 1,300 10 7 3 car insurance comparison website 1,300 5 2 3 car insurance comparison sites 1,300 7 2 5 cheapest car insurance compare 1,000 16 3 13 compare car insurance online 880 8 2 6 compare auto insurance quotes online 260 10 5 5 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Target Domain Rating Unique Domains Growth Category Relevance Client Brand 71 9,447 118% 340 Competitor 2 75 5,848 107% 220 Competitor 3 81 22,009 99% 55 Competitor 4 81 16,488 31% 78 Competitor 7 79 17,169 0% 101 Competitor 8 85 35,644 1% 88 Competitor 5 84 40,007 11% 33 Competitor 10 90 128,189 16% 54 Competitor 6 81 21,272 22% 74 Competitor 1 77 10,584 96% 29 Competitor 9 90 136,333 54% 44 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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How can multi-category retailers build relevance? Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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70 13 Coupon Site Relevant Not Relevant 91 trainers womens trainers 72 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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73 We created 15 campaigns across 5 business units Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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Getting links from relevant content in high authority publications 74 Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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75 Increasing relevance by 22% ⬆22% Relevance Score 3,001 New Page 1 Keywords 4.97m Social Engagements 3.24m Estimated views 318 Links Acquired Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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76 ⬆13% Organic revenue 7th > 2nd Market Share Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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To wrap up… Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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78 Relevance wins Itʼs not enough to be big & authoritative - you need to be relevant Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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79 Relevance wins Itʼs not enough to be big & authoritative - you need to be relevant Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Disruptors must embrace diversity You can move faster than the big guys.

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80 Relevance wins Itʼs not enough to be big & authoritative - you need to be relevant Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Disruptors must embrace diversity You can move faster than the big guys. Find what works for you. Things are changing quickly - donʼt measure success using old-world metrics.

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81 Relevance wins Itʼs not enough to be big & authoritative - you need to be relevant Organic Growth is everybodyʼs business Itʼs a collaborative effort. Youʼre the conductor. Paul Norris journeyfurther.com Disruptors must embrace diversity You can move faster than the big guys. Find what works for you. Things are changing quickly - donʼt measure success using old-world metrics.

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82 Thank you! Paul Norris journeyfurther.com

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How to dominate the search ecosystem by future-proofing your brand's online entity Tomorrow 20th at 1055 AM Beth Nunnington Global VP of Digital PR

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How relevant are you? Request a free relevancy report [email protected] Paul Norris journeyfurther.com