FIGARODIGITAL.CO.UK STEVEN TAYLOR,


MARKETING DIRECTOR AT TRANSFORM COSMETIC SURGERY GROUP


How does search fi t into Tranform’s overall marketing mix?


It’s a truism that you learn much more when things go wrong than when they’re good. We’ve learned some really hard lessons that have forced us to sit up, take notice and make it our business to get search better. We’ve heard and seen competitors seemingly give up the ghost on visibility, without realising the competitive advantages to be gained. However, ‘search’ alone is not the answer. Saliency of your brand is critical too, especially in a competitive sector. Saliency (usually) goes hand in hand with trust and confi dence - more than half the job in being added to a preliminary shortlist in our sector. Accountants talk of “turnover being


vanity and profi t sanity”. There are parallels with search. We’re not interested in a page one ranking that grows traffi c to our site if there is a low propensity to actually attend a consultation with a surgeon.


Is the line between content marketing, PR and SEO becoming less distinct, and


if so how should brands respond?


Absolutely - one of our biggest challenges is fi guring out who is best placed to exploit an opportunity. Sometimes it takes the wisdom of Solomon to assess who is best placed to support any activity. Quite legitimately we might have four agencies who could lay claim to overseeing a project - and three managers within our department too! Ultimately it requires collaboration and open-minded agencies who recognise we’re all working to the common good. It’s easy to run into


SURGERY GROUP


TRANSFORM COSMETIC


Steven Taylor at Transform Cosmetic Surgery Group on


why trust and saliency are vital in search, and why some marketers are still struggling to adapt to the always-on revolution


diffi culties at the eleventh hour on simple technical matters if there hasn’t been open communication. I wouldn’t say we’ve cracked the balance yet, but we’re learning no one is best placed to do it all. The holy grail in search is work that also serves to underpin your brand proposition. I’m not a fan of creativity for the sake of creativity - but equally, worthy work often does pass the ‘so what’ test. It’s a diffi cult balance to strike in search and we’re still fi nding our way. Our ‘Brits Boobs & Botox’ study is a perfect marriage of what can be achieved: great online and offl ine coverage, link-building success, interest from social. But at its heart it positioned Transform as the leading cosmetic surgery provider (350,000 people have made enquiries to us) and reinforced reassurance: you’re not alone and there’s nothing wrong with you thinking about cosmetic surgery.


What impact do you see new channels and devices having on the relationship


between brands and consumers and how can marketers adapt?


If honest, I think most marketers are struggling to adapt. And many agencies too. Whilst many acknowledge the importance of mobile (in our case 60 per cent of traffi c is from smartphones), we still sense swathes of the marketing services industry is mired in a desktop mind-set. Playing a ‘responsive’ card isn’t really enough. The very term mobile ‘responsive’ means you’ve put the cart before the horse. The expectations for senior


marketers to be expert on something that really didn’t exist earlier in their careers is intense. The law hasn’t changed for lawyers. Two plus two is still four for accountants. Anatomy hasn’t changed for doctors. For marketers though, the landscape is unrecognisable from when many started out. Fortunately, whatever the medium, fundamental truisms and certain basics of behaviour remain. That’s good news for the old guard whose job is to convey their innate sense of what’s a great experience and good quality work to the next wave of marketers. transforminglives.co.uk/


brits-boobs-botox


interested in a page one ranking that grows traffic if there’s a low propensity to attend a consultation


We’re not 11 issue 24 may 2015


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