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Please introduce yourself and where you work.
My name is Jon Mowat and I’m the MD and founder of Hurricane, an award-winning video strategy agency, based in Bristol and London in the UK. With a background in broadcast TV and documentary filmmaking, my career has taken me round the globe making films for the likes of the BBC.
Now at Hurricane, I turn my decades of experience to helping brands tell their story with an effective video strategy. As a regular speaker and contributor online sharing my tips on video marketing and brand storytelling, I was invited to write a book about it.
“Video Marketing Strategy: Harness the Power of Online Video to Drive Brand Growth” is out in March 2018, which provides a practical guide for marketers and brand managers to the increasingly important field of video marketing.
Now at Hurricane, I turn my decades of experience to helping brands tell their story with an effective video strategy. As a regular speaker and contributor online sharing my tips on video marketing and brand storytelling, I was invited to write a book about it.
“Video Marketing Strategy: Harness the Power of Online Video to Drive Brand Growth” is out in March 2018, which provides a practical guide for marketers and brand managers to the increasingly important field of video marketing.
How do you think SEO has changed over the last 10 years?
This is a really timely question as my video agency has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. It’s been an amazing journey; now we’re entering a video-first future with the social media giant, Facebook saying that the channel will be all video in just a few years’ time.
The rise of content marketing for SEO is one of the biggest changes, and quality is the watchword here. Creating content that people want to read, watch, and share based on their search intent and where they are in the buyer cycle is a cornerstone of SEO good practice, rather than relying on keyword stuffing or a simplistic approach to link-building.
We’re focused on video, which can really help to boost a brand’s rankings with content that answers respondents’ search queries in an engaging way, and shareable content which helps build quality inbound links. When done well, how-to videos are an effective method to key into the topics which target audiences are searching for. I’ve made a video which explains it more fully below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8PjXFzyUIs
The rise of content marketing for SEO is one of the biggest changes, and quality is the watchword here. Creating content that people want to read, watch, and share based on their search intent and where they are in the buyer cycle is a cornerstone of SEO good practice, rather than relying on keyword stuffing or a simplistic approach to link-building.
We’re focused on video, which can really help to boost a brand’s rankings with content that answers respondents’ search queries in an engaging way, and shareable content which helps build quality inbound links. When done well, how-to videos are an effective method to key into the topics which target audiences are searching for. I’ve made a video which explains it more fully below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8PjXFzyUIs
How did you get introduced to digital marketing, more specifically SEO?
We were formed when YouTube was in its infancy and established ourselves when digital, and indeed video, has become ubiquitous. Although we’re not an SEO agency, we have been in the heart of improving clients’ search ranking using YouTube, the second biggest search engine, and by optimising video for search.
What are the services you provide to your clients?
At Hurricane we offer a full video marketing service, including strategy, creative, production, and activation. We help brands with compelling creative backed up with industry insight, planning and the latest technologies. Our work takes us across sectors working with leading brands to deliver game-changing results.
What strategy according to you will prevail in 2018 for SEO?
The introduction of visual search is a really interesting area. I’m fascinated by why moving images have such an effect on us, and the advances in neuroscience and psychology involved is fascinating. It is now time to look at how we optimise for search with visuals as well as words.
Voice search will not dramatically change SEO in 2018, but it is worth noting that 50% of all searches will be voice by 2020 (according to comScore). Therefore it is worth factoring in how it will affect your rankings. When thinking about voice search, it will be less about key phrases and more about conversational style questions. Video is perfect here to answer your potential Audience’s queries.
The strategy for SEO is the same as I argue for video marketing. It’s all about using data, insight and creativity to create quality content to reach your target audience fine-tuned to the various platforms. Then it’s vital to test and test to see what works to continually improve.
Voice search will not dramatically change SEO in 2018, but it is worth noting that 50% of all searches will be voice by 2020 (according to comScore). Therefore it is worth factoring in how it will affect your rankings. When thinking about voice search, it will be less about key phrases and more about conversational style questions. Video is perfect here to answer your potential Audience’s queries.
The strategy for SEO is the same as I argue for video marketing. It’s all about using data, insight and creativity to create quality content to reach your target audience fine-tuned to the various platforms. Then it’s vital to test and test to see what works to continually improve.
What would your advice be to people who are looking to take up digital marketing as a career choice?
I would advise people to get as much experience as they can in the industry. In addition to academic qualifications, it’s vital to learn on the job, be enthusiastic, and willing to get stuck in.
I’m frequently asked by our local university to give talks about video marketing and how to win your first break. It’s great to meet the next generation of budding video production and marketing students, and be able to pass on my experience from an industry perspective. We’re really keen at Hurricane to nurture talent; one of our own team actually started to work for us after attending one of my undergraduate talks.
As an author I’d also recommend reading up on the subject, blog and vlog, and use social media to showcase your work and expertise in the field. Attending meet-ups and conferences is also a great way to find out more about what’s going on in the industry and speak to potential employers. I wish them good luck – it’s an exciting career choice!
I’m frequently asked by our local university to give talks about video marketing and how to win your first break. It’s great to meet the next generation of budding video production and marketing students, and be able to pass on my experience from an industry perspective. We’re really keen at Hurricane to nurture talent; one of our own team actually started to work for us after attending one of my undergraduate talks.
As an author I’d also recommend reading up on the subject, blog and vlog, and use social media to showcase your work and expertise in the field. Attending meet-ups and conferences is also a great way to find out more about what’s going on in the industry and speak to potential employers. I wish them good luck – it’s an exciting career choice!
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