Optimise your client marketing strategies for Google AI Mode

First, AI tries to steal our jobs, then it makes us question if anything on social media is even real anymore, and now it’s moving the search engine goalposts for businesses everywhere. Google is rolling out a profound AI-centred evolution, promising a more personalised search experience on a global scale. This isn’t just another update; it’s a game-changing shift that demands the attention of every forward-thinking marketing agency.

Currently, in its nascent stages and exclusively available in the US, “AI Mode” is a ground-breaking, toggleable feature. It personalises search results based on a user’s expressed preferences and observed behaviours. Imagine a scenario where your client, a dog food brand, typically struggles to get their “raw food” found amongst a sea of generic content. With AI Mode, if a user has previously indicated or demonstrated raw food preferences, a simple search for “dog food” would automatically serve up and prioritise raw food results, dramatically increasing the visibility of your client’s content.

Why this changes everything for marketing agencies

Google is moving decisively away from the “one-size-fits-all” results page and towards hyper-personalised search journeys. This fundamental change means the traditional SEO playbook, centred on optimising for a single keyword to achieve broad ranking, may lose its efficacy.

However, this is your agency’s chance to get ahead and deliver some amazing SEO results for your clients by tweaking your strategy ahead of the new update hitting the UK. If search is becoming more personal, your agency’s client marketing strategies must evolve to become personal too.

Understanding and segmenting your audience

Your content strategy needs to reflect the niches within your client’s audience. Not all customers within a segment will have identical needs. Therefore, it’s crucial to segment your client’s database by intent, buying stage, observed behaviour, or even micro-interests.

For example, if someone is searching for pizza on Google as it is now, they’re going to be hit with generic results of every type of pizza. But consider the customers who are vegetarian or vegan, those who require gluten-free alternatives, or what about someone very passionate about pepperoni? Once these distinct niches are identified, the next step is to meticulously map content to each one. By addressing their specific problems, echoing their unique language, and appealing to their individual preferences, your clients’ content becomes significantly more likely to appear in AI Mode search results.

The cautious crowd

It’s important to acknowledge that AI Mode isn’t universally embraced. The fact that Google has made it an opt-in feature indicates an awareness of potential user hesitance. Many users still express a preference for the traditional search interface, and some are actively advocating for its continued preservation.

This user sentiment further underscores the importance of audience segmentation. Some of your clients’ customers will readily embrace and live within AI-enhanced search experiences, while others may deliberately avoid them. Your agency’s strategy must be robust enough to account for both scenarios. The good news is that good and consistent website content will help you succeed now and in the future.

How marketing agencies can achieve success for their clients

The future of SEO for agencies looks less like vying for generic and broad keyword rankings and more like highly detailed and varied keywords.

• Take your existing keywords and group them into audience segments
• Create subcategories for each keyword and add in more detailed variations of the keyword
• For example, the keyword ‘herbal tea for stress’ could also include variations like flavours of tea (e.g. chamomile tea for stress), unique benefits/remedies (e.g. herbal tea to help you sleep), caffeine-free herbal tea for stress, pregnancy and breastfeeding safe herbal teas for stress, eco-friendly herbal teas for stress, etc. Building content around highly specific keywords will benefit your clients now and in the future.

The direction Google is heading makes it clear that search is no longer about being the best answer for everyone; it’s about being the right answer for someone.

Are you ready to guide your clients through this new era of search? How will your agency leverage AI Mode in your client marketing strategies?

One way you can help build more trust with your clients before proposing a change in strategy is to sign up with co.agency. This gives your clients access to a portal into your agency where they can log tickets, review analytics and transfer files. Book a demo now to find out more.