Last week, we headed to the Brighton Centre to attend BrightonSEO, one of the UK’s leading conferences for marketers and digital professionals looking to make waves online (pun intended!).
As a community-focused, not-for-profit credit union, one of our biggest challenges is making sure people know who we are and what we do. While big banks have massive marketing budgets and nationwide advertising campaigns, our mission is very different, we aim to reach people within our community, raise awareness of our fair and ethical financial services, and help individuals build financial resilience.
That’s why events like BrightonSEO are so valuable to us. They give us the tools, knowledge, and insight to strengthen our online presence and ensure that people can find us when they need us most — especially those who may be at risk of turning to payday or predatory lenders.
BrightonSEO or BrightonAI? The Future of Search Is Social
The general consensus among attendees was that this year’s BrightonSEO really could have been renamed “BrightonAI”, given the sheer amount of discussion about Artificial Intelligence and how it’s transforming the world of marketing and search.
The overall message was loud and clear: search is now omnichannel and social-first meaning that to reach people effectively, we must show up where our audience already is.
Key Insights and Emerging Trends
The sessions covered a wide range of topics, but several strong themes came through that will shape how organisations like ours connect with communities online:
- TikTok’s Growing Influence: TikTok has evolved beyond dance videos it’s now a major search and discovery platform, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials. It blends entertainment, education, and search all in one place, making it a key platform for outreach.
- Building Trust in an AI World: In a digital age dominated by algorithms, the new measure of success isn’t just visibility – it’s trust. People want authentic, human-driven content from real organisations they can believe in. For us, that means showing the people behind Wave Community Bank and sharing the real stories of how we help our members.
- Video and Carousels Are King: One of the biggest talking points was the power of video and carousel content. These formats are now driving the highest engagement across social platforms, providing an ideal way to educate, entertain, and connect with audiences.
- AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement: AI is rapidly changing how people search for and consume information. The takeaway? Use AI to enhance what we do to help review, refine, and optimise but never to replace our human voice and authenticity.
Why This Matters for Wave Community Bank
Attending events like BrightonSEO helps us continue to adapt and evolve in how we reach our community. The insights we gained will help us to:
- Strengthen our digital presence so people can find and trust us online.
- Create human-centred content that builds understanding and connection.
- Use new tools and platforms wisely to amplify our message and reach more people who could benefit from our services.
Our mission has always been to support financial wellbeing, build resilience, and offer an ethical alternative to high-cost or predatory lending. By improving how we communicate and connect online, we can ensure more people know that we’re here to help not profit from their challenges.
We were really pleased to attend such an insightful and inspiring event, and we look forward to integrating what we’ve learned into our marketing and SEO strategy to continue spreading the word throughout our communities across East Sussex, Kent, Medway and Bexley.
