As budgets tighten and AI reshapes the search landscape, brands must get smarter about organic marketing strategies, SEO, content, and cross-channel approaches. In our latest webinar, Beth Nunnington, Global VP of Digital PR at Journey Further, and Paul Norris, Senior Organic Director, shared powerful tactics for unlocking organic growth in today’s evolving environment. Here’s a quick dive into the 8 key takeaways from the session that marketers can apply right away.

Do more with less: maximising impact on reduced budgets

Marketing budgets have plummeted by 15%, yet targets are climbing higher. With paid media costs skyrocketing over the last five years, the demand for organic strategies has never been greater. Just ramping up SEO isn’t enough. Organic click-through rates (CTR) have dropped significantly due to Google’s monetisation and AI-driven summaries. Brands need to think creatively, employing innovative SEO and content strategies to maintain visibility in an increasingly tough market.

Embrace AI to enhance organic marketing strategies

AI isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a transformative force in marketing. With many Fortune 500 companies integrating AI into their operations and a significant amount of marketers using it for efficiency, brands must harness its power to stay competitive. AI automates tedious tasks, enhances personalization, and optimises content, making it accessible for brands of all sizes and opening new avenues for growth.

TikTok as a rising search powerhouse

TikTok is emerging as a major search engine, especially amongst Gen Z. With 62% of them using it for discovery, its visual and authentic content draws in younger audiences. Brands must diversify beyond Google, or risk missing out on connecting with new consumers across their entire journey.

Adapting to a changing search ecosystem

With the search landscape diversifying rapidly, brands that adapt to new features can gain a competitive edge. Beth and Paul emphasised an integrated approach that combines human expertise with data and technology, targeting key touchpoints across various platforms, not just Google. To thrive, brands should maximize their existing strengths on Google while exploring rising platforms like YouTube and TikTok, anticipating user intent, and delivering timely, visually compelling content.

Forecast growth with strategic opportunity analysis

Success in SEO goes beyond ranking for popular terms; it’s about identifying realistic growth opportunities. Beth and Paul shared how Journey Further employs opportunity analysis to pinpoint quick wins and forecast potential growth. By targeting keywords within striking distance, marketers can calculate revenue potential and focus their efforts effectively.

Diversify traffic streams for future success

Google’s algorithm isn’t the sole driver of traffic anymore. As the search landscape evolves, brands must broaden their presence across multiple platforms to stay ahead. Paul spoke about our proprietary tool Pulse powered by Salient, which monitors trends and keywords on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, enabling brands to spot emerging opportunities before competitors do.

Get creative with smaller budgets

Budget cuts don’t have to stifle growth. By strategically prioritising initiatives and reallocating resources, brands can still achieve impressive results. Paul shared the innovative framework developed in collaboration with a national bank that helps prioritise SEO initiatives based on their potential to drive revenue and ease of execution. The goal is to fast-track the most impactful activities while keeping a close eye on the bottom line. But it doesn’t stop there. Brands also need to reassess how they balance their budgets between paid and organic channels. Journey Further’s One Search tool offers a comprehensive view of both paid and organic search performance, revealing opportunities to maximise budgets and uncover quick SEO wins that reduce reliance on costly paid media.

Innovative campaigns that drive organic success

Beth shared the team’s impressive work for Inspired Taste, an online food blogging company that was falling behind competitors in search rankings and website traffic figures. The team undertook search research using our proprietary technology, Salient, to leverage Natural Language Understanding (NLU) and uncover the relevant keywords to gain authoritative backlinks. On the back of it, the team created the attention-worthy campaign to trigger trust signals which resulted in hundreds of media mentions, a wave of user-generated content, and a jaw-dropping 79% increase in relevance for key dessert categories. SEO rankings soared for over 440 dessert-related keywords, social followers grew by 4%, and 3,500 new email subscribers signed up, all while building strong backlinks and engagement.

The takeaway on organic marketing strategies

This webinar highlighted 8 actionable organic marketing strategies that brands can implement to stay competitive in an increasingly complex digital landscape. By embracing AI, diversifying traffic streams, and prioritising creativity in campaigns, marketers can drive measurable growth without relying solely on paid media. Watch the webinar in full here.

Connect with the team

If you want to learn more about applying these strategies in your business, speak to our team today.

LLM search visibility: a framework for ChatGPT and AI Overviews

Conversations are the new keywords: what BrightonSEO taught us about AI search

Triple your organic growth: why multi-platform strategies are non-negotiable

Google AI Mode: everything brands need to know

MozCon London 2025: debrief the day

SearchGPT: What you need to know about OpenAI’s search engine

The future of the SERP – part one

The future of the SERP – part two

We hosted Google to explore what’s next for search, AI and smarter marketing

What we learned at Google’s ‘Future of Search’ Summit

8 key organic marketing strategies: insights from our webinar

Why your content isn’t working (and how smart teams are fixing it)