One of the best parts of working in Performance at Venn is getting the opportunity to step away from the screen, get out of the office and spend time with the clients we work with every day.
Recently, Ellisia and I headed down to London for a couple of client visits, catching up with the teams at Meet Life Sciences and McGregor Boyall for a day of strategy, SEO, AEO and, importantly, getting to know the people behind the brands a little better.
Taking Strategy Out of the Teams Call
A lot of our day-to-day work in Performance happens behind the scenes. We're looking at search performance, researching opportunities, building content strategies and thinking about how our clients can become more visible across both traditional search engines and emerging AI search experiences.
But there's a big difference between understanding a client's website and really understanding their business.
That's why spending time face-to-face with our clients is such an important part of what we do.
Our meetings in London gave us the chance to get away from the usual calls and dashboards and have bigger conversations about where each business is heading, what their priorities are and where we can make the biggest impact.
We covered everything from SEO and AEO to wider content and digital strategy, looking at what's working now as well as where there are opportunities to do more.
Becoming an Extension of Our Clients' Teams
Something we talk about a lot at Venn is becoming an extension of our clients' teams, and trips like this are a big part of making that happen.
Performance isn't just about sending over a report at the end of the month. The better we understand the people we're working with, their business, their market and what they're trying to achieve, the better our strategy can be.
That means asking questions, challenging ideas, sharing what we're seeing in search and working together on what comes next.
And sometimes the best conversations don't happen in a meeting room.
Getting to continue chatting over a few drinks gave us the opportunity to talk more informally, learn more about the teams we work with and build the kind of relationships that make working together much more collaborative.
The Difficult Part of the Job...
Of course, a very demanding day of talking about SEO and AEO needed an equally serious ending.
Dinner at The Ivy.
It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
Good food aside, days like this are a great reminder of how varied working in Performance can be. One day you're deep in Search Console analysing how a page is performing, the next you're on a train to London talking strategy with clients and discussing where their digital presence could go next. That's one of the most exciting parts of the role.
You get to combine the analytical side of SEO with creativity, strategy and relationship building. You're not simply working for a client from a distance; you're getting to know their business and helping shape what they do next.
And if that occasionally involves a trip to The Ivy, we're certainly not complaining.
