Clarks, a leading UK footwear brand trusted for school shoes, partnered with Push to optimise organic search performance during the critical Back to School season. This campaign aimed to increase organic visibility, drive higher-quality traffic, and boost sales during the highest commercial period of the year for Clarks.
With only one month from onboarding to campaign launch, the team needed to deliver rapid, measurable results in one of the most competitive retail categories.
The Challenge
Clarks needed to maximise organic visibility during their most critical trading period, the Back to School season, but faced significant constraints. With just one month from onboarding to campaign launch, the team had to deliver rapid, measurable results in one of the most competitive retail categories.
- Compressed timeline
Strategic planning and execution had to be completed in 30 days to hit the peak Back to School period.
- Limited resources
No dedicated in-house SEO specialist at Clarks, with Push operating as a lean two-person team against larger competitors.
- Ambitious targets
Achieve 10% session growth and improve keyword rankings in a saturated footwear market with just £8,000 in a saturated footwear market.
Our Approach
We deployed an AI-powered, data-led strategy to maximise efficiency and impact within tight constraints.
AI-Driven Keyword Research & Analysis
Using proprietary AI tools, we streamlined what would traditionally take weeks into days:
- Collected and analysed all school-related keywords Clarks ranked for over 12 month.
- Leveraged AI to clean and refine over 3,000 keywords.
- Conducted competitor keyword gap analysis to identify high-value target opps.
- Categorised keywords by gender and shoe type using AI, revealing underrepresented segments.
- Integrated Google Search Console and GA4 data to enrich keyword insights at URL level.
Data-Driven Opportunity Mapping
We created detailed pivot tables to visualise keyword opportunities by volume and performance, enabling rapid prioritisation of high-impact categories including boys' school shoes, girls' school shoes, and trainers. This AI-supported analysis revealed critical gaps where Clarks could gain competitive advantage quickly.
AI-Enhanced Content Strategy
Our in-house AI platform DialAgents transformed content creation, compressing weeks of work into days while maintaining brand integrity and SEO precision.
- Brand-aligned AI training
Uploaded Clarks brand guidelines and editorial assets into DialAgents to ensure all AI-generated content matched brand voice and tone.
- Real user insight clustering `
Exported client email data containing school-related queries and used AI to cluster related topics, creating targeted FAQ and blog content that directly answered real customer questions.
- AI-assisted optimisation
Used AI chat assistants to recommend page-level priorities, draft keyword-optimized content, and review outputs against brand standards and SEO best practices.
All AI-generated content was quality-checked with AI detection tools (scoring 82-93% human-written) and validated by Clarks' visual merchandisers, who praised the output's accuracy and product knowledge.
Strategic Content Deployment
We optimised commercial category pages and created new informational content including:
- "The Ultimate Back to School Checklist for UK Parents"
- "How to Prevent Shoes from Squeaking"
- Revamped guides on best school trainers and school shoes
The Results
The campaign significantly exceeded all objectives during the critical Back to School period:
Session Growth:
- Organic sessions increased by 18% year-over-year (July 1 - September 14, 2025), surpassing the 10% growth target.
Keyword Performance:
- Non-branded keywords on page 1 increased by 50% - from 544 to 817 terms, adding 273 new rankings.
- Top 3 keyword positions grew by 177% - from 100 to 277 positions, dramatically improving visibility for high-intent searches.
- Enhanced category visibility across critical segments including boys' school shoes, girls' school shoes, and school trainers.
Traffic & Visibility:
- Organic clicks rose by a 4.75% increase year-over-year.
- Impressions more than doubled - growing 109%, significantly expanding brand reach.
Budget Efficiency:
- All analysis, strategy, and content delivery achieved under the £8,000 budget, enabled by AI-supported prioritisation and execution.
- Demonstrated outstanding ROI through strategic use of AI to compress timelines and maximise output quality.
Conclusion
This campaign demonstrated how AI can transform SEO delivery when time and resources are constrained. By leveraging proprietary AI tools for keyword research, content creation, and quality assurance, Push delivered exceptional organic growth during Clarks' most critical commercial period.
The results proved that strategic AI implementation - focused on real user needs and brand alignment - can outperform traditional methods while operating at a fraction of the time and resource investment.
The campaign's success was recognised at the UK Search Awards 2025, winning Best Use of AI in Search, highlighting the innovative application of AI to solve real-world SEO challenges in competitive retail environments.
What the judges said:
"A standout, well-executed campaign that showcased a smart and purposeful use of AI to drive real results. From content creation to keyword categorisation, the team used AI where it mattered most. Delivering strong session growth and major ranking gains on a lean budget, this campaign had clear objectives, clean execution, and was truly worthy of recognition."
