SEO often gets boxed into a technical corner — keywords, meta tags, search intent. But Annette Matzen sees it differently. With nearly two decades in the digital marketing space and a deep understanding of emotional conversion, she’s built a career proving that the best SEO strategies don’t just rank; they resonate.

As Zenni Optical’s first internal SEO hire, Annette has brought strategy, structure, and soul to a scrappy growth-focused team. We passed the mic to her to talk about audience behavior, brand storytelling, and why tapping into emotions is a smarter long game than chasing traffic alone.

Bridging Content, Brand, and Technical SEO

When you’re the only SEO in-house, you wear a lot of hats. Annette collaborates with multiple teams across Zenni — from creative to analytics — to ensure that SEO isn’t an afterthought, but baked into campaigns from the start.

That means translating technical insights into digestible takeaways for stakeholders, while also guiding writers and brand marketers toward content that serves both humans and search engines. It’s a balance: getting granular with schema markup and crawl budgets while still advocating for stories that connect with real people.

emotional marketing is not fluff; it’s a framework for deeper engagement, especially in industries where products can feel commoditized.

Why Emotional Marketing Isn’t Just for B2C

Annette’s passion lies in what happens after someone finds your content. Does it speak to them? Does it build trust? Is it clear, compelling, and reflective of how they actually think and feel?

“I’m very interested in the psychology of decision-making,” she shared. “Talia Wolf’s work really influenced how I approach conversion — by focusing on emotions over tactics.” For Annette, emotional marketing is not fluff; it’s a framework for deeper engagement, especially in industries where products can feel commoditized.

At Zenni, that means moving beyond product specs to show how affordable eyewear can fuel confidence, creativity, and identity. And yes, that starts with a smart SERP strategy, but it doesn’t end there.

Owning the Full Funnel (and Helping Teams See It)

A big part of Annette’s role involves education: helping teams understand that SEO isn’t just about top-of-funnel discovery. It can influence landing pages, product pages, help centers, and everything in between.

She encourages marketers to think holistically. Ranking is just one piece of the puzzle — user experience, content clarity, and conversion paths matter just as much. Especially as search evolves with AI overviews and zero-click experiences, there’s even greater pressure for every page to deliver value fast.

Her approach is methodical: evaluate what’s already working, repurpose or optimize where possible, and launch new content based on evidence, not assumptions.

Rethinking the ROI Conversation

One challenge Annette sees often? Teams over-indexing on content quantity without tying it back to performance. (AKA: How do you tie content to ROI?) Her approach is methodical: evaluate what’s already working, repurpose or optimize where possible, and launch new content based on evidence, not assumptions.

That lens has made her a trusted advisor, not just an executor. She’s part strategist, part translator, and part coach. And in her eyes, the future of SEO is less about playing algorithm games and more about building meaningful, measurable connections.

Advice to Other SEO Leaders: Learn to Speak the Language of Others

Annette’s advice to other in-house SEO pros is simple: master the art of cross-functional collaboration. SEO can’t live in a silo — it needs to flex across brand, dev, product, and beyond.

By staying curious, listening well, and meeting other teams where they are, you can unlock new opportunities to integrate SEO deeper into the business. And when you combine that with empathy and a clear POV, SEO becomes more than a tactic; it becomes a growth engine.

ClearVoice connects brands with expert SEO writers and strategists who understand the nuance of technical accuracy and emotional storytelling, just like Annette. Whether you’re scaling content or optimizing for conversions, we’ll help you create content that performs. If you’re ready to explore how ClearVoice can support your content production efforts, connect with a content specialist today.

Want more bold conversations with marketers like Annette?

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