Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend DigiMarCon Seattle, the premier digital marketing, media and advertising conference in the Pacific Northwest region. This was the third year for DigiMarCon Seattle, a conference hosted in 35 cities nationwide over the last ten years. This was my first year attending, and it was riveting. I walked away with a lot of excitement and inspiration, and I wanted to share my key takeaway from each of the amazing speakers. Let’s dive in.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) & ChatGPT
Jon Lakefish, founder and CEO at the Lakefish Group kicked off the conference with a master class on using AI and ChatGPT in marketing. According to research conducted by IBM, 35% of global companies are currently using AI tools, while 42% are exploring. As someone who already dabbles in ChatGPT, the biggest takeaway for me is that the nicer you are to ChatGPT, the more helpful the tool is. No, really, I’m serious.
Metaverse: Marketing in the generation of the internet
Next up we had Eugene Capon, a social media futurist and founder at Studio Capan. Eugene walked us through the true makeup of the metaverse and practical applications at every level. Did you know that our brains learn 30% faster in a virtual reality (VR)? It made me wonder how brands will utilize VR’s in the future, especially for training purposes. We’ve already seen some early adopters with Nike and Gucci, but the technology is still very early, which is all the more reason to get in now!
Marketing as a primary revenue driver
This was one of my favorite sessions of the day, led by Lee Levitt, Principal at The Acelera Group. Lee got into the nitty gritty of how our marketing efforts ultimately support our sales teams, and he also had my favorite quote of the day, “the funnel is crap.” He challenged us to change our thoughts around selling and focus instead on providing added value at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
Your path to profits: the game-changing power of a marketing OS for your business
Daniel Bussius, CEO of the Built by Love Agency led us in an inspired talk about creating a foundation for your business by implementing a standard marketing operating system (OS). He led us through the marketing RAMP and encouraged us to identify customer pain points and how it makes them feel to ultimately get their attention and appeal to them directly. I loved that he brought us back to the basics of any successful marketing campaign. It was a great reminder!
10 video ideas that any business can make right now
Shelly Nathan, Owner of Shelly Saves the Day wrapped up day one with short-form video content ideas for any business. She promised us ten, but I think she gave us close to 100. From product launches to employee features, I love how she provided us with tactical ideas that are easy to implement at any stage. No state-of-the-art equipment required!
Turn digital reputation threats into offensive tactics
Daniel Lemin, Founder & Principal at Repwise Group kicked things off on day two with a session dedicated to digital reputation threats. Did you know that only 4% of the internet is accessible via Google? Or that 74% of Gen-Z uses TikTok as a search engine? Now, more than ever, brands need to take control of their narrative online to stop the spread of misinformation.
Make your analytics work for you
We were treated to a demo of Microsoft’s Clarity, a free behavioral analytics tool, by Kiraz Baysal, Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft. The tool was launched publicly in 2020, and helps your organization understand how users are interacting with your website through session replays and heatmaps. It can identify things like dead clicks, which helps create a better user experience to keep them on your site.
The new era of SEO: How AI has changed SEO forever
The afternoon kicked off with an energetic session from Danny Leibrandt, Founder at Pest Control SEO. Google recognizes AI generated content through geotags, so if you’re looking to ramp up your SEO content strategy, make sure you’re actually producing and sharing content that you own.
Five big bets for 2024
This session from Jamie Lee, eCommerce Advisor at Stripes, was another highlight of DigiMarCon Seattle for me. Jamie and I initially bonded over both being new moms, but she has a wealth of digital marketing experience at companies like Vital Proteins, Nike, Everlane, and Walmart. She walked us through tactical ideas related to retention, advocacy, conversion rate optimization, profitability and new business models. Each of her tactics were focused on improving existing systems, meaning you can increase profitability without increasing your marketing budget.
Winning local SEO in the age of AI
The conference wrapped with an inspiring session from Dennis Yu, CTO at BlitzMetrics. This was my pièce de resistance of DigiMarCon Seattle. He walked us through his Content Factory, demoing real world examples in live time and introducing us to his Dollar a Day program, a targeted paid media strategy aimed at increasing sales. Did you know the average conversion rate on digital ads is somewhere between 1-3%? According to Dennis, with targeted ads to niche audiences, you should be seeing a conversion rate of 10% or higher. I am looking forward to implementing this strategy here at Voxus!
And that’s a wrap! DigiMarCon Seattle was a fantastic conference that left me excited about introducing some new tactics in our marketing strategy. I’m looking forward to attending again next year.
