As marketers, our jobs require that we prioritize ongoing education and learning in order to remain relevant and competitive. Fortunately for us, there are a plethora of ways to gain this knowledge.
One of the most effective (and my personal favorite) ways to keep learning is to attend industry conferences. Not only do these events provide a ton of information, but they also allow you to surround yourself with other like-minded marketers that you can connect with and learn from.
Not everyone can attend multiple conferences throughout the year so it’s essential to make those that you do go to, count. I know from experience that it can be incredibly overwhelming to decide which sessions to attend So don’t get caught working out your itinerary between sessions, because you may kick yourself later for missing something important.
Today kicks off the two day Digital Marketing Summit in Minneapolis. To help you get the most of this great event, below are some of my recommendations for must-see sessions for each day.
Digital Marketing Summit: Monday August 14th, 2017
Seth Godin
@ThisIsSethsBlog
Best Selling Author
1:15pm
Opening Keynote
If you haven’t seen Seth Godin speak before (or even if you have), you’re in for a big treat. Seth is the author of 17 bestselling books and an authority on marketing, the post-industrial revolution leadership and so much more. While his keynote topic is a surprise, it is sure to be a session you can’t afford to miss.
Mina Seetharaman
@minaseeth
SVP, Global Managing Director, Marketing Solutions – The Economist
2:40pm
Thought Leadership Disrupted
Brands large and small are competing to become the authority on topics related to their industry. But instead of focusing on thought leadership solely, marketers have an opportunity to reframe their approach to become thought partners. Mina’s session will help attendees uncover:
- What content works best for B2B
- How to become the go-to source of content for stakeholders
- Ways to reach your target audience through distribution, format and content cadence
Cliff Seal
@cliffseal
UX Lead – Salesforce Pardot
2:40pm
Death to Boring B2B Marketing: Driving Innovation with Design Thinking
B2B marketers have a huge opportunity to crush perception that B2B stands for Boring to Boring. Cliff’s session will focus on breathing new life into your B2B marketing with creativity, experimentation, collaboration and refining goals to be more trackable and attainable.
Grad Conn
@gradconn
GM, B2B Marketing – Microsoft
3:25pm
Superhero Selling: Reaching and Engaging the People That Count
Too often, marketing teams struggle to figure out exactly how to reach their target audience. Or worse yet, aren’t exactly sure who that audience is or what they care about. In his session, Grad will take a dive into helping you expand your connections so that you can reach the right people, ways to develop a customer-centric experience that will resonate with your buyers and the impact of collaborative technology systems.
Gabe Tartaglia
@gabetartaglia
VP of Sales – Pandora
3:25pm
Engaging in a Connected World with the Power of Audio
Not only are we now concerned with the multiple screens that our audience uses, but we also have to think about the screen-less world. Audiences are now spending more time, and often more engaged when listening to audio such as podcasts, interviews and more. This session will uncover the power of audio as a way to make meaningful connections with consumers.
Ashley Zeckman
@azeckman
Director of Agency Marketing – TopRank Marketing
4:10pm
Mastering the Perfect Content Recipe: 5 Key Ingredients for Insanely Effective Content Marketing
What kind of marketer would I be if I didn’t recommend that you attend my session?!? As the content landscape becomes increasingly competitive, it has become even more essential that marketers get creative and focus on content impact versus quantity. This session will walk you through five content tactics to take your marketing from drab to delicious.
Digital Marketing Summit: Tuesday August 15th, 2017
McLean Donnelly
@McLeanDonnelly
Vice President of User Experience – Shutterstock
8:30am
Design & Business: A New Model of Product Strategy
Great Design and UX have become increasingly important as consumers needs and sophisticated evolves. Unfortunately, design teams are often left in the dark about larger business strategies and product management. This McLean’s session will help to solve some of these issues by presenting frameworks for design team management and actionable methods to deliver Human Centered Design.
Ryan Phelan
@ryanpphelan
VP, Marketing Insights – Adestra
10:00am
First Person Marketing: Using Data to Drive Higher Email Results
Targeted email is effective, email blasts, not so much. Break free of outdated and spammy email tactics by attending Ryan’s session where you’ll learn how email marketing has evolved, what you can do to stay up with customer needs and ways to use data to your advantage.
Lisa Marcyes
@lisa_marcyes
Sr. Social Media marketing Manager – Marketo
11:45am
5 Biggest Mistakes Social Media Marketers Make and How to Avoid Them
A small whoops, can mean big impact on the social web. No matter how quickly you delete a post or comment, you can bet someone has already taken a screenshot. To avoid making further and larger mistakes, Lisa will walk attendees through a data-centric approach that can accurately measure social ROI, how an audience analysis can ensure your efforts are effective and how to incorporate channel specific tactics to drive reach and engagement.
Ann Handley
@MarketingProfs
Chief Content Officer – MarketingProfs
12:50pm
Lunch Keynote – Good Content Vs. Good Enough Content: A Fight for Sore Eyes
Need advice on how to create great content? You’re in luck that the Queen of Content herself, Ann Handley will be sharing insights on how to tell bolder stories and create better content that is ridiculously engaging and irresistible to your audience.
Carlos Gil
@carlosgil83
Head of Global Social Media – BMC Software
3:25pm
Snapchat Strategies for Marketing Your Business
What’s up Snapchat fam? Join Snapchat master, Carlos Gil for insights into how to reach a younger audience with digital marketing. This session will provide advanced strategies for dominating Snapchat by developing integrated content strategies, working with influencers and effectively measuring the ROI of your Snapchat efforts.
Lee Odden
@leeodden
CEO – TopRank Marketing
4:05pm
Closing Keynote – Supercharge Your Content with Influencer Marketing
How can you stand out in a sea of content when consumers are unengaged? One way is to harness the power of influencers to supercharge your marketing efforts. In his closing keynote, Lee will provide a framework, best practices, tools and examples for effectively integrating influencers into your content marketing.
Join us on Monday Night for Happy Hour!
After the end of the conference on Monday August 14, TopRank Marketing will be hosting a fun happy hour starting at 6:30pm exclusively for Digital Marketing Summit attendees. It will be a great chance to unwind and network.
Check out the details here and sign up for your free ticket!
