14 Feb 2024
- 18 Oct 2022
Top tips and insights from the Technology for Marketing/eCommerce Expo 2022
On the 28th and 29th of September, our Head of Marketing, Jen Macdonald, attended the eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing event at ExCel London. Here, she shares a few of the key takeaways and insights from the five speakers whose presentations she attended.
The Digital Marketing Skills Crisis – Daniel Rowles, CEO – Target Internet (@DanielRowles)
Daniel’s presentation looked at the rapidly evolving nature of digital marketing and how this is creating a skills gap in the market. He advised that digital marketers should learn what skills are in demand, and take a closer look at how leading organisations are tackling this challenge.
One of the key points I took from Daniel’s talk was to try and work out the data analytics cycle, so we understand the data we are analysing, which enables us to focus on the user journey. For example, are your audience on TikTok?
Building a community is vital when data gathering is changing. To this end, Daniel suggested creating a company newsletter: this is useful to potential candidates, humanises the company, provides industry insights and promotes your brand without using pushy sales tactics.
Key trends: Reshaping your marketing strategy and best practice – Radmila Blazheska, Chief Marketing Officer – SecurityHQ (@Milamarketeer)
This talk offered expert insights into the latest technologies to implement into your MarTech stack, along with tips on deciding which new trends will work best for your business.
Radmila suggested taking a 360-degree approach to marketing strategy, offering an end-to-end customer experience using new technologies across each channel. For example, VR is now available to showcase services to potential customers in advance and can also be used as a content marketing tool, while chatbots can be used for data marketing.
One vital tip Radmila gave was to be aware of data privacy laws, and to focus on first-party customer data. She emphasised the importance of using data safely and responsibly to drive our digital marketing efforts forward.
Integrated strategies to improve your search and social campaigns – Ann Stanley, Founder & CEO – Anicca (@AnnStanley)
Ann shared some useful tips for taking an integrated approach to your online marketing, incorporating content, data and remarketing to target your audience.
She recommended distributing content across multiple channels by breaking it down and using it multiple times to reach audiences at every point in the sales funnel. Ann also advised using data from one channel to inform campaigns being distributed on another channel.
Once you’ve gathered enough data, Ann spoke about using this information to create custom audiences and sequential campaigns. This refers to using the same ad with a different message or cross-channel remarketing strategies. A practical way to do this is by using lookalike audiences for prospecting and using the data for enhanced tracking.
Ann rounded off her talk by explaining that PPC and SEO keywords should be used together in a complementary way to boost an online strategy.
Generating highly engaging corporate content: is this an oxymoron? – Yolanda Valery, Head of Digital Engagement – Ocado Group (@yolandavalery)
Yolanda’s talk suggested that human content remains the most effective driver of customer engagement. She recommended following the PAVE acronym when developing a content strategy:
- Purpose – Answer questions
- Audience – Who are they? How can you help them?
- Value – Inspire me, update me, give me perspective, educate me, keep me on trend, divert me
- Execution – What is inside? What is it going to look like? How is it going to travel?
One tip she had for adding value to your content is to add third-party expertise to provide unique insight and solve problems for your consumers. Partner with experts and interview them to discuss challenges within the business.
Yolanda concluded her presentation by adding that it’s important to use data to back up your content and establish trust with the audience.
5 Ways You Can Accelerate Sales Through Media and Advertising (panel): Omar Oakes, Editor – The Media Leader (@OmarOakes), Jason Spencer, Business Development Director – ITV (Jason Spencer), Ross Sergeant, Head of Media and Touchpoints – Asahi Europe & International (@ross_sergeant), Sarah Baumann, Managing Director – VaynerMedia ITV (Sarah Baumann)
This panel, chaired by Omar Oakes, asked three industry experts to address the challenges marketers face right now in terms of evolving media and strategies for accelerating growth through media investment.
Some of the key solutions suggested by the panellists included:
- Create a client experience. How can you help them and how can you make their job easier?
- Create short videos/reels to engage an audience. This is less about showcasing your services, and more about your people, trends in the wider industry, client stories, etc.
- Consider a subscription model. Sell services as a marketing subscription as opposed to a retainer.
- Work with nano influencers on interviews and videos. Ask industry leaders to share their expertise.
- Sales and marketing need to work together, so they can share information on audiences, targets, visitor lists, etc.
- Think outside your typical audience. Focus on consumers who currently don’t engage with your product or service. What’s the reason for this? And what can you offer to help those people?
The digital world moves fast, which is why our technical SEO, content, and link-building teams use the latest tactics and innovative technologies to deliver market-leading services. Book a free, no-obligation ‘Grow via SEO’ consultation with one of our experts today to learn more. And, don’t forget to sign up for our free newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest digital marketing news.
