On the opening day of what I feel is the world’s most exciting event to come along in a decade, I find myself wondering aloud, “How do I, a digital executive (let alone marketer), make the most of my time at the event?” Attribution modeling, modern consumerism, Hummingbird – and on go the areas that we all need to better understand and apply. It had me realize that not only at the event but also nearly in all days of our digital life, this is what we have to do: prioritize. What to pay attention to, what to spend money on, when a trend is worth investigating, And where the next big innovation will be. So I think of the first week of April as a great way to renew the commitment to “think more and do less,” and really get back to truly prioritizing and staying focused on what matters most and avoid the bombardment of distractions.
Having spent a decade hashing through the good and bad on the education front and now here at the Online Marketing Institute, I thought it might come in handy for all my fellow attendees (and speakers) of ClickZ Live New York to see how I planned to make the most of the week and life ahead as a digital marketer.
In short, my priority lists:
Priority 1: Strategy First
Seems pretty straightforward, but at this time of the year, we in marketing find ourselves knee-deep in catching up to our annual execution plans and not taking that immensely important step back to survey what the strategy was…and what it should be going forward.
At the ClickZ Live event, I will be attending sessions that help provide prospective and strategic framework around some of my more important projects like content marketing, integrated strategy, and break-through ideas that really are driving engagement. Getting more thought-provoking perspective is the name of the game, so sessions like Lauren Vaccerello’s Overview of Today’s Digital Media Landscape or Kris Jones’ The Scoop on Converged Media: From Paid to Owned to Earned will be great to check out.
The objective will be easy – get some new perspective on how others are plotting their course and see how I can apply that to reshaping my own.
Priority 2: Alignment of Content Marketing Resources
This is still the biggest gap in nearly all marketing efforts…great content and how to not only build it but then use it strategically to drive awareness, engagement, and conversions. It’s the difference between those who want to win online and those who do. So, you’ll see me at sessions like Lee Odden’s Creative Content Marketing: From Strategy to Execution.
Priority 3: Acceleration of Existing Programs That Work
SEO and retargeting on Facebook are the two greatest drivers of direct sales for us here at the Online Marketing Institute. And so, I am going to look deeper in how to improve those efforts and drive better results from what works. And let me tell you folks, if you haven’t done your homework on AuthorRank for SEO or retargeting for your paid advertising, get with it. This works and for ALL of us. That said, truly looking forward to sessions like
Lisa Reahsler’s Remarketing and Behavioral Ads: What’s New?.
Final Priority: Measuring Right to Drive Better Decisions
There are two pet peeves of mine – one is bad metrics and the other is loss of perspective on what comes first in marketing…YOUR brand. You have nothing if you don’t have a brand to stand on. You have no resonance, no loyalty, and no sustainable differentiators. Therein, I like to re-entrench on my attribution analytics with Jim Boykin’s For Good Measure: Effective Multi-Channel Attribution Modeling and have fun moderating my very own panel with some of the world’s leading digital brand and performance experts on the day two keynote panel entitled Digital Innovation Insights Driving Big Brand Awareness.
That’s it in a nutshell. Immensely looking forward to the ClickZ Live event and doing some “spring cleaning” on my digital priorities. Hope to meet many of my fellow attendees there…so don’t hesitate to drop a note on LinkedIn or Twitter.