My Key Takeaways From the Day

Today, I had the opportunity to attend my very first digital marketing event– the Rocks Digital Marketing Conference. This was a wonderful introduction to the broader marketing industry, and we heard from several amazing speakers. Each of them are experts in their respective fields and commented on current strategies and best practices. Although you guessed it, my favorite presentations were about local search and On-Page SEO. As a Copywriter, I’m sure content marketing and organic search will always capture my attention. However, all of the presenters were great speakers, and I quickly found myself enthralled with topics outside my own area of expertise. 

Today, I’ll explain the purpose of the conference and some of the key insights I gained from attending. 

What is the Rocks Digital Marketing Conference?

The Rocks Digital Marketing Conference brought together 17 digital marketing experts and thought leaders to discuss current trends in the industry. Each speaker had 15 minutes to present, and also answered questions in the Zoom chat afterward. The event is held every year on June 30th, as a nod to National Social Media day. 

Although, this year’s conference was a bit different than it was in past years because it was completely virtual. However, this didn’t seem to hinder the event at all, and participants chatted online all day– sharing their resources, tips, and thoughts. The speakers covered everything from hosting to social media marketing. I can confidently say that everyone in attendance walked away with new information to implement in their own work. 

Eric Shanfelt, Local Marketing Institute (Founder)

“Why and How to Claim Your Apple Maps Listing”

In 2021, just about everyone already has a favorite map and navigation application. This is likely Google maps or Waze because of the large number of features they offer. But that doesn’t mean you can count Apple maps out. While Apple maps are more sparse than other programs, about ⅓ of the adult U.S. population utilizes it, and it’s the default on Apple iOS devices. That means that if your business doesn’t have a complete location profile, you’re missing out on a huge market!

Patty Farmer, Marketing Media Money

“Marketing Your Media in Minutes”

I was particularly impressed with Patty’s nuanced networking skills. She provided great insights about how to get your name (and your company) noticed online. Her specific niche was in podcasting, and to score a guest spot, she suggests first doing your research. You should listen to a few podcasts before reaching out to the host. Basic advice, I know. But she’s right. While this seems simple, and like common sense, some people overlook it– killing their chances. Once you’ve listened, comment or reach out to them via email or social media. Hopefully, you’ve already been sharing their content, and getting your name out there. So when you pop the question, they’ll be more inclined to say yes. 

After you speak on their podcast it’s important to be courteous. Thank them, leave a recommendation on LinkedIn, and post on your own social media about what you learned from them. Make sure to show genuine gratitude and turn this experience into a lasting relationship. 

Chris Snellgrove, Reputation Sensei

“Don’t Just Manage Your Reputation, Market It!”

Chris emerged from the Rocks Digital Marketing conference as the standout PR guru. He made an excellent point that it’s not enough to just manage your reputation and mitigate bad reviews. You can leverage review generation, monitoring, management, and responses to prop up your online presence. Once you do this you can drive better reviews, higher ratings, get more feedback from clients, and most importantly– attract new customers! 

He said that in a discussion with one of his clients they said about 75-80% of customers that walked in their store because of a referral were ready to purchase. Meanwhile, they are only able to close walk-ins about 15% of the time. Why is this? Trust. About 91% of people read reviews before purchasing a product or service. So, make sure potential customers find sufficient and positive information when they Google your business. 

One often overlooked part of reputation management that I think is worth bringing up is the follow-up. Just because you made the sale doesn’t mean your job is done. You need to provide a great customer experience and ensure they leave completely satisfied. When they’re leaving, thank them for coming in, ask them if there’s anything else you can do for them, and ask them to leave a review so you can continue to improve your quality of service. 

Scott Simson, Video Marketing World

“5 Impactful Ways to Use Video That Will Make Your Parents Proud but Might Get You Banned in Small Countries”

This presentation was incredibly interesting to me. Maybe it’s because I enjoy video. Or maybe it’s because I got a laugh out of the older generation of digital marketing folks discovering the wonder (or maybe horror?) of ASMR. I’ll never tell. 

Scott shared a lot of information in 15 minutes, and for the sake of brevity I won’t break it all down. The key takeaways I got from his presentation are to produce videos with good information, that tell a story, connect with the audience, and to find a form that works well for you. This could be vlogging, tutorials, live streaming, ASMR, unboxing videos, or anything else! But perhaps what’s more important than what you do, is what you should avoid. If you decide to delve into the world of video, stick to what you’re knowledgeable about if you give advice, don’t be negative, don’t show dead bodies (ahem, Logan Paul), or exploit people. Some things you can do to increase views and engagement are to write compelling titles and use interesting visuals for the thumbnail. 

Lissa Duty, Rocks Digital Marketing

“Creating a Google My Business Listing That Rocks”

Lissa was actually one of the organizers and the host of the Rocks Digital Conference. She emphasized the importance of customizing your GMB listing. Some things you can incorporate are features like wheelchair accessibility, veteran-owned, LGBT friendly, women-owned business, black-owned business, or local business. Your photos should all be clear, relevant, and readable if there are words in the image. Also, when you list products you should write detailed descriptions. 

You also need to be optimizing for voice search. Voice interaction is directly linked to local searches and can lead to an increase in valuable phone calls. Google voice assistance is now available on more than 1 billion devices and more than 27% of searches are made with voice search. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again. If you’re not optimized for voice search, you’re missing out. 

Eddie Reeves, Vianovo

“3 LinkedIn Ninja Hacks That Will Set You Apart!”

I can easily say that Eddie was one of my favorite speakers of the day. After listening to his presentation, I will definitely make improving my LinkedIn presence a priority. Some quick tips he shared that you should pay attention to are:

1. Customize your banner. This is the number one thing that stands out when people view your page. Make sure that it effectively represents you.
2. Don’t post off-site links to your updates. LinkedIn is penalizing people for this, even if you put it in the comments. Instead, make your post and invite people to reach out to you for more information.
3. Text performs better than video. That doesn’t mean you should forego video, but make sure you’re taking time to type out your thoughts every once in a while. 

Marcela De Vivo, Gryffin

“How to Optimize and Amplify Using SEO”

Marcela was another impressive speaker, and I got so much great information from her presentation. She has been doing SEO since 1999, started and sold 3 agencies, and was a global speaker for SEMrush. Needless to say, she knows her stuff. As she said, SEO isn’t about hacks. It’s just process and strategy. I couldn’t agree more. So below, is a bit more about the process:

1. Research and Ideation. Take the time to understand your audience and plan. This will help you plan better content down the road. 
2. Editorial: Once you have a spreadsheet with keywords, snippets, and personas, bring it all together. Start writing and experiment with different content types like blogs, landing pages, white pages, newsletters, and more. 
3. Amplification: Promote your work on social media. After you’ve taken the time to nail the messaging, it’s important to get it in front of the right eyes. 
4. Analytics: At this point, you need to measure your performance. This can help you make strategic decisions about your content needs moving forward. 

Navah Hopkins, Justuno

“Retaining Retargeting through First-Party Data”

For those who don’t know, Google will be implementing new privacy updates that are set to take effect in 2021. So Navah suggests future-proofing your marketing so you won’t have to rely on third-party cookies. Going forward, you can collect your own data, but that’s not the key tip I want to share with you today. One excellent point Navah made is that popups can hurt your page experience score. To avoid this, but still ensure you’re growing your email list you should implement exit popups on your website. This will allow you to follow up with people who visited your website, without negatively impacting their experience browsing on your website. 

Texas Digital Marketing Experts

There were so many knowledgeable speakers that I, unfortunately, didn’t have the opportunity to tune in to. But every segment I was able to attend was worthwhile, and I gained a lot of new insights from the people I did have a chance to listen to. I encourage you to implement some of these tips into your own digital marketing strategies. Small things like managing your reviews or optimizing your blog content can take you a long way. Don’t know where to start? That’s okay, I’m here to help. Contact me and we can discuss your needs and create a custom digital marketing strategy to help your company achieve its goals.