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Sep 09

Why Should You Attend meshmarketing?

By mesh conference meshmarketing

The landscape is chock-a-block with digital conferences so why should you come to meshmarketing on Nov. 7 at the Toronto Reference Library when there are so many options?

Perhaps the biggest reason is meshmarketing’s focus on giving attendees tangible and actionable insight and information, delivered by speakers working in the digital trenches.

meshmarketing is not a conference about focused trends or patting each other on the back about successful digital campaigns. It’s where marketers can come to raise their digital games to the next level.

We want people to come away from meshmarketing with a ton of ideas about how they can jump-start their digital marketing by implementing new approaches, techniques and best practices. It’s all about helping you drive forward your digital marketing activities.

This is the reason we go after speakers who are not only industry leaders but experts in helping companies thrive in the ultra-competitive digital marketplace. We’re talking about people such as Jay Baer, Peep Laja, April Dunford, Laurie Dillon-Schalk and Karen Schulman Dupuis.

If you’re looking for new insight into digital marketing, meshmarketing is where you’ll find it. Some of the topics we’re covering include content marketing, influencer marketing, customer discovery, digital marketing tools and digital optimization. And we’ve got a great case study involves Oreos.

Another great thing about meshmarketing is tickets are just $199, which is a great deal for a great day of content and speakers.

Sep 03

Love0

meshmarketing Q&A: Peep Laja

By mesh conference meshmarketing

For all the talk about inbound marketing, social media and content marketing, a company’s digital success hinges on how well its Website performs. Whether it’s product sales, downloads, Webinar signups or registration, the biggest challenge is converting visitors into customers or users.

Given the importance of Website conversion, we’re excited to have ConversionXL’s Peep Laja, one of the leading digital optimization experts.

Peep, who writes a top-notch blog, will deliver a meshmarketing keynote presentation on Nov. 7 that will give you valuable the insight and information to turn your Website into a conversion engine.

To get a small taste of Peep’s presentation, here’s a mini-Q&A:

1. Content marketing is the belle of the ball while social media is rumbling along. Do you think brands are not spending enough time on driving conversions to leverage their content and social efforts?

That’s absolutely true. When I usually analyze landing pages for different Websites – and look where social media or search traffic lands, those pages are pretty bad at conversion. Poor attempts at email capture, no value proposition, no dedicated landing pages for social media, or asking for the sale too soon. Blog posts can do a lot for email capture. Companies should carefully see where their inbound traffic is landing on, and how well those pages are performing.

2. What are your thoughts on inbound marketing, which seems to be getting more and more traction?

Inbound marketing can be extremely effective if done well (and it depends on the business as well). Barrier of entry is low which is why there’s so much crap content out there and people saying ‘it’s not worth it’, but there are few that do it well. If you take it seriously and put effort in it (do it well and consistently over a long period of time), it is highly effective

3. What are some of the keys to boost Website conversion rates? (A loaded question, no doubt!)

Conversion optimization is a process, not a one-time checklist. What needs to be done is specific to each case, and you have to be data-driven: analyze what’s going on, how users are using the site and so on. Three common things that help most sites are:

1. State a compelling, unique value proposition on all key landing pages, including your home page. If I’m your ideal customer, why should I buy from you?

2. Aim to be clear about what you sell and what they get out of it. Avoid jargon and buzzwords. Clarity beats all other tactics.

3. Offer proof that your stuff works – independent studies, third-party reviews, testimonials etc.

4. Any new or favourite digital services in your toolbox these days?

I’m not sure about new, but three type of services every company should use (I do for each client):

▪ Mouse tracking services like SessionCam and Clicktale

▪ Testing software like Visual Website Optimize, Optimizelt and Convert.com

▪ Remote usability testing service like Usertesting.com and OpenHallway

Tickets for meshmarketing are $199, which is a sweet deal for a great day of content and networking.

Sep 03

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meshmarketing Q&A: Jay Baer

By mesh conference mesh13

No one could accuse Jay Baer, who will present the closing keynote at meshmarketing on Nov. 7 at the Toronto Reference Library, of being uni-dimensional.

One of the leading content marketing and social media consultants, Jay is the author of the best-selling Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype. He’s also an angel investor, startup advisor and popular speaker.

Given Jay’s busy schedule, we were lucky to pin him down for a quick Q&A:

1. What’s your take on the social media landscape? Now that monitoring is table stakes, what should be brands be focused on – e.g. analytics, ROI, sales?

There’s a very interesting battle brewing in larger companies around proactive (marketing) vs. reactive (customer service) social media. The tools and venues are the same, the rationale and expectations are much different. Of course, the other big move is away from text and toward multi-media content of all types.

2. If content is king again, where should brands start with content marketing? How do they create a sustainable content marketing program?

Making content just to make content is no better (and perhaps worse) than being on Twitter just to be on Twitter. The missing ingredient in most content programs is a strategic rationale for content. I would, of course, say the best-case rationale is to be truly, inherently useful. To create Youtility – marketing so valuable, people would pay for it.

3. How is the intersection of social media and content marketing evolving? What are the best approaches to drive synergies?

I firmly believe – and I’ll talk about this at meshmarketing – that content is fire, and social media is gasoline.

4. Any favorite tools these days?

I’m a big fan of Addvocate (and a board member), which we use to help manage decentralized employee social media activation. I’m currently also in love with GroupHigh for blogger outreach, LittleBird (#investor) for influence ID, and Rival IQ for competitive social intelligence. Also just started playing with Splashpost, which is a very interesting way to do direct response within Facebook posts.