One of the most frequently-cited problems in the marketing industry is an inability to (1) properly identify, align, measure and track metrics relevant to a specific company, (2) quantify the value produced by various marketing initiatives, tactics and channels in a way that resonates with senior leadership and (3) use the data from (1) and (2) above to identify actionable insights to inform overall marketing spend and guide future marketing efforts. In short: today’s business owners, executives and marketing professionals need a comprehensive framework for measuring and evaluating the efficacy of their efforts. This session provides exactly that.

At the end of the session, attendees will walk away with a comprehensive framework that enables them to effectively:

• • Identify the metrics that matter to their organization;
  • Align those metrics to business outcomes;
  • Use aligned metrics to identify hidden value & optimize existing marketing mixes; and
  • Quantify the value of their efforts relative to the bottom-line outcomes of their company. And they’ll actually know how to put that knowledge into action.

Marketers today are faced with a daunting challenge: exceeding the expectations of digitally-savvy consumers (transparency, simplicity, convenience & personalization) in a dynamic environment where the information asymmetry skews in favor of the user – and where a single mis-step can prevent a successful outcome. This session will focus on three core areas necessary to succeed in today’s complex marketing world:

• Adopting a new, intent-driven framework that allows marketers to understand better the needs/wants/desires of today’s customers
• Breaking down internal silos and barriers that impede the adoption of that framework across all platforms, campaigns & tactics
• Using that framework as a foundation for all campaign optimization moving forward

Despite the rise in many other forms of digital advertising, search remains the go-to channels for answering your target audience’s most pressing questions. Success in search requires treating search engine results pages (SERPs) as a single entity containing three core components (ads (search + shopping), SERP features, traditional “blue links”), all of which should can be mutually-beneficial. But too often, each of these functions is siloed, preventing a more robust, holistic understanding of your target audience.

This presentation is intended for audiences familiar with search, and covers the following topics:

• What is integrated search & how does it help?
• How to make the case for integrated search to senior management
• 5 Strategies that enable SEO, SEM & Shopping to work together

We all want to believe that we are rational agents who make logical decisions based on the environment and evidence, but behavioral economics suggests our reality is something completely different. In this presentation, we’ll explore some of our inherent irrationalities and cognitive biases, as well as proven strategies that marketers and brands use to leverage them.

Attendees will learn:

• 10 of the most common cognitive biases and irrationalities
• Applications of choice architecture & decision theory
• The 5 Behavioral Economics principles that can transform marketing
• 7 Tests & Experiments marketers can run tomorrow

Every day, we rely on statistics, graphics and data to inform our perceptions of the world and guide our decisions (big and small) – implicitly trusting that what we have read or seen is true and accurate. But that isn’t always the case – data, statistics and graphics are often manipulated or skewed in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes.

This presentation will explore some of the ways this happens and the root causes of it, as well as provide actionable strategies for being a smart consumer and producer of data and statistics.

Most marketers are obsessed with the conversion: that magical moment when all of our hard work is validated. It’s a glorious, “home run” moment.  But lost in our collective conversion maximizing obsession is what happens after the form is submitted or the sale is complete. For most organizations, the answer is simple: nothing. And for marketers to maximize their potential, this must change. We must stop viewing the conversion as the “home run” and start considering it first base.

By the end of this session, you’ll learn how to:
(1) Discover what data is most predictive of each milestone in the funnel from initial contact to MQL/SQL to close/completed sale
(2) Build a strategy specific to each milestone
(3) Uncover the most common mistakes performance marketers make in conversion strategies
(4) Identify post-conversion KPIs & how to track them

There is a growing imperative for marketers – agency and in-house, performance and brand alike – to quantify their impact (or lack thereof) on the organization. This mandate extends well beyond traditional marketing metrics (impressions, clicks, leads, etc.) to actual business outcomes (revenue, growth and profitability).With an exponential increase in the number of touch points impacting an outcome and the pervasive nature of digital media, a well-designed measurement strategy has never been more complex – or more necessary. This presentation explores the best approaches to meaningful measurement in an always-on, omni-channel world – from multi-touch attribution to marketing mix models and beyond. We’ll explore how each solution works, the limitations of each and how to integrate them to find deeper insights that produce positive business outcomes.

Takeaways: Attendees will walk away from this presentation armed with the following takeaways:

• An understanding of how MMM & Attribution work – including strengths, weaknesses & use-cases
• Strategies to combine MMM & Attribution data to uncover meaningful insight.
• Ways to quantify business impacts by combining MMM data with econometric analysis

CPCs and CACs are spiking across the board, while advertising giants like Google, Facebook & Microsoft are implementing more targeting options and automation while simultaneously removing many of the controls marketers have historically used to prevent wasted spend. This reality is a perfect storm that is will result in most marketers spending more and getting a LOT less.

Given this reality (and the relentless march toward more automation), having a deep understanding of account structures – and how to leverage them to achieve your goals – has never been more important. In this session, we’ll dive deep into the essential account and targeting structures + how they can be used to prevent automation from running wild.

• Understand the common SEM account structures (alpha/beta, SKAG/STAG, Cascade, etc.) – as well as the benefits and limitations of each
• Learn how to overlay new targeting data + options onto existing account structures to create robust, intent-driven campaigns
• Understand how different account & targeting structures impact various automated strategies and learn how to use scripts and rules to enable your campaigns to evolve while not running wild.

This session provides marketers with a framework for measuring and understanding the value created by their efforts, as well as a blueprint for implementing this framework in their organization. Armed with that blueprint, Sam will then dive into “metrics that matter” – providing participants with examples of well-aligned metrics, as well as proven strategies and real-world examples of how those metrics can be leveraged to uncover hidden value, optimize marketing mix and ultimately produce both bottom-line results and actionable insights through an economic value approach. Marketers will leave this session with a framework that enables them to:

• Identify the metrics that matter to their organization
• Align those metrics to business outcomes
• Use these “Moneyball” metrics to identify hidden value and optimize existing marketing mixes
• Quantify the value of their efforts relative to the bottom-line outcomes of their company.

Understanding the fundamentals of digital communication is a prerequisite for success in today’s always-on, hyper-connected world. For most companies, digital represents a brave new world, filled with the promise of higher efficiency, greater transparency, and massive bottom-line impact.

However, the reality of digital communications is often vastly different from what’s possible — with thousands of platforms/tools, little transparency and an ever-increasing number of self-proclaimed experts, separating the signal from the noise is challenging for even the most savvy of marketers.

This session aims to demystify digital communication by walking attendees through the fundamentals of the digital landscape and core platforms, then diving into specific, actionable strategies for using those platforms to tell brand stories, shape consumer perceptions and ultimately drive bottom-line outcomes. This will include strategies for aligning your digital communication with the customer journey – from attraction to conversion – in addition to actionable advice for success in today’s fast-paced, interactive environment. He will review common digital communication mistakes and discuss best practices for avoiding them.

Takeaways: At the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:

• Select the digital channels that are right for your business & industry
• How to target your key audience(s) on major ad platforms
• Align analytics and KPIs with your business goals
• Create basic digital campaigns that utilize (2) and (3) above on major ad networks
• Bring all of this together & create a successful digital marketing campaign which increases your bottom-line

Generating high-quality, cost-effective leads continues to be one of the most important – and most challenging – tasks for marketers. The emergence of digital platforms as a centerpiece of the media landscape has created a number of possibilities for achieving this goal in today’s always-on, hyper-connected world.

Unfortunately, most marketers and business owners lack the knowledge and insights necessary to maximize the impact that digital marketing can have on their organization. Sam’s presentation will provide a thorough review of digital advertising fundamentals, in-depth review of the customer journey – from attraction to conversion – along with actionable lead generation strategies that have proven to be successful in today’s fast-paced, interactive environment. In addition to this, he’ll review best practices for digital lead generation, common solutions to pesky tracking/data integrity issues, and common pitfalls (along with ideas for avoiding them).

Takeaways: At the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:

• Digital Marketing Audience Identification & Platform Selection
• How To Optimize Your Digital Campaigns For Each Stage in the Customer Journey
• 5 Proven Strategies for Online Lead Generation & Nurturing
• Tactics & Tips For Tracking Leads Through The Funnel
• How To Bring all of this together & create a successful digital marketing campaigns that drive qualified leads

This is a “How-To”, hands-on workshop for marketing practitioners who are working with Google Ads (or Bing Ads). We’ll cover five strategies that are overlooked by most marketers and agencies, but can be easily implemented and provide measurable ROI, regardless of campaign type, size or scale. For each strategy/tactic, we’ll provide a step-by-step walk-through using sample data.

The workshop focuses on the five factors that drive successful PPC campaigns:

• Structure & Settings
• Exclusions
• Targeting
• Creative
• Data

The digital/social age has revolutionized the way we generate, distribute and consume news. During a crisis situation, fear “feeds the fire”, and in the instantaneous world, it is imperative organizations develop a strong strategy so they can actively take control, rather than being reactive. Sam’s presentation will provide companies with tried and true plans of action to take control of the conversation across social, digital and traditional platforms, as well as several actionable strategies to determine when, where and how to respond to potential crisis situations. Sam will conclude by analyzing two different crisis situations using the strategies outlined in the presentation.