2nd Annual Long Island Digital Summit
Today was the 2nd Annual Long Island Digital Summit. It was held at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Westbury, Long Island. The day began with an industry panel discussion featuring a “who’s who” of digital marketing talent from companies including Microsoft, Gilt Groupe, Facebook, and 1-800 Flowers.com. Amit Shah, VP of Online, Mobile & Social Media at 1-800 Flowers.com, gave advice I liked:
“Focus on a/b tests. See if consumers accept your version of the truth”. It resonated with me. I remember from my magazine marketing days that I tested some mailing lists that elicited a very high response. But when our Advertising Director learned of it, she said “That’s not our audience”. Although apparently, it was! She had her own version of the truth to attract the “right” advertisers. But I had a rate base to meet! My own management did not accept my version of the truth.
Another speaker who “told it like it is” was Neal Wilson of Microsoft. He said, “Divorce yourself from the idea that there are some keywords you must play in, because they can destroy ROI”.
The summit included a luncheon, in which 6 CEO’s spoke. Am I being prickly to have noticed with annoyance that all 6 were men? Was there not one qualified woman that could have participated?
In any case, the CEO’s shared their thoughts and challenges.
Some additional thoughts: One of the people I met said that the website www.web-strategist.com was a digital marketing resource they couldn’t live without. Someone else said to check out www.spreecast.com. And someone else suggest reading the book Curation Nation. So I will be checking these out. You might want to, too.
In Industry & Networking Events