If you are obsessed with keeping up to date with the latest developments in digital marketing and how it can affect your business, we have a treat in store for you! Big Domino Marketing were proud attendees of this year’s Traffic and Conversion Summit and we’ve come home to share some of the fantastic information gleaned from this event.
What is the Traffic and Conversion Summit?
You will be forgiven for thinking that T&C is some sort of gathering of the highway patrol squad, or maybe a religious group trying to get new recruits!
T&C is an annual conference held in San Diego, California, to showcase the latest developments in the digital marketing field. It is the place to be if you are a digital marketer.
One of the best things about this summit being held early on in the year, is that we can supplement our knowledge base with the latest information, directly from the best in the field and then take these tips to all the companies that like to produce fresh offerings each year.
Industry icons, thought leaders and marketing gurus assemble en masse to share information, strategise for the future and make valuable business connections.
Apart from rubbing shoulders with top-notch leaders in the industry, the most important job we had at T&C, is to see how we can use the latest innovations to improve our clients’ marketing strategies. This is the number one place to find out what is working, and how we as marketers can fully utilise the digital landscape to obtain qualified leads for our clients.
Innovations in Digital Marketing
T&C lasted three jam-packed days with keynote speeches, breakout sessions and some valuable one-on-one opportunities. As you can imagine, there was a lot of hype regarding video, especially Live video, which is becoming increasingly popular. In a world drowning in content marketing, some age-old strategies such as automated email followup sequencing were revisited to include the latest tips and tricks for what is obtaining the best results right now.
Digital Marketing is an ever-evolving beast, but T&C gave us the opportunity to listen to how companies have been able to grow by tweaking their marketing to optimise conversions which lead to sales. It it also an environment where we can bounce ideas off each other and learn from each other’s mistakes.
The Word on Everyone’s Lips at T&C 2018
If you could wrap the most pivotal message taken from T&C into one word, that word would be conversations.
Big Domino Marketing has been well aware for some time now, that the primary focus of all our marketing efforts needs to be customer-centric. Not customer as in the client paying us to place their ads, but rather their customers – the people our clients are trying to sell to. There has never been a time where the emphasis and focus needs to be on the consumer more than right now.
Do Not Ignore This Important Reveal from T&C
People want conversation. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But when you realise that there are over 800 million people on Facebook alone, having conversations with your prospects is not as easy as you might think. Instead of forming part of the amorphous masses, your potential clients want to be treated as unique, and they want their voices to be heard. Really heard.
People want to engage with social media in a way that feels tangible to them. We need to be deeply responsive, not passively reactive.
Zuckerberg Has Spoken
This all ties in with the sweeping changes made by Facebook earlier this year, when co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg emphasised that Facebook is to be a place of conversation and community. It’s no longer a place to just post content at random and they are clamping down heavily on “meaningless” click-bait-type posts.
For small businesses, this means that getting in front of your target audience is going to take more effort, and it might take more time to craft clever but thoughtful advertisements. On top of it, your copy needs to be even more compelling and your audience selection and ad placement will need to be raised to the next level.
How Do We Have Quality Conversations?
The main point to drive home, is that social media should not replace the human experience. A big focus of T&C was on automated messenger Bots, which allow companies to program certain conversations with their clients.
It might seem counterintuitive, because responses are pre-programmed, BUT behind the scenes, marketers and their clients spend considerable time and effort into making these channels of communication as beneficial to the end-user as possible.
The aim of these is to start engagement with your brand, or to find out more about a course that is being launched or when a sale is happening. It is a simple but effective strategy to create interaction which brings value to your prospect, which is the essence of what Mark Zuckerberg was trying to say. Think quality conversation over large quantities of shallow content.
Do You Reply to Social Media Comments?
Another area that sometimes is overlooked by busy business owners, is managing their social media comments. If someone has taken the time to record a question or comment on one of your posts, it would greatly improve the impression you are creating if you reply consistently and genuinely.
We understand that this takes time, and we fully acknowledge that there are a bunch of trolls out there determined to spread negativity, but the last place you want that trash showing up in on your company feed!
Companies who take the time to answer questions on their posts or ads, show that they are committed to interact one-on-one with people, and it fosters a feeling of trust in the online community.
If you find that you keep getting exactly the same sort of questions, you might want to consider if your ad copy needs to include a bit more information. Try to really look at it from an outsider’s perspective and ask yourself: “Is my message clear? Or is this ad or post unintentionally ambiguous?” And see where you can take action to clear up any confusions to avoid people getting irritated with your brand.
Do not neglect the comments completely! This shows absolute disregard for the community you are trying to serve. If you feel overwhelmed, you can always politely direct people to the FAQ section of your webpage where you deal with the most common questions you get asked. Be warned: if you ignore the people, they will eventually ignore you.
Say Thank You
Which brings us to another point that some businesses might overlook. If someone posts something like “Great product, highly recommend” on your page or ad, then you should absolutely reply to this message. A simple thank you goes a long way in terms of retaining a positive image in your customer’s mind and endearing your fans to your brand. Remember, Communication always goes two ways.
Say for instance that you host an event, or do a new product launch. For weeks you worked on your digital marketing and getting as much publicity as possible. When the day arrived, everything went off like a well-rehearsed play.
But before you crack open the champagne and pat yourself on the back for a job well done, use this as an opportunity to reach out to your community to say thank you to everyone who attended. This shows unflinching dedication to the people who heard your message and believe in what your company has to offer. You can do this as a pinned post or even a Facebook Live, or in an email or blog.
But just do it. A little gratitude goes a long way and is an opportunity to continue the conversation with your followers.
The Main Takeaway: Keep Talking
Your fans don’t want to be just another “thumbs up” in a sea of likes
This year’s T&C made it clear that this is the time for giving, not taking. This is about talking and not just showing. Companies that double down on making their customers feel seen and heard will have the edge over those that keep silent. Keep conversations top of mind when you are creating a new ad or piece of content, and you will already be ten steps ahead of your competition.
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