Spring Event Re-Cap

 

At NTENT, we’re always discussing the latest trends in search and advertising. Here’s our take on various key industry events that we attended and closely followed over the last few weeks: MediaPost’s Search Insider Summit, Creative Week NYC, OMMA Social, and Ad Age’s Data Marketing + Technology Summit.

 

Search Insider Summit: It’s no surprise that mobile remains a hot topic in search. According to the 2013 Mobile Path-to-Purchase study from Telmetrics and xAd, 50% of all mobile users rely on their device at the beginning of the research process. Users want instant answers so advertisers and marketers must take advantage of the available tools to make campaigns more accessible on mobile. One key question to think about it is: as people divide their searches through various platforms (PC, phone, tablet), what are the best ways to measure and track results?

 

Creative Week NYC: This event brings together people at the crosshairs of advertising, design and digital media. One of the recurring themes amongst the presentations was that consumers want brands to communicate to them differently – the expectations are much higher now. With the advantages of semantic technology and behavioral data, this is an opportune time for advertisers to present products in the most relevant, appealing, and compelling ways (and as quickly as possible, which should go without saying).

 

OMMA Social: Social networks are an integral part of brand’s online strategy. For some, the question is “how do I carry the conversation with my existing customers from in-person to online?” For others, it’s a matter of, “Which platforms do I use?” One thing to keep in mind is that interaction with brands on social networks remains low, compared to other user activities like sharing articles and playing games. The upside is that brands have access to an abundance of data about their fans and followers, so it’s becoming easier to see what goes over well with online audiences and what isn’t so successful.

 

Marketing + Technology Summit: Data was on everyone’s mind at this summit, which was part of Internet Week in NYC. As mentioned, the availability of data empowers marketers to best reach consumers across all channels. An interesting idea came from one of the speakers, Nationwide’s CMO, Matthew Jauchius. He emphasized that data should be viewed as an “enterprise asset” rather than “departmental asset.” I agree with this sentiment – the synchronization of what to do with data is critical in implementing successful campaigns, from email marketing to video campaigns and beyond.

 

As innovations in search, advertising, and marketing continue at warp speed, I’m looking forward to seeing what is up for discussion at the next round of events this summer.