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MDMC Future of Digital Paid Advertising Panel

By: Amra Mehmedi 

The yearly MDMC, Midwest Digital Marketing Conference, was hosted on September 22, 2022 by UMSL Business. The conference consisted of many different panels targeting different areas of marketing. The last panel of the day was the Future of Digital Paid Advertising Panel. The panel included professionals Nichole Holzum, Chloe McGinley, Nathan Misirian, and Briana Brooks and it was moderated by Brianna Miller. The panel was full of great discussions regarding the digital marketing world. 

One of the topics that was discussed was knowing if a business needs all of the social media apps to advertise on. Chloe McGinley states that businesses should “be wherever your audience is”. While a specific app might not have the demographic you are looking for it is still important to have a presence on those apps to create that type of exposure to a potential future demographic. She mentions an example that automotive companies might be confused on why they should be advertising on TikTok to Gen Z that have no interest in it and it is because they will eventually grow and might think of that brand. 

Another big topic that was mentioned was landing pages and how to create an effective one. Nichole Holzum mentions her perspective on it as someone with ADHD. Making sure your landing page is less flashy and easy to read is very important. She talks about how it is important to make your landing pages inclusive and that everyone would be able to understand it including non English speakers. It is also important that your landing page has a clear message on what they are trying to sell to the consumer, that means focusing on one thing whether that be an eBook or blog. 

Our panelists go on to talk about rotating out ads and the best practices associated with it. Briana Brooks mentions the importance of the data behind the ads that are being put out. It is important to know the goal of the ads in the first place and then determine if they are doing well for that specific ad. Once you have the data behind, you can then make the decision of what needs to change if it is not doing well. Making sure to have a large variety of ads will help you see what works and what doesn’t. On top of that, ads should be changing fairly consistently. The digital world is fast paced and you do not want to be using ad campaigns from three years ago.

In digital marketing there is a big difference between generations and how to specifically target campaigns for them. Nathon Misirian finds that younger generations are a lot more attracted to visuals while older generations tend to like to read and go into the specific details of the information. Older generations tend to do more research before making a purchase so information driven campaigns suit them. 

The panelists also speak on their knowledge of non-profit marketing and what is there to offer with them. Nathan Misirian mentions the opportunities Google gives non-profits. There are many benefits associated with it including grants that they can apply for. They try to make it a goal to support nonprofits and there are many different benefits that they might be eligible for. 

This panel was not short of great content for any marketer out there. MDMC is a yearly event that consistently brings on amazing professionals to speak on emerging topics that everyone can learn from. Don’t forget to attend the next one!